She slammed the heavy oak door shut in his face, leaving the young noble standing alone on the quiet porch.

Ren stared at the closed door for a second before a deeply satisfied, arrogant smirk crossed his face. He turned around, stuffing his hands casually into his pockets, and began walking down the stone path away from the manor.

He let out a long, contented sigh. Ruining the protagonist’s life was truly a beautiful endeavor.

Suddenly, a translucent blue tab snapped into existence directly in front of his face, illuminating his path in the dark.

『Notification from: The Goddess of Light, Lunerei』

『Message: "I was watching through the holy network. I am... curious. Would you kiss me like that if I was in a human body?"』

Ren stopped walking. He blinked at the floating text, genuinely caught off guard. The Goddess of Light, the supreme deity of the world’s religion, was essentially sexting him from the heavens.

Ren smiled, a dark, wicked amusement flaring in his chest. He replied mentally to the prompt.

"Yes, of course I would, my beautiful Goddess..." Ren started, his tone dripping with smooth charisma. Then, he smiled wryly and added, "I’d even fondle your breasts too if you wanted~"

For three entire seconds, there was absolute silence from the System.

Then, another tab materialized rapidly in front of him.

『System Alert: The divine connection has been temporarily disconnected.』

『Reason: The Goddess is currently experiencing critical fluster levels.』

Ren sighed with a laugh, waving his hand to dismiss the blue screens. He continued his walk back to the inn, shaking his head at the sheer absurdity of his life.

"Why the hell would she ask that kind of question if she couldn’t handle the answer?" Ren muttered to the empty street.

[Pantheon Of Higher Gods, Lunerei’s Land Of Light]

Far above the mortal plane, beyond the sky and the stars, the divine realm was bathed in eternal, pristine white light.

However, inside a secure, heavily warded architectural laboratory, the atmosphere was thick with a very un-divine tension.

The Goddess of Light, Lunerei, stood near the edge of a long, pristine crystalline testing table. She was not sitting in her grand throne room answering prayers. Instead, she was standing perfectly still, a massive, furious blush painted across her ethereal, flawless cheeks. Her arms were crossed tightly behind her back, and she was biting her lower lip so hard it was a miracle she hadn’t drawn golden blood.

Surrounding the testing table were dozens of high-ranking, six-winged angels. They were working frantically, weaving pure creation magic and divine essence together.

Resting on the table was a physical, human body.

It looked remarkably similar to the Goddess herself—possessing the same striking, otherworldly beauty, the same cascading silver-white hair, and the same flawless proportions. Except, this body had been deliberately aged down, crafted to look like a young woman exactly fitting Ren and Jace’s age group.

Lunerei stared down at the empty, lifeless vessel her angels were constructing for her. Her heart, a core of pure divine energy, was beating erratically.

Ren’s words echoed in her mind. I’d even fondle your breasts too if you wanted~

The Goddess of Light squeezed her thighs together, suppressing a highly inappropriate shiver. She was entirely tired of this long-distance flirting. It was making her unbearably horny, and watching him smoothly seduce another woman had pushed her patience to its absolute limit.

Lunerei narrowed her glowing silver eyes, locking onto the human avatar. She only had one thought echoing in her divine mind.

’I’m coming, Ren~’

...

The walk back to the inn was peaceful, bathed in the quiet silvery glow of the Adventurer Town’s magical streetlamps.

Ren strolled down the cobblestone streets with his hands tucked casually into the pockets of his charcoal-grey coat.

The crisp night air ruffled his black hair, carrying the distant sounds of the city’s nightlife, but down here in the residential blocks, everything was calm.

’What a good evening...’

He was in a remarkably good mood.

The Drake-steak had been incredible, the starlight wine had hit the perfect spot, and he had successfully secured the unwavering devotion of a powerful woman while simultaneously setting up the ultimate psychological trap for Jace.

Even the sudden highly flustered message from Lunerei, the Goddess of Light had added an unexpected layer of amusement to his evening.

Life as a villain, it turned out, was incredibly comfortable when you didn’t stress over the minor details.

He was just a guy taking things one day at a time, enjoying the perks of a new world, and ensuring the original protagonist suffered at every possible turn.

That could be called Villainy right?

