“Yes. Just once.” Eugene replied quickly as she nodded her head. She had no choice but toply with his request, knowing that she was lucky enough to get this much.


    <em>‘Good. There’s nothing that will hold me back now.’ </em>She thought to herself.


    She was relieved that he didn’t respond to her cold-heartedly. If she didn’t trust him, everything could’ve gone wrong.


    While Eugene was trapped in her thoughts contemting her next move, Kasser remained tense and bothered beside her. A hardened expression etched his face, no matter how much he thought he still felt the n was just too dangerous. He ran his hand through his hair, regret filling his insides and swallowing him whole.


    <em><strong>“Struggles don’t make it impossible.”</strong></em>


    He had told her that a few days ago, and he didn’t expect her to take his words to heart. He felt displeased thinking about how weak his resolve was when it came to her.


    Kasser removed her hands that were still clinging to him, grabbing her shoulders as he fixed his gaze on her face. He wanted to tell her to look for another way, but her smiling, pleased face rendered him speechless. The final decision was always up to him. He didn’t really pay attention to the consequences of his words or actions, and being considerate of other people’s feelings waspletely foreign to him.


    Unable to control her overflowing emotions, Eugene suddenly brought her face towards his, aiming a kiss on his lips, butnding on the spot between his lower lip and chin instead.


    She broke into peals ofughter at her own carelessness as she leaned in and nted a soft kiss on his lips.


    Kasser’s eyes glistened as he stared at her. With a resigned sigh, he looked up momentarily and said with a tone full of mirth, “This isn’t good.”


    “What do you mean?”


    “You’re doing this intentionally. This sudden affection.” Kasser replied.


    Her eyes widened at his teasing. “No, it wasn’t intentional. I didn’t n it at all.” Eugene denied as she crossed her arms around his neck, looking directly into his eyes. Her tongue slid out, softly licking his lips then proceeded to suck his bottom lip. She was doing exactly what he’d always done to her.


    “I didn’t n it,” Eugene said, looking straight to his eyes, “I just wanted to do it.”


    Kasser stared back at her with the same intensity, the air around them felt hot as he swept her in for a kiss.


    At the swift action, Eugene arched her head back towards the bed, reciprocating his kiss with equal passion. She ced her hands onto his shoulders, gently squeezing at the hard ne of his muscles beneath her fingertips. A light moan slipped out of her as they seamlessly moved together. It seemed like Kasser was not the only one who looked forward to this night.


    ***


    Kasser woke up from his slumber, feeling a strong energy bubbling inside his body. His eyes fluttered open and he saw a translucent blue snake slipping out of him.


    Praz ran away immediately as he felt his master awake. Kasser rxed when he saw water rising from the direction of Praz’s movement.


    He looked around, carefully taking in his surroundings with his eyes. He realized that it was the crack of dawn, casting the bedroom a hazy, dream-like atmosphere from the early morning glow. He could still see the illusionary water filling the bedroom from where hey.


    Kasser stretched out his hand, waving his hand slightly as the water shook in front of him. He could not feel anything, but the scene before him looked real, vivid enough to convince a person into believing that it was tangible.


    It was still a mysterious sight to him, despite seeing it for the second time now. He turned his head to the side and saw Eugene sleeping peacefully beside him.


    His arm rested under Eugene’s pillow, supporting her head like a secondary cushion. Every time he wakes up in the morning, he would either be holding her hand or his arm would be a makeshift pillow she would lie on. He didn’t exactly remember when they started doing this, as they transitioned into this so easily and naturally in only a short period of time.


    Back then, about a few months ago, he would wake up from his sleep lying so far away from her, almost nearing the edge of the bed. He couldn’t even sleep well at night because he was ufortable, even when he slept alone. Those days felt distant even when it’s only been a few months.


    But now, sleeping with someone beside him doesn’t bother him in the slightest. Even when their bodies are close and touching, that won’t hinder him from getting a good night’s sleep. He was used to it by now that he would surely feel strange if everything changed.


    He carefully pulled his arm out and switched to a seating position. His eyes went up, a frown made its way to his face upon seeing Praz floating around the bedroom.


    Praz, who was in the shape of a snake, was ying with the water suspended in the air. His tail was like that of a fish’s, pattering and disrupting the water.


    He stared at the blue snake in annoyance and clicked his tongue. Growing skeptical at the sight in front him, he decided to avert his eyes as he took in Eugene’s sleeping form. Eugene flipped to her side, now facing the direction he was looking at.


    Heughed quietly to himself seeing how deeply she’s sleeping, her breathinging in slow and heavy at the same time. ‘What was that about, not being able to sleep?’


    Kasser stayed still for a while, losing track of time as he looked at her sleeping face fondly,pletely pleased to have such a beautiful view.


    A few moments passed the bedroom grew brighter, sunrays seeping through the curtains as light filled the room slowly, signaling a new day ahead. The illusionary water disappeared, as if it evaporated under the luminosity of the sun.


    Before the waterpletely disappeared, Praz had returned to his body. Just like thest time, the water did not get sucked inside Eugene’s body, and simply appeared as if they were air.


    <em>‘Is she bing better at controlling her Ramita?’ </em>Kasser asked, getting out of bed to start his day. He nned to tell her about what he sawter, since it’s about time for him to start working. He had woken up earlier than usual, but his mind was alert as ever.


