“Your ability to take a situation with dignity shows the strength of your character.”

- The Journey to the Afterlife

***Kingdom Newerth, Capital City***

***Seria***

I chew on my lower lip while I have a serious staring contest with the ceiling. Figuring out how to deal with the changes to my situation isn't easy. The worst thing is that I am not sure if I came out on top yesterday.

I learned a lot about the spirits and I found out something very important about Charles. Knowing about his ability will have serious impact on every future negotiation between Dedessia and this realm. It's exactly because of things like this that I came here in the first place.

Then there is the fact that I messed up with Perseus. Killing the stupid bastard was on my mind and I just barely avoided finishing the deed. That could've been seen as an assassination attempt. And Marcus probably wouldn't have forgiven me if I executed his brother in front of him.

Oh, yeah... and there is Marcus... who I promised not to invite into my apartment. And look how that turned out! I huff, dissatisfied with myself. Some part of me is wishing that I wasn't in complete control at the time, but I remember everything clearly. I wanted a good boning from him, damn the consequences for our relationship. Marcus even showed remarkable restraint... for a man.

The male blanket which is covering me mumbles something, shifts, squeezes my ass and goes back to sleep.

If he wasn't a hugger I would have nothing to complain about him. He is smart, has skill and influence, his heart is in the right place and his endurance is exquisite. I could really get used to having him in my bed. Oh, and he is definitely not a morning person, but that works for me.

I sigh. So does that mean that I have to abduct him too when I go back home? That's so not going to work. Though Mom would surely have nothing against it. She is fire and flame for educating men into proper husbands, damn the guy's opinion.

But what will Marcus do once I have him in my realm? The members of my family are the only ones who can use the pathways. I would have my very own prince waiting for me in my bedroom. Dad will surely make me some sturdy chains if I ask nicely.

Oh, yeah... but there was the call from his mother. Perseus was temporarily arrested until all his ex-girlfriends are questioned. Once all the evidence is taken care of, charges will be pressed and Perseus will most probably lose a lot of his power and prestige. This realm has some pretty harsh laws against any form of mind manipulation.

Perseus's attack on me alone can get him a few years if I personally press charges against him. All in all the royal family of this country will have a nice scandal on their hands once the reason for Perseus's imprisonment becomes public.

And that means that the succession might shift, making Marcus even more important.

Coffee. I need coffee to start the day. And then I can deal with all my slip-ups.

Pushing his shoulder, I slowly ease myself out from under Marcus and crawl to the edge of my oversized bed. I swing my legs to the floor in order to get up.

At least that's what I intended to do...

One of my legs halts mid air and I lose my balance, slipping with my butt over the bed's edge and landing on the floor with a loud bump! This results in me lying on the floor, with my left lower leg still on the bed.

I use my hands to get into an upright position and inspect the golden shackle which is around my left ankle. From there, a silver chain runs to a similar shackle which is attached to Marcus's right ankle.

He is grinning at me, propping his head on his right hand. So either the noise of my fall, or the tug on the chain, woke him up. Raising his leg, he rattles the chain. “Not twice. Not with me. If you run off after giving me the best night of all my memories, then you at least have to properly say goodbye.”

I reach for a pillow and throw it at his face. “I didn't have the intention to run! What good would it do me? You've proven that you would just run around and search until you find me.”

Nodding, he reaches forward and unlocks the shackles. Which have number locks... I strain my neck to see the correct code and Marcus readily allows me to watch. “Having the number does you no good. The chains are spelled to wake me up either way if they are removed. And that was the whole goal of having them anyway.”

I furrow my forehead. “You are that afraid that I'd run away?”

“I am just prepared for everything. Falling in love with a mysterious goddess like you causes a man to be careful.” He slides closer. “Your eyes are back to normal, that's good.”

Falling in love... that's what I fear will happen to me if he gets any more likeable. I reach up to my eyes. “Normal?”

He shrugs. “You went all snake eyed on me yesterday. So I figured that saying no to your request would have been bad. You have to work on your control, though your eyes are beautiful.”

I shake my head. “No, that's fine. They simply do that when I get excited. It's not like I am in danger of losing control.”

Once the shackle is off, I get to my feet and invade the kitchen area. There I use some powdered coffee to make me a quick fix. Looking out of the window, I pull a grimace. “It's already getting dark again! Our day-night cycle will be totally out of sync after pulling an all-nighter.”

