Author Note: I've broken up sections and cut some unnecessary world-building that slowed the pace.

Rosen Flame Index

Previous Chapter

Pelsey guided them upstairs to a back room and opened an unlocked door.

They sat on the armchairs inside. Rose looked a tad annoyed that it didn’t have a back opening, forcing her to curl her tail around her front.

Five uncomfortable minutes passed until Ena returned. She’d regained her composure. She thanked Pelsey and sent her down to contact the local Artificer fix-it guy to repair the door. 

Once alone, Ena sat down to face them. Malik felt bad upon seeing her hands gripped tightly in her lap. She kept her focus on him. 

“Okay… So you said you would explain everything. The last I heard, you were back in the north fighting the demon horde that destroyed your homeland. What brings you to the southern coast of Tenebrin…with Rose?”

Malik took a deep breath and gingerly eased his sweaty hand away from Rose’s. That made the dragon frown, and the tingling electricity that passed between them cut.

“I’ll explain it as simply as I can and why I’m trying to keep a low profile… I know this might sound insane.”

He began at the start, with Rose breaking out of the depths of the sea.

How he was brought into an emergency meeting with a few high dignitaries of the surrounding kingdoms, and the information sent by a contact amongst the sun elves. That gave them the basis of the threat that had awakened.

It was Titania who had prompted him to accept the quest, though.

Rose brushed it off, scoffing at the accusations she believed were thrown at her by the sun elves. It was their ancestors who had tried to use her as a battery while she slept.

That was what had them angry: losing their power source.

Not that she cared, since it was like they were taking a drop of water out of an ocean.

Hearing that, Malik had to admit that she did get a bad rep for simply existing; she also didn’t help her case by not caring about the calamity she left in her wake.

Rose didn’t care, and that was the problem. 

She just woke up, stretched out, and grabbed a bit of a snack before going into space, according to her. Then, he showed up.

He explained as delicately as he could the kind of bet he had with the Dragon Goddess. During this tense discussion, Malik started to realize a few very uncomfortable things about the position he’d found himself in.

And unexpectedly, Ena’s stress gradually faded away the more he talked. Her sheet-white face was eventually replaced by a sober intensity. 

The wood elf sat hunched over, elbows on her thighs and supporting her head with the back of her hands while listening to his tale. 

Once he’d finished, he sank back in his chair, waiting.

Rose looked between them with a charming expression; she finally had someone else who shared her secret.

The dragon’s sharp, sky-blue eyes shone with excitement for what might come next in this courting game they were playing. It only made her tail weave faster after he mentioned a somewhat decent-sized plot of land he could buy using his grim joke of a noble name.

Ena thought in silence for a short time.

The only sound came from the mechanical clock ticking on the wall, its weight swaying.

After a time, she stood up and motioned him to the door. 

“Lady Rosen Dragon, may I borrow Malik for a short while to speak in my office… In private?”

Rose didn’t hesitate, now sitting cross-legged while examining the differences between her dress and Ena’s. 

“Why would I have a problem with that? I will remain here and deliberate on the diversity in mortal furnishings.”

“Wonderful. Malik?”

He got up and followed the elf out.

She locked the conference door behind them. More in an attempt to keep others from interacting with the dragon rather than Rose leaving, he was sure. 

He could sense Ena’s nervousness in her eye movements; the sounds from downstairs made it clear the bank employees were starting to arrive. But she didn’t say anything.

She unlocked her office door, entered it, and gestured for him to take a seat.

Ena closed it behind her.

He spotted her infamous cello resting in the corner, worn with use. 

Curiosity hit him as he spotted a guitar beside it; he’d seen them in Bard shops but didn’t know the wood elf played anything else. 

Malik smiled, remembering how he had to haul her cello around a few dungeons he’d done with her. It was to blow off steam on their caravan journey together.

She didn’t sit, moving to the window to open the curtains. 

More natural light entered the room. 

Finally, she turned to face him with a serious look, clearly having given this far more thought than he had.

“So, in short, you are in a temporary union with a goddess, who never even planned to cause anyone trouble in the first place. Instead, said dragon is seemingly going through some kind of midlife crisis.”

