Chapter 2199: Good girl. "From this hour and forth, You—Sharnoth Nocthys—truly belong to me." Nux spoke as he pulled the woman close to him and wrapped his hand around her body. Sharnoth’s body flinched at the close first, her back instantly arched up as she gasped. All of this felt... too foreign, too... new. Her first instinct was to push Nux away, but the conditions Nux stated just a few moments ago were clear—she may move, but she must not move away from him—and Sharnoth had no plans of going against those words. "N-Nux... What are you doing...?" She questioned in a voice so low that even she could barely hear herself. After all, Sharnoth was no fool; yes, she did not have such interactions in her entire life since her only focus was on building herself in order to get her revenge—but this did not mean she had no interaction with the opposite gender at all. Sharnoth knew what was happening; she knew it very well. While she may not have expected things to play out like this when she promised Nux, it wasn’t completely out of her expectations either. Sharnoth was a hundred thousand year old Eternal, she knew how the Universe worked more than most beings since she had seen and stayed together with all kinds of people, the lowborns with no status and the highborns who ruled worlds— It all happened with her mother too, she too, was raped and ’used’ by Aurendor soldiers when she was captured, and that wasn’t the only time she came in contact with such things either— Things like prostitution, sex slaves, and such were extremely common—she saw it during her days as a mercenary, and even during her days as Khaemorr’s Queen, and even when she had the power to stop it, she didn’t bother simply because she had become... indifferent. This was how the Universe worked; it wasn’t a big deal, such things were instilled into her very being, so even when it all happened right in front of her—willingly or... unwillingly—the Queen who rose from Chains did not care. Sharnoth just... did not think that something like this would happen to her as well. However, this did not mean she wasn’t prepared for it; she was a woman who was willing to give away her life if it meant she could get her revenge; ’selling her body’ or ’becoming a sex slave’ weren’t a big deal in front of that. Heck, she willingly continued training Chaos Energy despite knowing that there was a possibility of Zylarith being able to control her body using it in the future—who knew what that man would do to her body once he had full control? But Sharnoth simply did not care. That action alone was more than enough for one to see how strong her determination was. Sharnoth Nocthys did not respect her body or herself, for that matter—she was prepared to do anything if it meant she could get her revenge. Anything. What was happening definitely shouldn’t take her by surprise or bother her... But... But... As Nux moved close to her and tightened his arms around her... She... Her mind turned off. The strong control she had over herself, the control she had built in the past hundred thousand years... for some reason, it collapsed. Feeling Nux’s breathing on hers, imagining those sex slaves she saw back then and replacing their faces with hers... together with Nux... it quickened her breathing for an unknown reason. ’Am I... looking forward to it...?’ She wondered in her mind, but soon, however, she shook her head as she forced her expression to return to her normal indifference. Her mind snapped out of reverie, and she quickly began explaining herself— This wasn’t something she was looking forward to— She simply did not expect Nux of all people to have such demands. He was a man with charm, he had beautiful wives around him, if it was physical touch he needed, he had no shortage of it, he could release his lust any moment he desired, and those women who loved him more than their lives would be glad to be with him— For him to do something like this... Of course, this did not mean Sharnoth was disappointed. As stated before, she was merely disappointed; it was not her place to feel emotions such as disappointment. She promised herself to Nux, and it was time to deliver that promise. The moment Sharnoth thought all of it—she... calmed down and regained control over her body— For only a few seconds. After all, everything she thought about, every excuse, every self-explanation she came up with—because of their connection—Nux heard it all. And he— He grinned. Before Sharnoth could see it, he loosened his arms and stepped back just enough to place both hands on Sharnoth’s shoulders. His golden eyes glinted with that same playful, dangerous light, and his grin changed— From demonic wickedness to amused playfulness. Sharnoth blinked, she had just regained control over herself, but the moment Nux moved and stared at her face again—the said ’control’ was gone. Ba-dump And her heart... It began beating too fast for reasons she couldn’t name. "Now let’s go," Nux said. "Wher—" The word never left her mouth. Space folded around them, colours blurred, and in the next breath, they stood in an entirely different place. A warm breeze carrying the scent of starblooms and night honey brushed her face. Sharnoth looked around and once again—her expression changed. This place... It was beautiful. They were on a gentle hill of silver-blue grass that shimmered like moonlight. Far above, three small moons drifted lazily across a violet sky. Rivers of liquid starlight curled through the air itself, looping and twinkling like living ribbons. Fireflies the size of lanterns drifted past, trailing soft rainbow dust. And right in front of them—there was a mansion. It was impossibly enormous. Walls made of beautiful black marble, towers that spiralled upward and ended in floating crystal gardens, windows that glowed with gentle auroras instead of glass. Ivy made of pure white flame crawled over the walls but never burned anything. Every few seconds, the entire building sighed, as if it was alive and happy to see them. "This will be our house," Nux said casually, as if he were pointing out a new shirt. "Our... house?" Sharnoth repeated in a low voice. Nux had already given her several rooms inside his Universe, rooms that were built just for her, perfectly matching her taste to the dot, but this—this felt different. This felt more... permanent. The more Sharnoth thought about it—the more she felt her stomach flip. But she wasn’t given much time to think—Nux grabbed her hand again and tugged her forward. His hold was so firm that even if she wanted to, she couldn’t shake it off. They walked through a garden where flowers sang softly when stepped near, past fountains that rained upward in slow, sparkling arcs, through gates that opened by themselves with a pleased chime. The front doors were tall enough for giants, and the moment they entered the Hall— She saw it. The walls were carved with scenes of battles—scenes Sharnoth recognised. They were battles she fought. Her entire life, every moment she felt was significant— It was all carved there, like this is where she had always belonged. Inside, the corridors were lit by drifting orbs of gentle gold. Portraits on the walls moved and waved at them as they passed. One portrait was already of her—standing beside Nux, looking surprised. For some reason, even a small gesture like this made her lower her head, trying to hide her face. In the end, the only thing she could do was to stare at the floor, counting her own footsteps, trying to calm the wild flutter in her chest. Finally, Nux pushed open a pair of double doors made of dark wood, and they were here— The bedroom. And it was... Ridiculous. The bed floated three hand-spans above the floor, round and impossibly huge—big enough for twenty people and still have room left. It was covered in layers of cloud-soft blankets that shifted colour every few seconds: deep indigo, soft rose, warm amber. Pillows were scattered everywhere, some glowing faintly, some purring when touched. Finally, Nux let go of her hand, hopped onto the bed as if he had done it a thousand times, and lay down in the very centre. He stretched, arms above his head, making himself comfortable. Then he turned his golden eyes to her and— "Come," He commanded. This time, no hand reached out to Sharnoth, no force pulled her towards him. It was just one word. The rest—she had to do it on her own—willingly. For a moment, Sharnoth stood frozen at the edge of the floating bed. Her face burned, the proud Queen who made countless beings tremble at the mere mention of her name suddenly felt small and clumsy. This was an order. A simple order that didn’t ask her to face a strong opponent or risk her life—just...climbing into bed. But even then— She froze. But... This couldn’t continue— She needed to move; she needed to follow the order. And finally— The Chaos Heir moved. She took one hesitant step forward. The bed dipped gently under her weight. She crawled onto it slowly, knees sinking into clouds, every movement making her more and more awkward. She stopped near him, sitting on her knees, hands clasped tight in her lap, eyes fixed on the shifting colours of the sheets because looking at him felt too dangerous right now and Nux— He watched her with that same amused, possessive smile. "Good girl."