性瘾者

[A DIFFERENT world?]

Gavin wanted to laugh but he couldn\'t.

The long dream that he had revolved around the lady that he had just seen– Lady Go Aerum. It was the lady that looked like Lady Mona Roseheart. But it was clear to him that the strange lady in his dreams was from a different world.

And so was he.

"The "me" in that world is in love with the lady that looks like Lady Roseheart?" Gavin whispered to himself, then he gulped hard. "What a strange dream."

"It wasn\'t a dream, Commander Quinzel."

He instantly drew his sword and pointed it in the direction where he heard the voice. The voice was familiar but he still wanted to make sure that he was right so he asked. "Is that you, Lukas?"

"You are correct, Commander."

A man stepped out of the shadows. He then pulled the hood of his dark brown robe down to reveal his face. Short ash brown hair, silver eyes, pale skin, pointed ears. Those were the features that made the man conventionally handsome, regardless of his race. He wasn\'t human but his looks were very much capable of enchanting humans.

This elf wasn\'t just an ordinary elf though.

[He is the Messenger of the God of Eternal Darkness.]

"Greetings to the King of the Unholy Shadow Beasts," Lukas greeted him, and he even bowed to him. "It\'s a pleasure to meet you again."

"Why did you follow me here?" he asked while putting the sword back to its sheath. "Do you have anything else you wish to say to me?"

"There are a lot of things that I need to tell you, my lord," the elf said. "To be precise, the god that I serve wishes to help you obtain happiness this time. After all, even though the Quinzels have turned their backs on him, he still sees you as his child."

He felt awkward hearing that.

But it wasn\'t like he could ignore the words or the will of a god.

"The God of Eternal Darkness," he began hesitantly. "May I know his name?"

"You may call the lord \'Helstor,\' Commander," Lukas said, and he seemed to be delighted that he showed interest in the God of Eternal Darkness. "The God of Eternal Darkness is pleased to know that his name is now known by the child he treasures."

He wanted to say that he only asked the god\'s name because \'God of Eternal Darkness\' was a mouthful. But he didn\'t have the heart to break the hopeful look on Lukas\'s face. "Why does Lord Helstor treasure me? I didn\'t even know his existence until I met you, Lukas. Moreover, it seems like my family has betrayed him because we know serve Lord Yule, the Moon God."

The elf chuckled. "Lord Helstor understands why your family has to turn its back on him, Commander Quinzel," he said. "The House Quinzel needed to do that to survive, and my lord allowed that to happen."

"Why did he allow it to happen?" he asked, confused. "I thought the power of the gods relies on how much faith they receive from their followers."

"Exactly– my lord doesn\'t wish to be more powerful than he already is."

Now he was even more confused.

"Commander Quinzel, you of all people should know the stigma that people born with Darkness attribute have," Lukas said in a sad voice. "Because of the Absolute Darkness that swallowed the world during the Ancient Period, the humans born after the dark times have been wired with fear of the darkness. Thus, people automatically fear and hate those who use the Darkness attribute. Of course, they feel the same way for Lord Helstor– the God of Eternal Darkness. It\'s one of the reasons why Lord Helstor was ostracized by his fellow gods. In the end, he was banished from the Upper World under the guise that he was chosen to be the God of the Underworld."

He was shocked by that revelation. "Lord Helstor is also the God of the Underworld? I thought it was the Devil…"

The elf scoffed. "The Devil is only the King of the Underworld. Since Lord Helstor doesn\'t wish to fight with his fellow gods, he made the Devil the King of the Underworld. He didn\'t interfere when the Divine Clan and the Demon Race had a war in the past because he already detached himself from the Underworld."

"That\'s too good to be true," he said before he could stop himself from voicing out his honest thoughts. "I\'m sorry if I offended you. I just never imagined that there would be a god who doesn\'t care about power– a god who wants his "child" to be happy without gaining anything in return."

Lukas smiled and nodded. "That\'s understandable, Commander Quinzel. Lord Helstor already expected that you wouldn\'t be easily convinced that he sincerely wanted to help you. After all, the other gods would usually offer a mutually beneficial contract with the children that they wish to help."

He nodded in agreement.

[I remember that Lady Roseheart made a contract with Lord Yule when we tried to free the Soul Beasts in the past. That\'s how gods "help" their children. But Lord Helstor is saying that he wanted me to be happy without asking for something in return?]

"Hence, Lord Helstor decided to show his sincerity through actions instead of words," the elf continued. "Commander Quinzel, do you still remember the long dream that you had about the woman who looked like Lady Mona Roseheart?"