Ren turned the corner, the familiar wooden structure of his rented inn coming into view.

However, his relaxed evening stroll came to a brief halt as he noticed a figure standing near the front gate.

It was Mandy.

The loyal butler was currently leaning heavily against the wooden fence post, panting as though he had just sprinted across the entire town.

His normally pristine tailored black butler suit was covered in a thick layer of grey soot and dust.

There was a prominent smudge of dirt across his forehead, and his tie was thrown haphazardly over his shoulder.

Ren raised an eyebrow, walking up to the gate. "Rough night?" 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Mandy jumped, nearly jumping out of his own skin.

He spun around, his eyes wide with panic as he desperately tried to brush the heavy layer of soot off his lapels.

"M-My Lord!" Mandy stammered with his voice cracking. He hastily tried to fix his tie, failing miserably. "Welcome back! I trust your evening was... fruitful?"

Ren crossed his arms, looking the butler up and down.

Even a baby could pick up the traces of high-altitude wind and roof-tile clay clinging to the man’s clothes.

He already knew Mandy and Eternia had been spying on him from the rooftops across the restaurant, but seeing the aftermath was highly entertaining.

"The evening was great," Ren said smoothly. "The food was excellent. The real question is, why do you look like you just lost a fight with a chimney?"

Mandy swallowed hard with beads of nervous sweat mixing with the dirt on his forehead.

"Ah. Well. You see, my Lord, I was... conducting a perimeter check! Yes! A highly thorough inspection of the inn’s structural integrity. I climbed up to the roof to ensure the clay tiles were secure against the coming rains since we’re almost in season, and I happened to slip down the side of the chimney stack."

It was an atrociously bad lie... Mandy’s hands were shaking, and he couldn’t even maintain eye contact.

Ren stared at him for a long moment.

The silence stretched and Mandy braced himself, fully expecting a harsh reprimand, extra training laps, or a terrifying display of lightning magic for daring to lie to his master.

Instead, Ren just let out a soft chuckle.

He uncrossed his arms and reached out, firmly patting the terrified butler on his soot-covered shoulder.

"Sure you were, Mandy," Ren said, his tone entirely chill and unbothered. "Just make sure the roof doesn’t actually leak... Go take a hot bath, you smell like a burnt pigeon."

Mandy blinked, entirely stunned by the lack of punishment.

He let out a massive shuddering breath of relief, bowing so deeply his forehead nearly scraped his knees.

"Right away, my Lord! Thank you, my Lord!"

Ren shook his head with a small smile, walking past the butler and pushing the heavy wooden door of the inn open.

The interior of the inn was quiet and warm.

The embers in the main hearth were burning low, casting a soft orange glow across the wooden floorboards.

Ren walked down the hallway, loosening the collar of his shirt as he approached the large sturdy door at the end of the corridor.

His bedroom.

He twisted the handle and stepped inside and the room was bathed in the ambient glow of a single magical lamp resting on the bedside table.

Ren closed the door softly behind him with the latch clicking into place.

He didn’t need to turn on the main lights to know he wasn’t alone.

Curled up in the direct center of his large, plush bed was Eternia. The Snakekin assassin was lying on her side, her knees pulled tightly up to her chest.

She had buried the lower half of her face beneath the thick woolen blankets.

Her dark clothes were slightly rumpled, and her messy hair spilled across his pillows.

Ren paused, leaning against the closed door.

Usually, when she came to his bed, it was because she was suffering from the violent traumatic memories of the souls she had consumed.

Her body would tremble, she would hyperventilate, and the air around her would grow cold with death mana.

But tonight, the atmosphere was different. There was no cold death mana or no frantic hyperventilating.

Instead, she was just completely still. Her golden slit-pupils were wide open, staring blankly at the far wall.

Ren let out a quiet sigh. He knew exactly what this was about.

She had seen him being gentle and romantic with Astrid and she got jealous?

’I think that’s most probably it...’ Ren thought, It was just a date. Why did these women have to be so complicated?

If he were the calculating pure villain he was supposed to be, he might have used this opportunity to manipulate her further reinforcing her dependency on him to ensure she remained a perfectly loyal disposable weapon.

But Ren wasn’t like that.

