"Please give me a chance to make you fall in love with me, can I?" Aponia said with longing.
When had their relationship become like this? Perhaps it had gone astray from the very beginning.
Aponia's feelings toward Elias were not love, but faith and dependence—faith born from the white-haired boy's power to change predetermined fate, and his godlike figure standing above the future.
She had become his worshiper, his believer.
And Elias was the same.
He had a natural fondness for Aponia, stemming from the affection he'd felt toward her in the game's story in his past life, and because of the deep conversations they'd shared.
But no matter what, it was only fondness—this feeling could not be called love.
"That is why I must ask for forgiveness, Elias. I have already received blessings ordinary people could never dream of, yet I still desire more. I want your heart—your love."
Aponia raised her hand, gently caressing the young man's cheek before her.
At this moment, she felt like a guilty nun burdened with the sin of greed. Merely being able to receive Elias' physical affection was already an undeserved fortune, yet she still desired more—she wanted his heart.
"I already told you, no matter what sin it is, I will forgive you, Aponia. And honestly, this can't really be called a sin, can it? Wanting to deepen your relationship with someone you like is only human."
"Ah… thank you for saying that, Elias."
Aponia's eyes widened slightly, and then she smiled—a beautiful, holy smile.
"So, do I need to cooperate in any way? I'm curious what you plan to do, Aponia."
Elias raised his hand to touch Aponia's face, then wrapped an arm around her waist. Although his feelings for the nun were mere affection, not love, this fondness had long reached its limit.
Elias was not merely enchanted by her body. In truth, if Aponia ever faced danger, he had full confidence he would risk his life to protect her.
"Mm, first… please accept my apology."
"Eh?"
"I'm sorry—but please don't forgive me."
Aponia bowed deeply before Elias, her sudden apology leaving him confused.
He tilted his head slightly, puzzled by the nun's sudden repentance.
"Nia, why are you apologizing?"
"Because I'm almost certain that what I'm about to do will anger you and cause trouble for you. As Kalpas said, I'm someone who fails at everything I try."
Aponia sighed sadly.
She could see fate, but she could not change it. Every time she tried, the outcome only grew worse.
This time would likely be no exception.
Yet Aponia had already prepared herself mentally. Even if she failed, at least she would have the result called failure—it was better than staying stagnant in their abnormal relationship, never moving forward.
And still, she couldn't help but hope.
Because if it were anyone else, she would surely fail.
But if it was Elias—the one who could rewrite destiny—then perhaps, just this once, she might succeed.
"Emmm… judging by what you're saying, Aponia, I can already feel uneasy."
Elias gave a wry smile, shaking his head.
He recalled all the "bad things" Aponia had done with her [Discipline] in the past, and his heart skipped a beat. After all, this great fluttering moth could never grasp moderation.
On top of that, she was a bit of an airhead—often unaware when she'd gone too far. Like that time she imposed over a hundred [Discipline] on Kalpas.
Among the Fire Moth's members, there was a saying: [Aponia's good intentions only bring misfortune]. Just like [If something's broken, Kalpas did it. If your body feels weird, Mobius did it]. Not without reason, of course.
However…
"I can't promise anything else, but I can tell you this with absolute certainty, Nia—I'm biased toward you. No matter what you do, I will never hate you."
Elias gazed into her eyes as he spoke.
"!!!"
Aponia felt her heart skip a beat violently.
"Because I liked you from the very beginning. So you can act as willfully as you want, relying on that bias. Even if you became a bad person, an evil person—it wouldn't matter. The reason bias is bias is because it doesn't need to be reasonable."
Elias gently pulled Aponia into his arms.
He savored her warmth and softness. If possible, Elias wished this moment could last forever.
"Ah… how lucky I am…"
Aponia whispered emotionally as she nestled against the white-haired boy's chest. Her eyes shimmered with unshed tears.
She had always believed her life to be an unfortunate one. Though she could see fate, she could not change it—forced to watch tragedy unfold, powerless to stop it.
But now, she realized there was something fortunate after all: Elias' unreasonable favoritism toward her—a fondness unaffected by right or wrong.
That thought filled her with indescribable peace.
