“This is really good.” Leonidas nodded, but he wasn’t very good at sounding excited. So, instead, he took a different approach.

“You are still worried, right?”

Eve bit her lip, her hands gripping her knees hard, but she still nodded.

“Have you ever wondered what the Unique Promotion Goddess Yves provides is?”

Eve blinked. “Unique Promotion? No, I’ve never looked into it, I was always focused on becoming a stronger Fighter. Plus, the path to Deacon was never open to me, so it felt too far away. All I know is that they called it the Hallowed Monk.”

“That’s right. I looked into it for your sake. As you know, a Monk is a Promotion Class of the Healer and they are known for combining the divine with martial arts. Meaning, they are experts in using Spirit offensively.”

Eve’s brow shot up.

Information about Deacons was really low in a town like Violet Waters.

Leonidas spoke of information about Promotion Classes as though it was common knowledge, but this couldn’t have been further from the case. Eve didn’t even know what Promotion Class her elder brother had chosen nor did she know what he could do.

Of course, this was also a product of Eve being a lone wolf.

“Hallowed Monks have a special subset of Blessings known as Halo Blessings. They manifest Halos that can be used to heal, restrain and attack.

“If you follow me, I guarantee there will come a day when you Promote to this Class and you’ll wield power of your own again. That I promise.”

Eve bit her lips harder.

When she made this decision, she had already decided to just give up on her foolish dreams. At least for as long as Leonidas needed her, she would be treated well. As for after that, well she would still be a Healer. She could then leverage her wealth to find other ways to improve.

However, hearing Leonidas explain these things to her, she felt a rush. It suddenly clicked to her that he would never bother to explain these things if he ever had any intention of abandoning her.

He had been telling the truth.

From now on, she was his woman.

Eve rose from her chair and crossed the distance over to Leonidas.

Her wide hips swayed and her plump bottom sat upon his lap.

She relaxed into his embrace, allowing his arm to wrap around her slender waist and rest on her thigh.

“I am too old for a young man like you,” she said softly.

Eve didn’t know why she had even said such a thing. She wasn’t usually the type to harp on such matters.

But, she felt especially vulnerable right now.

Leonidas shook his head. Despite her age, Eve was still very beautiful, and her body, especially, put most young women to shame.

“Very soon, you won’t be able to tell the difference between your current self and your prime. Goddess Yves treats her Healers very well.”

Eve bit her lip.

When she thought of Averit and Oudin, she sighed, believing that Leonidas was only comforting her.

Those two were just as old and wrinkled as any other man their age.

“You’re thinking of those two old men? I wouldn’t worry about them, if I were you.”

“Why’s that?”

“I have a feeling that Goddess Yves treats those who’ve used underhanded means to gain her Blessings very differently from how she’ll treat you.”

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Eve’s brow furrowed, not quite understanding.

“I can’t explain too much for now, and most of it is speculation, but in due time, it’ll all be revealed.”

“Okay.”

Eve was surprised by how easily the word had come from her mouth. Was she really so trusting?

“I… have something I think I should tell you if our relationship is to continue,” Eve said.

“Hm?”

“About Father Barat…”

“Your past relationships have nothing to do with me,” Leonidas replied.

He didn’t really care so long as Eve was loyal to him from now on. He had already known that she was forcefully married off once before, after all. He was under no illusions about what she had also been forced to do under such conditions.

He had grown up around prostitutes. The way he viewed the world was different from most men in this world.

“I understand, but I still believe that this is important,” Eve continued. “While being forced into a marriage is one matter, in your eyes, the relationship between Father Barat and I was consensual.

“I may not have been with you for a very long time, but what I do know is that your mind works ten steps ahead. Even if you won’t admit it, you’ll always be checking to see if I’ll choose you or my supposed childhood love.

“I only want to tell you that the matters between Father Barat and I back then… aren’t so complex. We were children. He was a commoner and I was the princess in an ivory tower.

