"What the hell?"

Looking toward the direction where the old man had so briskly vanished, Ariel was completely at a loss.

That so-called elder brother of hers had sent his trusted butler over, and it was really just to find her and make sure she was safe and sound?

That guy she’d beaten so badly last time he couldn’t get out of bed for half a month and even lost his position as heir—would he really be so kind?

"And what did that sentence mean?"

That she hoped Ariel and Lea would always maintain a deep friendship?

Friendship?

Only friendship?

Were they cursing her?

"Ptui, ptui, ptui, as expected, no good intentions at all. Friendship? I’m the woman who’s going to win Lea’s love!"

After reaffirming her grand ambitions, beneath the deep night, Ariel couldn’t help but tilt her head back again and gaze at the sky.

With no branches and leaves to block the view, the vast expanse of sky filled her field of vision; the stars twinkled, dazzling and enchanting.

Lea... might she be looking at this very same sky right now?

"Sigh, I really want to know how Lea is doing."

Lea had gone to the Holy City, likely to take part in that important Holy Ablution ceremony.

But she herself had been delayed in the relic for a whole month. Without my help, Lea would be all alone going to undergo that cruel ceremony and trial...

Ariel bit her lip, a little guilty.

Lea must really need comfort now, right? She must need someone who can open her heart, make her feel warm, and stand by her to give her support.

But...

If she set out for the Holy City now, even with the fastest carriage, it would still take her at least three days before she could see her...

Three days might not sound long, but for Lea, who had already been waiting for a full month, it would surely feel even harder to endure.

She must be very worried about me...

Huh, wait.

A bright idea flashed through Ariel’s mind.

Although seeing her would take at least three days, talking to her, finding out how she was, telling her that not only was she safe now, she had become very, very strong, and giving her warm comfort... that she could do right now!

Ariel’s eyes lit up, and she immediately pulled out that... voice-transmission stone!

Previously she hadn’t been able to use the stone because Lea’s had been lost during the spatial transfer, and then Ariel had entered the relic.

But now a month had passed; Lea must have bought a new voice-transmission stone, so they could absolutely communicate directly!

"It’s just that the stone’s range depends on its quality, and Lea’s previous one didn’t seem able to receive from this far... Sigh, let’s just hope the new one she bought is of higher quality."

With a nervous heart, Ariel dialed that familiar frequency.

...

...

Knock, knock, knock.

The door was rapped upon.

"Greetings, Your Highness saintess. Your loyal believer has come to pay respects."

"Eh? So late, and I wasn’t told of any believer coming..."

Lea opened the door in confusion, and then she saw...

Outside stood Moen, voice lowered and wearing a wicked grin.

"You..."

Lea’s eyes widened in surprise. She hurriedly pulled Moen into the room, glanced warily around outside, and only then shut the door.

"What are you doing here? This is deep inside the cathedral—outsiders can’t come in. If the head nun sees you, she’ll definitely..."

"Relax, I’m no outsider now."

Moen smilingly took out a badge and waved it in front of Lea:

"I’m now an honorary Paladin registered with the Church. From now on we’re family."

"Honorary Paladin?"

Lea blinked her bright, limpid eyes, scanning the badge again and again. After confirming it really bore the Church’s seal, she said excitedly:

"His Holiness the Pope gave you this, which means..."

"Heh-heh, didn’t I say it? We’re family now."

Moen slipped an arm around Lea’s slender waist and lowered his head to give her sweet cherry lips a playful bite.

"Wh-who’s family with you..."

Lea chided shyly, "What happened? Hurry up and confess."

So Moen bit Lea’s slightly flushed ear and told her all about his earlier conversation with the Pope.

Of course, he didn’t mention his speculation about the goddess; since it was the goddess Lea believed in, such suspicion would only upset her.

"Bad man..."

After listening to Moen’s account, Lea tapped his chest with her soft hand and pouted:

"Now you’re happy, right? Having a saintess as your secret lover—that’s an unprecedented privilege, and it even makes it convenient for you to chase other girls."

"How could I?"

Moen gazed tenderly at Lea’s adorable eyes, her cute nose, her lovely lips, her charming little face, and pulled her into an even tighter embrace:

"Right now I can’t wait to show you off to the whole world, my little Lea. You’re too adorable. May I kiss you again?"

"Not allowed... mm..."

Words of resistance were so feeble; her delicate struggle melted almost instantly into that burning, domineering kiss.

The warm candlelight wavered, casting two shadows pressed together, leaning on each other.

"What are you doing? Busy?"

After the passionate kiss, Moen gently tucked a stray lock of hair behind the young woman’s ear.

"Hmph, so you do know I’m busy right now."

Lea pinched Moen at the waist, and as he flinched, she slipped from his arms as nimbly as a mermaid and went to the desk.

Her perky hips swayed beneath the close-fitting nightdress, irresistibly alluring.

Moen followed and saw those sheets of golden paper on the desk.

"This is..."

"The sacred words—text copied with holy light. On the day of my succession ceremony, they’ll float up into the sky as I recite them, letting every believer in the Holy City see. It’s also a form of miracle invoked by me, the new saintess."

"I see."

Moen nodded, then once more slipped an arm around Lea’s waist.

"I told you I have to copy these now."

Lea puffed her cheeks and glared at Moen, scolding:

"Let go."

