"It would be a shame to just watch them suffer when I could simply go to them and ask."
Aaron closed his eyes, and the images playing before him vanished.
"Sophie… still so irritatingly dependent… Will you ever evolve, I wonder?"
He said, disappointed, as if he had been expecting a different kind of show.
"Calista… That woman with two souls. From what I've seen, her sadistic side is interested in watching Leonard suffer. This could be to my advantage; the only problem will be convincing her other side to join me."
"But no matter. It'll be more fun this way."
As for the other girls, Aaron ignored them. He couldn't even recall their names, as they were just a few more faces in the sea of women at Leonard's disposal.
"I don't want the extras, only the main characters."
With that thought, Aaron stood up and left his room. He observed his surroundings with a smile, seeming strangely happy today.
Watching others suffer truly was a satisfying feeling.
As he opened the grand doors of the cathedral, he saw Leonard trailing behind a woman dressed in white. His head was bowed, as if he didn't dare look up.
He was a far cry from the arrogant Hero of before, but Aaron didn't spare him a second glance. His eyes were fixed on the woman walking ahead.
She was Livia, the Saintess of the Goddess of Light. She bore a striking resemblance to Alicia, minus the divine glow, but she was still a remarkable beauty.
"Knight Kyle, what an honor to see you again."
She said in a soft voice. A gentle expression graced her face, but behind those pure eyes was an undisguised love. At least, in Aaron's eyes.
"I hope to see you at the church more often."
In that moment, Aaron realized it was Alicia speaking, not Livia. Still, he smiled and promised:
"I hope you don't get sick of my presence, because I plan on making the church my new home."
Livia clapped her hands together and exclaimed:
"Splendid!"
Aaron glanced over at Leonard and offered a simple greeting:
"Hello, Hero."
Leonard raised his head and met his gaze. His eyes were just as arrogant as before, but his usual confidence was faltering.
"Hello, Kyle. Did you come to mock me? If so, you're late. The Saintess already beat you to it."
Livia gave a soft laugh and said:
"It was merely constructive criticism. I would never mock the 'Goddess's Chosen One'."
She emphasized the last few words. She watched Aaron from the corner of her eye, as if analyzing his expression.
Aaron turned to her. A blush crept up Livia's neck, and she quickly looked away, embarrassed.
Aaron smiled gently at her. Livia was Alicia's avatar, nearly equivalent to Alicia herself. It wouldn't hurt to be kind to her.
'He noticed me looking... How embarrassing!'
Livia's expression remained calm, but inside, she was a whirlwind of emotions. One part of her was embarrassed, while the other savored the attention he gave her, however minuscule it was.
Leonard didn't notice the silent exchange between them; had he known, he surely would have coughed up blood.
"Let's go. I have a serious matter to discuss with you two, and with the king."
Aaron turned to enter the church. Livia tilted her head, curious about this matter she knew nothing of.
Leonard watched the two of them leave, gritted his teeth, and followed. He had no problem following the Saintess, but he would never follow Kyle, even if he was forced to.
The trio moved through the cathedral, passing by stained-glass windows that depicted the journey of the nine ancient Heroes, the group that had defeated the Demon King millennia ago.
They arrived in an ancient-looking chamber where a circular table with nine seats stood. Behind each chair was a statue of one of the nine heroes. Some possessed sharper, more heroic faces, others more arrogant and imposing; they all wore shining armor, replicas of what they wore in life. No one had ever seen their true faces; these were merely likenesses imagined by artists.
'This is the biggest farce I've ever seen! None of them are men! They're all women!'
Aaron observed the statues intently, his mind replacing the heroes depicted there with nine women.
'Hmm... But I must admit, these nine aren't bad at all.'
He thought as he analyzed the tempting curves of the nine heroines.
Suddenly, Livia jabbed him in the arm with her elbow. She maintained her kind and gentle expression, but Aaron could hear a shrill voice invading his mind.
'Are you cheating on me in your thoughts? You scoundrel!'
Aaron blinked and smiled, retorting with a thought of his own.
'You're the one who gave me the nine heroes, knowing full well they were women. You have to take responsibility!'
'You bastard!'
In paradise, Alicia was red with rage, her screams echoing with the sound of thunder.
