Chapter 329: Winged Heavenly Being Subjugation — Interlude (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 329: Winged Heavenly Being Subjugation — Interlude (3)
It happened while Isaac was still unconscious.
“Are you really okay with this?”
“…”
In a secluded corner of the Butterfly Garden, where Isaac often trained, Luce Eltania and Dorothy Heartnova stood facing each other across the wide, grassy field.
Luce gave a solemn nod in response to Dorothy’s question.
“Our friend finds himself in a rather peculiar predicament. If you’re at the point of asking even me for help, can I assume you’re feeling truly cornered?”
Dorothy covered her mouth, a sly, devious chuckle escaping her lips. The sight irritated Luce, but she merely furrowed her brows, refusing to take the bait.
“Enough with the useless chatter.”
“Alright, I’ll stop teasing. In that case… I won’t pull my punches.”
“Fine.”
The two students simultaneously deployed magic circles, aiming them at one another.
During the Heavenly Being Incident, after being defeated by Vuel and eventually regaining her senses, Luce Eltania had been consumed by a crushing sense of helplessness. She was desperate to grow stronger. That was the sole reason she had asked Dorothy for a spar.
No matter how much Luce disliked Dorothy, she couldn't deny that, at present, Dorothy was the stronger of the two.
As the sun dipped below the horizon and the sky turned to ink, days and nights blurred together. Luce continued her relentless sparring with Dorothy without a moment's rest.
It wasn’t just Dorothy, either.
Luce had even bowed her head to Alice Carroll, asking to train with her. Alice had accepted gracefully, proving to be a kind yet formidable sparring partner.
Even though Luce was hailed as a genius, she was currently no match for the likes of Dorothy or Alice. However, Luce had no intention of backing down. She could no longer bear the thought of losing someone dear to her because of her own powerlessness.
She wanted to become stronger—to become someone who could walk in stride with Isaac.
*
“Isaac, why aren’t you answering?”
Returning to the present.
Perched on the bed, Luce whispered impatiently to the man she loved more than anyone else. She had already confessed her feelings once; there was no longer any need to awkwardly hide her emotions.
“Don’t you like it…?”
Luce deliberately let a breathy quality slip into her voice as she placed her hand over Isaac’s bound ones. She stroked his hand gently, as if handling a precious treasure, before sliding her slender fingers between his.
When she softly interlocked their fingers, Isaac flinched, a visible shudder running through him.
“Hey, Luce…”
“Isaac, it might be sudden, but I see you as a man.”
Luce was well aware of her own beauty. She had reached a certain conclusion: Isaac saw her as a woman, too. And so, despite her lack of experience, she had chosen seduction as her primary tactic.
“Do I not look like a woman to you…?” she asked, her voice almost a plea for him to acknowledge her.
Isaac’s lips twitched. His eyes trembled, his body temperature spiked, and the small movements of his head became stiff with tension. Luce noticed every single change. It was proof that even he was just a man, unable to fully resist his own desires.
She pressed her advantage.
Luce deliberately pressed her bare chest against Isaac’s and gazed at him as if she were seconds away from a kiss. Their warm breaths mingled, heating their lips. With her free hand, she brushed Isaac’s bangs back, exposing his forehead to ensure his entire focus was pinned solely on her.
The two of them forgot the world around them, even the crackling of the campfire, as they gazed deeply into each other’s eyes.
“You can do whatever you want with me,” Luce murmured, her lips barely moving.
It was a sweet, seductive whisper.
“Do as you wish,” she added, her tone intimate yet resolute.
Click.
Suddenly, Luce undid the restraints. The magic that had formed them dissipated into the air. The bindings had only been a tool to command Isaac’s absolute attention. Now, they had served their purpose.
All that remained was to wait for Isaac’s reaction.
Their eyes were locked in a tender, suggestive gaze. Luce’s shallow breaths tickled Isaac’s lips. Like prey offering its neck to a predator, Luce had surrendered her body, leaving the choice entirely to him.