“Not a single second of it was wasted.” Marcus sits up, but just in that moment something pulls on my magic. Someone is trying to get into the shop. And not only that. There is a very strong curse trying to find a target, but my wards are blurring our exact location.

Marcus gets to his feet and releases his aura as he starts a defensive working of his own, dispersing the attack while sending his mana into my magical formations, strengthening the wards.

The runes on the walls, floor and ceiling start glowing and I scream for Marcus to take cover as something shatters the window. I quickly hide behind the stove. A torrent of fire shoots into the room, just to be bent out of shape by my runes. The firestorm is redirected back outside to be returned to the attackers.

My wards scream in alarm as someone breaks into the shop below and my hearth magic automatically attacks. Before I can stop him, Marcus is up and out of the window. His exit is followed by an explosion shortly afterwards.

I give up my hiding spot behind the stove and follow him outside. I jump out of the window, dropping one floor to the street in front of my shop. Right into a group of eight spirits. Marcus is enclosed by his own opponents, four bodies at his feet.

Two of them are charred and crispy while the other two look like broken dolls. I recognize his handywork.

One of the spirits jumps at me and I dodge, placing a perfect roundhouse kick on his upper torso. The force sends the creature flying into the ground floor of my shop, where several other zombie spirits are fighting for their lives as my hearth magic tries to kill them with dancing kitchen knives, forks and pans. The brooms are doing their best in trying to stake the intruders while animated chairs and tables are running rampant.

The whole of my inventory bursts out of the shop to attack my enemies. They turn to flee, but are either staked by the two brooms, or overrun and trampled by the furniture. The brooms remind me of oversized shashlik skewers. I didn't fully realize how dangerous they are when I spelled them.

Taken by surprise and falling into complete disarray, the spirits try to retreat towards an open transport truck. One of them gets into the driver's seat, but Marcus summons an axe of light and hurls it at the creature. The spirit is torn apart as the summoned weapon splits like a fragmentation grenade upon impact.

I follow his lead in cleaning up the rest of the attackers, making sure that none get away. Despite our best efforts, some manage to escape over the fence and into the park.

As I pound the head of a zombie into the hard pavement, I notice the lights of DF vehicles and the screams of civilians who were still outside on the street when the attack happened. Since the spirit's forehead has an unhealthy dent, I deem it as unnecessary to further desecrate the corpse. My father taught me early on that a fight is only over when you are sure that the enemy is down and stays down. Forever.

Just in time, I notice Marcus finishing off the last attacker with an axe of light. Viking style, splitting his head and a good part of the upper body.

Then I realize that the battle must have taken longer than it felt. DF personnel is screaming and running around, some of them heading into the dark park to search for escaped spirits.

Charles and Clarity pop into existence right in the middle of the battlefield. Despite the late hour, they look perfect in their clothes. I have to give them kudos for their reaction time. Seems like they are really behind the problem with the new form of spirits.

From somewhere appeared reporters with cameras. Only Fate itself knows how they got here so fast. Cameras and flash-lights light up the road even better than the street lights. And a not a small amount of them are focused on me!

I look down on myself, just to realize that I am in my birthday suit. Completely naked. Just like Marcus.

Clarity's eyes widen upon taking in Marcus and me, displeased. Well, she should be happy that there is no semen dripping down the inner side of my thighs. Had the spirits struck last night or later tonight, that would have been a real possibility.

There are several options to deal with this situation.

I could cover my womanly parts and scream like a little girl, running back to my house... no, I have more dignity than that.

Or I could start crushing all the cameras in the vicinity and wipe the mind of everyone who laid an eye on me. Strikes me as the arguably better solution, but probably not possible with three very strong divine ranks right next to me.

Finally, I could simply take this with dignity. It's not like having a beautiful body is a sin. I'll never understand why Mom is trying to train this so called 'decency' into me.

“Seria! You aren't hurt?” Marcus lowers his light-axe and hurries to my side, which results in rapid clicking of cameras as the paparazzi have a feast.

If there was any doubt about our relationship before, then that last piece of uncertainty is now well and truly gone. I straighten my back and strike a pose to ensure that nobody gets the idea that I am the girly type. My back straight, chest out and arms crossed, of course not in a way which makes it look like I am trying to hide something. My stance is wide enough to show that I don't care about the leechers all around me, but not so wide as to expose myself unnecessarily.

At last I smile coolly at Marcus and the royal couple. “Of course not. But these spirits should be taught that it is rude to attack a lady at her private quarters.”

“Especially if she has company!” Oops. Why did that last one have to slip out of my mouth?

.