"Damn him! He tricks me into giving him the nine heroes, and now it's my fault?!"
KRAAAAAA-THOOOOOOM!!!
In the real world, thunder crashed ceaselessly. Alicia's avatar, Livia, wore a dark expression, looking as if she were about to slap Aaron across the face.
But everything calmed with Aaron's next thought:
'I'm kidding, Alicia. I would never cheat on you. You know that perfectly well; there's no need to be jealous.'
Livia's expression became radiant. She took Aaron's hand and pulled him down to sit in one of the nine seats.
She took the seat to his right, leaning her body slightly toward him.
'How did this happen?'
Leonard thought his eyes were deceiving him. One moment, Livia looked ready to violently murder Kyle; the next, she was affectionately taking his hand to sit beside him.
"Leonard, you sit down as well. As you are the Hero, we have some things to discuss before we get to the main topic."
Leonard scowled and grumbled:
"You don't boss me around."
"Now, Leonard," Livia said coldly, crossing her arms without even looking at him.
Leonard's expression twisted but quickly settled. He went to sit beside her.
That's when Livia shot a piercing glare at him, as if warning him to keep his distance. Leonard forced a smile and sat down two chairs away from Livia.
Seeing that Leonard's attention was on Livia, Aaron coughed and said:
"Attention, Leonard! What I want to discuss is important!"
His voice was low but carried an undeniable authority. Leonard involuntarily turned to him and waited for him to speak.
Aaron looked at Leonard, his calm expression contrasting with the hero's poorly disguised agitation.
"Now that we're all here, I'd like to know what happened. How was such a formidable party reduced to this state?"
The question was simple, delivered in a neutral tone, but to Leonard, it sounded like the deepest of mockeries. The image of the deer skull in the darkness, the feeling of total helplessness, the sound of his companions' bodies falling into the snow... it all came back in an overwhelming wave.
"That's none of your business!" Leonard snarled, his voice trembling with restrained rage and fear. He couldn't look at Aaron. His eyes were fixed on the table, his hands clenched so tightly his knuckles turned white. To reveal the truth would be to admit his failure, his paralysis, his utter humiliation. And he would never do that in front of Kyle.
Aaron showed no surprise or irritation. He simply gave a slight nod, as if Leonard's response was perfectly acceptable, or perhaps that he didn't even care what had happened.
The latter was more likely.
"I understand. Battle trauma can be difficult to verbalize," Aaron said with a strange empathy that made Leonard's stomach churn. "But that doesn't change the fact that your companions are dying. The energy afflicting them is of a corrupt and destructive nature. Common holy magic cannot purify it."
He paused, letting the weight of his words settle.
"Fortunately, there is a solution. We will have to pay a visit to the elves. The Jewel of Life in their possession is the only thing in the world with enough life force to nullify the curse and completely heal their wounds."
The name "elves" hit Leonard like a lightning bolt. Blood rushed to his face, and the memory of humiliation momentarily overcame the trauma. In his mind, he saw the perfectly beautiful faces of the elven queen and princess, their polite smiles barely concealing their contempt, their silent mockery of him for being so foolish, so easily deceived by them.
"NO!" The word exploded from his lips. "We are not going anywhere near that forest! I will never ask those arrogant vipers for help!"
"We have no choice," Aaron replied, his voice still perfectly calm, cutting through Leonard's fury like a cold blade.
"I don't care! I am the leader of this party, and I say we're not going!" Leonard stood up, slamming his hand on the table. "Besides, what are you doing giving orders?! You're not even part of the Hero's party!"
Aaron interrupted him, not raising his voice, but every word carried a final weight. "I don't need to be part of your party." He leaned forward, the smile never leaving his face. "Because the Goddess herself chose me to be the second hero."
The silence in the room was absolute. Livia turned to Aaron, her pure eyes widening in a perfectly staged surprise.
"Chose?" she asked, her voice sounding genuinely curious.
Aaron met her gaze, his expression shifting from a gentle smile to an authoritative dryness.
"Chose," he replied, not as a question, but as a confirmation that brooked no debate.
Immediately, Livia's facade of surprise crumbled. A feline smile spread across her lips. She leaned over him, her proximity shattering all the sanctity of her position, the scent of lilies enveloping him.
