Fuck...
I knew unexpected things and troubles were bound to happen the mont I agreed to let the goddess take over my body for a bit.
But this? This was going way beyond anything I could've predicted.
A reaction from Liyana or Erebil would've been the obvious outco-hell, even expected.
And in all honesty, despite the deep-seated fear I have of both of them, I'd gladly take either over this situation right now.
When the goddess said she had "little ti left," I thought she'd just hurry up, give Lucas her blessing, and move on.
Quick, clean, and no unnecessary drama. So why-why in the world-did she feel the need to sneak around and watch him train first?
It was awkward enough watching a half-naked man running around at the dead of night, swinging his sword and flexing his muscles like he was performing in so private action flick.
It felt... wrong. Weird. Completely out of place.
Granted, I'll admit it wasn't a total waste of ti.
Observing him gave a decent look at Lucas's current capabilities—or at least what he could manage in his clearly exhausted state.
His movents were sharp, his technique refined, and that Sunstrike he unleashed earlier... yeah, it was no joke.
It was strong enough to lt through the reinforced combat golem, leaving a molten scar on the training grounds.
Still, this wasn't how I imagined this whole thing would play out.
The goddess even managed to grab hold of that cursed thing.
I sighed, the mory of the last ti my body was altered into a girl creeping back into my mind. It wasn't exactly uncomfortable, but it was definitely weird.
The way people looked at in that form their stares, their expressions-it all felt so alien.
And now here I was again, this ti stuck as an observer, watching her use my body to casually ss with Lucas.
As the goddess approached Lucas, she noticed his half-dazed state.
"Hm~ Is sothing wrong?" the goddess asked, her voice light and playful, though I could sense the smugness beneath it.
Lucas stiffened, his expression quickly shifting between confusion and curiosity.
"N-No... It's just that I'm surprised to suddenly see you here-wait, no, hold on. Why are you even here? It's already way past midnight. Shouldn't you be asleep? Actually... if you're here, does that an you're one of the top students? But I don't recall seeing your na on any of the rankings. T-Then how..."
The goddess chuckled, flipping my hair casually over her shoulder.
"Fufu- Looks like you've been searching for all this ti, hmm~?"
Lucas's face turned red, and he stamred, "N-No! I an... yes, but not like that! It's just that you left... well, a lasting impression on . I thought it'd be nice to talk again. Actually, I searched for you whenever I had free ti back then, Lady Evelyn. Since you said you were in the magic departnt, I figured it would be easy to find you. But then you just disappeared..." The goddess smiled, the kind of smile that made want to hide under a rock.
"Oh, how sweet-. But you see, I had my reasons. Let's just say... most of what I told you that day was a lie~."
"A lie?" Lucas blinked, clearly taken aback.
"Yes, a lie about ~," the goddess replied, her tone dripping with amusent.
"A lie about milady?"
Fucking seriously? Look at this blushing idiot!
My lady? My lady? I groaned internally, watching Lucas's expression turn bashful as his gaze lingered on her on .
Why is he acting like this? Like he's suddenly caught in so romantic novel scene.
I didn't even know this dense bastard could blush this much!
Those puppy-like eyes. If Lucas had shown them to the heroines, most of their attention would've been on him by now.
He's got that awkward charm, and yet it's so poorly aid that it's almost tragic.
The goddess, however, was clearly having the ti of her life, teasing the hell out of him.
She was practically radiating smug satisfaction.
I an, I'd always suspected Lucas might have so sort of thing for my female form-it was painfully obvious back when we first t her.
But now? Watching it play out firsthand was like sitting through a slow, cringe-worthy drama, except I was both the unwilling star and the third-person observer.
[Uhm... dear goddess, weren't you in a hurry?]
'Fufu- It'd be best to savor these monts, dear child. I find my grandchild's confused heart utterly amusing, you see. Surely, you wouldn't mind indulging for just a little while
longer?'
[...Yes.]
