Luka swiftly calmed himself, biting down on the tip of his tongue as his heart continued pounding. The sound thumped like a hammer hitting the inside of his skull, despite knowing the knights he adored lived various lives beforehand.

’Not once did Iris or Galatea let on...’

’Would Galatea have even known in the past?’

That was something he couldn’t dwell on as the mentally suffering woman lay half naked beneath her sheets.

"Lord Luka..."

Iris paused for a moment, her eyes red raw from dried tears, yet she quickly turned the page and stood in front of him. Her delicate fingers gripped his shirt as she stood on tiptoes to reach close to his ear.

"I know we’re to be married, but please can you give me a moment of privacy?" Her whisper carried the fruity scent of her breath.

’Did she eat an orange, or something?’

He couldn’t help but want to know more, but she was right. It was improper of him to enter like this, and yet, his feet refused to move.

Ding!

Once again, the small messages from the system lingered in the corner of his sight.

[Collapse of Soul Detected]

[Compatible Sin Authority discovered]

[Would you like to proceed?]

Though he wanted to help cure the maid whom Iris held dearly, the more she remained bright and untainted, the longer he could use her to fuel his sin energy.

Alas, there were too many complications to act immediately.

’What Sin is she compatible with?’

[Target’s Soul is corrupt and suitable for the Sin of Lust]

Yet when he glanced at her, the colour of her aura wasn’t hot pink like normal lust, but a dark, almost black void with the faintest sphere of hot pink trapped in the depths of that void.

’What are the benefits of granting her a sin?’

He knew she would gain power and improve drastically, but Luka wasn’t entirely sure about this system or what it meant. Different from the past system his father used, it seemed to have mutated and transformed along with him and his soul in the abyss.

[Her soul will be repaired to a certain degree]

[She will be in a similar position to Lucia, unable to harm the Host]

[Will you proceed?]

Luka glanced at the woman on the bed, a renowned swordsman who danced through countless battles for him.

She wielded a strange blade, it was long, curved and one-sided.

Though from her facial features, he could guess that it might be an item from the eastern empire of humanity that rarely had any contact with the central and western regions of Babylon.

However, if she came from the east, why did she use the name Mildred?

’So why is she here...?’

’There’s no way she could have such skill and be a mere maid...’

And although she appeared to have suffered physically, there were no indications of sexual abuse... Rather, it appeared more like she fought an endless battle from the countless scars and bruises clearly from swords, spears and clubs.

What bothered him the most was how she called him an angel.

He looked nothing like his past self, from a masculine chiselled masterpiece created by god, to an effeminate, beautiful male. Which he partially fixed thanks to becoming a Fallen and mutating, but still nothing compared to his father’s image.

Mildred stared at Luka with her dark, almost empty eyes.

From the moment she called him an angel, a sense of light returned, completely transforming her atmosphere. She remained a little eerie, her soft peach lips curved into a strange smile as she did nothing.

"Lord Luka?" Iris grasped his arms, shaking softly. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"Ah, forgive me, Iris. It’s just that she reminded me of someone I once knew..."

"Someone like Mildred?"

"Yeah, almost down to the pretty nose."

Mildred’s eyes widened for a second, barely a fraction, before returning to normal. Of course, Luka saw the change and became wary. Ever since he learned of Galatea’s strange changes, she sometimes acts like the woman he knew.

Luka began to wonder whether other women or people from his past somehow retained memories, or maybe there was something else at work.

’She’s too strange to leave alone.’

At least bringing her into his system would allow him to avoid dying once again, but he didn’t trust Mildred.

That was impossible.

She wasn’t like Luvia, who attacked as mutual enemies.

It was simply impossible for him to forget the painful heat of her blade piercing his chest.

Betrayal was a sore spot for him.

’Bind her to the system, use anything you can to keep her from deceiving or betraying me in the future!’

His thoughts and heart were solid, and no matter how much he yearned to see her dance once more, he couldn’t remain the same anymore.

Everything had changed.

[Affirmative]

[Sealing Target’s soul to the Host at the highest security level]

[Commencing: ...5%]

Almost immediately, Mildred’s body reacted.

"Agggh.....!?"

Her body arched as she struggled to breathe.

She broke her bizarre gaze, slamming back into the bed, as her arms and legs stuck out from the bed, giving a glimpse of her thick, dark forest when the blanket slipped to the floor.

There was a low crack of bones as her throat gargled spit as if struggling to swallow.

