Mentally primarily occupied with how his wife-to-be would take the news of her suddenly changing status–as well as the fact that Ninna had appeared somehow–Theodore only paid the bare minimum attention to his production tasks. In that state, whilst he considered with a hint of worry what her most likely reaction would be, the days flew by.
Before he knew it, the inordinate amounts of materials that he had requested had dried up, all transformed into excellent Compound Array Disks. Choosing to let his surplus bodies help out with the arrangement and construction of the Lesser Void Guarding Array, he himself rose to his feet and took a deep breath.
'It should be fine. I've known her long enough to understand that my best option here... is to be honest with her.'
Disappearing from the Voidfaring Vessel which he had been inhabiting for a while now, one teleportation later, he found himself in the territory of the Illyrian Union. More specifically, this world was the place where the usually much-anticipated Attribute Point-donors had been gathered for him to cleanse.
This time, however, his mind barely even registered them as he froze and shattered them into nothingness. The gains were left uninspected, the Heavenly Dao notifications ignored until he had the surplus mental capacity to deal with them.
Merely giving Cristyn a short nod of greeting, the Oracle fortunately appeared to have been somewhat clued in via Kiran's network, not in the slightest surprised by his unusual behaviour. Without a word, after a polite bow, she made herself scarce needing not a reminder.
All that Theodore had eyes for... was the white-clad, golden-haired fledgling goddess who he had grown to cherish over the past century. Her charming, gentle smile was still present, yet it had lost some of its calm and was suffused with worry and annoyance. Her brows were bordering on being furrowed and the look in her emerald green eyes was largely inscrutable, but certainly confused and minutely accusatory.
"So, Theo. What exactly is going on here? My sisters have remained tight-lipped for a long time now, and nobody else wants to explain to me... whatever is actually going on. They just told me to wait for you, and that you would be responsible for clearing this all up. Well? I'm listening."
Crossing her arms in a mostly performative, confrontational manner, Cheong Suhyeon chose to directly address the issue from the start. Initially, she hadn't immediately noticed that something had changed, but as the people who she was close to began to progressively act more and more suspicious, she naturally figured out that they were leaving certain things unsaid. Having been forced to wait until now, she wouldn't tolerate another moment of uncertainty.
"In the Tetrachroma Palace, I met a woman who is every bit my equal. She's from the Ur Family that I mentioned to you before–basically, from a secret Supreme Pillar. To make a long story short, after duelling her to a draw, she chose to become my Subordinate. And I'll be marrying both you and her one year after dealing with the Naxsir."
Despite remaining composed on the outside, internally, Theodore was anything but. His feelings for Cheong Suhyeon had steadily developed over a hundred years, and by now, she was well and truly capable of affecting his heart and soul. Not to a point that he couldn't handle if he absolutely had to, of course, but she was certainly extremely near and dear to him.
"... I see."
Raising an eyebrow, the fledgling goddess muttered to herself, falling into deep thought. A multitude of emotions flickered across her face. There was elation at the fact that they would soon, finally, be wed, pride at having earned her spot beside him as his wife, and many more. But above all, there was irritation–in regard to the newcomer, and at how this development had come to be.
'A random woman was what finally pushed him over the edge, huh? Sure, I wouldn't be in such a fortunate position if I hadn't worked hard to grow closer to Theo for all of these decades–that's undeniable. But it feels like stolen glory! She just swoops in and gets to share in the harvest that I've laboriously produced, by sheer, dumb luck?! Ugh, this... it's frustrating beyond belief!'
Almost popping a vein, Cheong Suhyeon ignored her beloved completely and massaged her temples, the corners of her lips twitching in fury. Now, she fully understood why nobody wanted to spill the beans to her. Hadn't they all borne witness to her resolve? To her desire to become Theodore's wife?
With Ninna now in the picture, although her wish would come true after all this time, it certainly wasn't exactly how she imagined it.
"I see, I see..."
Continuously repeating these words, a dangerous glint shimmered in her eyes for a while, then she forcefully suppressed her unreasonable, wayward emotions. As a veteran of many illusory lives, she could immediately tell once she had wandered into dangerous mental waters.
'No, I cannot lash out at this Ur Family lass. Not only could she likely wipe the floor with me, but doing so would be going against my own interests. From the very beginning, didn't I know that I would never be his only wife? If he had had the opportunity to consult with me on this matter, I would definitely have advised him to marry Ninna as well, to bind her more firmly to himself. It is not jealousy or envy that I feel at her sudden appearance... but pure annoyance at the fact that she can stand on the shoulders of a giant! And that giant... being me!'
A deep breath or two later, Cheong Suhyeon focused on her troublesome husband-to-be again, who had quietly and patiently waited for her. If she hadn't known him for so long, then he would have seemed perfectly normal and relaxed. Yet whether it was her instincts or some almost imperceptible signs that she could pick up on after having grown this familiar with him... she could tell that he was clearly a bit nervous.
'Serves you right!'
Smirking ever so slightly, she walked up to him and looked up directly at his otherworldly handsome face. Grabbing his hands, she used just enough force to make it clear that she wouldn't tolerate him attempting to escape whatever she was plotting.
