Vol. 2 – Chapter 47 - A Gentleman waiting for his Priestess
Yet, Mathias to fill his time as he waited for Jeanne to finish her work, walked toward the Cathedral's main hall and took a seat closer to the altar entrance, taking his equipment for writing out and undisturbed by anyone beginning his writing under Haycien's curious eyes.
Time passed and he continued writing unbothered by anyone in his surroundings, as if he was alone in this entire building, there were some priests who got curious about the man with crimson hair writing something and walking parallel to him, they could only see his mask and ruby eyes.
"Is that allowed?" asked a priest who spotted Mathias alone at the front benches writing.
"If he doesn't disturb anyone let's leave him alone without disturbing him. It might be a noble and I really don't wish to get into a mess by arguing with him to leave the Prayer Hall." remarked another priest after the first young priest inquired about Mathias.
They returned back to their activities, giving tasks to the new church members who the Archbishop allowed to join, leaving Mathias who didn't even notice their presence in those moments. Hours passed since he settled down there and even the players got curious about the weird nobleman who didn't move for hours.
Getting closer to Mathias there was a player nun who told another nun her theory on who the crimson-haired man could be.
"What if he is a quest giver waiting for us players to approach him? It doesn't break anything trying our luck since there's a smaller number of quests from the priests."
"After you."
Walking toward Mathias they noticed the sheets of paper spread around him, fully written in immaculate calligraphy, yet before those girls could even say something they noticed the masked man gather his sheets of paper around, asking with a calm voice.
"How could I help you, young ladies?"
Hearing that calm voice that exuded some charm the player nuns couldn't back away, and apologized for bothering Mathias in those moments.
"Ahh, lord, our sincere apologies if we disturbed you. We were curious if you required anything since you've stood here for quite some hours."
"Don't worry, young lady, everything is alright. I don't need your assistance, but if you may, could you bring me some sheets of paper?"
"Sheets of paper?" asked the player nun, staring confused at Mathias's masked face, only noticing his mesmerizing ruby eyes.
"Indeed, young lady. It wouldn't be too hard, correct?"
"Understood, lord." said the girl who initialized the interaction with Mathias, gently stepping away from Mathias's proximity along with her friend who was still confused.
"What a weird noble. Right, Aurora, have you received a quest?"
"No, but let's bring him the paper, who knows we might trigger a quest chain."
On another hand, Mathias who placed in his inventory the work he still had to continue but lacked enough paper to get on with his flow of words printed down, gazed around the praying hall of the Cathedral while talking with Haycien who found it amusing how he was taking advantage of his new appearance and hat to mask his appearance to one of a noble.
{Lad, now I understand why it is so easy for you to behave like a noble, that character in your story Justinian, is spot on you, right? This explains everything and how calm you behave even in moments of stress. You really have reimagined yourself in such a setting and world, in a way even I could believe.}
{Haha, what's amusing is that you are the type of person who would lead the charge of your army by how you wrote that war scene with the enemy Empire, the Sassanids. Also shrewd, I like it, the more you write that book of yours the more I understand your character and soothes my heart knowing I didn't pick the wrong person.}
'Ahem, old man, some privacy please. Don't embarrass me. Also, don't make it seem as if I take advantage of those girls, I got some rewards for them.'
Inside the inner space of the crimson ring on Mathias's index finger, the old man did a shrewd expression, where all his wrinkles were put on display, grinning a bit and turning it seem creepy, but a pure chuckle dispersed that feeling, making him look as a proud old man, pleased with his life choices.
Getting back to hitting some talk with Mathias where he asked him about the army formation and strategies he wrote inside his story, it made Mathias realize he now had a person to talk about all his ideas and test his theories with an already experienced ruler, making his plots even stronger than before. Thus, until the two girls returned empty-handed, Mathias was having a pleasant conversation with Haycien about military formations.
"Lord, we returned. Sorry for the wait, but the priests didn't allow us to take the paper. However, we solved your request in a way. Here, would those suffice?" asked Aurora, who looked slightly nervous, but later on calming when hearing Mathias' serene voice.
"This secret will be between the two of us, young lady. Sorry for risking yourself for my selfish request. Here, this is for you."
Saying that, and looking at the young nun with a clean appearance, wearing nun clothes show the sheets of paper she took, in an underhanded way from the stingy priests, he placed his hands inside his coat pocket and opened his inventory from there, simulating the action of an inhabitant taking money out, he brought 20 gold coins for the girls and handed them to Aurora later closing her hand.
"Share it between one another."
The young nun who felt the warm touch of the masked nobleman and also heard his charming voice, turned slightly embarrassed, taking some time to gaze into his eyes before having her friend help to move away from Mathias who had a smile on his face.