She crossed an arm over her stomach, thumb tapping it as her agitation only grew.

“And you, unfortunately, piqued her interest in a rather unusual set of events—events your Greater Goddess seemed to point you toward, placing you into this predicament.”

Malik shrugged.

“I suppose?”

“Typical of the Chaotic-Good goddess to cause mischief,” she said with more of a venomous tone than Malik had ever expected from her. 

The wood elf was normally rather charming and demure when they’d traveled together. As he remembered, she was a follower of Titania as well. So he had to respond to that.

“Yeah, Titania has gotten me into some crazy shit. But all of it ended up working out in the end—like that Druid cult we found when on the road. Remember, they were trying to feed that A-tier Nature Dungeon sacrifices to awaken their, ahem, dark god.”

She groaned. 

“Yes, well, did she really have to bait us near there by sending you visions of chained Dryad trees, enslaved to—ugh…  She is just a tad on the nose for my liking when it comes to sending you after damsels in distress.”

Malik laughed, finding humor in the current situation. By all measurements, everyone was flipping out that Rose had awakened, only for him to find out she really couldn’t give a crap about them. 

For her, the world might as well be without life. Yet, it was he, braving her hellish fire and calling out to her to chat, that had sparked her interest in his foolishness or bravery.

If he played his cards right, he wouldn’t die. 

Actually, this was kind of everything he’d wanted, if in the extreme. 

Rose wasn’t unreasonable. 

But the wood elf seemed to have a totally different opinion as her grumbles grew, and he saw a side of her he didn’t know she had.

Ena began to pace, speaking to herself as she worked through her thoughts. 

“Still, you are more of a hostage in this relationship. It’s not like you love or even want to be with her. Rose is curbing her boredom and waiting to see you fail the challenge. There is no way she believes this will work, which means she has to make it work for you to survive…”

Malik’s head tilted to the side at those words, thoughts spinning.

But, if she didn’t think it would work, would she have done a soul-bond?

She ran her fingers through her now messy hair again, eyes darting to anything to find an answer. 

“It’s only ten to thirty years if we can move quickly. Ack! I hate that she’s forced a child condition onto you under the pretext that if you didn’t, the world would end. But wait…”

Her anger seemed to simmer at a thought.

“She hinted that you would have stopped aging after the pact. That means it could affect you after… That is interesting.”

Malik’s nods ground to a halt. 

“Wait. She said what about aging?”

“You’d stop aging,” Ena said with a hopeful smile and fervor that bewildered him. 

“Courting is fast among humans, unlike wood elves. For us, it takes a minimum of five decades, given our nearly eight-century lifespan. As she said, it is the blink of an eye for her, and she seems intelligent enough to read social signals… Hmm.”

Why are your social signals so confusing, then?! he cried. What are you even talking about?

Throughout Ena’s and his journey together when escorting the convoy, he’d started to ponder her motives. He’d gotten mixed signals that the over-ninety-year-old wood elf may have liked him. 

It was always hard to tell if a woman wanted to be good friends or something more. And generally, he had other things to worry about rather than work on those social senses. He didn’t want to read into something that could become awkward and ruin one of the few friendships he had.

“Is…something wrong?” he asked as she started sucking on her bottom lip, staring out of the window. “All I need to do is get a property and kind of…work my way up to the, umm, deed—day by day.”

He shifted uncomfortably, trying to shove down the implication.

“I mean. It’s a quest. Day by day is how I leveled up so fast. Just push harder every…” He sighed, cheeks coloring. “Okay, that could have come out better.”

Ena still seemed too trapped in her mind to have noticed his awkward chuckle. 

“Uh-huh… I’m worried about you and her. Rose expects so much from you… And a child? You’re so young. Grrgh—no, not that you can’t! Humans. Not elves. Breathe. I know the human age of maturity is fifteen…” she quickly interjected.

She turned away with an annoyed hiss, her cheeks flushed while scanning the road below. 

“Rose wants a challenge. Hmm. If she fails… Yes…”

A rather devious-looking smile lifted the elf’s lips.

“That’s an interesting thought. And your thoughts were to teach her the complexities of human female life. She can fail. Failure is an option.”