He genuinely liked having Eternia around. She was fiercely protective, she tried her best even when she had no idea what she was doing, and beneath the lethal exterior of a cold-blooded killer, she was just a deeply broken girl looking for a place to belong.

He didn’t view her as a tool... instead Ren viewed her as a core part of his new, comfortable life.

Without saying a word, Ren shrugged off his charcoal coat, draping it neatly over the back of a wooden chair.

He unbuttoned the cuffs of his white shirt, rolling the sleeves up to his elbows, and walked over to the edge of the mattress.

Eternia flinched slightly as the bed dipped under his weight.

She squeezed her eyes shut, pulling the blanket a fraction higher over her face, waiting for him to order her back to her own room for spying on his date.

Ren didn’t order her to leave.

He slid under the heavy blankets right behind her.

Ren shifted his posture, closing the distance, and wrapped his arms firmly around her waist then he pulled her trembling rigid form back until her spine was pressed completely flush against his chest.

The moment his body heat enveloped her, Eternia let out a shuddering gasp.

The familiar, overwhelming warmth of his dense mana signature immediately washed over her, wrapping around her like an impenetrable shield.

The jealous storm raging in her mind slammed to a halt, replaced by the steady rise and fall of his chest against her back.

Her Master was holding her...

Ren rested his chin gently near the top of her messy hair.

"You’re tense," he murmured with his deep voice vibrating pleasantly against her back. "Relax."

Eternia’s breath hitched.

Her slender fingers reached down, gripping his forearm where it was wrapped securely around her waist and she squeezed tightly, as if terrified he might suddenly vanish into thin air.

For several long minutes, they just lay there in the glow of the lamp as the tension slowly, agonizingly began to melt out of Eternia’s muscles.

But the burning question in her heart refused to be silenced.

She needed to know... She had seen the way he smiled at that blonde mage... Eternia needed to know her place in his world.

"Master..." Eternia whispered.

"Yeah?" Ren responded softly.

Eternia swallowed the heavy lump in her throat.

She didn’t turn around, keeping her gaze fixed on the wall. "Master... do you love me?"

Ren tightened his embrace, burying his face slightly into the crook of her neck.

"I do... I mean I do love having you around, that’s for sure." Ren said.

The words hit Eternia like a shockwave.

A massive overwhelming flood of relief, joy, and devotion exploded in her chest as the crushing weight of her inadequacy shattered completely.

He loved her.

Tears immediately flooded her golden eyes, spilling hot and fast over her cheeks but this time, they weren’t tears of misery.

Eternia forcefully twisted her body around in the confines of his arms. She turned to face him, her messy hair falling across her tear-stained, flushed face.

Her golden slit-pupils were wide, shining with burning determination.

"Then..." Eternia sniffled, her hands coming up to grip the front of his shirt tightly. "Then... take me out too."

Ren blinked, slightly caught off guard by the sudden shift in her voice. "Take you out?"

"Yes!" Eternia demanded. "Like you did with the blonde woman! I want a date! I want to walk on the street with you, and I want to eat the cold sweet food, and I want you to hold my hand!"

Ren stared at her fierce, teary-eyed expression, and a genuine, warm laugh bubbled up from his chest.

"Alright," Ren chuckled, reaching up to gently wipe a tear from her cheek with his thumb. "You win... I’ll take you on a date tomorrow."

Eternia’s eyes widened to impossible proportions. "You promise?"

"I promise," Ren assured her, his smile gentle and relaxed. "We’ll go anywhere you want."

Eternia let out a wet joyous sob. She surged forward, burying her face completely into the center of his chest.

She wrapped her arms around his torso, hugging him with an almost bruising strength.

"I will be your blade for life, Master," Eternia whispered fiercely against his shirt. "I will cut down anyone who stands in your way. Forever."

Ren patted her back soothingly, letting out a comfortable sigh as he closed his eyes.

"I know you will... Now go to sleep... We have a busy day tomorrow."

Wrapped tightly in his arms, anchored by his promise and his warmth, Eternia finally allowed her eyes to flutter shut.

For the first time in weeks, she fell into a deep, completely dreamless sleep with the dark horrors of the souls entirely banished by the presence of her Master.

...

