At the base of the cult of Hatred…

  Lucius’ throne room’s door knocked in an unusual way.

  It was as if it were harmonizing a melody.

  Lucius delved deeply in thought, said,

  “Come in.”

  The door slowly opened.

  On the other side of the door was…

  …Lexy.

  Glasses dropping down from her nose, a book held in her hand…

  Right after entering, Lexy asked,

  “Hey Lucy, Whatcha’ doin'?”

  Lucius smiled.

  “Lexy! I am good, what are you doing?”

  Lexy dropped her book and her glasses onto the ground and jumped right onto the throne and sat on Lucius’ lap.

  “Good. Good.”

  Lexy smiled and played with Lucius’ hair.

  “You’ve become more handsome.”

  Lucius blushed.

  “Thank you. You’ve also become more beautiful.”

  Lexy ruffled Lucius’ head and then jumped out of the throne and lifted her glasses.

  She put her glasses back on before picking up the book from the ground.

  She opened the book and landed on a page near the middle.

  “Anyways, from one of the books I’ve seen, there is a thing called ‘sin’, have you ever heard of it?”

  Lucius flinched after hearing that word.

  “What ‘sin’ are you talking about, Lexy?”

  Lexy looked at the ground, hiding something.

  “I don’t really know. Just saw something in the book. It talks about the ancient snake Vora or something like that.”

  She paused, seeing that Lucius was starting to understand what she was really thinking.

  “Lucius, there may be a way…”

  Lucius interrupted Lexy.

  “Stop it, Lexy. I know that you know what sins are. Don’t go looking for them, ever.”

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Lexy’s eyes and arms twitched for a second. She looked downward for a second without saying anything. But then she laughed.

  “Why would I ever do something like that? I am not out of my mind, Lucy. Chill out a bit, will ya?”

  Lucius’ smile came back.

  Lexy approached Lucius one more time.

  “One last thing. I need to use a little more of cursed energy. Could ya give me some?”

  Lucius sighed.

  “Sure, but you work so hard. You need to give breaks a bit, okay?”

  Lexy waved her hand as if she were trying to kill a wasp.

  “Oke. Oke. Don’t worry.”

  Lucius held Lexy’s hand and transferred some cursed energy through her arm. Lexy hissed a little as the cursed energy flowed.

  After the transfer, Lexy’s smile twisted into something a little evil.

  “Don’t worry, my little Lucy, I’ll not let you sleep alone today,” she said, blinking once while walking towards the door.

  Lucius blushed, trying to calm himself.

  She bowed right before the exit.

  “By your leave, my Lord, I shall take my departure.”

  Lucius replied with a slight bow as if accepting her leave.

  Back at Aquilonis, in the halls of the castle…

  Mirvana was dragging both Harven and Arttu by their ears after that breathtaking Blinx match they had just had.

  “Mirva, it hurts.”

  You could have thought that this line came from Arttu because he was the child in this case, but… no. It was actually Harven who was whining, while Arttu accepted his fate as he was being dragged, like a fresh-cut log.

  Mirvana shouted at Harven, carrying a well-grown man and a kid without any problem.

  “Shut up, you man-child. Aren’t you supposed to be the Vice-commander? Why is all your work done by your squad captains?”

  Harven tried to appear angry.

  “What are you talking about, you old granny. Maverick and Flint wanted to do the work, so I let them.”

  Mirvana was actually angry at that moment.

  “YOU BASTARD.”

  But then her gaze slipped at the sight of Emilia and Reid sitting incredibly close to each other.

  Mirvana looked back without saying anything, her face turning red.

  Harven looked at Mirvana.

  “What happened, Mirva? Why are you looking all red?”

  Mirvana looked at Harven and spoke in a stutter.

  “Wha—wha—what? Me? Red? Who, who, who are you talking about?”

  Harven tried to sneak a peek at the thing Mirvana saw, but the moment he saw what was there, he…

  He just waved a hand at Reid.

  “Hey, Reid, what’s going on?”

  Yes, the moment that Emilia and Reid saw Lady Mirvana looking at them, they instantly stood up and straightened themselves.

  Reid scratched the back of his head.

  “Nothing much, Sir Harven. What did you guys do?”

  Harven and Arttu shared a grin. They looked at each other as if they both knew what the other was already thinking.

  “We just played some games. Nothing more.”

  Harven signaled Reid to come closer.

  “I think Mirva has a crush on you or something. When she looked at you, she blushed. Or maybe it was Emilia? I don’t know.”

  “What are you talking about, Harven?” Mirvana was just behind Harven and listened to everything he was whispering.

  Mirvana hit Harven with a punch that surpassed any logic.

  Harven fainted the moment the punch landed.

  Reid, Arttu, and Emilia all looked scared at Lady Mirvana.

  Mirvana straightened herself.

  “It’s bedtime, kids. Sleep now and wake up early.”

  For Mirvana, she said all of those were normal. But for the other three, she sounded as if she were a demon waiting for her feast.

  “It’s bedtime, KIDS. Sleep now and wake up early.”

  All three of them lowered their heads.

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Mirvana looked at Reid and Arttu.

  “I told them to reserve a room for you two. It’s down the hall, I am sure you can find it.”

  She looked at the ground, trying to remember something.

  “Oh yes. I totally forgot. I will inform you about your mission tomorrow morning, as I have said, wake up early.”

  Arttu and Reid lowered their heads once again.

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Mirvana looked at all of them.

  “Well, then, have a great night, you three. Let me handle this man-child.”

  All three of them went to their own rooms. But before leaving each other, Reid and Emilia smiled one last time, and they parted ways for their rooms.

  After reaching their room, Reid put Arttu to sleep and lay on his bed himself. The day itself flashed through his eyes, and he once again smiled.

  Holding hands, watching the bug fight, the pond, their kiss, the olive tree…

  Today was…

  …one of his favorite days.