"Aurora, planet Earth transmitting to Aurora, are you alright girl? What's got into you? Your cheeks are burning." told the other nun after distancing from Mathias, who placed his quil back on the inkwell resuming his writing.
"I don't know, I never experienced such a thing with the NPC's here. Even when I saw Paladin Gabrils who is a handsome guy in itself, I didn't behave like this. Hah, that crimson-haired noble must be hiding a really hot face, that he chose to hide it, just by listening to him gives you the impression he is a gentleman."
"Or just a hypocrite who likes to fool with pure girls. Anyway, how much did he reward us for the paper?"
Opening her closed fist, she could see twenty sparkling gold coins that had an eagle engraved on it, the standard for Saharan currency to have the stem of the Empire engraved, the Imperial Phoenix.
"Wow, twenty gold coins for just some insignificant paper? Isn't that nobleman too generous?"
"Hah, this feels too much, but they will help us greatly with buying the priest skills we need to grow and help the guild." replied the second nun called Sera, feeling excited about the rewards the two gained from Mathias, who they believed was a magnanimous NPC.
Yet before leaving Aurora took some pictures of Mathias side revealing his masked self, and tied crimson hair along with his elegant suit, choosing to share the story she encountered in a fan group she was subscribed to discussing interesting NPCs who helped players around.
@Elaxi: That's the figure of a good-looking man right there, where you found him Aurora, don't tell me it is from the Church you joined?
@Melisandre: Aurora, you did well for sharing this NPC with us, but we don't know his name. How will we be able to find him?
@Cersei: That's right, I am not on Titan . How would I be able to meet him?
@Elaxi: I doubt there are many crimson-haired NPC's around the city so it wouldn't be hard to find him.
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It was a certain event that wasn't in Mathias's control nor could he do something to change the outcome, since he just wanted to help out some beginners in the game because they too excused him of moving away from the Cathedral and missing out the chance of meeting his Priestess.
Slightly more hours passed, and from the other part of the Cathedral's Light, in the part, Mathias wanted to go, the door of a room was opened revealing a decently tall woman, that was 1,80 meters, with arranged golden hair, braided at the end of her back, enhanced by her hazel eyes.
She was wearing a white priest clothes decorated around making it feel like she held a higher rank inside the church, while her figure was so captivating that the priests who noticed her exit her office could only lower their gazes, and as she walked toward the central hall of the Cathedral, the priests who stopped Mathias notified her, slightly nervous.
"Your Excellency Jeanne, there is a masked person that gives me the feeling he is a noble who arrived hours ago and is currently sitting inside the praying hall doing some weird activities."
The blonde woman turned her gaze at the priest who stopped her, frowning a bit, before she inquired for more details.
"What do you mean by weird activities?"
"Well, you can't say it is weird, but he seems to write. Since he went to the praying hall and settled down he didn't move from there and has since been writing."
Another priest, also mentioned to Jeanne seeing her frown, trying not to bring some trouble upon them.
"That person also told us to tell you something vague. "Someone who you are expecting will wish to meet you". We choose to ignore it since you instructed us not to disturb Your Excellency, but that person still remains there."
Shaking her head at the priests, while sighing, she waved her delicate hands at them as if to dismiss them, before taking on herself to see who was the mysterious masked person who wanted to meet her so much.
Walking toward the praying hall from the central hall, the sound of her steps in the silent Cathedral, that got enhanced by her delicate heel shoes that were matched by her elegant priest clothes that was a combination between a nuns and male priest clothes that fit perfectly on her body, showing off her curves and even bosom.
*STEP*
*STEP*
Her heels touching the marble stone created a balanced echo, but as the blonde woman entered the praying hall and noticed in a corner a man who had crimson hair tied down, wearing a black hat and also an imposing black suit as if he was some a High-Ranked Yatan Servant, she slowed down, until she stopped altogether.
Her dignified appearance and straight back started trembling a bit, as she murmured to herself.
"That way of sitting and writing. After so many hours that I watched him, when I see someone doing the same, I always think its him and make a scene."
"He can't be my Mathias, with that crimson hair, so it should be a noble who wants something from me."
Calming herself down, and proceeding to continue approaching Mathias in a dignified way that emanated confidence and elegance, before she could even greet the crimson-haired man or glance at his face, a familiar serene voice was heard inside the praying hall.
"My lady, I heard you don't like visitors, since when? Nevertheless, I still took it on myself to meet you."
Jeanne, still skeptical even after hearing his voice, saw the man raise on his feet, dusting off his black suit, and glance at her still wearing the mask, giving away only his ruby eyes.
"Does Your Excellency have any business with Rebecca's Church?"
"Hum, it seems my appearance truly is impeccable, but my voice didn't change, did I change?"
