~ Chapter 64: Giving up on my el’doraw ~

[Illsyore's point of view]

 The calm winds gently flowed through the dense foliage on the tree crowns. The leaves rustled softly, adding a few notes to the song of the forest, while the critters filled out the rest of the score. Surrounded by the darkness of the night, with barely any moonlight rays guiding us through, we made our way into the unknown.

The terrain was treacherous, with slippery steeps, and roots popping out of the ground in an attempt to make us stumble. Fallen trees and moss-covered boulders acted as annoying obstacles on our path. Insects and predators lurking in the night had their eyes locked on us, following our movements either out of curiosity or intent to prey upon us.

Behind me, Ayuseya and Nanya walked carefully, watching their every step. The draconian had a few problems with keeping her balance on the slippery terrain, but the demoness was there to offer her a helping hand whenever she needed it. They asked me nothing nor said a single word ever since we left the capital. No, that was wrong, ever since Nanya asked me how I knew how to curse someone.

At one point, I did wonder whether or not Ayuseya was bothered by what I did to the Second Prince of the Aunnar Kingdom or by what I said about the nobility. When I thought about it, I realized that maybe it would be extremely unlikely for a Dungeon of this world to possess such sensitive information about them. In my case, I believed it was something everybody knew because very few countries retained a monarchic rule back on Earth. Noble or not, it didn’t matter in a democratic country.

Unfortunately, there was no such thing as a democracy in this world, or maybe that was a good thing?

I couldn’t tell… I lacked so much information about this world and even about my former one that I would be a real hypocrite to state that I knew how to make it better. I merely knew ideas, concepts, thoughts… not facts. This world had something my previous one didn’t… other intelligent humanoid species, and with that brought another pile of trouble.

If I stayed like this, making a Magic Academy was only going to be a fool’s dream. That was why I had to learn more about this world and how it worked in general. Or maybe even this was a fool’s thought? I didn’t know anymore.

Letting out a sigh, I stopped and looked back at my wives.

“Is something the matter, Illsy?” asked Ayuseya.

“No… maybe.” I looked down.

“Speak up then!” Nanya said with a smile.

Looking into her eyes, I let out a small sigh and then said “About what happened… What I did…”

“It doesn’t matter, Illsy. Others would have done worse if they were in your place.” said Nanya shaking her head slowly.

“Indeed, although I was a bit surprised about what you said about nobility. It came out… a bit as a shock. Not even once did it cross my mind that it could be so, but after I thought about it again, I didn’t find it so unlikely. After all, the king has the power to raise a family from peasantry to nobility. Thus, with given time, that family could one day take the throne.” Ayuseya looked down when she said this, meaning that she was still unsure if accepting this idea was a good thing or a bad thing.

“What about the curse?” I asked after a moment of silence.

“You did what you thought was best, Illsy. It doesn’t really matter right now if either of us thinks it was good or bad.” said Nanya, but from her words, I understood one thing, they didn’t agree with it 100%.

“Yeah… true…” I said and lowered my head.

After another moment had passed, I released my Dungeon Territory and allowed it to stretch to about 30 meters in radius.

“I’ll build a temporary house here. It’s a good place as any”

Clearing up a patch of trees as well as removing all the large boulders around us didn’t take me more than a couple of minutes. There were two options for me now: I could either level the whole area completely or create a platform of some sort on top of it. I chose the latter. It was a one meter thick steel square surface, with support pillars on all corners and one in the middle driven through the ground at one meter depth. Once I was done with this part, I spawned my one room house on top of the platform.

“Let’s go inside.” I said.

My two wives nodded and went in. I followed after them, and just to be safe, I lifted the platform by another meter or so, to keep any curious monsters or animals away from the door. I also added an endurance enchantment to the platform because I didn’t wish to underestimate the strength of the creatures around here.

Once inside, Nanya took out some chopped up wood from her Inner Mind and used it to start a small fire. Ayuseya walked up to the bed and took a seat on the edge.

Today… what I did today… I thought and then looked at my hands.

The Prince’s blood was all over me, and out of all of us, I was the only one stained by it. I felt dirty and disgusted by my own self, and it was all my fault in the first place because I allowed it to slip through my Magic Armor.