'You have my eternal gratitude, young Riley~,'
Another deep, internal sigh escaped as I resigned myself to this bizarre situation.
anwhile, the goddess continued her playful antics, dodging Lucas's increasingly flustered questions with nothing more than her radiant smile and a few cryptic remarks.
Lucas, for his part, looked utterly ridiculous.
His gaze kept darting around the room, as if he couldn't bring himself to look directly at her - at . It was a strange mix of secondhand embarrassnt and morbid fascination. Was it her way of connecting with her "grandchild"? A rare mont of bonding? Or just her indulging in so selfish amusent at my ntal expense?
Whatever her reasons, I had no choice but to sit back and endure it all, trapped in this strange ride.
It wasn't like I could wrest control of my body back from her-not without risking even more
chaos.
-----
As the monts passed, I could feel the goddess's presence inside nearing the limits of what my body could handle.
Her energy was beginning to strain the threshold, and it felt like she'd burst out at any
mont.
A part of was relieved-whatever she was doing would soon co to an end. Thankfully, she'd already accomplished everything she seed to want with Lucas. From rcilessly teasing him at the start to having a casual, albeit one-sided, conversation, to even fabricating elaborate scenarios just to dodge his questions about her true identity.
Whenever Lucas tried to dig deeper, she'd weave so vague tale about being connected to the church or even "heaven itself," which only served to confuse him more.
I couldn't help but grimace. While she was using my body and masquerading as Evelyn, it didn't an her claims wouldn't cause unnecessary trouble.
Linking any identity of mine to the church-even a fabricated one-was a risk I didn't want to
take.
When I pointed this out earlier, she had rely laughed and assured that she'd erase the entire interaction from Lucas's mory, leaving him to think it was nothing more than a
wondrous dream.
Which, honestly, made their entire conversation up to now feel utterly pointless.
As I continued to observe the flow of their bizarre exchange, I noticed how Lucas's earlier exhaustion had completely lted away.
His eyes no longer carried the weight of his training, and his expression, though confused,
was brighter.
It was almost like she had a way of drawing out the best-or at least the liveliest-side of
him.
And yet, I couldn't shake the feeling that she was indulging in so peculiar tropes she
secretly enjoyed.
.....
"It seems I must go now, Lucas," Evelyn said, her soft voice tinged with a kind of reluctance
that made Lucas instinctively step forward.
"Huh-already?"
"Fufu, we should probably get so sleep now, no?"
"...Oh, right," he mumbled, slowly rembering the ti.
The inky blackness in the room was beginning to lighten ever so slightly, a quiet reminder
that morning wasn't far off.
Evelyn stood up from the bench with a graceful stretch, arching her back slightly before
tilting her neck to one side.
Her golden hair shimred faintly under the dim light of the training grounds as she turned
her warm gaze toward Lucas.
"Hm, are you sad?" "N-No..." he stamred, his face reddening slightly at the question.
"Fufu, you really are an adorable person, Lucas," she said, her laughter light and lodic, as
if she found his embarrassnt genuinely endearing.
Lucas quickly shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts, and stood up as well.
Evelyn's laughter lingered in the air, and though most of his questions remained unanswered, he realized sothing surprising-just talking to her had lightened his mood.
The weight he'd been carrying-the worries about his training, his goals, and the daunting challenges ahead-felt a little easier to bear.
"Lucas," Evelyn began, her voice softer now, drawing his attention completely. "You said earlier that you wanted to reach the pinnacle of the sword, correct?"
"...Yes," he replied firmly, his eyes steady. "So I can show Ri-I an, the world-the aning of a knight's code, a knight's honor, and a knight's oath. To protect the weak and the innocent. To shield those cast out of salvation."
Evelyn smiled, a deep and knowing smile, as if his words confird sothing she'd already
believed.
She stepped closer, her delicate hand reaching out to rest gently against his chest. "M-Miss Evelyn?" Lucas's voice wavered, his cheeks flushing red as her touch sent a jolt of sothing unfamiliar through him.
