Near the tree line, Evalaite waited alone with her arms folded around herself for warmth. At least Tavras had dried her off so that her body no longer showed through her wet clothes. Her curvaceous form was still evident in the short, skimpy dress that had obviously been some kind of sultry night gown. She stood there, holding her shaking body in winter.

Her shivers humored Val slightly, because sluts were never supposed to feel cold.

"It isn't right how Arius dragged her outside and tossed her into the ocean without so much as a coat," Tavras tried to say, a lame attempt to appeal to Val's sense of morality. "Can you make a blanket for Evalaite or generate warmth to fix this injustice?"

"Hm." All Val could do was sneer to prevent herself from doubling over with laughter. Even if she could do that with Divine Judgement, she felt no particular inclination to help Evalaite. "No. My ability is not magic like that."

"You are an unimaginative one, I see," Evalaite said through her clattering teeth. "Young demigods are too stuck in their ways of 'science' when our divine blood has been nothing but magic all along."

Val rolled her eyes. She did not care about anything that Evalaite had to say, especially not about science. Did she even have an education beyond manipulating men and giving good blowjobs?

"Fine, then, if you cannot do anything to keep Evalaite warm, we need to hurry back so that she does not freeze to death."

"I wish that I could keep myself warm," Val spit. Her own numb fingers found a spot of warmth in her underarms.

Nevertheless, Tavras was exaggerating. None of them would freeze to death since their divine blood ran hotter than the usual human. They could endure harsher temperatures for longer periods of time, within reason. That did not mean that they enjoyed the cold, as Val certainly did not.

"Are you able to run on your own?" he asked her.

“Tavras, I don’t know if I can call upon Divine Judgement just like that,” she began.

“Yes, you can because I am going to be unfair to you again.” Gingerly, he swept Evalaite into his arms bridal style. As he looked dead into Val’s eyes, he said, “Let’s head back.”

Her face seethed. She could feel the heat of her skin as though Arius’s fire still burned in front of her. If Tavras were right about anything, it was that he had offended her enough to use Divine Judgement in the same way again.

When Tavras started in his enhanced run through the trees, Val kept up with him through her own ability. The wind whipped through her short hair and blew against her cheeks. This provided a great help in cooling off the boiling surface of her skin.

"Why, the demigoddess can certainly run fast," Evalaite jeered from where she clung onto Tavras's neck.

At Evalaite's reference to her as a demigoddess, Val nearly tripped. If Arius with a weaker mental prowess had somehow seen through her guise, it only made sense that Evalaite could see her true gender as well.

"You will not turn her in, will you?" Tavras asked on her behalf.

"Oh no," Evalaite said. For a moment, she lifted her head away from where she had leaned against his chest. Two fingers stroked the underside of his chin. "For you Tav, I will keep her a secret... for a price."

"I do not want to play your games, Evalaite."

"Aw, Tav, when will you call me by my pet name again?"

"We are not like that anymore. As such, I would appreciate it if you would stop calling me that. Besides, we are in the company of the girl right now." All the while, Tavras kept his eyes trained on the trees ahead of him so that he could effectively dodge through them.

"Ah, yes—the girl." Evalaite relaxed her head back alongside Tavras's chest. "How did you and my darling Tav meet?"

A tight swallow slid down her throat. Almost running into a tree, Val had to make sure that she kept her eyes on the forest, not Evalaite. "He saved me from drowning," she replied in a remote voice.

"That is so cute!" Evalaite exclaimed. "I met him in the same way. Do tell me. Does he still fuck women immediately after he saves them from drowning?"

"Shut up," Tavras growled down to her. His arms tightened around her like a vice.

Val's strides slowed with her disillusionment until she had to remind herself to keep pace. Like the runs that she did around Tavras's Paradise, she tried to focus on each step and breath in an unceasing rhythm.

"I save a lot of people from drowning and never sleep with them,” Tavras stated calmly. “You were the one exception."

Evalaite started in a deep chuckle. "Tav says that I am the only woman that he has ever fucked after saving people from drowning over thousands of years. Isn't that romantic?" Those lurid, golden eyes set on her as if expecting agreement.

Val had no desire to entertain the other woman, so she focused on the trees, her strides, and her uneven breaths. Rather than from exertion, she panted out of anxiety. What was different about her and Evalaite that warranted any sort of divergent treatment?

Literally, the only thing that Evalaite had going for her was that obscene, unnaturally sexualized body. As Tavras had just admitted himself, he found only her worthy enough of physical affection—not Val—unless Evalaite had also ensnared him with her abilities in the same way as Arius.

This new idea sparked into Val's mind that she should have thought of long ago. Her own insecurities had refused to see anyone but herself as a victim. What if Tavras needed to be saved much more than she had feared on Arius's behalf? It seemed that if Evalaite refused to loosen her grip over Tavras, then Val might have to be the one to save him.

Even if that were the case, Tavras seemed so entrenched in his false memories that it made her wince and loathe herself to think like that. Val did not like the feeling of competition against Evalaite that she conjured in her mind, so again, she returned to the trees, her strides, and her gasping breath.

"Now Tav," Evalaite resumed, "I will keep your demigoddess secret if you call me Evie again and give me a kiss."

"Can we negotiate this later?" Tavras snipped.

"Sure, but I must warn you. Later, I might be feeling naughtier. You know me."

"We are right in front of Val. If not for my sake, could you please compose yourself for her?" Tavras sounded genuinely disgusted.

At Tavras's rational request, Evalaite laughed cruelly. "You really are fucking her, aren't you?"

"No. She might technically be an adult woman, but she is a child to me."

"You say that about her now," Evalaite hummed.

"All right, it is time for you to be quiet now. We are back at New Gate."

Both Tavras and Val slowed to the speed of a normal jog. Like this, they moved at a safe speed through the otherwise empty town. Aside from their footsteps and the thrumming of Suvier's walls, they returned to their apartment in silence. The moment of peace and quiet, Val very much appreciated so that she could feel less like a third wheel that had been forced into Tavras and Evalaite’s company.

As soon as they got home, Val planned to lock herself in her room with Foofy. There, she would try to ignore anything that she would overhear from Tavras and Evalaite through the walls.