Finally, Isaac closed his eyes and spoke.
“Luce, you already figured out that I like you too, didn’t you?”
She had.
“What kind of answer do you want?”
“Never mind. I guess there’s no need to ask. So that’s why you’re doing this.”
Isaac opened his eyes again but turned his head to the side, pointedly avoiding her gaze.
“I’m sorry, but for starters… I’m trash.”
“Trash?”
“I haven’t even told you why yet.”
Isaac glared at her sharply.
“It’s because you like multiple women, isn’t it?”
“Seems like you already know… Anyway, it’s true that I like you, but you’re not the only one.”
“I know, you horn dog,” Luce replied, her expression softening into something slightly sad.
“Do you know why someone like me doesn’t date? I don’t want to complicate things with relationships until after I defeat the Evil God. I need to stay focused.”
It was a mindset born from the grueling years he’d spent studying for exams in his past life, but Luce had no way of knowing that.
“So, you’re going to hold back?”
“Yeah. At least for now, I can’t lay a hand on you.”
“…”
Luce closed her eyes in thought, then opened them again, a sudden realization dawning on her as she looked at Isaac.
“Are you… impotent?”
“No, dumbass,” Isaac snapped.
“Dumbass? Why say something so harsh?”
“Fool.”
“That’s better.”
Once again, an awkward silence settled between them. It was Luce’s turn to break it. She turned her head and stared quietly at the campfire for a long moment.
“So, you’re still not thinking about doing anything naughty with me…”
Suddenly, a wave of doubt washed over her.
“Something about our relationship… feels a little twisted.”
“…”
“Then can I ask you just one thing?”
“Yeah.”
Luce looked down at Isaac with lifeless eyes, as if the fire had drained all her energy.
“Is Alice an exception?”
“What?”
“You secretly lived together and shared a bed, didn’t you? Why did you do that with her?”
Luce interrogated him, her tone sharp and intimidating. Isaac momentarily doubted his ears before a drop of cold sweat slid down his face.
How does she know?
He pushed that question aside for the moment. It felt completely unfair to be interrogated over this. Sure, they had shared a bed, but they had literally only slept. Of course, claiming they "only slept" sounded like a joke, but Isaac felt no shame in being categorized as trash either way.
He voiced the first question that came to mind. “How did you know about that…?”
“…”
Luce kept her mouth shut, clearly unwilling to explain her sources.
During that time, I also slept with Dorothy, but she only mentioned Alice…
That meant…
…She sneaked into my room again, didn’t she?
Isaac frowned, a bitter smile tugging at his lips. Luce had been to his room before. She had made a mistake on her first visit, but she had likely taken the time to figure out exactly what went wrong. If she had secretly slipped into his room to sniff around or collect clues like stray hairs, she could have easily deduced that Isaac and Alice had been living together.
Given it was Luce, she had probably erased all traces of her intrusion perfectly before leaving. After the 「Alice Subjugation」, Alice had hidden in Isaac’s room until her return to the academy, so any traces of Dorothy had likely been erased during that period. That was why Luce had concluded he had only slept with Alice.
“Haa…”
Isaac let out a deep sigh.
“It’s not what you’re imagining. She wasn’t an exception.”
“You must’ve done all sorts of things. There’s no way Alice left you alone.”
“Nothing happened. Stop making weird assumptions.”
Luce read the subtle shifts in Isaac’s expression and realized he was telling the truth.
“…Really?”
She lowered her gaze. Although she felt a wave of relief knowing they had only slept, she still found it hard to believe that Alice hadn’t tried any tricks while living under the same roof.
“Something feels… a little off.”
In the end, Luce’s mood sank again, and the charged, suggestive tension dissolved before they knew it.
“What a letdown.”
Luce gave up on her attempt at seduction and plopped down next to Isaac. Their hands remained interlocked.