“Hold up!” Malik’s alarm bells immediately rang. “We don’t want her to fail—Ena?”

He was fairly confident the elf was in her own world at this point.

The unsettling gleam in her hazel eyes only deepened.

“You mentioned you had a baron title you wanted to utilize? Very interesting. How much Imperium currency have you saved up?”

“Uh-yeah, and about…seven gold? I think I also have twenty silver, and one copper. Can I ask why?”

Ena’s sudden excitement unnerved him as she ushered him up and to the door without an explanation.

“Okay, okay! I can more than work with that. I’ll get everything set up.”

She nodded, almost to herself.

“And you wanted some land?”

“Uh-huh?”

“Great! You just meet me back here around… Two? Yeah, two. I should be able to get them here by then.”

“Who?”

Ena wasn’t listening as she gave a start.

“Oh, and here are a few iron and steel coins to get you by for several hours,” she added, unlocking the other door to call for the dragon. “Rose, you and Malik are leaving!”

“Excellent! I was smelling an unusual flavor from down the road and wanted to investigate… My stomach keeps growling for some reason. Is that normal, Malik?”

The wood elf seemed to get even more chipper at the news. 

“You have cravings! That’s wonderful. Why don’t you stop by the bakery, Malik? I’ll see you soon!”

“Uh-huh… And, wait, cravings? She isn’t…pregnant.”

Her private door shut in his face.

Just like that, Malik found himself in the lobby, many men and women giving him curious looks, Rose’s hand in his, and her tail wagging for the next adventure. 

A small bag of usable coins clinked together in his palm.

Wait, when did Ena take my [Bag of Holding]?

He sort of felt as if he was in shock.

The new, quite assertive wood elf was certainly not something he’d planned on.

Yet, Malik just laughed and shrugged it off like all the other insane things that had happened to him today, tugging Rose forward.

“I guess we’re going to get some breakfast.”

Chapter Twelve: The Terror of Touch

Exiting the bank, Malik played with the small leather pouch in one hand while pulling Rose along with the other. The doors were propped up with several guards now hired on for protection. Malik studied them in passing.

From their garb, they seemed to be from the local Adventurer’s Guild.

The gnomes were still nearby, overseeing their damage. Jax was the highest level present, closely followed by the small crew of Level 11 to 12s from the Mercenary Guild outside.

It was culturally frowned upon to use [Appraisal], or similar Feats without permission or if you weren’t law enforcement. But that norm had been eroding.

Regardless, the dragon wasn’t connected to The System.

All they’d see would be a scratchy mess.

That would confuse them.

If it were blocked, the “Denied” message would pop up.

Or, depending on the tier of the person’s Appraise, if they were more than a few levels higher, the text would show dark red with question marks.

It was no wonder why all those with the Feat were observing them. They saw him blocking them, but Rose was something new. 

Jax and his Rogue buddy were the most cautious and keen on following their exit. He expected Ralph to shadow them from the street; they were too unique not to be watched.

Normally, that was a good habit to keep the town safe and peaceful. Especially in a world where there were evil deities and cults, it didn’t hurt to be cautious. 

The gnome’s profession said a lot about them, as well. Dungeoneering was one of the most dangerous jobs, hardening men and women who went that path, but it did have huge rewards by extracting monster parts, potential magic items, and, most importantly, snatching whatever random artifact was being refined in the Dungeon Core.

On Main Street, he slowed as he spotted a tailor. 

Maybe it would be better to get some normal clothes, but where would he stick his priceless gear? Ena had his [Bags of Holding]. He’d worry about that later.

Walking along the cobblestone street, he figured that news about newcomers would spread rapidly in a town of five thousand or so residents. The travelers would be less interested, so it would be best to stick to the travelers’ hot spots. 

Taking Rose to the bakery, he did notice the Rogue slip out of the bank; it was what he should do. Malik ignored him. 

He focused on Rose, having the happy dragon point out what she wanted for her sweet tooth. Her tail wag was a dangerous weapon, so he was careful where he guided her.

The mumbles about her being a dragonborn were expected. It was very rare to see one leaving their collection of islands in the southeastern ocean. It did make him cautious, though, since Rose no doubt would have heard them.

