Capítulo 378: The Beginning Of The End [XL]

Meanwhile…

Kael slumped back in his seat, arms dangling over the chair as if his soul had already escaped from sheer boredom.

Tyrian sat beside him with far more composure, though the faint crease in his brow betrayed his impatience.

The hall had emptied significantly, student after student leaving their one-on-one session with the Goddess of Light and exiting the academy grounds.

Hours had passed.

The sun was shifting in the sky.

Yet one thing hadn’t changed.

Aestrea still wasn’t out.

Kael tapped his foot, glanced at the clock, frowned, groaned, then slumped again.

“…Why the hell is he taking so long?” he muttered, dragging out the words like a dying man.

“It shouldn’t take this long. Everyone else was inside for fifteen minutes, maybe twenty at most. Some even ten.” Tyrian crossed his arms and exhaled slowly.

“Exactly!” Kael sat up straighter.

“Ten! Twenty! Not… whatever hour this is!”

“Maybe he’s getting a different kind of session.” Tyrian glanced toward the private chambers’ hallway.

“Different like… special?” Kael blinked.

“His progress is the highest in the academy,” Tyrian reminded him.

“The goddess probably has higher expectations for him. Maybe she’s offering him some kind of contract, or mentorship, or divine blessing. Something special… or rare.”

“Like… a VIP package?” Kael rubbed his chin, pretending to think deeply.

“This isn’t a brothel.” Tyrian side-eyed him.

“It feels like one with how everyone’s lining up and leaving afterward looking enlightened,” Kael argued.

Tyrian rolled his eyes, but he didn’t deny it.

Silence settled over them for a few seconds. Kael twirled a strand of his hair, Tyrian scanned the remaining students, and the empty hallway continued being empty.

Then Kael snapped his fingers sharply.

“Wait.”

“What?” Tyrian looked at him.

“What if… she fell in love with him?” Kael leaned closer, lowering his voice to a conspiratorial whisper.

Tyrian froze.

Then his expression slowly morphed into something between horror and realization.

“…Don’t joke about that.”

“I’m not joking!” Kael insisted, his eyes widening with dramatic intensity. “Think about it. This is Aestrea we’re talking about. Weird things just… stick to him like a curse.”

“That is true,” Tyrian admitted reluctantly.

“And the Goddess of Light is a woman.” Kael pointed at the air like he was delivering a profound truth.

“A very beautiful, extremely powerful, and very emotional woman.”

“How do you know she’s emotional?” Tyrian squinted.

“All goddesses are emotional.”

“That’s not a rule.”

“It’s a pattern,” Kael corrected.

“Haaizz…” Tyrian sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

“Kael, get to the point.”

“Alright, look…” Kael leaned closer, lowering his voice even further.

“She saw Aestrea. She stared at him for a long time. She noticed him trying to escape. She made a rule forbidding anyone from leaving. She kept glancing at him. And now she’s keeping him longer than all the other students.”

If Aestrea were here, he would be shocked by Kael’s perspective. He wouldn’t think that someone like him would have that kind of perception.

Tyrian stared into the distance, mentally replaying every moment.

“…That does sound suspicious.”

Kael nodded furiously.

“And you know,” Kael added, tapping his temple, “goddesses sometimes do that thing.”

“What thing?”

“You know… that thing.”

“Kael, I don’t know what ‘that thing’ is unless you actually tell me.” Tyrian stared at him with a deadpanned expression.

“Ahem… Love at first sight!” Kael cleared his throat.

Tyrian paused.

Hard.

His eyes widened a fraction.

“Well…” he said slowly, “she did descend pretty dramatically today.”

“She did.” Kael nodded like a sage. “Golden light, holy aura, everyone awestruck… except Aestrea, who wasn’t even impressed.”

“And goddesses tend to like what they can’t easily influence,” Tyrian’s eyes narrowed.

“And Aestrea is a professional at not being influenced… or simply not giving a fuck about anything,” Kael concluded.

They both stared at the hallway again.

“…If she really did fall for him, that would explain the extended session.” Tyrian leaned forward, elbows on his knees.

Kael nodded, looking increasingly horrified by his own theory.

“And also why the room is sealed. And why she’s not letting anyone interrupt. And why no sound is coming out. And why every other session ended so fast, but his…!”

“Kael,” Tyrian interrupted sharply, “stop before you convince yourself she’s ravishing him.”

“You weren’t thinking that?” Kael blinked.

“No, I wasn’t!”

“You’re thinking it now, though.”

“I’m trying not to.” Tyrian glared.

Kael stared at the hallway again, pursing his lips…

“…She’s totally ravishing him.”

Tyrian resisted the urge to cover his face.

“Kael.”

“What?! Look at the scenario! Powerful goddess, dramatic entrance, emotional instability, purity theme, Aestrea’s face!”

“Aestrea’s face?”

“You know damn well his face can cause problems!”

“…That is also true.” Tyrian reluctantly nodded.

“And let’s be honest,” Kael sighed dramatically, “if a goddess fell in love at first sight with someone… it would definitely be him. He even made the Goddess of Lust change her whole personality and authority.”

“Gods help him.” Tyrian looked down at the floor.

“They won’t,” Kael replied instantly.

“She’s the Goddess of Light. She outranks most of them.”

A long silence.

Very long.

Then Kael whispered.

“…Should we prepare flowers?”

Tyrian closed his eyes.

“…For what?”

