Behind the Wall, Lust Domain's Capital City, Paradise
August 14, 2025
The vast chamber was bathed in soft gold and violet light, spilling through tall windows patterned with geometric glass.
Incense coiled upward in threads thin as silk, veiling the air with a faint sweetness. At the center, beneath a broad dome painted in muted blues, a woman knelt upon the marble floor, her lone figure framed by solemn grandeur.
Her voice rose gently in prayer.
"In the name of the Eternal, the Kindly Sovereign, the Mercy-Warden,
All hymns rise to the Eternal, High Ruler of realms unseen and known,
The Kindly Sovereign, the Mercy-Warden,
Lord of the Twilight Reckoning's throne…"
Her attire was unorthodox for a place so sanctified; she wore a fitted black habit that traced the lines of her form rather than concealing them.
The fabric was trimmed with lace along the edges, its collar adorned with a small silver cross that shimmered in the filtered light. Her veil fell to her shoulders, shadowing strands of pale gold hair and a face calm in devotion.
The prayer continued, her words steady, her tone sincere.
"To Thee alone we kneel, Thy aid we seek in whispered plea,
Steer us through the shadowed vale, to the path of destiny,
The trail of the blessed, Thy chosen kin, not the lost who stray,
Nor the cursed who flee."
Near the doorway stood another woman, hesitating. Her gloved hands fidgeted at her side, betraying the unease her posture tried to hide.
The vast silence between each echo of prayer made her swallow nervously, her heels clicking once on the polished floor; a tiny, unholy sound swallowed by the sacred stillness.
She too wore a dark vestment, though the fabric was newer, looking more ceremonial than monastic on her.
Crosses glinted at her earrings and neckline, and her long blonde hair caught the same light that burned along the distant incense smoke.
Her sky-blue eyes lingered on the kneeling woman who had already completed the prayer but kept the same silent posture, making her unsure whether to bow or speak.
For a moment, she merely stood, like a stranger in this holy place, but the wait didn't last long.
The woman finally stood, turned around, and slowly walked in her direction.
Click. Clack. Click. Clack.
Her heels clicked softly, the sound curling up into the dome and returning in faint, ghostlike echoes.
"Little Sera, I've heard that you wanted to see me? Are you having difficulties acclimating to your new environment? I'm all ears."
The moment she got closer, her serene voice echoed full of care.
Seraphine offered an awkward smile in return, unconsciously tugging at her dress. "Well, about that… Bishopess, I…"
The Bishopess raised an eyebrow, finding it amusing how Seraphine couldn't even clearly articulate herself out of embarrassment. 'How innocent.'
"Is the attire not to your liking, perhaps?" She asked knowingly as she swept her eyes across Seraphine, slowing on the black stockings that reached her thighs, only to be strapped by a tight garter belt, then on the thigh slits that showed an unhealthy amount of her sides.
When her probing eyes reached Seraphine's upper body—especially the side window made for her breasts and the bare shoulders that left her even more exposed—the latter almost reflexively hugged her chest protectively.
"Well, dear, the vestment looks like it was made just for you. Why are you acting like a bullied kitten?"
Seraphine whined internally. 'This place is too shameless! Not a trace of common sense…'
Outwardly, though, she tried her best to keep a straight face. "Bishopess, these 'clothes' are too uncomfortable for me. Can I change into something else, please?"
The Bishopess sighed and repeated the same phrase she had to say once again every time a new nun complained about the Church's vestments.
"Unfortunately not, my dear. The Chapel of the Everlasting Covenant's attire is only one, and it is your duty to wear it."
Then, she smiled softly. "I understand your discomfort, but fear not, you'll soon grow accustomed to the attire. And besides, we provide coats for the nuns who go outside."
"May I know why the choice of something this revealing for a church vestment, of all things?" Seraphine's voice was tinged with resentment as she asked the question.
If she hadn't known that the entire ten-kilometer radius from here was the church's property, and that every clergy of this weird place was female, she'd have flipped long ago—rules or not.
The Bishopess's voice came as a matter of fact. "Naturally, because our faction is mainly constituted of those of the Lust pathway, and our Sin Lord was the one who designed the vestments herself."
Her recruiter had filled Seraphine in on some of the facts and basics of Seravelle in the last three days, so she knew what a Sin Lord was and how utterly fruitless it was to oppose them. They were no less than emperors in their own domains, after all.
"What's more weird is you, girl, being this reserved despite your path." The Bishopess's tone turned curious.
"Sorry?" Seraphine tilted her head, not catching the meaning.
"Little Sera, let me clue you in on a secret. You're famous among the higher-ups as our best recruited nun in the last hundred years." The Bishopess revealed. "Being able to take the sixth step in less than a year is practically unheard of."
Click. Click.
She then took two more steps, reaching Seraphine's personal space and taking hold of both of her hands.
Seraphine's breath hitched slightly, her body instinctively wanting to retreat, but the Bishopess's grip, gentle yet firm, kept her rooted in place. The older woman's proximity made heat crawl up her neck, the faint scent of incense clinging to her vestments suddenly overwhelming.
"Being able to advance that fast—" Her tone suddenly turned sultry. "I can't imagine how much carnality you've drowned in to accomplish this feat…"
Seraphine's cheeks turned pink as she finally caught on to what was being implied, her fingers twitching in the Bishopess's grasp.
The Bishopess then abruptly took a step back and shook her head helplessly. "That's why I can't for the life of me understand where all this bashfulness is coming from."
Seraphine wanted nothing more than to shout "Slander!", but she only ended up letting a pout show her dissatisfaction since she had nothing to retort with.
What could she say? That the only man whom she had drowned in 'carnality' with had been one Ashen Hart? That only cuddles and kisses did the trick?
No, she couldn't say that; otherwise, they'd suspect something else was at play, something like her compatibility with Lust. And Ashen had strictly instructed her, using that authoritative tone of his that she could never disobey, to never reveal the percentage of her compatibility.
"But if I were to believe that the bashfulness is real, then the only other explanation for your fast advancement would be compatibility, though."
Seraphine, however, seemed to have her job to keep it a secret cut out for her.
To her credit, though, she managed not to flinch as she brought up her inner businesswoman side.
"Is that so? But I think it was more of the quality of my company. My compatibility isn't low, but it isn't that high either, after all."
"Quality of your company?" The Bishopess intoned.
Seraphine's fingers curled up instinctively, and her eyes darted around, showing how flustered she was, but she eventually nodded.
"Yes, he was so good to me. He made me feel bliss whenever he laid his hands on me..."
"The pleasure brought under his care not only satisfied my lust, but also brought me happiness and contentment… Because he did not only lust after me; he also loved and protected me."
"The days I spent with him were the most delightful of my life. I haven't even noticed when I was ready to advance to the next step, that's how much I was addicted to him~"
By the end of it, Seraphine's shyness was all but thrown out. In its place was a look full of love, longing, and devotion, but the Bishopess could still glean the growing obsession behind the softness of those passionate eyes.
"That was why, Bishopess, I have come here in the first place. It is to tell you that I'm simply incapable of embodying my pathway with anyone other than him."
Seraphine's 'Guarded Devotion' trait now fully shone through, not even caring about hierarchy or consequences. "You can take it as it simply being an impossibility, whether physically or emotionally, for me to connect that way with any other individual."
"...There is no rule that you can use to restrict me on this, as I would sooner die than see myself sullied and my man's pride broken."