    He wanted to wake Eugene but thought of how she must have been exhausted fromst night’s affair. Hence, he gave her sleeping form a soft kiss, made sure she was covered warm with the nkets and left silently.


    Kasser had asked his aide to bring in some documents. The aide brought in a thick pile of papers inside his office, cing it carefully on his desk.


    The side of the pile bore different shades of colors, showing their age through the passage of time. The bottom part of the pile was yellow, the middle one was slightly discolored, and the top portion of the documents was white. The documents are arranged ording to their dates.


    Kasser had already read the files that were ced on the top pile. The other documents were made before he had ascended to the throne and some were written during the reign of the previous king, perhaps even earlier.


    He read through thetest documents, taking his time to read each one carefully from the beginning to end, while taking only certain excerpts from the older documents.


    After reading for a quite a while, he straightened his back out and tapped his fingers on the desk, his mind deep in thoughts. All the documents that he read had information about Mara’s servants. ‘The high priest…’


    Kasser was surprised when Eugene mentioned ‘The high priest’ during their conversation yesterday. He knew about the ranks within the servants of Mara, but only to some extent. ‘The high priest is the eminent one.”


    The reason why he did not send his people out and take them down was pretty simple. He thought that it would be a waste of energy and manpower to do such, trivial thing. It’s not like he’s neglecting the situationpletely, it is just one of the kingdom’s rules to conduct necessary precautions when handling affairs such as this. Those rules won’t hinder him from looking for more information, though.


    They were a private organization, but they had ws everywhere. He also coerced the servants of Mara by telling them to do their best in proving that they are harmless, and even telling them that he would keep a blind eye to a certain degree.


    He told Eugene that it was not a big deal, but in reality, Kasser took this matter seriously. It won’t do them any good when the fact that she had sponsored a cult and even referred to as Saintess, became public. It will only tamper her image.


    And if the purpose of her support towards the cult was to summon Mara, then that’s all the more reason why the idea needs to be sealed off from the public. It doesn’t matter if the summoning was possible or not, the mere attempt of doing so would definitely raise suspicions.


    Of course, he did not believe that the Queen wanted to summon Mara at all, since there was no reason for her to do so. What he was concerned about was that even if they did shake the usations off, she would still be suspected.


    Kasser called for Verus, who immediately entered upon hearing his name.


    “How’s the missioning along?” Kasser asked.


    “I’m currently grasping the situation. I’ll handle it, and report to you immediately.” Verus answered.


    “No. If you’re doing anything right now, stop all of it.” Kasser said sternly.


    “Your Highness, there are still some things we need to keep an eye on. Please reconsider.” Verus replied politely. He knew how to twist his words despite talking to the King. But he was determined to push through with his assignment, confident that he would do it correctly.


    Even though he had risen to the chancellor position at such a young age and had power in his hands, it did not give him the leverage to talk freely since he was supported by most of the officials. If he were the type of official who was only obedient to the King, those who eyed for his seat would definitely resort to tactics just to pull him down from his position.


    “Let me rephrase. I’m not saying to put aplete stop to it. What I’m saying is that you should change the direction.” Kasser replied.


    “I’m afraid I don’t understand, Your Highness.” Verus said, clearly confused.


    “Do it quietly and secretly so they don’t notice.”


    “Your Majesty. How much secrecy do you speak of? We’re in the process of collecting information, so we’ve always been cautious. We see to it that we take a careful approach.” Verus replied.


    “No need to focus your attention on collecting information. Find out the consequences of their actions instead and track their movements too. And from the capital, get the names of the servants, along with the main members of the cult.”


    Verus’ expression softened as he listened to the King’s instructions. It seemed like that the King was adamant in knowing the full identity of the cult. It was a different perspective from the Kingdom’s previous policy of managing the cult only if they caused major idents.


    “Are you saying that whatever it is that they do, we should only focus on securing the list of their members?” Verus confirmed.


    “For the time being, yes.”


    A draft of what he’s about to do filled Verus’ mind. It would be a good idea to spread rumors that the Hashi Kingdom might recognize cults, as to make them vignt.


    “I will proceed as per your orders. However, please allow me to continue my personal investigation, for other purposes.”


    “You mean information broker ‘Cage’, right?’ Kasser asked.


    Verus’ eyes grew wide as he bent his head down. “Yes, Your Majesty. We’re investigating him.”


    “So I heard. What does it have to do with this?”


    He was reluctant in saying it at first since the queen secretly ordered for this investigation, but he was relieved that the King already knew.


    “I think he’s rted to the cult, and I think that he’s the one who supports them.”


    “Cult or not, he’s still an offender since he deceived the queen into wasting her money. He has to be caught and he needs to pay for his wrongdoings. Don’t investigate him until I give you a heads up, but do not let your eyes off of him. He’s very cunning. So do keep a watchful eye over him. Also, do not keep a warrior on watch. Understand?” Kasser said in a grave voice.


    Kasser gained key information from his conversationst night with Eugene, that a priest-level cult member would be able to sense the presence of the King and a warrior.


    “I’ll follow your orders, Your Majesty.”


    After Verus got out of the room, Kasser called in a few more people to assign some work, as he began to map out his ns in driving the cult out.


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