"I see..." she murmured, her ocean-blue eyes gazing into his with a strange intensity. "That dedication in your heart... I can feel it. It's sothing that can never be corrupted or changed." Her smile widened, tinged with an inexplicable sadness and warmth. "Fufu~ Lucas, the true hero... It seems this part of you will never change, no matter what tiline it is." "Huh?" Lucas blinked, her last words confusing him. "What did you say?"
"It's nothing," Evelyn said, pulling her hand away as her enigmatic smile returned. "Just an
idle thought."
Lucas could only stare, trying to process her words, but Evelyn gave him no ti to dwell on
it.
Confused by her cryptic words and actions, Lucas opened his mouth to ask more, but before he could speak, sothing extraordinary happened. His sword, which he had felt faintly hovering near him earlier, suddenly materialized in Evelyn's left hand.
"This sword," she said softly, her gaze fixed on the weapon, "you ntioned that you
couldn't unlock its full potential, correct?"
"...Yes?" Lucas replied hesitantly, his brow furrowing as he tried to understand where this
was going. Then, without warning, a brilliant golden flash erupted from the blade.
The once pure-white sword ignited in radiant flas, golden and fierce, illuminating the
entire training area with a light so bright it felt like dawn had broken within the darkened
space. The soft glow of the room transford into a radiant beacon, the golden fus of the flas swirling around the blade like a divine aura.
Lucas staggered back slightly, his astonishnt rendering him montarily speechless.
The intensity of the light, combined with the sheer presence emanating from Evelyn, made it
feel as though the air itself had changed. "Lucas," Evelyn's voice called to him, calm yet commanding, her tone carrying an otherworldly resonance. "Can I trust the promise you've indebted deep within your heart? Can you give your sword's word of oath that your strength will never be used for corruption-
neither of yourself nor others and as much love and salvation you can bring into this world,
can I trust you to never forget the people you treasure most?" "E-Evelyn..." Lucas stamred, his throat tightening as he tried to form words.
But when he lifted his gaze to et hers, his breath caught in his chest.
Her blue eyes were gone, replaced by a luminous golden hue that seed to pierce through
him, not just his body but his very soul.
He wanted to speak, to ask, to understand-but he couldn't.
His entire being felt as though it had been frozen in place. Not his body, no-he could still
move if he chose to.
It was deeper than that. His soul, his essence, seed paralyzed, as if bound by an unseen
force.
It wasn't fear or intimidation; it was sothing far more profound, an overwhelming sense of obligation. Before this presence, he felt as though any action other than compliance would be an affront
to sothing far greater than himself.
Her golden gaze bore into him, and he realized with startling clarity that this was no re request-it was a command, one that demanded the truest part of himself.
As Lucas's mind raced, scrambling to find the right words, his body seed to move on its
own, guided by instinct and an unseen force.
Slowly, he dropped to one knee, bending his right knee forward in a posture of reverence. He closed his eyes for a brief mont, gathering himself, before reopening them with a clarity that cut through his confusion. His lips parted, and with unwavering conviction, he
spoke:
"I swear..."
The simple yet profound declaration hung in the air, resonating like the toll of a bell.
Evelyn, there was a warmth in her expression, one that seed to acknowledge his sincerity and the weight of his oath.
A flash of brilliant light burst forth, illuminating everything around them. Evelyn raised Lucas's sword high into the air, its blade burning with radiant golden flas.
The light danced across the room, casting intricate patterns on the walls, as if the very air had
been infused with divinity.
With deliberate grace,
Evelyn brought the glowing sword down, the tip hovering just above Lucas's head.
The golden flas swirled and flickered, enveloping them both in an ethereal aura.
For a mont, it felt as though ti itself had stopped, the weight of the mont pressing down on them like an unspoken truth.
Lucas, his head bowed, hesitated briefly before glancing up, his gaze seeking hers.
He wanted to et those golden eyes one last ti, to understand what had truly just
transpired, to grasp the aning behind it all.
But as his eyes lifted, the radiant flas faded, the warmth dissipated, and the glow dimd.
The divine presence that had filled the room was gone, leaving behind only silence and
stillness.
And the only thing Lucas saw when his vision cleared...
...was the familiar ceiling above his bed.
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