"Then… I can really do as I wish?"
"Only this once. But if I see things heading in a truly bad direction, I'll stop you immediately. Understand?"
"Yes, I understand."
Aponia nodded obediently.
Then, carried by the mood, the two shared another passionate moment together.
In terms of sheer physical endurance, Aponia surpassed even Elysia and Mobius. Despite being a mage-type, her physique rivaled a warrior's…
After a long while, however—
Elias did, in fact, come to regret it.
He hadn't expected Aponia to take such terrifying measures—completely disregarding reason and causing widespread outrage.
Elias: "Mobius, are you free tonight?"
Mobius: "Sorry, Elias, I… can't…"
Elias: "Sakura, what about you?"
Sakura: "Sorry, I was caught too."
Elias: "Misteln, don't tell me—"
Misteln: "Ugh… I let my guard down as well…"
Simply put, Aponia had imposed a [Discipline]: "No Lewd Acts." Her invincible command could ignore the target's strength and forcibly restrict their behavior.
And not just those who had already "cleared the stage"—to be safe, Aponia even placed the same [Discipline] on Mei, Pardofelis, Hua, and Vill-V, who hadn't yet "ascended."
But no matter how overpowered [Discipline] was, for everyone to be caught in it was absurd.
The reason why was…
Aponia: "Please rest assured, I won't make you bear this alone. I'll impose the same [Discipline] on everyone else too. So, [please] help me, won't you? After all… you wouldn't want to be the only one who can't, right?"
Every time Aponia said that, she turned her victims into accomplices.
For example, Mobius didn't even hesitate—after getting caught, she immediately dragged Sakura, Eden, and Mei down with her.
Mobius: "If I can't do it, neither can you! Hahaha, let's all perish together!"
It was the kind of logic where, if she got caught in the rain, she'd tear apart everyone else's umbrellas too. As a result, Mobius' funding was once again brutally slashed, and she was beaten up by Sakura and Eden afterward.
Mei: "Damn it, Mobius! Sakura and Eden I can understand, but why drag me in too? I haven't even gotten that far with Elias yet!"
Mobius: "Just in case~"
And for the record, even Elias himself wasn't spared.
The reason? "Betrayal."
Originally, even if everyone else was affected, Elysia could've remained as the one untouched paradise—her Herrscher of Origin powers allowed her to resist [Discipline].
But even if paradise remained…
What meaning did it hold if no one could step foot in it?
Ely: "Eli, tonight, let's try something new—"
Elias: "…Sorry, Ely."
Ely: "Eh? Don't tell me—it's Misteln?!"
The clever Miss Pink Elf immediately understood.
With the protection of the [Idea] guarding his mental space, Elias should have been immune to Aponia's [Discipline].
Yet now, even he was affected. The problem, then, clearly lay with Misteln—the [Idea] herself.
Misteln: "My apologies, Elysia. I simply couldn't let you take advantage of this opportunity to monopolize Master. Ah~ what a blunder. I didn't expect Aponia's [Discipline] to affect me as well. What a terrifying power."
At that time, Aponia had taken advantage of Misteln's carelessness and imposed a [Discipline]: "No Lewd Acts."
Although [Idea]s were versatile and possessed immense resistance to mental influence, Aponia had strengthened her [Discipline] specifically for Misteln. As a result, even she had fallen victim.
From that moment onward, the only one unaffected—and incapable of being affected—was Elysia. To prevent the mischievous pink elf from reaping all the rewards and enjoying Elias alone, the ever-loyal [Idea] chose to betray her.
Or rather… turned a blind eye.
When Aponia imposed the [Discipline] of "No Lewd Acts with Elysia" on Elias, Misteln did not resist.
And thus, the entire group was utterly defeated.
The moment Elias himself was branded by the [Discipline], he realized Aponia had gone too far once again.
He immediately tried to use his absolute command over her to make her retract the [Discipline] and release everyone.
However…
Aponia: "It's alright. As long as I stop you before you give the command, it won't matter."
Elias' words carried a [Geass] of absolute obedience toward her—but to activate, he still had to speak them aloud.
And Aponia silenced him.
With her own lips.