Please don’t feel disrespected.

Rose, however,  paid them no mind, further proving her earlier point about not caring what mortals think. It wasn’t others who bothered her. It was his opinion. She watched his actions carefully as he showed the baker a steel coin to indicate they could pay. 

The dragon gleefully sampled several foods… Some twice.

The expensive things drew her tongue the most.

“What is this, Malik? The System calls it a pastry,” she commented, biting into the sweet inner custard and flaky brown crust. “Ena wanted one of these that the gnomes went to get?”

“Wow,” he chuckled. “You do pay close attention to things.”

“Naturally!” she boasted, moving on to the next item.

“We’ll have some milk, too; it helps to wash it down, I hear.”

“Coming up,” the baker smiled.

He’d be happy to sell them all they wanted of the costly produce; sugar and sweets were some of the hardest materials to come by, but somewhat commonly available as a trade port town, if expensive. 

“Freshly brought in yesterday,” he added, reaching into an ice box kept chilled by an Artificer’s fridge-like contraption. “Thank you for the business.”

“Mmm!” 

Rose downed her third glass and fifth pastry as they sat at one of the few tables in the shop. It was mainly a buy-and-go kind of place, but a few places were set aside for those who weren’t in a rush. A sign above the counter said the cups needed to be returned.

Malik ate his second, careful with how he handled it. 

“Like it?”

“I never knew refined Aether could taste so much richer compared to its base; perhaps it is due to the chemical reaction from the nose and tongue, though?” she questioned, spotting a well-off-looking merchant minding his own business and cleaning it off his fingers. 

“The warm, sticky texture on your hands… Mmm. Do you feel it like I do? Oh, are you supposed to lick it off?” 

“You can,” he said with a shrug.

He had to admit that it was more than a little amusing to see the pink-haired goddess’s messy face, like she was a kid getting her first dessert. 

“If you know what it is, why ask me? Oh, and can we get a wet rag, sir?”

“Here you are,” the baker said, multitasking between people.

Malik was surprised he didn’t have an assistant, wife, or child handling things in the typical family-run businesses of this world. Maybe they were running late for the morning rush. 

Rose watched him clean off one of his hands and cheeks with interest before mirroring him. She seemed to be in a cheery mood, which was all he could ask for.

“I ask not because I know ‘what it is’ but because I want to know ‘what the experience means’ or how other races and species view them in their culture. As I said earlier, The System is quite limited. It’s only meant as an intermediary to Soul Manifestation, anyway… I like licking it more—give me your hand!”

Malik’s muscles went on high alert as the beautiful woman reached out to grab his arm before he could finish wiping away the small bit of custard on his fingers. 

His blood heated, air locking in his lungs as she guided it to her mouth. The dragon’s hot tongue slid across his skin to sample his flavor, the smooth yet rough texture applying pressure and heat that sent an electrical surge to his brain.

“Ack—Rose! Y-You can’t do that!”

He hissed, trying to calm his lower half at the sudden sticky sensation that embraced his finger. They were drawing stares with a few women’s faces, lighting up with the devil of gossip in their sparkling eyes and reddening cheeks.

“Rose, stop!”

Part of the trouble was how stupidly strong the pink-haired young woman was. He was used to severely holding back when handling normal people, but Rose was a physical goddess, quite literally, and it didn’t help that even her tongue held ungodly amounts of power.

She put pressure on places that twisted Malik’s mind into a spiral.

Their soul-bond sent many more pleasurable sensations, as well.

“Mmm-hmm?”

She released his hand, confusion swimming in her gaze.

Malik had to discreetly shift his pants and angle his cloak a bit. 

“Why? It felt and tasted better than the pastry when it was on your…”

“Ahem!” 

He carefully got up, cloak hiding the bulge; most of the walk-in patrons were averting their gaze, pink-faced. But a few middle-class women at another table would not turn away, seemingly petrified by what they’d just witnessed.

His voice was hoarse. 

“Let’s go…”

Rose wore a frown, her tail noticeably lacking its previous fervor as she got up.

