Helial went on blabbering under the gaze of a completely naked Circe. He had never been in that position before. He didn’t know what to do. Train until the very last drop of Mana is depleted, or deal with a primordial Devil, is way easier than face one undressed woman. Everyone knows that.

The sight of his face going scarlet inspired a warm affection in Circe. She didn’t imagine a powerful and fierce Mana practitioner like him to be so naive in the sheet. If Helial had turned out to be a hungry wolf, it would have been no surprise to Circe. After all, this was but a game; as long as she was the one setting the rules the Witch wouldn’t hesitate to play. Though, Helial’s silly reaction was unexpectedly endearing. She ignored the nonsense and drew near his ear, saying: “We can do it again if you like.”

Helial didn’t quite catch this. “Do what?”

After a split second, he realized how stupid a question that was. Do that, of course.

Circe covered her mouth as her lips shaped a smile. “Now that it’s done, you’ll have to take on the responsibility that come with it. Or will you run away after deflowering a young girl?”

Deflower? What flower? What responsibilities? Helial’s brain went haywire once and for all. The boy took a deep breath and tried to calm down. Processing everything would take some doing, but he was slowly realizing where this was going. It was clear that he had had a certain intercourse with Circe, and now he had to take over his responsibilities. Nothing shocking, right? It was no surprise that he couldn’t recall any of it. After all, Circe was renowned as the Witch of Orma. She had a history in deceiving and crippling men, didn’t she?

“Sure. I’ll take full responsibility. I won’t run away from anything,” Helial said. The shock was slowly decreasing. On second thought, it was no rotten luck; Circe was a stunning woman many people in Orma yearned for. Helial didn’t even need to fight to have her naked in his bed. Engagement was just an… amenable complication. Circe was the descendant of the Guild of Life and Death. He was only Caesar’s pupil. What would have happened if the King’s pupil had deflowered the heir of the greatest Guild in Orma without any intention of marrying her?

Not only would have Caesar needed to lose his face to defend him, but he also would have had very little chance to keep him as his pupil for much longer.

The serious expression on Helial’s face left Circe baffled. She said to herself, Let’s see how farther I can push this, then.

“So now we’re en… enga-” Helial was trembling again.

“We’re engaged, yeah!” Circe giggled. She kissed him on the neck as he stood still.

Helial seemed to be pondering the matter quite seriously, which only made things more hilarious for her.

The guy really was an idiot. And yet she enjoyed his company and manners. Even if she wasn’t serious about this, she was still overly curious to discover how things would unfold.

As he weighed up the consequences of making this public, Helial asked: “We should announce it properly. How do we tell your parents?”

Circe stared blankly for a second. Then she said, a sullen expression on her face: “Of course we should! We’ll tell everybody. Why shouldn’t we? A cold feet, already?”

“No. Just asking. I’m not even a member of the Clan of the Heavenly Eagle, I have no idea how your Guild will take this,” Helial said thoughtfully. He was caught in Circe’s trap at this point. He was yet another unaware victim of the Witch.

“I don’t think they will find anything to object. No one can tell me what to do,” Circe smiled and pinched at Helial’s nose.

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Helial shrugged and closed his eyes. He was still exhausted. It would take him some time to recover. Since things already came to be this way, he might as well seize the chance and enjoy that beauty.

Circe moved slightly away and sat upright, her bosom majestically erect. She ran a hand over her chin as she pondered, This engagement thing will get wildly funny. Those oldies will kick up a fuss, but it’ll pose no obstacle. It’s not the first time I fool a man, they know there’s little they could do to stop me. I’ve already announced and broken off a number of engagements. This will make no exception.

***

Royal Hall

Lumia was furious. She walked down the red carpet covering the hall floor. That was an insult she couldn’t get over. The bitch was right under my nose and still, she managed to slip away. Lumia was still too weak, she could have done nothing to stop Circe. As she foamed at the mouth, she could not help but think of the raunchiest scenes that might be happening. She blushed. It was no shame though; unlike Helial, Lumia didn’t feel embarrassed. She felt rage. Her eyes were bloodshot.

The girl didn’t leave Caesar the time to speak before rattling off her the reasons of her anger. Caesar and Nelia, who was sitting next to him, exchanged a knowing look.

Nelia was the one who spoke first: “You see, little Lumia, Circe will do no harm to your brother. Yes, she’s a reckless bold woman, but the Guild of Life and Death has always been a loyal ally to the Clan of the Heavenly Eagle. You don’t need to worry. Also, your brother can fend for himself.”

None of these words succeeded in calming down Lumia, who growled through gritted teeth: “You two could take him here in the blink of an eye, if you wanted to. What does it cost you, a snap of your fingers? You’re doing nothing!”

Lumia wasn’t entirely wrong. It would cost them nothing to bring Helial back to the Royal Palace. The King being an Immortal, the range of his Divine Sense covered the whole City-State of Orma. It could stretch as far as the border with other Nations, where it would only be stopped by that of other Immortals.

Caesar indeed inspected Orma through his Divine Sense during Lumia’s venting. There was no place he couldn’t catch sight of except for some reserved areas belonging to the Sect of the Worthy or the Guild of Life and Death. There, the King’s Divine Sense would be obstructed by those of Aure and Big, Circe’s father. However, after making sure Helial was in no danger - not a life-threatening one at least - he withdrew his Divine Sense and reported it to his wife.

A woman would definitely know how to handle this.

“Circe likes playing with men. He’ll gain some experience, that’s all. She has already announced then broken off four engagements. This makes the fifth, but I don’t think the last.” Then she glanced at Caesar and gave a sigh. “Your pupil is made of flesh too. Sowing his oats a little won’t hurt.”

“If that woman should get in the way of his Dao of Mana…” Caesar said upset.

The thing was, they had no idea on what to tell Helial’s little sister to calm her down. Lumia was terribly jealous. If she had known for certain that her hypothesis was correct, she would have gone berserk. Given her strength, that would mean that the entire royal residence would be razed to the ground.

At the beginning, Caesar let Lumia and Snowflake stay in the Palace only because Helial had asked him. But he soon had to change his mind. Lumia’s talent really was terrifying. She was stronger than Circe had been at her age. No one could boast the same talent as Lumia but Helial and Pseudonym.

The secret of that sudden leap in strength was a mystery to the King. Her Mana Control seemed now to compare that of her brother. Also, her attitude showed she had really grown in maturity, as if she had grown several years older overnight.

Obviously, Caesar didn’t know that Lumia actually spent five years inside the hell created for her by Iblis. Lumia did grow astonishingly stronger, but this came at the cost of years of suffering. After all that she experienced inside the Illusion, Lumia now needed to face the challenges of the real world to develop her Mana. That’s why she couldn’t immediately benefit from another training like the previous one.

As far as Snowflake was concerned, the King ignored his strength. Whenever Snowflake went and trained into the wild, however, he would follow him through the Divine Sense. Up to now, the King had only seen Snowflake use one Skill. His Movement Skill. Even the greatest Immortal in Orma had never seen anything like that.

In a Lumia-vs-Snowflake match, even Caesar wouldn’t know whom to bet on.

For how strong they were, though, none of them could compare the mysterious pupil who had sworn faith to the Goblin population through a Mana Oath. Helial had a number of unusual Skills that let him exert a frightening power. He still hadn’t the fullest control of them though. Once able to master them, Helial would become a matchless genius. According to his math, even Circe couldn’t compete with his pupil’s talent.

The only one who could, after all, was the black-armored champion of the Colosseum.

Pseudonym.