“B-but… but that’s not fair,” Lucy stammered. “I can’t survive without at least cuddling in bed and relaxing times throughout the day. And sex is a necessity for my happiness levels.”

  “Your punishment needs to be severe enough that you won’t do something like this again,” he stated. “And as of now, I think this is the most effective punishment for you. Wouldn’t you agree?”

  She pouted, and her cheeks were red with embarrassment and indignation, but she knew she couldn’t refute him. “I never thought I would see something like this in my life,” Viana said, barely managing to control her giggles. “That is quite the punishment, Ardonis, I must say. But he does have a point, Lucy, what you did goes beyond any betrayal you could possibly have done. You effectively turned yourself into his slave in all but name. As much as I admire that kind of dedication, I cannot say I condone it, especially behind his back. You should be glad that it was him you made that binding oath to. Not many other gods would be so kind and generous.”

  “And not only that,” she continued, “But other gods will now look down on you. For losing your pride as one of them, as this kind of bond can be felt by other divine beings, and it can only happen willfully. There will be backlash among your peers, this is not something to take lightly. But I suppose you knew all of this going into it. Or at least you better have, or else foolish will not even begin to describe your actions.”

  Lucy looked over at her and nodded, “Yes, I had done extensive research into this back in Celestial, although the main reason why is because a few of my previous friends had brought it up a few different times. This was back before I was with Ardonis and was with that prick Eradis. Of course, I was curious as to what they were talking about, but after learning what it was… I was disgusted.”

  “Then I completely forgot about it until I saw one of those books in my study when Ardonis and I had been together for about ten years. After looking through it once more, I found I wasn’t as opposed to the idea as before. Though it wasn’t until these past couple of months that I’ve seriously thought about doing it. Ardonis, Viana, I know exactly what I was getting into with this, and I fully accept all of it. Even if I must accept such a soul killing punishment.”

  Ardonis sighed once more, “As I said, what’s done is done, and your punishment will be carried out. It does put me at some ease to know that you knew what you were doing at least. Now that this has been all settled, I think it’s time I take Hyva and make her a priest of mine rather than stay as Milsa’s. The two of you can do whatever as you await our return.”

  “C-can we at least accompany you back to her manor?” Lucy asked. “There is still time in the hour.”

  When they returned, Ardonis immediately went to Hyva’s study while the other two returned to their rooms. He knocked on the door, but didn’t receive an answer. “If you are looking for Priestess Hyva, she is attending to her duties at the church for the moment,” the head maid said as she was passing by.

  “I see, thank you. Then I suppose my destination changes to the church.”

  “If I may ask, why do you need to see her, sir? You aren’t planning on trying anything to ruin her priesthood, right?”

  He rolled his eyes, “Oh please, after the whole month, you have to know by now that she’s the one trying to ruin it herself.”

  The maid giggled, “Perhaps, my lady can be a bit eccentric when she finds a man to her liking. Though you are the first to make her this interested, even with others of her type, she did some mild flirting at best, and never allowing anything more. So please, I do have one thing to ask, if anything should become of you two, please treat her well. She deserves that much, despite her quirks.”

  “Should it come to that, you don’t need to worry, I don’t treat those I care about badly. Especially not those in my harem,” he responded.

  “Then if you will excuse me,” she said with a light bow and a small smile on her face.

  Ardonis teleported to the front of the church a moment later and went inside. Finding Hyva cleaning the podium in the back of the room. “Oh, Ardonis,” she said, looking up, “I was wondering when you were going to come by and get me. I was starting to think you changed your mind.”

  He smirked, “I know that you were spying on me, there’s no need to hide it. There’s no way you missed what happened earlier. Besides, I could feel your presence even when Lucy made that whole oath of hers.”

  “I suppose hiding from you now would be pointless, so you really are going to make me your priestess?”

  “Why, getting cold feet?” he teased with a raised brow.

  She shook her head, “Certainly not, I just don’t want you to end up regretting it. I’m… not exactly the best of followers as you can tell.”

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  “You run a church yourself despite not truly following what your goddess says, that says a lot about your integrity of standing up for your core principles. You’ve just been waiting for someone to take those core principles and pave a new path for you as a priestess, right? You pretty much told me that yourself earlier.”

  She smiled, “Good, you were listening earlier, I’m ready whenever you are to become your priestess. I’ll gladly show you the process and ritual that we must do.”

  “Then let's get going,” he said as he grabbed her shoulder. A moment later they were in front of the cave that Viana resided in previously. “This was the closest I could get us to where I actually want us to go. I already know the answer but ask it anyway, you don’t mind if I carry you right?”