I don’t like this… I thought.

“I’m going to take a bath. You two want to join me?” I asked.

“I don’t mind, but shouldn’t we first take care of Shanteya and Tamara?” asked Nanya.

“Of course! I meant after I healed them.” I showed them a small smile.

I didn’t just forget about them, did I? I asked myself.

Speaking of which, I also told a small lie back at the palace. Instead of staying at the Tannaor’s Inn, I left the city immediately. Well, that didn’t matter anyway.

I moved to the back of the room and created a door. Afterwards, I stepped through and enlarged the platform as well as added two more rooms. To my left was another bedroom, and to my right was the bath. To keep things simple, the bathtub and toilet had drains in the same hole deep under the ground, but it had another pipe for airing purposes opening outside of the house because the stench would have killed all of us eventually. As for the other room, it had two beds, one for each of them. I made them as comfortable as possible and even enchanted the walls to keep the room at a comfortable temperature of about 22 degrees Celsius. A single window on the other side of the room allowed for the light outside to shine in, and sturdy, enchanted metal bars kept the monsters out. For light, I used one of my Power Crystals, which I attached to the ceiling. By fueling it with a bit of Magic Energy, just a few points, no more, it was enough to shine light in this room for days, maybe even weeks to come.

“This should do it…” I said after I double checked everything.

While I took care of the healing of the two, Nanya and Ayuseya remained in the other room by themselves. There was no need for them to sit around while I did this.

I began with Tamara. After taking her out of my Inner Mind, I carefully placed the kitten on one of the soft beds and looked at her injury. It was nasty, but worst of all, the bastards burnt the wound to stop it from bleeding.

I took out the cut-off ear and began the operation. Cleaning the wound and draining the ear of coagulated blood was the easiest part. Reconnecting and reviving the dead tissue was a bit harder, but not impossible. Technically, I could apply this process to resurrect someone, however, as I came to learn from my own experience, the body was just a shell, and without a soul, it was nothing more than a biological automaton.

Once I reattached her ear and allowed blood to flow through it, I restored her fur, making it look like the injury never occurred. The little kitten could sleep now a bit more peacefully, without feeling pain surging through her scalp, but before I started with Shanteya, I did a quick check to see if she had any other injuries besides that one.

I discovered three broken ribs and a bunch of bruises.

My poor kitten… I thought as I petted her furry head and healed her completely.

With Tamara sleeping peacefully in the bed, I moved on to Shanteya. After taking her out of my Inner Mind, I laid her down on the bed and proceeded to reattach her cut off limb. It was the same process I applied to the nekatar, but unlike her, Shanteya didn’t have any other injuries on her body.

After I was done with the operation, I left them a small note on the wall and walked into the other room, where I found my two wives waiting for me.

“How are they doing?” asked Ayuseya.

“I healed them completely. Now, we just need to let them rest.” I replied with a smile.

“You should change too.” Nanya suggested.

I looked down and noticed my blood-stained clothes. They were a mess. Without giving it much thought, I undressed and dumped everything in a pile in a corner like I did back in my college days. I also took out Ayuseya’s coffer if she wanted to change.

“I’ll wash them after I take a bath…” I said.

“You can go ahead; we’ll join you after we undress.” Nanya said with a smile.

“The bath will be ready by then.” I showed her a smile, but before I walked out, I added “Tonight, I’m not in the mood for…” I looked down.

“It’s alright, Illsy.” Ayuseya told me with a smile.

I nodded and went to fill the tub. When they joined me, although I was excited to see their naked bodies, we didn’t do anything besides washing ourselves. I helped them wash their backs, they helped wash mine, and then we walked out.

After draining the bath, I changed into a pair of cotton pajamas and slipped into bed with them. Ayuseya hugged me from the right, and Nanya from the left. They both gave me a good-night kiss, and that was how the day ended for me.

[Ayuseya’s point of view]

 When Illsy went to heal Tamara and Shanteya, I pulled Nanya with me and walked outside of the house.

“Hey?! What’s this about?” she asked and furrowed her brow.