"My dear, I have a question~"
Her voice dripping with both threat and seduction, she successfully garnered the entirety of his attention. At the same time, though, Theodore knew that he wouldn't be getting away scot-free. Still, he felt that he had more than braced himself for that.
"What is it?"
Seeing him play along, her smile grew wider, yet more dangerous. With her eyes narrowing to slits, she proceeded to lift her heels and stand on her tiptoes, her voice nary a whisper as she further closed the distance between them.
"With this new sister of mine... have you done it yet?"
The implications in her tone and words so plainly obvious that Theodore couldn't possibly play dumb with a 'clear conscience', he replied honestly. After all, he had nothing to hide!
"I have not. To be frank, she doesn't appear to be all that experienced in these matters. I'd even judge her to be quite... shy. That–alongside all of us being too busy–is partially why nothing of the sort has happened yet. The most that we've done is hold hands."
Amusement flickering in her eyes, Cheong Suhyeon slightly altered her plans. Prior to this revelation, she had assumed that she would have to go up against a fellow veteran, of sorts. She had feared that her new sister would simultaneously steal not just her earned glory, but also the limelight when it came to physical intimacy. Admittedly, nobody that she knew could compare to Cadi in this regard, but she had already accepted that little Succubus, therefore there was no issue on this front.
"Very good, very good. No, it's even better than that. It's perfect! My love... listen to me, will you? For today, or for however long it takes... I'll be borrowing you."
Growing ever more unsettled in response to her mischievous actions, Theodore was almost tempted to utilize his Talents to peek at what was to come, but he refrained from doing so. He knew that no matter what, his Yeonnie wouldn't harm him.
"Sure, that's fine. But only my main body here will have to do, the others are still busy. Pray tell, what are you planning?"
Instead of answering his question, Cheong Suhyeon merely responded with another request, the look of teasing in her eyes growing to unprecedented levels.
"Patience, patience! For now, why don't you call my new sister over?"
Wanting to see where this would go, Theodore complied. With a short message sent, within moments, a lovely figure appeared nearby with a flash of light. Confusion, shyness and a hint of worry were written all over Ninna's face. She had heard a lot about Cheong Suhyeon from Xie Mei, Han Junqiao and others, so she had long since anticipated this meeting.
"It's nice to finally meet you, Miss Cheong Suhyeon–or Yeonnie, as they all call you. I'm Ninna Ur. I heard you requested my presence?"
Being careful and polite, as well as unsure how to act, she stopped a few meters away from the couple, feeling a bit like a third wheel. The fledgling goddess hadn't made any attempts to distance herself from their future husband, pushing up against him with her whole body as if the sensual sight was udder–nay, utterly ordinary.
'... she's got me beat in that department, that's for sure.'
Subconsciously glancing at her own chest, a hint of a helpless smile spread across Ninna's lips. But before she could be distracted for long, her entire environment changed completely.
Gone was the world that she had just arrived in. Admittedly, she hadn't paid much attention to it, but it certainly hadn't been a sacred-looking, borderline divine, massive bedroom crafted from pristine white marble!
"What's going on? Why did you unleash your Domain?"
Instantly grasping what kind of power Cheong Suhyeon relied on, Ninna figured out some of the details of the situation. Yet nonetheless, she only grew significantly more confused at what she was witnessing, and why this was happening.
"Shush, you'll understand very soon. For now, I want you to do something for me. See it as... a repayment for suddenly entering my life out of nowhere."
Picking up on the dangerous yet playful glint in the fledgling goddess' eyes immediately, Ninna chose not to make any trouble. If they could all get along if she just agreed to a single request from this woman, then she would welcome such a chance!
"But of course! I promise to do all I can to fulfil whatever it is that you'll ask of me!"
Her smile widening, Cheong Suhyeon gently waved her hand, causing a comfortable, luxurious chair to materialize directly behind Ninna. With a bewitching voice, she motioned at the exquisite seat.
"Wonderful! Then sit over there, stay silent, and watch. Until I tell you to stop."
Sensing some sort of trap, yet no danger whatsoever, Ninna warily nodded, then did exactly as she was told. Staring at the couple in front of her, she felt more puzzled than ever before in her life.
'What's the purpose of this? She wants me to be some sort of silent observer? But what am I meant to look at? Only the three of us are here in this... bedroom... No, no! Surely not, right?! See? Theo is looking speechless as well! He'll definitely put a stop to thi–AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!! So shameless! I'm still here! How could she just...?!?!'
Her eyes widening like saucers, enormous amounts of blood began to rush to Ninna's head, causing not only her face, but also her neck to flush a deep red. She wasn't totally innocent when it came to matters between men and women, but she had always chosen to ignore them as much as she could.
The reason for this was simple: It was embarrassing. And having been a little spoilt during her upbringing, everyone had always turned a blind eye to that fact. It wasn't a truly major issue, after all, and she had constantly excelled in everything else! Now, however, all of that came back to bite her in the butt with a vengeance.
And worst of all, although she instinctively wanted to avert her gaze and close off her senses, she couldn't! Not only was that because she had just made a promise... but at least when it came to Theodore, she very much liked what she saw.