She purred, her voice low and audible only to those nearby, "Of course I chose."
In the highest paradise, Alicia laughed to herself, seated on her throne of light.
"Crafty little liar," she murmured with a satisfied smirk. "I'll be collecting on that favor later, with interest."
Leonard watched the scene, incredulous. The rage in his chest mixed with a bitter nausea. The Saintess, a sacred and untouchable figure that not even he, the 'chosen one,' would dare approach with such familiarity, was practically throwing herself into Kyle's arms.
'Is it just because he's handsome?!' he thought, jealousy corroding his mind. A spark of his old arrogance tried to reassert itself, a delusional self-confidence to console himself. 'No matter. I already stole his wife once. Doing the same with the Saintess will be easy.'
It was then that Aaron lifted his face from Livia's and stared at Leonard.
His golden eyes, once calm, now looked like two miniature suns, devoid of warmth, filled with a primordial emptiness. Leonard's body froze. The air in his lungs turned to ice. He could feel those eyes piercing through every layer of his being, his very soul, as if seeing his darkest thoughts.
A sharp, piercing pain exploded in his chest. It wasn't just mental. His vision darkened at the edges, his heart hammering wildly against his ribs, each beat a spasm of agony. He clutched his chest, his mouth opening in a silent scream. The Hero, the Goddess's chosen one, was having a heart attack under the weight of his 'rival's' gaze.
That predatory stare felt like an invisible force, pinning and crushing him, and it only retreated when a shadow moved in his peripheral vision.
It was Livia.
With a fluid and deliberate movement, she slid from her chair. Completely ignoring the pathetic hero on the floor, her eyes were locked on Aaron, a flame of defiance and desire burning within them. She didn't walk to him; she flowed with an easy grace, the white fabric of her dress whispering against the marble. Without breaking eye contact, she positioned herself between his knees and, with feline grace, climbed onto his lap.
The movement was a silent scandal. Her slender legs wrapped around Aaron's waist, locking him to her. Her hips settled onto his with a shocking familiarity, and then she took his lips with a possessive ferocity.
The sound of the kiss was wet and audacious, a smack that broke the deadly silence of the room. The crushing pressure in Leonard's chest instantly eased. Air rushed back into his lungs in a pained, desperate gasp. Aaron's attention, that overwhelming force that had threatened to unmake him, had been completely diverted.
Livia wasn't just kissing him; she was devouring him. Her tongue tangled with his in a seductive dance, her hands rising to weave into his white hair, pulling him closer.
And Aaron responded.
His hands, which had been resting on the arms of the chair, came to life. One slid down the curve of her spine, beneath the thin fabric of her dress, feeling the warmth of her skin. His fingers dug into the soft flesh of her buttock, squeezing with a firm possession that tore a muffled moan from Livia's lips, a sound that mingled with their kiss. The other hand slid up her thigh, his thumb caressing the sensitive, feverish skin of the inner part, climbing ever higher, provoking tremors that ran through the Saintess's body.
Leonard didn't dare to look. He didn't dare to think.
The sounds of kissing, Livia's low, guttural moans, the rustle of fabric under Aaron's exploring hands... it was all auditory torture. He forced his eyes upward, away from the profane scene.
'What a beautiful ceiling,' he thought. 'It seems to be made of some ancient marble. The gray veins... they form interesting patterns. It must have been made by some master artisan from a bygone era.'
He focused on this, repeating the observations in his head, building a mental wall against the reality unfolding just a few feet away. Every wet smack, every ragged breath was a hammer blow against that wall, but he held it firm, a monument to his terrified denial.
After what felt like an eternity, the kiss began to lessen in intensity. Livia pulled back slowly, reluctantly, leaving a glistening trail of saliva that connected both their tongues. Her lips were swollen and red, her breathing ragged, and her eyes shone with a satisfied, triumphant lust. Aaron's body was tense beneath hers, his immersion in the moment still evident.
She then leaned in, her mouth brushing against his ear, her hot breath sending a shiver down Aaron's spine. Her voice was a whisper meant only for him.
"And you call me the jealous one."
Aaron stared at her, but he didn't refute it. There was nothing to refute; it was a fact that if she hadn't stopped him, he would have killed Leonard right then and there.