I took a deep breath and said “Nanya, I want to talk to you about Illsy.”

“What about him?” she asked raising an eyebrow.

It was a bit hard to say, especially since I had no idea how she would react, but after what happened today, after seeing him like that, I knew I couldn’t just keep this a secret from her.

“Did he seem a bit… strange to you?” I asked her.

“Strange? Hm…” she crossed her arms at her chest and closed her eyes for a moment. “Yes, he did… Especially when he was beating up Prince Reynolds. That smile on his face was a bit creepy and frightening. I knew he wouldn’t do anything to harm us but seeing him like that felt like I was looking at another person.” she said and then opened her eyes “You also found this change in him a bit strange, right?”

I nodded silently.

“Do you know anything about this? About why he acted like that?” she asked me.

I nodded again.

Nanya’s face turned serious.

“Tell me.”

I let out another sigh.

“When he extended his Dungeon Territory back at Tannaor’s Inn, I felt a strange change in it, a violent, evil change… At first, I thought I was simply imagining it, but then he killed those soldiers, and it felt like the bloodshed made his Dungeon Territory rejoice. Then I saw him smiling whenever we killed someone.” I looked into her eyes.

“I too noticed this change you speak off, but maybe that was just his anger? He was quite furious about what happened to Shanteya and Tamara. As for his smile, I guess you saw it too, didn’t you?”

“Yes, but I don’t think his anger was the cause of it.” I shook my head.

“Then what could it have been? I don’t understand…” she furrowed her brow.

“Back when I had my first night with Illsy, he told me something.” I gulped.

“What did he tell you?” she asked.

“He told me there’s a Darkness inside of him.”

“A Darkness? You mean like a bad side? An evil side?” she asked confused.

“No, I apologize, let me rephrase that. I’ll start from the beginning.” I took a deep breath “When Tuberculus made his body, parts of the minds of the former Dungeons remained inside those crystal pieces. When he was born, those pieces became something he came to call as the Darkness. It’s like another mind inside his mind, but this one tells him to act like a Dungeon, to kill adventurers, build traps, not show his emotions towards us, and other things.” I explained the best I could.

“I never heard of something like this… But then again, I never heard of someone creating a Dungeon like Tuberculus did. So you are saying that this… Darkness is capable of controlling him somehow?” she asked, but even she found it hard to believe.

Unlike Illsy expected, Nanya appeared to be rather calm, or at least for now.

“Me neither, but it’s true… You saw Illsy yourself, the way he acted, the things he did, the things he said… Those weren’t like him. Without the influence of the Darkness, I don’t think he would have killed so many innocent people.” I shook my head, firmly believing that my husband wasn’t like Dankyun, someone who enjoyed taking the lives of others.

“No, I suppose not, but…” she scratched her head “How can it control him?”

“I don’t know…” I shook my head. “Maybe when he’s asleep or when he’s in a weak mental state. Either way, we saw clearly today that this Darkness is trying to take over him. The curse was probably done by it, but when Illsy was about to kill the prince, he jumped back. He didn’t want to do it, he didn’t want to kill him.” I said.

“Yes, if anyone should do it, that should be Shanteya or Tamara, but I don’t know if I could allow myself to let the nekatar kill him.” she sighed.

“Even then, I don’t think it would have been right. Even the lives I took or Illsy took with his weapon, maybe we could have found a way around it… When I remember the faces of those men I cut down. When I think about the fact that if I was just a little more skilled, I could have just knocked them out, or… I could have avoided it… I could have…” I was starting to panic.

My heart was beating fast, my hands were shaking, and my eyes were teary. I felt like screaming, but Nanya grabbed my hands and looked into my eyes.

“Stop it, Ayuseya! It’s not your fault, nor Illsy’s! You did what you could at that time. There were some who survived, the others were simply unlucky. It wasn’t like you had a choice. True, if you were more skilled than you are now, then you could have avoided killing them…” she looked down. “But trust me, it’s not fun to beat yourself with guilt after you already did it. The strong will always have a choice of either saving or killing… The weak usually kill because they have no choice, but the strong are not so privileged. My mother told me this, and at first, I didn’t believe her, but as I grew up and got stronger, I understood what she meant by that…” she let out a sigh.