She slipped it out of the chair’s open back. And now he was wondering if it was stiff or wagging when sliding her tongue around his fingers—his mind unconsciously went other places that didn’t help the lack of blood in his head.

Dammit! 

How did this happen out of nowhere?! 

Calm down… 

Dammit! 

Why was she so sticky and thick—of course, milk and custard… 

Shut up, brain!

That electric pulse when she touches me from the pact is a problem…

“Agrh… Thank you for the meal,” he mumbled.

His cheeks were a flaming scarlet as he dropped probably more coins than were needed on the counter and stormed out, trying to clear his mind in the sea breeze that hit his face.

It wasn’t helping.

Why can I still feel her in my veins?

…Because she’s still a part of me.

“What did I do wrong?” Rose asked.

She followed him onto the cobblestone walkway; for the first time, there was bewildered worry in the dragon’s sky-blue eyes. 

“You seemed to be enjoying…”

“Look, stop! I just need to find a shrine to Titania!”

Chapter Thirteen: A Divine Retirement Plan

Storming off and leaving her standing beside the shop, Malik didn’t bother to see if she was behind him. Maybe it would be better if she weren’t there right now. He could still feel her tongue, that still-warm saliva sending cattle prods through his whole body.

Breathing heavily and rubbing his still-sticky index finger, Malik cursed. 

It wouldn’t cool.

What is wrong with her?

He couldn’t get the erotic roughness of her tongue out of his mind. If that wasn’t enough, each pastry flake left an explosion of flavor through Rose’s body that transferred to his own mouth through their soul-bond!

It slid over his fingers in search of sweet nectar, thickening his saliva. 

He’d felt exactly what she was experiencing, if only in part.

She was getting turned on and didn’t even realize it!

This pact was dangerous!

She probably felt a bit of what he did, which was all the more embarrassing.

Malik stumbled to the side, forcing him to use a building for support.

Fear now coursed through his hot veins. 

He didn’t know what he expected from Rose when making this pact, but not this; his body wasn’t supposed to act like this. It was just a tongue!

The pact had made this electrifying bond between them, and now he was seeing why Rose had been so quiet as she analyzed it. All of this stimulation was new to her, as well, but she was just experimenting. 

To her, this was a game. 

All of this had real implications for him, though!

Pressing his palm to his forehead, his face was burning. 

Never had he felt like this. Not fighting against powerful demons, devils, the monsters of the Darkvein, nor with his Earth life. 

The closest thing that he could compare it to was the day he regained his memories at the age of ten, hellfire raining around him, and seeing everyone he’d grown up with slaughtered by fiends. 

He felt helpless. 

He needed help.

The one person he could rely on for guidance gave strength back to his trembling legs, and he pushed farther into the alley; he had to find a shrine to his goddess.

Malik’s clouded mind and thumping heart started to settle as he walked the alleys. 

Rose wasn’t with him, yet he somehow knew exactly what direction she was in.

Another product of this pact.

He asked directions from a few low-class kids playing on the backstreets.

According to them, it was the only Titania shrine in town.

Most shrines were dedicated to the Holy Emperor.

No surprise in this nation.

As he neared the edge of the southwestern slums, he started to notice a lot more beastkin—nearly all men. They showed far more human characteristics than the nearly full animalistic variants he’d seen in their homelands when passing through.

They were probably hybrids or half-blooded.

The System kept things general, labeling people as half-blooded or not having any blood at all. Most of these men had very simple animal characteristics: ears, tails, shells, patches of fur, claws, feathery hair, or scales.

He did spot a few females. Yet, they were a tad more animal-like than the men, with less human figures. Still, they had enough of a figure to show they were half-blooded. 

His [Language Pack] Feat was advanced enough to speak in their individual native tongues, yet all of their conversations were in Common.

The majority of beastkin lived only 60–80 years. Some tribes lived far longer, but that was the exception rather than the rule.

Culturally matured around 12. It was too young for Malik, but to each their own. He thought this world’s definition of adulthood for humans at age 15 was too harsh. 

But that’s what this kind of world was.

These people seemed to have a little back-alley community. They shared houses and built wooden shelters to keep out the common rainfall of the portside town when there wasn’t enough room inside. 