{Yes sure, blame it on me. Nevertheless, ohh boy, you make me feel jealous right now.}
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When Jeanne heard him remark that in a sarcastic way, with his calm voice turning cheeky, she once again turned nervous, questioning if what she was hearing was right. Her train of thought rapidly was cut off when Mathias walked toward her, giving off a small veil of Red Energy around his body that made him more mysterious.
Stepping back to keep her distance away she stumbled and when she was about to hit the floor, immediately a pair of warm hands got to her back supporting her.
"My, my, you are still stumbling even though this pair of shoes seem to have small heels."
She didn't feel any repulse from the embrace of this masked man which resulted in her eyes turning soft, slowly bringing her hands to his face and taking his mask off, revealing the face of the man she was holding dear to her scarred heart, night by night waiting for him to return.
"It's you, darling. You've finally returned home, but what happened to you, your hair and eyes?"
"Shhh, I will explain everything to you, dear." mentioned Mathias who placed his finger on Jeanne's lips, gazing at her as picked her up.
"I've missed you." blurted Jeanne, as she brought her head closer to his chest that was warmer than before with the Red Energy touching her.
"Me too, I've missed you, my gentle Jeanne. Have you finished all the work for today?"
She didn't say anything, and like a cat that found a safe location, remained quiet only agreeing softly with what he asked her, making the latter chuckle moving to kiss her forehead.
Not doing anything that might be explained as indecent in the house of the Goddess, he remained quiet, embracing Jeanne whispering in her ears some loving confessions, which made her giggle, before the couple walked away from the Praying hall with the intent of exiting the Cathedral, placing a front that they weren't close to one another so they wouldn't give the church members the chance to spread some dirt on Jeanne even if she was the daughter of the Archbishop.
As the couple left the Cathedral, creating a wave of discussions between the priests and players, who saw the nobleman exit together with the Bishop of the Church or how the players called her The Priestess, inside the altar of the Cathedral, a spacious room that looked more like the Papal bedroom, where beside a table containing a bottle of wine a man with long white hair, and a full white beard gave an all-knowing smile as looked into a mirror not to far from him.
"My little girl, so that was the person you've been waiting for so long? The reason you've fully embraced your curse? For the brief moment, I could see the young man's appearance he doesn't seem to be a noble descendant. Yet his behavior was noble and pure intended, that he abstained from doing something that would be frowned upon and that could attract Rebecca's attention even if I sealed most of her sight in this place."
"One thing I've picked up that needs more investigation from me is his aura. It seems I'll have to meet this lad, to make sure my daughter is safe. Ahh, the troubles of being an actual father actually started building up and I will suffer like those old friends of mine who had to separate with their little girls."
The old man who gave off the feeling that he was at the peak of his life, without even a wrinkle on his face, emitting a white light around his body as he was drinking from the bottle of wine, later did a pathetic expression thinking how Mathias would steal his daughter, Jeanne.
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Outside the Cathedral's ground, the couple was walking the steps, exiting the territory of Rebecca's Church, point where Mathias who took Jeanne by her waist, brought her closer to himself, saying in a gentle way.
"What do you want to do now, dear?"
"A kiss." said Jeanne in a shy way, now that she no longer saw in the possible sight of Rebecca, she acted as a love-struck lady.
Mathias didn't say no, and stopping in place with Jeanne, while the citizens and players passed by, he gave a deep kiss to Jeanne, attracting some gazes to him that didn't matter at all.
Jeanne's heart was beating in an alarming way, as she felt his warm tongue capturing her own, and with her body still not used to these sensations only remembering them, she moaned a bit and reacted similarly to the past, biting his tongue and panicking.
Her eyes were closed, able to see Mathias whose eyes called out in pain, yet she tried to escape the kiss after biting his tongue, but miserably failed, as if Mathias was out strengthening her.
"Just like before, you really are a bad kisser, Jeanne." remarked Mathias jokingly as he caressed her face, watching her turn embarrassed before she chuckled saying in an apologetic way.
"Have I done it again? My bad. I will make it up this time." said Jeanne, who went back to his embrace, kissing him on her own, while she casted a small spell that made her breath chilling, she watched with a confident face how Mathias expression shifted, turning pleased.
"Whoa, this is new. Dear, where have you learned that?"
She told him in a soft voice, whispering, as if she remembered when Mathias did the same with her, when she asked about his arcane magic.
"A secret. Have you liked this? I've trained myself a lot to surprise you."
"Not bad, really not bad." mentioned Mathias who caressed her face, later resuming their walk getting toward Jeanne's mansion.
They were hand in hand, like a love-struck couple and as they were walking toward Jeanne's house, they were discussing all sort of things, mostly Jeanne pulling Mathias' tongue out, and getting him to talk.
He could only oblige and start talking about his new adventure that started from Cidarian, where he told her about Fayrene's parents and his interactions with them, making her curious.