“But still… I killed…” I said as I fell on my knees.

“No, you defended yourself.” she told me shaking her head.

I wanted to cry, and I was still trembling.

“W-What about Illsy?” I asked.

“Illsy made his choice by not killing the Prince. Showing him and everyone else there that he was so powerful he wasn’t afraid of them retaliating. Another way of looking at it would be to believe that Illsy showed him to be so powerful that he wasn’t willing to sully his hands with his blood even after what he did to Shanteya and Tamara.” she smiled.

I looked down and wiped off my tears.

“What now?” I asked.

“Now, we move on and keep an eye on Illsy. Let’s pretend like you never told me this, so neither him nor the Darkness will keep an eye on me. This way, I’ll be able to do a bit of research on my own.” she nodded.

“Research?” I asked a bit confused.

“Yes, I’ll see if there’s any mentioning of two minds in the same body in the documents in the next library we come across.” she smiled.

“I see. I guess, this Darkness does explain why his Inner Mind is like that. It’s like standing in a pitch-black abyss.” I let out a sigh.

“Wait, what?!” Nanya grabbed my shoulders and looked at me with a furrowed brow.

“Erm… His Inner Mind is very dark, but Illsy himself is like a bright shinning sun in there.” I didn’t see why this was so surprising to Nanya.

“That can’t be… Every Dungeon in existence has a clear, light-colored Inner Mind, no matter how evil they may be. Mine is a light-yellow, so Illsy’s supposed to be light green. Why is it pitch black? If this is true… then the Darkness could have a bigger hold on him than we have initially presumed, but… You said he was bright like a sun, right?” she asked.

“Yes…”

“Then this Darkness doesn’t have a complete hold on him. As long as he realizes this, he might still have a chance, but… if we tell him this, then the Darkness could intervene and keep our words from reaching him. ARGH! I can’t figure out how deep rooted is that thing’s control over my husband!” Nanya scratched her head in exasperation.

She was starting to lose me, but if I understood correctly, then the very fact that Illsy’s body in his Inner Mind wasn’t under the control of the Darkness meant that he wasn’t 100% controlled by it yet. Because of the way his Inner Mind looked like, the Darkness may have had more control over his body than even he came to realize.

“What do we do then?” I asked.

Nanya looked at me and then let out a sigh.

“First, we get you back on your feet and wipe off your tears. You look like a mess!” she smiled and patted me on the head “Then, I’ll try and think of something. Either way, this is completely unheard of… at least to me. MOU! Stupid Illsy!” she cried out.

With the way things were going, I could only hope and pray that we would find something with which to help Illsy before the Darkness took control of him completely. At the same time, I hoped it would never catch wind of our little plot and attempt to take Illsy away from us or do something to us.

“Nanya? What happens when a Dungeon doesn’t like the wife he picked?” I asked.

“The Dungeon will most likely kill the wife and find another, why?” Nanya asked.

I gulped and said “Well then, I hope the Darkness won’t think about replacing us if it finds out we are plotting against it…” I showed her an awkward smile.

“Let’s hope so…” Nanya let out a long sigh.

[Shanteya’s point of view]

 I woke up in a comfortable bed in a warm room. Although I didn’t recognize where I was, the energy of this place felt somehow familiar. Through the small window to my right, I could see an endless forest and the light of the sun as it shined through the wild canopy.

Tamara was here as well, sleeping soundly in the other bed. She was curled up in a ball and covered by her blanket, letting only her little nose pop out from under it. Looking at her brought a small smile on my lips, but my heart felt empty.

I pushed myself up and took a sitting position. On the wall in front of me was a small note written in Shorayan. It was from Illsy. He saved us.

“I knew Master wouldn’t forsake us…” I thought and closed my eyes for a moment.

When I opened them again, I found myself crying. I couldn’t stop myself from shedding tears, but I tried my best to keep my whimpers as quiet as possible.

What’s happening? Why am I crying like this? I asked myself as I tried to stop, to keep up the appearance of a flawless woman, but even my jaw was trembling.