"It\'s too long for me to remember every single detail," he said. "But I do remember that I seem to have feelings for the strange lady."

"Commander Quinzel, as I said earlier, that wasn\'t a long dream."

His heart suddenly thumped hard and loud against his chest. "If it wasn\'t a dream, then what was that?"

"Those were the memories of your second life, Commander."

His eyes widened in shock. "My second life? Then, are you saying that this life I\'m living isn\'t my first?"

"You died in your first life because of your loyalty to His Majesty and Lady Roseheart," the elf said grimly. "During your first life, you accompanied Lady Roseheart and her newborn child to cross over another world. Unfortunately, Lady Roseheart\'s power wasn\'t enough to keep the door open long enough. The three of you died when the door closed suddenly."

He flinched when he heard that. "I failed to protect Lady Roseheart and the royal princess?"

Since Lady Roseheart was a Roseheart, they already knew that the baby in her womb was a princess.

And he failed to protect her.

[I\'m a failure as a commander…]

"Commander Quinzel, this isn\'t the time for you to worry about other people," Lukas scolded him. "When Lady Roseheart and the newborn princess passed away, their souls returned to the Spirit World. However, your soul was stuck in another dimension. Thus, you were reborn in a different world."

He clenched his hands tight. Although it was hard to believe, the story was starting to make sense. "Is that the world that I saw in my dream?"

"Yes, that\'s correct."

"But why does the lady in that world look like Lady Roseheart?"

The elf fell silent before he spoke again. "It\'s because it\'s a parallel world," he explained carefully. "It\'s a world where another \'you\' exist. The lady that you saw in your dream is the Lady Roseheart of that world. And Commander Quinzel, there is also a \'you\' that exists in that world just like what you\'ve seen in your dream."

Now his head began to hurt from too much thinking.

Parallel world?

Another Lady Roseheart? Another him? And in that world, he was in love with that lady?

"I guess seeing your second life in the form of a long dream isn\'t enough."

His chaotic thoughts were interrupted when all of a sudden, he saw Lukas standing in front of him. The elf was too close so he tried to step back. But much to his shock, he realized that he couldn\'t move. A shadow that he didn\'t control had tied his feet to the ground.

[Dammit!]

"Commander Quinzel, we won\'t hurt you," Lukas said in a strangely calm voice. Then, he gently put a hand on the top of his head. "Lord Helstor wishes to send you to the body of the \'you\' in the world you saw for you to make a choice later."

Gavin was shocked to hear that. Make a choice later? He didn\'t understand that and he didn\'t have the chance to ask because all of a sudden, everything had turned black.

***

MONA wasn\'t surprised when she saw Rufus and Amber Quinzel in Nikolai\'s palace. She was on her way to report to the emperor about the new master of the Thunderbird when she came across the newlyweds.

She had already seen their visit in her premonition the other way. That was the reason why she went to the Fairy Forest the other way. She asked Tara\'s siblings for some herbal medicine that she wanted to give to Amber Quinzel, Rufus\'s wife.

"Greetings, Lady Roseheart," Rufus and Amber Quinzel greeted her politely.

Mona smiled and greeted the two back. Since she wasn\'t the type of person to beat around the bush (and she was really busy today), she immediately turned to Amber Quinzel and handed her the pouch where the precious herbal medicine was stored. "Lady Quinzel, I\'d like to give this herbal medicine to you. It can cure almost any type of fever that a sickly child might get in their young life. This will be useful to you in the future."

Amber Quinzel looked confused but she still accepted the pouch that she handed to her. "Lady Roseheart, thank you but I\'m quite confused," she said. "I don\'t have relatives who have young children…"

"Ah, you didn\'t know yet?" she asked, genuinely confused. "Lady Quinzel, you are pregnant."

Lady Quinzel looked shocked by what she said. And then, she asked in a concerned voice. "Lady Roseheart, are you saying that my child is going to be born weak?"

[Ah, I should have been more careful.]

One of the reasons why she didn\'t have many friends was because she didn\'t know how to deal with living humans most of the time. Since she had been dealing with Spirits ever since she was a child, she found it awkward talking to living humans--- especially to the noblewomen like her.

She was about to apologize to Lady Quinzel for her tactlessness when all of a sudden, she froze when she got the chills.

Then, her heart thumped hard against her chest.

"Lady Roseheart?" Rufus Quinzel asked worriedly. "Are you alright?"

"Commander Gavin Quinzel," Mona said in a scared and concerned voice. "His life force suddenly disappeared from this world."

***

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