“Their future wedding.”

Tyrian considered it for a painful moment.

“…Let’s wait five more minutes,” he decided.

“If he still isn’t out by then…”

“…we start writing a eulogy… or a congratulations message.” Kael finished.

Both of them fell silent again.

The hallway remained empty.

And the longer they waited, the more their theory stopped feeling like a joke.

…

Back to Aestrea…

“Haaah…”

Aestrea let out a long, deep sigh, the sound of pure defeat. He stopped struggling, his body going limp beneath her.

His gaze, which had been darting around the room, finally settled on the red veil hiding her face.

“Olivia…”

“Yes, my dear husband?” she replied, her voice instantly switching back to that loving, sweet tone, as if the psychotic breakdown from moments before had never happened.

“How about we make… a blood contract for now, and then I’ll marry you later?”

At his words, her actions halted instantly.

Her chanting stopped, the whispering ceased, her whole body went rigid above him, and the soft grinding halted.

Aestrea took the opening.

“I’ll promise that I’ll marry you later… that’s my part of the blood contract,” he continued calmly.

“If you want to add something else, you can say it…”

He looked at her, his expression unreadable but serious. He was treating this like a negotiation.

For a moment, there was only silence.

Then, he saw it.

Through the thin veil, her eyes widened, glowing with a sudden, brilliant light. An idea had seemed to have struck her, and it was a good one.

WHOOSH!

She waved her hand, and the entire world dissolved.

The oppressive red of the wedding chamber, the silk curtains, the candles, the bed…. it all glowed and melted away.

In a blink, they were no longer on a bed.

The room had transformed completely.

They were now sitting in two grand, high-backed chairs facing each other across a polished mahogany desk.

It was a proper discussion room, the kind a dean would use to talk with a genius student about a special offer.

Sunlight streamed in through a large window, and the air was clean and neutral.

Olivia was sitting elegantly in her chair, her crimson bridal dress looking strangely out of place in the professional setting.

“My condition is simple,” she stated, her business-like tone a bizarre contrast to her yandere behavior from moments ago.

She leaned forward, her hands clasped on the desk, her eyes gleaming with excitement.

“You’ll do anything I want, of course, you can refuse anything that seems too excessive, for the span of one hour every single day… or simply on the day we meet. How about that?”

She grinned from ear to ear, a wide, predatory smile that showed all her teeth. It was the look of someone who knew they had just won the lottery.

Hearing her words, Aestrea felt a wave of relief wash over him.

One hour a day?

He could handle that.

It wasn’t a lifetime of servitude or something truly insane. It was… manageable.

He let out another sigh, this one of pure relief, and nodded.

“Deal.”

Olivia’s grin widened.

“Excellent!” she chirped, clapping her hands together.

“Then let’s seal our promise!”

She raised a single, delicate finger. A tiny pinprick of light appeared at its tip, sharp and gleaming.

Without hesitation, she pressed it into her thumb.

Prick.

A single, perfect drop of golden blood welled up, shimmering like liquid sunlight. She held her thumb out, her eyes locked on his.

“Your turn, husband,” she said, her voice dropping back to that sweet, expectant whisper.

“Let’s make it official~♡”

Aestrea looked at the single, golden drop of blood welling up on her thumb for a moment.

“Fine,” he muttered.

He raised his own thumb and, without any ceremony, bit down hard on the knuckle.

Crunch.

His teeth broke the skin, and a drop of his own dark red blood welled up.

It looked dull and plain next to hers.

Olivia’s eyes lit up with an almost unholy glee.

“Perfect!” she squealed.

She reached across the desk and grabbed his hand.

Her touch was surprisingly gentle. She pressed her golden thumb against his bloody one, and the moment their blood mixed…

FLASH!

A blinding, golden light erupted from their joined hands.

It wasn’t hot, but it felt… immense.

A complex, glowing symbol of interlocking circles and sharp angles burned itself into the air between them for a split second before vanishing.

A strange, warm sensation spread through Aestrea’s chest, like a brand being placed on his soul.

Just like that, the contract was sealed.

Just as quickly as it appeared, the light faded. Olivia let go of his hand, her entire face practically glowing with happiness.

“It’s done! It’s finally done!” she chirped, bouncing in her seat like a child.

“Our contract! Our promise! Oh, Aestrea♡, I’m so happy! I can’t wait for our first hour together~♡♡♡!!!”

She stood up so fast her chair scraped against the floor.

With another excited wave of her hand, the room began to dissolve again.

The professional office melted away, and the red, oppressive wedding chamber shimmered back into existence around them.

He was standing by the door, and she was standing by the bed, the picture of a blushing bride.

She pointed a delicate finger at the door, her smile wide and brilliant.

“Now, you should go! I have so much to plan for our first day! I need to make a list! A very, very long list!” she spoke excitedly.

She was already lost in her own world of obsession.

Aestrea didn’t need to be told twice.

He spun around, his hand grabbing the doorknob, twisting it before pulling the door open.

As he stepped out into the normal, quiet hallway, he risked one last look back.

Olivia was still standing by the bed, but she had turned to face him. She was waving both hands frantically, a huge, ecstatic grin on her face.

“Bye-bye, hubby♡! See you soooooon!” she called out, her voice sickeningly sweet.

Aestrea instantly slammed the door shut.

[Ding!]

[Congratulations on receiving the title “Gigolo”!]

“…For fuck’s sake!”

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