I was afraid of something, but I had no idea what until I cast my eyes upon the note again.

Master… no… Illsy… I love Illsy, but… I’m not… I thought, but the words didn’t form in my mind.

The fear of the truth kept me from accepting it. Even now, when I should have been thankful to him for saving me, for doing so much for me, I found myself wanting more from him.

I’m disgusting… I thought and clenched the sheets of the bed while my tears rolled down my shivering jaw.

It was hard to keep my whimpers in, but I did my best.

After I calmed down a bit, I was looking at the note and asking myself what else could I do.

Illsy had two wives, and I was just there as a mere slave. I should have realized by now that the only reason I wanted to stay as his slave was because I loved him and knew that my relationship with Illsy couldn’t grow past this. I wanted more, more than I was allowed to. I was acting like a shameless woman who after tasting a piece of a delicious cake, she wanted to have it all.

Even now, as I stood in this room crying by myself, Illsy was in the other room together with his true wives. He slept with them, cared for them. He became a man with them, but with me, who from the start offered herself to him… with me, he barely kissed and hugged. At best, I was a friend, not a wife or even… a lover.

“I’m a fool… a shameless fool.” I thought as I wiped off my tears.

Illsy wanted to set me free, but out of fear of losing him, I kept refusing this opportunity. I couldn’t let go of him, I couldn’t let go of the only thing connecting me with him. Even this [Bond of Trust] was merely a decoration, seeing how quickly even Tamara obtained it.

Did being kidnapped by the Prince brought me to this state? No… It was me waking up in this room alone, without him by my side, what made me realize the truth of my own selfishness. Illsy was there with his two wives, instead of being here with me… He didn’t even keep me in the same room as him.

Why couldn’t he sleep by my side? If he did, then… I tried not to think, to stop thinking about it.

I just made matters worse, so I slipped back into my bed, holding the tears in and the cry to a minimum.

[Illsyore’s point of view]

 It was high noon when I woke up. Nanya was up and cooking breakfast already, while Ayuseya was cleaning my clothes… or trying to.

Ah! That reminds me, I forgot to wash my clothes last night… I thought.

“MASTER!” Tamara shouted and jumped on top of me.

“OMF!” I groaned while the nekatar giggled.

“Master came after Tamara! Master fixed Tamara’s ear!” she said in Shorayan.

“Yes, I know… also, it’s fine to speak in Kalish now.” I petted her.

“Really? That’s a relief…” she let out a sigh and then gave me a cat kiss on the cheek.

“You are very lively, I see. How are you feeling?” I asked her as I got up.

“I’m doing good! My body doesn’t hurt, and my ear works fine! Prince Reynolds was so brutal when he cut it off that I fainted, but… he was brutal to Shanteya too…” she said and lowered her ears.

“I know, I healed her too. Is she awake?” I asked the nekatar, but I didn’t see the el’doraw coming in.

“Yup! But she said she wasn’t coming out yet. I think she cried. When I licked her cheek, it was salty.” she said rubbing her cheek on my palm.

“Crying?” I furrowed my brow.

This news worried me.

Why would Shanteya be crying? I wondered.

“I’m going to go and check up on her.” I said as I moved Tamara aside and got out of bed.

“Nyu?” the kitten tilted her head and looked at me curiously.

Upon entering the room, I found Shanteya sitting in her bed and looking out the window. She didn’t look to me as if she had been crying, but she didn’t appear to be her usual self either. There was something wrong with her, something out of place, but I couldn’t tell what.

I closed the door behind me and walked up to her.

“Good morning, Shanteya. How are you feeling?” I asked with a smile as I took a seat on the edge of the bed.

She didn’t answer.

“Shanteya?” I asked as I reached out and took her hands into mine.

I’m worried about you… I thought.

After a few seconds, she looked back at me with empty eyes.

“Illsyore, can I ask you to release me from slavery?” she asked.

“What?” I asked with an awkward smile.

Her words surprised me, they shocked me even. Of all things, I wasn’t expecting her to ask me such a thing. It was weird, and I found myself at a loss of words.

