In the morning, Zach opened his eyes slowly. His condition was not good, his mind became clear but his body felt heavy and hurt when he moved a lot.
The first thing he saw was the floating dust grains and the roof of the room with a simple look. Only the dim light from the candle beside the altar illuminated the room.
It was the same candle used in the ritual. It was also almost extinguished due to the remnants of the candle that made the flame almost touch the floor.
Zach forced himself awake, sitting up with a dazed face and feeling tired.
Only then did Zach turn his head to realize Ilya was asleep on the same altar right beside him. Her cheeks were slightly scratched. Zach starts to remember the events of the night.
A shadowy creature possesses him, and makes Zach almost go berserk. But in a way he doesn't know, Ilya manages to stop the shadowy creature from possessing him.
At that moment the corner of his mouth twitched as his face almost turned red. Memories of memories appeared in his mind. It was a moment he half-consciously invited himself to hook up with Ilya.
"Hopefully it's just a dream" Zach mutters, even though his mind is pretty sure it's the real thing.
Just remembering it made Zach's body react, "...This is different... this is different from Emma. This isn't driven by love...is it more like a man's instincts? the start of this ritual alone makes it all make sense" Zach muttered.
"After all, the High Priest has already told me about this. It's different from the usual ritual performed by the Clourfuss family in the past where it was performed when a new Clourfuss was born. The shadow creature at that time was still weak, My condition was different, the shadow creature residing inside me It's already gotten stronger. So the ritual is taken to another level, but is it even necessary?
"But what makes it weird is the fact that we never even knew each other" Zach turned to Ilya who was sleeping sideways towards him.
"Now there's no turning back... Starting a new life... this is a condition given by the high priest, Jack Miller"
Then he realized something important, leaving aside the thing about He having sex with Ilya, what was most important to Zach right now was the state of his body.
"Did this ritual work in the end? Well, I can faintly feel the shadowy creatures in my body being purified... But is it true? There's no way to tell for sure" Zach felt himself checking if something was wrong, and found nothing. there is an error.
Zach fell into thought as he gasped and turned to the door. "Lord High Priest, He can definitely confirm this."
Currently Zach is trying to stand up with a heavy body condition and will hurt when he is in a certain position. The white clothes he was wearing were stained with dried blood.
He recalled that last night He had blood coming from his eyes and from his nose and ears. Zach no longer cared about that as he walked slowly towards the door.
With a twist of the doorknob, a whooshing sound was heard and the door opened. It's a bigger room. In the center of the room is a red carpet with a unique gold pattern.
There is a large door at the end of the corridor. It seems to lead directly outside the building. The light from the sun came out from several parts of the wide room, it made Zach's vision which was only limited to the darkness and the dim flame of a candle became unaccustomed.
There was no one there. Very quiet as if it had been abandoned.
When Zach was transfixed from wiping his eyes that felt the glare from the sunlight that didn't even hit him directly, a gentle voice came from behind him.
"Mr. Clourfuss?" Ilya awakens, She wipes her black eyes as her long hair falls onto the altar. The white clothes that were previously closed were now slightly open to reveal a small portion of her white skin.
Zach reflexively looked back, without saying anything, He only watched Ilya gradually stand up. And one thing that caught his attention was that there was a three circle symbol on the back of her head. gradually disappeared and merged with the air.
In some parts of his clothes there are also blood spots, it is Zach's blood that dripped and some of his own blood when he was hit by the fury of a shadow creature. The scar on her cheek is a small testament to that.
But Ilya's way of standing looks difficult. It was as if his body couldn't support it anymore. She staggered with a somewhat blank look.
Zach came over and helped her up. This was because He was basically feeling guilty about this matter. according to Vanders' narrative, if He could restrain himself and maintain consciousness and not be devoured by shadow creatures then everything would go smoothly without having to hurt his Partner.
Zach held Ilya's hand as he slowly helped him up. "Thank you" Ilya said in an inexplicably gentle tone.
At this time the sound of a door slamming could be heard from outside the room. Even from Zach and Ilya's current position, they could see that the large door in the spacious room was open and letting morning light stream into the corridor.
A middle-aged man wearing a top hat stood together with a graceful woman with a worried face, it was Jack Miller and Olivia Miller.
It was only when they saw Ilya's standing figure that they calmed down and were relieved.
It was a normal reaction for their parents to see the state of their daughter who could be in a bad state because she had to bear the burden of a shadow creature.
Zach looked down for some unexplained reason. Help Ilya to get out of the room.
Once outside the room, Olivia takes over and helps Ilya, that's because She knows that Zach must also be experiencing the same thing even more severely.
Jack Miller stared at his daughter for a moment and immediately walked over to Zach who stood confused.
"Lord high priest, are the shadow creatures in my body purified now?" Zach didn't wait and immediately asked.
Jack Miller nodded slowly indicating that it was a positive response. Zach couldn't help and was filled with relief.
"Your presence here and seeing that my daughter is still alive has proven it all. There's no mistake, you have the blood of a Clourfuss" Jack Miller said looking relieved and a little excited.
...
After cleaning himself up, Zach who came back was wearing formal clothes as usual. White shirt and long black pants and a tall round hat in his hand.
He was currently sitting on the familiar floor of the room. It was the room where He first met Vanders, Olivia and the others.
Ilya sat beside him wearing clothes that also looked formal.
This time, the old man's figure was again hidden behind the red curtains. With emptiness in the corner, leaving the three of them in a quiet room.
"You know what all this means? It means that you two have to live together from now on. This is not by order, but by fate. A Clourfuss will live to protect the Continent and a daughter from Clan Boreas will live to protect a Clourfuss" The old man sounded softer as the words came out.
"It's a twist of fate for both humans"
...