The next morning arrived with a bright vibrant sun cresting over the rooftops of Astelvern Town.

The enclosed backyard of the inn was bathed in warm golden light as the morning dew still clung to the blades of grass, glistening like tiny scattered diamonds.

CLACK!

The sharp sound of dense wooden swords violently colliding shattered the peaceful morning ambiance.

CLACK! SMACK!

Eternia and Lyra were engaged in a fierce, high-speed sparring match in the center of the yard.

Lyra was dripping with sweat, her auburn hair tied back in a messy ponytail.

She was gripping her practice sword with both hands, her teeth gritted in sheer determination.

The Sub-Heroine was pushing her physical limits, utilizing the foundational forms Ren had drilled into her and told her to practice on her own.

Lyra stepped forward, driving her hips into a heavy downward diagonal cleave aimed squarely at the Snakekin’s shoulder but Eternia didn’t even flinch.

With her vastly superior beastkin agility, Eternia casually pivoted on her heel, letting the heavy wooden blade sweep harmlessly past her chest by a fraction of an inch.

She brought her own practice sword up in a smooth, effortless counter-guard.

Normally, this was the exact moment where Eternia would seamlessly transition into a brutal punishing counterattack, striking Lyra in the ribs or the back of the knees to put her into the dirt.

But today, Eternia’s mind was thousands of miles away.

As she deflected Lyra’s strike, Eternia’s golden eyes drifted lazily toward the sky.

’What should I wear today?’ she thought, completely unbothered by the spar. ’Mandy said human women wear dresses on dates but dresses restrict leg movement. What if someone attacks Master while we are eating the cold sweet food? I cannot perform a proper high-kick in a dress... I should wear my combat trousers but Master said the blonde woman looked beautiful in her clothes...’

Her footwork dragged, her grip on the wooden hilt was loose and her wrists lacked their usual terrifying snap.

Lyra, despite her lower stats, possessed the sharp honed instincts of a survivor.

She immediately felt the lack of pressure in the clash and she saw Eternia’s gaze wandering so Lyra didn’t hesitate.

She seized the opening instantly.

Instead of pulling back from her missed cleave, Lyra forcefully dropped her center of gravity, planting her front boot into the grass.

She utilized the momentum of her swing, channeling her strength into her forearms, and chained the motion into a violent rapid upward sweep.

SMACK!

The heavy wood of Lyra’s blade struck the underside of Eternia’s loose guard with tremendous force.

Eternia gasped in surprise as the impact sent a jarring shockwave straight through her fingers.

Her grip failed entirely.

The wooden practice sword was violently knocked out of her palm, spinning wildly through the morning air before clattering heavily into the dirt several feet away.

The yard went quiet.

Lyra stood there, her chest heaving as she lowered her wooden blade.

She wiped a line of sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand, staring at the disarmed assassin in disbelief.

"You’re distracted today," Lyra called out, her tone a mix of triumph and genuine concern. "Your head isn’t in the fight at all. If I had a real sword, you would be missing an arm right now."

Eternia blinked, looking down at her empty hands as a small blush of embarrassment touched her pale cheeks.

Lyra was right.

She had let her guard down completely, lost in the overwhelming excitement of her upcoming date.

Eternia didn’t look at her fallen sword. Instead, her golden eyes drifted across the yard, drawn instinctively toward the sprawling shade of the large oak tree in the center.

Underneath the thick, gnarled branches, Ren was sitting cross-legged on the soft grass, leaning comfortably against the wide trunk of the tree.

He was wearing a simple, loose-fitting white shirt, looking entirely relaxed and at peace.

Sitting right next to him, practically tucked into his side, was Lyra’s little sister, Kala.

Ren was holding a thick basic Empire literacy book open in his lap and he was patiently pointing a long finger at a string of letters on the paper.

"...and when you put the ’T’ and the ’H’ together," Ren explained gently. "it makes a soft sound. Try it."

Kala scrunched up her small face in intense concentration. "Th... th..."

"Good. Now add the rest of the word."

"Th... there!" Kala beamed, looking up at him with bright, excited eyes. "There!"

"Perfect," Ren smiled, reaching over to gently ruffle the little girl’s hair. "You’re getting it."