How could I explain what sort of emotion I felt in that moment when she basically asked to break the bond between us? I knew she was entitled to her freedom, but without this contract of slavery, she couldn’t receive the [Bond of Trust] boost.

What is she planning to do after this? Will she leave me? Why? What did I do? I asked myself as I tried desperately to find an answer to these questions, to this fear that kept growing inside my heart.

I didn’t want to let her go. I didn’t want to be separated from her, but if this was her wish, I had no choice but to accept.

“W-Why?” I asked with a trembling voice as I lowered my head.

“Because if I keep staying by your side, I’ll always be left in the shadows. I know this is selfish of me, but… I don’t want to continue like this. I’ll only keep on suffering…” she replied as she gently stroked my hand.

“What does that mean?” I asked since I couldn’t understand.

“I can’t tell you…”

I looked up at her in shock and felt a sharp pain in my chest. How could she say something like that? How could she leave me like that? I couldn't understand this painful situation. All I knew was that I was going to lose Shanteya NOW.

Our paths would be split in two, and we would go our own separate ways…

“Illsy, please let me go…” she added.

I looked down.

Let you go? Does this mean I-I-I’ll give up on my slave? What? Wait… no… She’s not a slave. Well, technically she is, but she’s not a slave… She’s… What is she? A friend? Maybe… Is she a lover? No, but she’s a… she was… the… I couldn’t think properly.

All of my thoughts were jumbled up, and I felt my tears rolling down my cheeks.

“This is it?” I asked.

“Yes…” she replied.

“Shanteya Dowesyl… I release you from the slave contract with me. Thor Or Non…” I said in a trembling tone of voice, but I felt my Magic Energy working.

“I accept.” she replied.

[Shanteya Dowesyl has accepted to be released from the Slave Contract with Dungeon Lord Illsyore]

The slave ring around her neck vanished.

“You are free…” I muttered.

“Thank you…” she said and then got out of her bed. “I won’t be imposing on you any longer.” she walked up to the door.

Is this it? Is this where our journey ends? After all of that? Who am I to blame? Is it the fault of that stupid Prince? Should I have killed him? If it wasn’t for him, Shanteya wouldn’t have wished to leave me… But… this was not something he could ruin… This… This is something I messed up… I thought, and while I was in deep thought, I heard her close the door behind me.

“What’s going to happen now? What did I do wrong?” I asked as I looked out the window.

My voice was trembling, my tears were flowing down my cheeks, and I couldn’t help but wonder that if she was just a slave to me, a friend, why was I crying? What reason was there for this pain inside my chest when I saw her as a mere friend… or slave?

“Even thinking about you as a lover is hard… Haha… ha.” I said with tears in my eyes.

I thought back at what she said to me and remembered word-for-word Because if I keep staying by your side, I’ll always be left in the shadows. I know this is selfish of me, but… I don’t want to continue like this. I’ll only keep on suffering…

“What does she mean by being left in the shadows? Shadows of whom? Nanya and Ayuseya? Tamara?” I fell on my back and looked up at the ceiling.

Her words kept flowing through my mind. I kept hearing them again and again and again like a madman hears the voices of his imagination. It wasn’t like my question had an answer or rather that it was such an obvious answer, but I, like a complete idiot, wasn’t able to see it.

Why would you be suffering if you were kept in the shadows? What shadows? Who dared to cast a shadow upon you? Why did you leave, Shanteya? What did I do or didn’t do? I then thought of all the things that happened between us, everything from the very first moment I met her.

I remembered how I found her in that burning forest, how I struggled to keep her alive, how I slept in her arms for the first time, our first kiss, everything. All of our adventures together kept flowing through my mind, allowing me to relive them.

As I did this, I found myself hurting because in those moments, I also saw just how much I came to treasure this woman, how much I came to love her. Then I remembered the moment when I made Nanya and Ayuseya my wives.

“It can’t be… can it?” I wondered as I wiped my tears from my eyes.

It was a long shot. I could fail, but… it wasn’t like I had anything else to lose.

I ran out the door, slamming it open and literally ripping it out of it’s hinges. Right before she was about to walk out the door and leave this place, I entered the main room.