“It’s cruel to say, but I latched onto him because he was the furthest thing from what my father wanted. Everything was amplified because of my forced marriage.

“I haven’t been a good person to him. I even used his feelings to help you, the both of us knowing full well the kind of relationship I wanted to start…”

Eve poured out all the things she wanted to say, her tears falling down in a rain.

She was ashamed of much of it. She felt all kinds of guilt and complicated emotions toward Barat, but none of them were love.

In a way, she was exposing herself, exposing the dark underbelly of what she was willing to do to get her way. Her nephew’s death wasn’t a product of what she had become, it was just another symptom of what she already was before.

A grimier, crueler symptom… but a symptom nonetheless.

Eve was a damaged woman. She had her flaws, some due to her circumstance, others due to her innate disposition. But, all of it was her.

Leonidas wasn’t put off by this reality as he had already seen it. Any woman capable of killing her own flesh and blood, no matter how much she hated her family, was one willing to go to great lengths to protect herself.

He knew this and accepted it.

There was no neat bow or cherry waiting at the end of this road. Sometimes life was just filled with too many shades of grey to parse and organize.

All Leonidas cared about now was the fact Eve was on his side. So long as things remained this way, he would protect her as his own.

***

“Are you ready?”

Eve nodded slowly.

After getting all of her tears out of her system, she had finally calmed herself.

Leonidas thought of making Eve wait to transition to a Healer for the sake of keeping it from Deacon Bruthers for a bit longer. However, whenever he thought of the rusted bronze ax, he felt a sense of urgency he couldn’t ignore.

There was a looming guillotine waiting out there and it could drop at any moment. The sooner Eve got acclimated to her new Class, the better. As for the matters related to the Bruthers family, he would deal with them as they came.

Regardless, his union with Eve had already been approved by Goddess Yves. Deacon Bruthers couldn’t encroach on that easily.

“Alright. Good luck. If you need any extra Blessing Units, use what I have in reserve, there should be some left though not much after I bought Anabel the things she needed... If you need any more than that, we’ll have to make a trip to the mines again and see if we can target any Apostles. If worse comes to worst, we can just mine until we gather what’s needed.”

Eve nodded, but what neither expected was that let alone needing extra Blessings, Goddess Yves would Bless her to the point it made what Leonidas had gained seem like child’s play.

“My child, this Goddess has been waiting for you for a very long time. I am glad you’ve made this choice.”

Leonidas watched in silence as Eve seemed to change before his eyes.

At first, he thought it was a trick of the eye. One or two of her faint wrinkles vanished, but the change wasn’t large enough for him to be certain.

However, that was when her hair began to change.

Her dirty blond hair slowly lengthened. From a cut that ended just below her ears, it passed her jaws, then graced her shoulders, then spilled over until it fell to the ground like a waterfall.

As though a spring of golden waters sprung from her scalp, a wave of gold rushed outward, brightening her hair to the point it shined like polished metal, radiating its own fierce light.

By the time Leonidas looked back toward Eve’s face from her hair, it had become silky smooth. It was like she had regressed back to 20 years ago, becoming a young 20-year-old woman in her absolute prime once again.

As beautiful as she was before, Leonidas’ gaze couldn’t help but brighten now. It was like even her slightest imperfections were being smoothed over by the hand of Goddess Yves.

When Eve finally opened her eyes again, their warm brown had vanished, becoming two floating orbs of gold enveloped by a white ring that slowly faded.

Eve looked down at her hands, her face filled with astonishment.

Looking around, she rushed off to a mirror, grabbing its sides as though she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

She was young again. No, she looked even better than she had when she was young. It felt like a miracle.

“Leonidas!”

Eve turned back, her voice having become the slightest twinge sweeter and clearer.

“Goddess Yves took back all the Blessing Units I’ve ever spent on upgrading myself and rolled it forward into this Promotion! I’m a Level 3 Healer! And she even gave me four free Blessings per Promotion!”

Leonidas’ brows shot up.