It was noon.

  The radiant sun basked Tark Prairie in its golden rays, staving away the coldness of the night.

  In this comfortable weather, a single man sat alone in the midst of a grass field, reflecting on his mistake.

  It was common sense to prepare a present that was aligned with the receiver’s preference, but common sense wasn’t always right all the time. Roel’s current plight was one perfect example.

  Oof. To think that the present was actually myself.

  The Angel Shackle was an incorporeal magic tool that bound two sources of mana with identical attributes. It manifested as two cuffs with a chain that could extend endlessly. If one side were to tug on the chain, they would be able to drag the other party back no matter how far away they were.

  Roel had requested Artasia to create this magic tool both as a gift and a way for him to help Nora during the crucial phase of her bloodline awakening. It was something that was thought up with many considerations in mind. Yet, it was being used for purposes that it wasn’t intended for.

  “Here, open your mouth.”


  On the grass field, Roel sat in front of Nora with many coils of chain wrapped around his body as he quietly looked at the sky, regretting his own mistakes. On the other hand, Nora grabbed the other end of the chain and ‘persuaded’ Roel to take a bite off her dessert spoon.

  Roel was not tied up because he had a sudden awakening of masochistic tendencies or something. He did try to fight back, but he made a fatal miscalculation here—he had used angelic power as the intermediary for the shackles.

  It went without saying that Nora had greater control over angelic power as compared to Roel, which meant to say that she could control the shackles to do whatever she wanted.

  “Are you really not going to eat it?”


  Nora disrupted Roel’s memory flashback. She dangled the dessert spoon in front of him, trying to bait him in. However, the latter had already made up his mind to ignore her.

  “Nope.”


  “It’s delicious. I specially prepared it for you. You should at least give it a try.”


  “Remove the shackles first.”


  “That won’t do,” Nora rejected Roel’s request with a bright smile.

  She leaned in even closer while tucking her hair behind her shoulders, revealing her fair neck. She placed her mouth right next to Roel’s ears and whispered softly.

  “Be good and take a mouthful, alright?”


  “… I reject.”


  “I guess I have no choice then. I’ll have to dish out some punishment.”


  “W-w-wait! What are you going to do?” exclaimed Roel in panic.

  Nora had started taking off her boots with a slightly reddened face, exposing a pair of long slender legs wrapped in thin black stockings. Her movements were so oddly sensual to Roel that his mind started uncontrollably heating up, awakening his male instincts.

  He knew right away that this wasn’t good.

  As someone who was often in the accompaniment of ravishing ladies, Roel had a high level of tolerance as a man. However, when the esteemed princess known as a saintly angel to the masses looked at him with a furiously blushing face, her eyes intermixed with purity and desire, he found himself helplessly sinking deeper and deeper into the deadly seduction concocted by the vivid contrast.

  Who could possibly withstand this?

  All of Roel’s defenses quickly crumbled.

  On the other hand, Nora had lightly placed her leg on his thigh.

  “Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you.”


  “N-no, that isn’t the problem here.”


  The friction of her stocking on his leg left Roel feeling a little ticklish, and his face quickly turned red as well. He could feel her little foot slowly moving further upward, and her lust in her eyes seemed to be running amok.

  Knowing that he couldn’t let things continue at this rate, he quickly cried out.

  “I-I’ll eat! I’ll eat!”


  “Hm?”


  “Weren’t you feeding me earlier? I’ll eat, so you can stop your so-called punishment now!”


  “A-ah, okay.”


  Having lost the reason to continue the punishment, Nora slowly regained her rationality and withdrew her leg. She took a deep breath to calm down, but she was still unable to fully quell the heat she felt.

  Thus, when Roel leaned forward to take a bite off the dessert spoon, she gave in to her desire and took his lips for herself instead. Roel instinctively tried to retreat, but Nora grabbed the chain tightly, not allowing him to move away.

  The two of them were stuck like that for a long time before Nora finally let him go.

  “That’s not what we promised,” Roel grumbled while gasping for air.

  “… It’s the appetizer,” replied Nora merrily.

  She finally picked up the dessert spoon and delivered it toward Roel’s mouth, finally giving him a taste of the dessert.

  After having vented her feelings, Nora no longer attempted anything overboard, choosing to obediently feed him till he was full. She knew that if she were to continue pushing the boundaries, they might just go beyond the edge.

  It was not to say that she was averse to the idea of consummation with her lover on her birthday, but she felt that the location was less than ideal. On top of that, the Genesis Goddess Church forbade its followers from taking preventive measures.

  The birth of a new life was viewed to be a gift from Sia, but it was still too early for them to have a child just a single year after reaching adulthood. Furthermore, it wasn’t ideal for them to do so given the current circumstances of the royal family.

  With Prince Kane’s disappearance, the Xeclydes needed a powerful and flawless successor. This wasn’t a good period for her to get pregnant, and there was still an important trial awaiting her just ahead.

  “It’ll happen tomorrow, right?”


  “Mmhm. During sunset.”


  After lunch, Roel asked about the estimated time of Nora’s final relapse of Seraphication, and the latter quickly sensed her bloodline before nodding her head. The two of them leaned against each other and listened to the other’s heartbeat.

  The fight that would occur during tomorrow’s sunset would determine their survival, the future of the Theocracy, and possibly even the fate of humankind. At the same time, Roel also had a mission he needed to accomplish.

  He turned his sight westward, and his gleaming golden eyes seemed to traverse across space to gaze upon a group of enemies rushing in their direction. Their eyes were filled with hostility.

  The crossroads of fate were soon to be upon them.