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Lustful moans echoed from beyond the heavy oak doors of the Sovereign’s bedchamber. Inside, Gilzenth was entwined with four others, a chaotic tangle of bodies and desires.
Standing guard outside was Saroza. She fought a silent, maddening war against the jealousy clawing at her throat. Her molars ground together, a sharp, rhythmic creak in the silence of the hallway.
How could she be so cruel…?
Behind her Vision-Seal, Saroza’s eyes brimmed with hot tears. She clenched her hands into trembling, fragile fists. Gilzenth had specifically appointed her as the guard for this night—knowing full well that Saroza was hopelessly in love with her. It was a calculated move: to tease, to provoke, and to stoke the fires of envy until Saroza’s obsession became unbreakable.
Saroza understood the manipulation. She knew Gilzenth was pulling her strings. But understanding provided no shield against the torrential flood of her own emotions.
I am the one! I am the one who loves her most in this world!
Saroza had been raised in the arid wastes of the western Varney Republic. While the desert was fertile in its own way, the lack of water meant crops withered before they could sprout. In her small village, “hope” was a foreign word. Those who couldn’t find work in the nearby cities were left to beg or sell their bodies just to survive. Everyone was too consumed by their own struggle for breath to care for another. Everyone was drowning in isolation.
Saroza’s only dream had been to live in a great city. She believed that where there were people, there would be companionship. Then, the Revelation came.
Blessed with a Divine Pulse, she was recruited as a Holy Maiden in the capital city of Ucto, serving under the Arbitrate. Her dream had come true—or so she thought.
But in the heat of battle against the Beast-Devils, Saroza failed to distinguish herself. An injury sidelined her, and she was cast out from the front lines. No one came to visit her in the infirmary. Day after day, she stared at the ocean from her window, the crushing weight of loneliness returning with a vengeance. Anxiety became her only constant companion.
Before the Revelation, she could blame her surroundings. She was alone because the village was poor. But even with the power of a Maiden, her status hadn’t changed.
Maybe the world doesn’t need me. Maybe my very birth was a mistake.
Self-loathing became a daily ritual—until a hand was placed gently on her shoulder.
It was Gilzenth. By then, she was already hailed as the Savior of Ucto. With her peerless sensory Pulse, she had commanded legions of Maidens to repel massive Beast-Devils twice over. Saroza, who had been relegated to long-range sniping from afar, had long worshipped Gilzenth—the woman who hunted monsters as if she were dancing through the clouds.
“I want to create a world of harmony, free from conflict,” Gilzense whispered, gazing toward the horizon.
A world where the three warring nations and the feral Beast-Devils lived in balance? To Saroza, it was an impossible dream.
“I need comrades like you, Saroza. Lend me your strength.”
After she finished speaking, Gilzenth embraced Saroza from behind. Her hands were soft, moist, and touched Saroza’s collarbone with a terrifying tenderness. She smelled faintly, sweetly, of flowers.
The woman I worship… needs me.
Hot tears spilled from beneath Saroza’s visor. She sobbed, her breath hitching in her throat. Every moment of suffering in her past, she decided, had existed only to lead her to this single instant.
To stay by Gilzenth’s side, no matter what. That became Saroza’s only reason to draw breath.
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