  She vigorously shook her head, “If I can get you to hold me unprompted, then I will take every chance I can get.”

  “I figured,” he said as he lifted her in his arms. Causing her to giggle in satisfaction.

  “But I do have one question, where are you taking us?”

  “Just to the other side of the forest, if Milsa is really going to know our location, it would be best to throw her off as much as possible from our current position. From everything I’ve gathered, the other side is also in a complete different direction to where we are going. Besides, I’d rather not endanger the folks at the town just outside of the forest on this side.”

  She smiled wickedly, “Well then, I know the perfect place for us to go, and it will certainly infuriate Lady Milsa.”

  “Oh?” he asked, intrigued, “You know the other side of the forest?”

  She nodded, “It isn’t my home country over there, but it is a close second with how much time I’ve spent there. And there is one of her main cathedrals over there. And what better place for me to change my religion and who I am a priestess to than a grand cathedral? Part of me is also curious if she would be willing to destroy such a place just to kill us for our insolence.”

  He burst into laughter, “To think that a priestess would turn against her own goddess like this. Then again, I suppose it goes to show that you should treat your believers well. And maybe not be a complete bitch in the process. How far is this city with the cathedral from here, though? I can fly at a pretty decent speed, but I will only be able to stay up for a few hours at the most.”

  “What’s this? Is the god of magic, who combined his divine and normal mana, not as powerful as I thought?” she teased.

  He rolled his eyes, “For one, my power is halved, and for two, I only have ten percent of that that can even be used. Flying takes a bit more mana than you might think, especially for extended periods of time and at fast speeds. So yes, with only ten percent available, a couple of hours is the best I can do. Besides, I have to leave enough mana both for whatever it is that needs to be done, and to teleport us back.”

  “Fair point, but yes, it is about three hours away from the forest. At least by normal horseback standards,” she shrugged, “I don’t know what that translates to in flight speed.”

  He nodded, “Then about an hour away if I go a bit quicker than my normal speed. That’s not too bad at all. Best hang on tight, the takeoff is pretty rough.”

  He felt her arms tighten around his neck, and he tightened his own grip on her as he suddenly burst into the air with a powerful jump. Breaking the sound barrier in an instant and leaving a crater in the ground of where he had been standing a moment before. The forest zoomed by beneath them, and Hyva couldn’t help but laugh in amazement.

  As Ardonis had predicted, about an hour later, they were fast approaching a large city. He quickly stopped his forward momentum and let them drop toward the ground at a controlled speed. Landing with barely even a small thud on the ground, minutes from the city. Surrounding their immediate area were grasslands and a large road to their right that led to the city.

  “A little bit of warning would have been nice,” a slightly dazed, shocked, and angry Hyva said.

  He chuckled softly, “Sorry about that. I suppose I got so used to carrying you with little fuss that I didn’t think it would be an issue.”

  She pouted, “And what about everyone on the road over there? Did you seriously just drop down from the sky so close? This world may have magic Ardonis, but flying is not very common. At least not for those without obvious wings.”

  He put a finger to her mouth, “Relax, I cast an invisibility spell on us a while back to keep from being spotted by anyone. I’m not reckless enough to fly over that much land without such a precaution. I would wager that keeping it up will be beneficial, as we can just sneak into the cathedral this way. We won’t draw undue attention and have it be a true surprise.”

  “You really thought that far ahead?” she asked as she pushed his finger away.

  He nodded, “I had done some thinking on the way here on it. Besides, invisibility is way less taxing to keep up compared to flight. Hell, I could even put you down and still keep us both invisible with little effort. It really doesn’t take much mana, given how basic of a spell it is. I mean, flight is fairly basic for me as well, just made tough to keep up with the damn restriction. If it weren’t for that, I could easily fly around this entire planet several times over with only a minimal dip in my mana reserve. And that was before my recent power-up. Anyway, lead the way.”

  To her slight disappointment, Ardonis put her down and she pouted slightly as she realized she would have to guide him on foot. He chuckled, “You were only carried because you can’t fly, we aren’t yet close enough for me to bridal carry you whenever you want.”

  She puffed her cheeks out further, looking more like a squirrel as she looked down at him, “I’m going to get you to fall for me if it is the last thing I do. I will promise that much, mark my words God Ardonis, you’ll be asking me to be with you before you know it.”

  He smirked at her, “You know, it’s quite cute and interesting to see someone more than a foot taller than me pout because I won’t carry them.”

  Her pouting stopped as a look of surprise took over, along with a blush. She wordlessly turned around and began walking toward the city. Ardonis kept his smirk as he followed behind her.