Malik guessed there were at least a hundred, which probably weren’t counted in the residential population. An illegal head count for the lord to count for taxes.

True to their large ears, a male from the Rabbit Tribe met him with a small smile. 

“Hello, friend, I heard you are looking for a shrine to Titania?”

“I am,” he whispered.

His quick glance around the area told him this place was almost squalid, but just barely able to squeak out a poor lifestyle. Malik made note of a group nearby talking lowly to one another about what seemed to be possible jobs that needed to be filled.

He took out a steel piece. That caught sharp eyes as he handed it to the surprised rabbit man. It was the typical daily wage of someone in a modest job. These people likely saw ten iron coins as a good day’s work.

“Will this be enough to guide me there?”

“More than enough!” he laughed, motioning for one of the younger boys. “You are most generous.”

Malik noticed another group muttering about getting a permit to enter an E-tier Dungeon nearby, which was an interesting detail. It was the same place where the Dungeon was discovered when he’d been through here.

That’s not legal.

What is the local lord doing?

The Cores were supposed to be destroyed within six months, so they wouldn’t get out of hand, evolve, and harm the land.

The boy ran over to take the coin and bring it to whoever ran this back-alley tribe of mish-mashed beastkin. The rabbit man’s posture became more relaxed.

“Thank you, sir. Please, follow me, and I’ll take you to the shrine.”

Malik complied, unconcerned about potential ambushes; if it happened, he’d knock a few heads and let off some steam before turning them into the jailhouse.

“Do you have a name?” Malik asked.

He kept his hands hidden beneath his S-tier cloak, examining the living conditions from alley to alley. A group followed them, more likely to be sure he didn’t cause trouble than cause trouble themselves in this type of community.

“Nerish, sir,” he said. He motioned him into an old wooden house to reach another alley; inside were a few kids and more beastly-than-not female beastkin. “We’re almost there.”

“A Salven Theocracy name?”

“Uh, yes, sir,” he muttered, ears pulling back a little. He turned to smile at him. “I was born in Salven. You must be well-traveled. Ah, we’re here!”

He took him to another door across from the closely built wooden housing district and knocked. Obviously, he didn’t want to talk about where he’d come from, which possibly meant he was a runaway slave from Salven.

It wasn’t like he cared much for the slave trade, legal or not. It was a complicated issue since some races loved to be slaves in the practice and enjoyed some of the protections it gave in the more developed nations.

For the most part, Tenebrin had very strict slave laws that benefited them, and he could see these beastkin trying to become slaves here rather than in Salven, who weren’t the kindest when dealing with beastkin in general.

Nerish knocked on the door again, bowed his head, and scampered off. 

Emotions settled after leaving Rose; he began to wonder whether it was right for him to have left her. Probably not. One mistake could lead to a nuke.

What a mess…

But she did promise not to kill anyone and keep near my level.

A groan rumbled in his throat.

Maybe I was being a little rash.

Where would she go, though? 

What was she thinking after he’d stormed off? 

Was she mad this inferior human had left without her permission? 

Was she alone and scared?

The door opened, bringing his troubled gaze up to see a full-blooded Panthera woman. She had the full-body characteristics of the cat-like humanoid race. 

A soft smile brightened her feline face.

“I had a dream that someone from out of town would come to meet me,” she whispered with a purring hum.

The woman turned to the side to allow him into the humble, single-room abode.

“You are my second visitor today. I am an anointed Cleric of Titania, Tabia. Welcome.”

He nodded gratefully as Tabia waved off his escort and walked inside. 

The floor had been broken away to allow for well-tended grass and flowers to spread, while glow bulbs grew from the ceiling. Free-roaming moss and ivy covered the walls, while a few very terrible statues of the fae-like Greater Goddess were placed around the corners.

In the center grew a single, small tree, radiating a soft green, amber, and golden glow that showed Titania’s blessing. The place was the most humble shrine to his goddess that he’d seen. 

Tabia closed the entrance as he walked inside, letting the tranquility of its blessing fill him. All the chatter from outside melted away into sweet serenity. 

Just what he needed.