"Fayrene never talked about her family that much with me, is she okay with them?"
Mathias could only hold her hands tighter and remark in a soft voice.
"Dear, I think it wasn't that, but she is conscious about what happened to you and how you were an orphan and didn't want to upset you by bringing out such memories. She is as sensible as you are, so my guess is that she didn't want to bring them out because of that reason."
"I see, but she is mistaken, I don't mind it at all. In fact, it makes me more happy hearing about such stories. It makes me visualize that part of my younger self that I never had. Still, with father Julius, I didn't miss out too much, apart from being confused because of my curse."
Holding her closer to his chest, he walked like this without continuing his story, imagining in his mind that even if she was telling that it didn't affect her, deep down there were still scars that had to be mended slowly, thus only after she really showed signs that she returned to a better state, he continued telling her about his adventures, the monsters he fought, the bandits, the kobold settlement he encountered and so on.
"What about the red-hair, you missed that out?"
"That is the last piece I will tell you. Patience my dear, don't you like my storytelling?"
"Hmm, you are slow." teased Jeanne before placing her finger on his lips, knowing he would have some comeback words to muster, remembering him fully as a devilish person.
Taking note of that finger, as Jeanne rested her finger on his lips, he smiled before opening his mouth and rapidly capturing her finger, biting it in a teasing manner.
They continued messing around with one another, Jeanne doing her magic tricks that would be like jabs from the wind magic to the icy magic she knew, but Jeanne found out that Mathias leveled up in his teasing game, and using his Red Energy Manipulation, he made certain birds that began resting on her golden hair like decorations, before starting messing with her, entering her clothes, and ticking her.
"Ahhhh, that's not fair, you are clearly cheating." said Jeanne as she moaned at the front of the door, but Mathias who used his creations to pickpocket Jeanne's clothes, opened the room, while laughing in a haughty way.
"This is your fault, who told you to tease me. Now that I've captured you, I'll see what the little angel can do against me."
Holding her in his embrace, as he opened the door, entering the familiar house, he went to the main room, where Jeanne was first to reach the couch, and stare at Mathias who smiled at her, removing his hat, and also undoing his tie revealing his crimson long hair.
"Jeanne, have I told you? You look so gorgeous in those clothes."
The little red bird got out from her clothes and got on her head returning back as Red Energy back to Mathias, who removed his coat and also removed his tie before sitting next to Jeanne and calling out in a serious voice.
"[Isolation]"
Jeanne could see that from Mathias's body a dark-purple energy wave exited his body, making her ponder why it wasn't like Fayrene's magic.
"There are two paths to Arcane Magic from what I concluded. The first is an Order where you are blessed by it, and another spectrum is the Chaos which I follow. It shouldn't be something to worry you dear, I am still the same little curious devil that got mesmerized by the pure angel."
"She will not be able to hear us?"
"There's only the two of us right now. Why? Are you afraid of her?" asked Mathias holding her hand, now being able to open up about certain subjects that would be too delicate to talk openly with others.
Jeanne kept her quiet not knowing what to answer, but soon her silence was broken by her saddened words.
"I don't know what to believe Mat. Fayrene explained to me certain things, but I wish not to believe them. Yet, I feel I have already dropped in sin, and I fear she will notice this and strip me of all my power, turning me useless."
{Poor girl, tell her lad. That whore can't do shit since she is bound to Asgard. She can only send her Avatar down along with her creations, but if she does that, and by any chance, she loses her Avatar, Hanul will probably notice it and start moving.} commented Haycien after a while, where he turned silent, giving Mathias all the privacy in the world, even reading himself to close his vision in case things turned hotter between the two.
'You say so?'
{Yes, lad. Tsk, I'll rather not go into details since it brings up quite the nasty memories of the past. Anyway, that girl shouldn't be worried, the divine power can be build-up by the user or be granted by Rebecca. For most of the people in that church it looks as if the divine power has been build up.}
'Right, the Archbishop, he is planning something, so he should know certain things about Rebecca.'
{I haven't seen him to give my thought, but I told you what I know about Rebecca in short details so I don't occupy too much of your brain space.}
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Returning his focus to Jeanne in that brief exchange that took seconds, he held her to his chest and told her calmly.
"Dear, do you fear I would reject you if you lose your power?"
"... Yes." responded quietly Jeanne, choosing not to look at Mathias ruby eyes.
"Sigh, you silly. Do I really look like a person who uses the people around me, especially for power? What have I told you in the past, do you remember?"
"…"
"Regardless of how my curse would later or turn out, even if I would be turned ugly, you will be there for me." mentioned Jeanne, remembering his words, when they were sitting like this, talking about themselves.
"And that what matters the most is what is inside, even the ugliest can be a beautiful person on the inside."