"No need. You go on."

Moen pressed his body against hers and murmured in her ear:

"You copy that; I copy you."

"?"

Lea tilted her head, an adorably puzzled expression on her face.

Moen shook his head and laughed. "Nothing, just a bit of hometown slang. Don’t mind it."

"Hmph~"

Lea turned back, intending to continue copying the sacred words.

But as soon as she picked up the pen, her small hand trembled, and she couldn’t write another stroke.

Because that bad man had already slipped his lecherous hand up under the hem of her nightdress.

"No, you mustn’t~"

"What do you mean, mustn’t? I won’t even disturb you."

"The sacred words require channeling holy light; I can’t let my mind wander... mm."

"You don’t have to let it wander. Come on, focus."

"... mm... how am I supposed to focus like this..."

Aroused at her most sensitive, Lea couldn’t help letting sweet sounds spill from her rosy lips; her hips dipped, that peachy curve lifting high to match the bad man’s motions.

Gradually, without realizing it, she sank deep into it.

The candlelight dimmed and flared, flickering on and on, and their two shadows leapt along with it.

Clatter, clatter.

The desk was clattering too, as were those golden sheets—silent, meant to rise into the sky before the eyes of all believers as miracles bestowed by the saintess—yet now at risk of being accidentally stained by a drop or two of holy liquid.

"Bad man..."

At the height of the fierce battle, just about to reach the clouds, Lea struggled to regain a sliver of clarity.

She knew that if they kept at this position, thrilling as it was, all her efforts tonight might be wasted.

So she suddenly turned and pushed the bad man down onto the bed herself.

She bit Moen on his solid chest and shoulder and said in a soft, urgent voice:

"Make it... quick."

"That, I can’t control."

Moen blinked, his roving hand instinctively cupping those high, fair peaks, and he said with a wicked smile:

"Depends on you."

"Mm... I... how am I supposed to..."

"You on top?"

"... No."

Lea’s pretty face flushed scarlet.

That position—how could she possibly do that in front of Moen...

"What do you mean, no? Haven’t you done it before?"

"I—absolutely not."

"Really? Don’t tell me that when I was unconscious, you didn’t..."

"Mm... you really are a bad man."

Seeing the look Moen gave her—as if, if she didn’t comply, he’d torment her all night—Lea finally couldn’t resist this bad man. Obediently, she swung a leg over and straddled him.

It wasn’t the first time, so she was fairly practiced.

After that, as the bedframe shook, Moen, for the first time, learned what it meant to look up at towering mountains, to face surging waves, to feel the earth quake.

And as they grew more and more in tune and deeper into it, Moen gradually lost himself as well, until...

"Beep beep beep beep."

"Mm? What’s that sound?"

"Seems... seems like my voice-transmission stone."

"Ignore it."

"..."

"Beep beep beep beep."

"Beep beep beep beep."

"Beep beep beep beep beep."

"Tch, who is it? So annoying."

"I... I’ll take a look..."

Bathed in candlelight, the two shadows—now forming an inverted-T—finally paused, and a hand slick with perfumed sweat reached out over the edge of the bed, groping amid the scattered clothes for a long while before finally finding the voice-transmission stone.

Lea sensed it briefly, and the pretty face that had been lost in pleasure a moment ago suddenly became much clearer.

"Th-this frequency—it’s Ariel!"

"Oh... Ariel, huh, let her wait... wait, Ariel?"

Moen, who had been about to misbehave further, froze. He and Lea stared at each other for a moment, faces paling a bit.

He looked at himself, then at Lea.

Then he looked at the voice-transmission stone in Lea’s hand and suddenly understood the situation.

On the other end of the stone was the original novel’s protagonist, the chosen one of overwhelming power—Ariel.

On this end was her childhood friend, one of the heroines she was currently trying to bend and win over.

And beneath that childhood friend lay himself, stark naked—the blond punk of a villain decreed by the book.

This scene... why does it feel... so badass.

...

...

"Hello... hello? Is this Ariel?"

The familiar voice coming from the sound transmission stone made Ariel on the other side ecstatic.

It connected, it actually connected!

"Lea, it's me!"

Ariel gripped the sound transmission stone, "It's Ariel."

"Ah... Ariel... you finally managed to escape from the forest... that's great... mm..."

"That's right, I got out! A whole month, so much has happened, you... huh?"

With her beloved childhood sweetheart finally connected on the sound transmission stone, Ariel had endless things to say, but she pressed them down for now.

Because she suddenly noticed that Lea's voice on the other end sounded a little... odd?

"Lea? You... what are you doing right now? Why does your voice sound a bit strange, and your breathing seems really fast?"

"Ah... I... I'm exercising."

"Exercising?"

Ariel looked up at the sky with a strange expression:

"This late?"

"Y-yes... I heard that exercising before bed is... better. I've put on weight again lately, so..."

"Honestly, I've told you, Lea, not to eat so many little cakes, but you just won't listen. You big dairy cow, you must have gotten fatter again."

Ariel, a bit helpless yet amused, teased her a few times, planted her hands on her slim waist, and continued to ask:

"So, what exercise are you doing to be this tired?"

"I... I... I'm doing deep squats..."

On the other end of the sound transmission stone, Lea's voice seemed to grow even more urgent, and she said:

"That's right, deep squats..."