“SHANTEYA!” I shouted.

She stopped and looked back at me surprised. I ignored Nanya, who was glaring at me as if she wanted to strangle me to death, and Ayuseya, who wanted to join her in her endeavor.

“W-What is it, Illsyore?” asked Shanteya surprised.

I gulped, but I didn’t back down. This was the only answer my silly brain could come up with. If this wasn’t it, then I wanted to request a transplant or something!

Stopping in front of her, I took her hand in mine and knelt before her.

“Shanteya Dowesyl, do you want to be my wife? Do you wish to marry me?” I asked.

For the first time in both of my lives, I asked this question in all of its seriousness. I never had the guts to ask Alina. I made a ‘not not joke’ with Nanya and Ayuseya, but with Shanteya, I poured my soul and every drop of my being into this question.

There was a moment of silence, which felt like it was strangling and killing me little by little.

“Do you really want this? Even if I am a former assassin?” she asked as she began to tear up.

“Yes. I want to marry you even if you are a former assassin!” I declared.

“Even if I was abused and used by other men and women?” she asked with tears in her eyes.

“The one I wish to marry is Shanteya Dowesyl, no matter how bloody or dark her past may have been. I don’t care how many men or women used you and in what way, but if they try to lay their hands on you again, I will make them eat their own limbs!” I declared vehemently.

“You would accept me, the one called the Broken Doll of the Phantom Rage assassins guild?” she asked as tears flowed down her cheeks drop after drop.

“Yes, I want you as my wife, Shanteya Dowesyl!” I declared once more.

She closed her eyes for a moment, letting her tears flow, but not pulling back or running away. I hoped she wasn’t going to do that though, but in the end, it was all up to her. If she ran away or not, it was her choice, and this time… I had no means of stopping her.

That moment of silence as I waited for her answer strangled me worse than Nanya ever could have. My chest hurt so bad, but I knew it was a pain I couldn’t run away from. Moments like this one was what having emotions meant, enjoying and feeling both the good and the bad. Sometimes, I ran from the bad, but rejoiced when touched by the good. It was a roller-coaster ride with ups and downs, and now… I was at a breaking point.

“Yes…” came her reply as a whisper, but the message displayed in front of me was loud and clear.

[Broken Doll Shanteya Dowesyl is now your spouse!]

I’m going to get rid of that title someday… I muttered in my mind, but then.

“Huh? Yes?” I blinked surprised and looked up at her.

“Yes… I’ll be your wife!” my el’doraw said with a soft smile on her lips with rivers of tears washing down on her beautiful face.

The black ring similar to the ones on Nanya and Ayuseya’s fingers appeared on hers as well, sealing the deal and officially making her my third spouse. Back in Romania, I would have been jailed for this, but heck if I cared in this world! If I could love all of them equally and just as passionately, why shouldn’t I?

Thus, I got up on my feet and embraced her tenderly, while our lips connected in a beautiful kiss.

Still, I couldn’t believe I had to give up on my el’doraw slave in order to realize that I actually wanted her as my wife.

“Nya! All’s good that ends good!” said Tamara.

“You mean ‘well’, right?” Nanya corrected her.

“What did I say?” she tilted her head to the left, but I ignored her.

Picking up Shanteya in a princess carry, I turned around and looked at the three.

“Ahem… Erm…” I tried to say something with my cheeks bright red.

“We got it. We’ll go catch some fish or something… Just don’t break the place.” Nanya said with a nod.

“Nya?” Tamara didn’t get it.

“Come on.”

The kitten was grabbed by the demoness while they walked past us and left our small house.

Ayuseya walked up to me, and with a giggle, she told Shanteya “Go wild.” and then left.

“I-Illsy?” Shanteya asked with a cute and shy expression on her face that made me just want to eat her up right there with all the passion in my heart.

“I never knew you could be so cute.“ I said with a smile and then gave her another loving kiss.

Picking her up in my arms, I walked up to the bed and laid her down gently. I had no plans on holding back on her anymore. Shanteya was now my wife just like Nanya and Ayuseya were, so she too deserved all of my love and attention when I felt the need and burning desire to embrace her.