"Mildred!?" Iris gasped before turning back.

She quickly saw the quilt had fallen and kicked him out of the room.

"L-Lord Luka, please leave!"

He could only take one last glimpse of Mildred’s body, full of countless scars, from her stomach to her neck... some new, others old... very old.

’Something isn’t right.’

...

He slammed his back against the cheap wall, his head banging it slightly as the chair creaked under his weight.

Her kitchen wasn’t massive, but there was enough room for a small family. Yet there was nothing, no sign of anyone else living here. It was a bare and cold house with a few makeshift items to make it seem lived in.

’Her body wasn’t filled with wounds back then...’

Luka stroked his chin, trying to remember all the times she attempted to sneak into his private baths or quarters when they travelled across the continents. She’d always make an excuse or try to rub his back sneakily.

’Something about it being in her culture...’

It was a little annoying for him as an angel.

Because those emotions didn’t come naturally as they do now, they brought a strange ache that eventually grew into pain. As if someone had lit a flame inside that was burning his limbs from the inside, he and his brothers swore to discard mortal feelings.

The memory left a bitter taste in Luka’s mouth.

Back then, he thought Mildred was merely strange and a little persistent in her actions, far too affectionate for a wandering swordswoman from the east. Yet now, after seeing those scars covering her body, the fragmented look inside her eyes and the way she reacted upon seeing him...

Everything felt complicated.

Was this a different world with similar people?

Was it the same world, but with slight changes?

He felt confident that she definitely wasn’t Iris’s maid in the past; after all, Mildred and Iris had constantly fought over her actions.

’If I remember correctly... Iris called her a shallow slut.’

’While Mildred mocked Iris as a talentless bitch who doesn’t know her luck.’

Though he couldn’t remember everything, and stopped this line of thought, because the Mildred he knew now wasn’t able to kill him, betray him or leave his side.

Similar to Luvia, but much harsher.

"...Damn it."

Luka rubbed his forehead slowly.

"I feel like a scumbag with countless emotional debts..."

The cheap wooden chair creaked beneath his weight while distant sounds of rebuilding echoed faintly outside the small house. Hammers struck wood rhythmically somewhere within Amol village.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Life continues on."

Even after the goblins attacked, the people suffered deeply, yet hours later, they were building a reinforced wall to prevent a second tragedy.

’I love humans.’

A soft groan suddenly came from the adjacent room.

Then Iris’s voice followed shortly after.

"Mildred, calm down... please..."

The system interface still lingered faintly before him.

[Commencing: 32%]

It was progressing faster than expected.

Yet instead of relief, unease settled deeper in his chest as he felt their link forming; it wasn’t thin and delicate as it was with Vaun or Luvia at the start. No, it was thick and heavy, like a shackle tied around his neck.

Something dark and fractured lingered within Mildred’s soul, far worse than ordinary trauma or despair. It reminded him of shattered glass barely held together by threads.

As though part of her had already broken long ago.

"...Who are you really?" Luka murmured quietly.

The image of her blade flashed across his mind once more.

Curved arcs dancing in a rapid sequence, forming various letters and shapes in the air, sometimes creating beautiful blossoms and other times bloody storms.

Luka slowly leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes briefly.

’If she remembers fragments of the previous timeline too...’

That possibility alone sent chills through him.

Because if Galatea unknowingly retained emotions from the past, then perhaps others carried remnants as well.

And if that was true...

Then his enemies might remember too.

Ding.

[Commencing: 51%]

A violent crash suddenly sounded from inside the room.

"Mildred!"

Iris cried out in panic.

Luka immediately rose from the chair.

Then froze, because the sound that followed was something he’d only discovered since coming to this world.

"Ahhhn.... It’s so hot.... my body so hot that I’m melting...."

’Shit.’

He’d forgotten that the sin she was bound to wasn’t something a sane person would ever choose, an almost obsessive sexual desire.

The tiny orb of hot pink miasma now swirled violently through the small room, as the door slammed open and a pink-faced Iris dashed out, slamming it shut.

Through the brief gap, he saw Mildred pleasuring herself with her fingers.

"Don’t Look!" Iris scolded as she staggered into the kitchen, then plopped herself down beside him, slamming her head against the wall and sighing.

"Damn... what a crazy wench! To do such an obscene thing so openly..."

After she left, the sounds grew only louder and more aggressive as the transformation slowly reached its climax.