“I recognize that you are far closer to Titania than I, Malik Tasnia; it is an honor to meet you. A champion to our Greater Goddess?”

“Sharp. I may be a reincarnate and have met her personally, but you are the sanctified oracle of this shrine,” he whispered, knowing the woman could feel instinctive knowledge from Titania. “I thank you for taking care of this holy place.”

She smiled as he gave her the rest of his bag of coins.

“Titania does not require much.”

“Oh, she’s far more greedy than you might think. Make use of that however you see fit.”

Malik chuckled at the pulsing lights overhead, practically hearing the fae woman’s giggles at his accusation. He pulled back his cloak to sit on the grass and stare at the tree, feeling the warmth he recalled when first meeting the Greater Goddess.

“Titania only takes those that willingly come to her… You already embody what she requires, which is why you help all these beastkin. You keep them fed with the donations other believers give you… I needed this.”

Tabia didn’t respond—she didn’t need to—she simply moved to kneel beside him to close her eyes and try to feel Titania’s guiding hand within her. 

Malik sat in the serene stillness of the room, closed off from the rest of reality; he didn’t really believe in a higher power until he met this heavenly woman. Somehow, this was all a part of his fae goddess’ plot to do good.

But how? 

Titania’s measurement of time was far beyond Rose herself.

Rules and laws were not her thing.

If people wanted to do good, she was there to support them, regardless of alignment.

And sometimes that made Malik nervous.

So, I’m here, he began, reaching out in his heart to start a dialogue with the goddess.

He could practically see the Greater Goddess’s small, knowing smile lift with the swell of autumn and spring scents that embrace the area.

Her voice tickled his mind. 

“So you are. How is Rose? Cute, isn’t she?”

She also knew everything that had happened, so her question was a teasing one more than a genuine inquiry. They couldn’t talk long, or his spirit might explode; so he went straight to the point. 

You knew she wasn’t on some world-destroying mission.

Rose was just a passing natural disaster. 

So, why point me toward her, and in this direction… 

Really, a baby?!

Titania’s tired sigh felt like a cool fingernail on the back of his prickly neck.

Her sudden shift in tone strangled his soul.

“Ten long years you’ve toiled, flying everywhere I asked! You’ve helped save quite literally millions of people who would have died had you not stepped up. And what, might I ask, have you desired of me in return?”

A break… Malik slowly answered.

The humming tree’s radiance fluttered.

“Oh, my little nectar bud, there is more than just a respite in those prayers… A life—someone to settle down with… And I’ve provided you with chance after chance. What do you do with all these wonderful ladies I’ve guided you to?”

I mean…it wouldn’t be fair to get involved with them.

I have a dangerous life, Malik countered.

His throat was suddenly dry. 

He glanced away from her, but Tatania’s iron grip wouldn’t let him leave that easily.

“No, no, no! Heheh. I’ve provided you plenty of ways out of this gig. But you keep turning down those retirement packages. Only you can solve these problems, you so arrogantly think. So what happens to these swooning girls?”

I don’t take advantage of them! I…

“Yes. Yes. Make sure they’re okay, have some funds, and bye!”

Titania’s tone got a flinch at the image he was getting in his mind.

“Off to the next one the moment they show some interest in going deeper. No, if I were to grant your wish, I would have to get a little more… creative. Now, you can’t run away from this one, my dutiful night. And I’ll be watching the whole show! Better get back to Rosy before disaster strikes! Bye-bye. Heheh.”

Malik’s mouth dropped open at the blunt slap to the face as the goddess’s typically very aloof and majestic personality turned into a girl’s entertained giggle.

Tabia’s serene countenance came back into focus as his personal chat with their goddess came to a close. The panther woman looked enthralled.

“I have…never felt her so close. My heart is racing… What did she tell you, Hero—Hero?”

Malik got to his feet, legs almost too numb to keep him stable.

Tabia helped him. 

“She told me to get settled in… This will be a long quest.”

Am I really that pathetic, Titania?

I’d rather fight for my life than settle down?

Only amused silence answered his inner prayer.

I’ve been beaten… 

By a dragon goddess eating pastries and my own goddess playing Cupid.

Next Chapter