Stiff... her fists were getting stiff!

  If it weren’t for the fact that she simply couldn't beat him, Natalia felt she would truly have pummeled the man in front of her. Taking several deep breaths to steady her surging emotions, she wisely moved past the previous question and spoke bluntly:

  "Even though you have the strength to protect Ayesha, doing so brings you no benefit. In fact, it might even become a burden."

  "I can't think of a reason why you’d do this, so I find it impossible to trust you."

  Eros raised an eyebrow. A reason? Keeping one of the vessels for the Divine Descent right under his nose—wasn't that reason enough? If Ayesha stayed at the Academy, he could use her to gauge the timing of the God’s arrival. Even if it wasn't a perfect indicator, a one-percent chance was enough to gamble on.

  For instance, if Ayesha were suddenly reassigned to another mission, he could guess: Is the Lunar Sect preparing to start the Descent? Then, he could notify his clansmen in Indiles to pack up and vanish for a while. Even if it turned out to be a false alarm, they wouldn't lose anything. Better safe than sorry; caution was the golden rule.

  Beyond that, he actually did want to help Ayesha. He had "raised" her for quite a while now, and some affection had developed. It would be a pity if such a cute girl died just to serve as a container for a God.

  Of course, he couldn't tell Natalia any of that. So, Eros simply shrugged and said in an exaggerated tone:

  "Technically, I’m basically Ayesha’s father now, aren't I? Don't treat a stepdad like he isn't family. As a father, isn't it normal for me to protect my own daughter?"

  Natalia: "..."

  "Why are you looking at me like that? Is what I said not true?" Eros huffed, noticing Natalia staring intently as if trying to see through him.

  Natalia withdrew her gaze. She couldn't see through the shadows masking his face. She couldn't read his eyes or his expressions to tell if he was lying. Because of this, she couldn't gamble her daughter’s safety on his character. She was about to reject the proposal and give up the mission entirely.

  However, just as she opened her mouth, the "Night Remnant" said something that made her waver.

  "If you don't believe me, I can swear by my Ancestor, the Night Goddess. Although Her Grace has fallen, the binding force of such a vow... I shouldn't need to explain that, right?"

  Natalia’s eyes flickered. To swear by a Great One—especially when he was Her descendant. Unless he intended to defile the sublimity of his own Ancestor and his own noble bloodline, he would never be able to break that oath. And would a Night Remnant defile the Goddess? No, these fanatics would rather die than do such a thing.

  "What exactly is your goal in doing this?" Natalia asked, her voice trembling slightly after a long silence.

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  "I told you! Isn't it only natural for a father to protect his daughter?" Eros chuckled, repeating his earlier claim.

  Natalia fell silent again. After a long while, she let out a long breath. "Then... I leave Ayesha to you."

  "Relax! I’ll take good care of our daughter," Eros said with absolute confidence.

  Hearing "our daughter," Natalia felt a sudden wave of awkwardness. She felt unnatural, but she didn't refute him. She simply turned her face away, refusing to look at him.

  "Aren't you going to unbind them?" she asked, glancing at the two men held by the shadow tentacles.

  Eros looked at his captives, then back at Natalia. After a moment of thought, he brought up something completely unrelated:

  "I’ve noticed that it’s always me who initiates the kissing. You’ve never once kissed me voluntarily."

  Natalia replied expressionlessly, "What are you trying to say?"

  "Give me a voluntary kiss, and I’ll release them. Deal?" Eros’s lips curled, his voice carrying a hint of temptation.

  Natalia stared at the man. Though she couldn't see his face clearly, she could guess he was wearing a detestable grin. Finally, she sighed. She placed her hands on his shoulders, tilted her head back, and stood on her tiptoes.

  After a long moment, Natalia stepped back. Her face was tense and her voice was cold. "Is that enough?"

  "Certainly~" Eros snapped his fingers with a laugh.

  In the next second, the shadow tentacles vanished into thin air, along with the shadows covering the men's faces. As soon as Ayesha regained her sight, she rushed to Natalia’s side, glaring warily at the mysterious figure. Despite meeting him several times, she never dared to let her guard down—especially after he had broken into her room in the dead of night. No matter how he justified it, that was not the behavior of a gentleman.

  Richie and Ornigo, on the other hand, were restless and kept looking at Natalia. They knew that after the previous incident, Natalia seemed to have reached a cooperation agreement with this guy.

  Natalia felt her teammates' gazes. She weighed her words carefully and said with a complex expression, "He... is now a temporary ally for our mission."

  Eros shrugged. "Seems like my presence makes you all quite uncomfortable~"

  Richie and Ornigo’s mouths twitched. Uncomfortable? We're beyond uncomfortable, okay? Of course, they only dared to think this.

  Eros gave a mock-disappointed sigh. "Fine! Shall I leave then?"

  No one spoke.

  Eros: "..."

  "I’m really leaving?"

  Still silence. Eros sighed again, appearing dejected as he vanished from the spot. Once he was gone, Ornigo and Richie quickly scanned the surrounding trees. Finding no one, they let out a breath, though they didn't fully relax. Night Remnants were notoriously hard to spot in the dark.

  Actually, they were overthinking it. Eros was truly gone. Though he hadn't "harvested" much today, as long as Ayesha stayed at the Academy, there would be plenty of opportunities. There was no rush.

  Seeing the mysterious man leave, Ayesha asked her mother again, "Mama! Do I still need to stay undercover?"

  This time, Natalia didn't hesitate. She nodded. "Don't worry. If necessary... he will protect you. That was one of the conditions of our cooperation."

  Ayesha looked conflicted. She was quite resistant to that Night Remnant. After a pause, she whispered to her mother about the time the man had snuck into her room and tied her up. She kept her voice low so Richie and Ornigo couldn't hear. She hadn't mentioned it before to avoid worrying her mother, but now she felt she had to.

  If the man had been telling the truth about "discussing it with her mother," then what about the other thing he said? That her mother had accepted his confession?

  Ayesha felt a sudden, inexplicable fear—fear that that sentence was also true.

  What she didn't know was that while her little mind was racing, her mother was looking at her with eyes full of agony.

  "Ayesha... he said you are an abandoned pawn of the Goddess. Has the Goddess truly abandoned you...?" Natalia murmured inwardly. She tilted her head up and closed her eyes, not wanting her daughter to see her losing her composure.