That was the great moth's plan—to forcibly impose abstinence upon everyone else, leaving Elias with only her to turn to.
It was extreme, irrational… but undeniably effective.
With Elysia and the others around, Elias had never needed to restrain himself. But now that the entire group had fallen—and the final defense, Miss Pink Elf herself, had been banned—he had no choice but to turn to Aponia to fulfill his needs.
It was clear that this had been Aponia's plan all along. She had even ordered a pair of completely soundproof earplugs from Vill-V long ago.
As long as she wore them, she couldn't hear a single sound—as if she were deaf. And if she couldn't hear, Elias' commands couldn't reach her or take effect.
She had taken countless other precautions as well.
In the end, Aponia monopolized Elias for a full half-month before she was finally defeated by the combined forces of Elysia, Mobius, Sakura, Misteln, and Vill-V.
Even so, by that time, the great moth had already profited handsomely. And the fact that it took the women two whole weeks to unite against her proved just how uncooperative they were.
It was said that most of their "battle time" was wasted arguing over the distribution of spoils. After all, while Elias had been spending those two weeks with Aponia, the others had been left entirely unsatisfied.
Mobius: "The first day's mine!"
Ely: "No way! I'm the main wife—it has to be me!"
Eden: "It seems… we'll have to 'negotiate' for quite a while."
Sakura: "This time, I refuse to back down!"
…
When the [Discipline] was finally lifted, Elias ended up being 'busy' for an entire week.
If not for the power of the Herrscher of Rebirth acting as his cheat, even he might not have survived.
At that moment, inside the counseling room—
"I'm terribly sorry, everyone. This time, it's my fault."
Aponia bowed deeply in a perfect dogeza, her attitude seemingly sincere.
However, though she said she realized her mistake, her blissful and utterly satisfied expression told everyone one simple truth—this big fluttering moth would definitely dare to do it again next time!
Elias couldn't help but cover his face. He truly hadn't expected Aponia to resort to such a "slow-burn romance" strategy.
Still, he couldn't deny that it had worked. Now Elias had developed a bad habit—he'd grown dependent on Aponia.
After all, as he'd said before, no matter what this moth did, his fondness for her would never decrease.
And since it couldn't go down, the only direction it could go was up.
"Sigh… I don't even know what to say to you anymore."
Elias smiled helplessly at the nun of [Discipline] before him. He wasn't angry. After all, during those two weeks, he had been anything but gentle, and yet Aponia had endured it all.
"I'm sorry, Elias—but I don't regret it."
"You should regret it at least a little—!!" xN
Upon hearing that Aponia truly felt no remorse, the women's collective fury erupted like a volcano.
They wanted to scream at her: Do you have any idea what we went through during those two weeks?! Sure, you had your fun with Elias, but what about us?! We suffered!
"Prepare to repent, Aponia!"
"..."
Feeling the fiery gazes of Elysia and the others burning holes into her, even Aponia, who had mentally prepared herself for punishment, couldn't help but tremble slightly.
She turned pleading eyes toward the white-haired boy.
"Nope. You dug this pit yourself—now deal with it."
Elias rejected her silent plea for help.
"Alright then, [please] go easy on—"
"Don't let her cast [Discipline]! Vill-V!"
"On it! Special soulium muzzle, incoming!"
"You must pay the price for your actions!"
"You'll experience double the suffering we endured these past two weeks, Aponia—you're finished!"
Just as the big fluttering moth tried to use her almighty [Discipline] to reduce her sentence, Vill-V promptly shoved a muzzle in her mouth and restrained her tightly, binding her from head to toe.
She was then dragged away and locked deep within the Deep End.
Mei personally decreed that Aponia was not to be released—
Until the next Herrscher appeared.
And Elias was strictly forbidden from visiting her.
Aponia: "Isn't that a bit too much? I can't even go a day without seeing Elias, or else I'll—"
All the women: "Serves you right! You brought this on yourself!"
Elias: "Nia, I'll wait for you to get out."
Aponia: "…Ah… I'm doomed."
But in truth, Aponia's 'sentence' didn't last long.
Because two months later—
The Ninth Herrscher descended.
In a way far more extreme than the original timeline.