“I was about to feel gloomy, but now I’m just annoyed.”
“That’s better, isn’t it?”
“Annoyance is one step lower on the danger scale.”
“That’s a relief. So, what can I do for you?”
“You still owe me something, don’t you? Use that to cheer me up.”
“What is it?”
“Half a year ago, you said you’d repay me when it was just the two of us.”
Isaac searched his memory for something he had long forgotten.
Ah, right. After the 「Alice Subjugation」.
Following the Alice incident, Isaac had promised to repay Luce for her help once they were alone. Back then, he had just received the first loop notes from Saintess Bianca, which had completely consumed his thoughts, causing the promise to slip his mind.
Luce looked up at the ceiling, pouting sulkily.
“You forgot, didn’t you? I hate you.”
“Sorry. What would you like me to do?”
“Hmm… How about we bump our mouths together?”
“It’s hard to describe a kiss in a less romantic way than that.”
To Isaac, Luce seemed entirely disconnected from the concept of traditional romance. He stared at the ceiling, mirroring her posture. In the silence that followed, he fell deep into thought.
“I wouldn’t exactly call it a substitute for a kiss… but there’s something I need to tell you.”
“Hmm? Something you need to tell me?”
“I’ve been thinking about when to bring it up.”
Luce turned her eyes toward him. “What is it?”
“I’ve actually met the Great Witch of Heaven’s Wrath.”
“…What?”
Luce’s eyes sharpened instantly, and she sat bolt upright.
“Twice, to be exact.”
“What do you mean, all of a sudden?”
The Great Witch of Heaven’s Wrath, also known as the Candy House Witch. To Luce, that name was as untouchable as a dragon’s reverse scale. Her eyes turned ice-cold, yet in stark contrast, the hand interlocked with Isaac’s began to tremble.
“You’re joking, right…? No, if this is a joke, I don’t think I can stay calm….”
“Would I joke about something like this?”
Isaac grumbled just loud enough for her to hear. Then, his gaze fixed on the ceiling, he began to speak seriously. “I’ve been through a lot of things, and I ended up meeting her by chance. The first time was briefly during the fight with Galia, and the second time was in the Nether.”
“…And then?”
“She asked me to send her regards to you, Gretel.”
At the mention of that name, Luce gasped involuntarily. Isaac didn't continue; he waited for her reaction, choosing not to reveal the Candy House Witch’s ultimate fate just yet.
Luce’s eyes wavered.
“What are you suddenly talking about…?”
Her deeply buried trauma pounded mercilessly at her heart. Isaac saw her expression and his eyes widened in concern.
“Luce?”
The gentle glow of the campfire flickered, reflecting in the corners of Luce’s eyes.
Tears.
“Is it true…?”
Her whisper was fragile, her voice trembling with a sob. Isaac released their interlocked hands and pulled her into an embrace. He gently stroked her hair, trying his best to soothe her sorrow.
“Yes, it’s true. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.”
“Do you even know how I’ve been living with these feelings…? How am I supposed to endure this after hearing that…?”
For a long time, Luce sobbed silently in Isaac’s arms. Eventually, she cried herself to sleep. Only then did Isaac, still holding her close, drift off into his own dreams.
“…”
In the quiet hours of dawn, Luce opened her eyes. Her throat felt raw, likely from the strain of trying to suppress her sobs. She felt completely drained, her body devoid of strength.
She lifted her head to look at Isaac, who was sound asleep, still holding her protectively.
“I really hate you…”
Luce muttered softly, her voice tinged with a hollow emptiness, before gently pressing her lips to Isaac’s.
There was a small, soft sound—a brief moment of lingering intimacy.
The next day, under the warmth of the morning sun, Isaac woke up. Looking around, he realized Luce had already left the room.
Isaac stared at the spot where she had slept, a complex mix of emotions swirling within him. When he reached out to touch the sheets, the warmth was already gone.