"Me?" Her voice was like a celestial melody, reverberating not only in the room but within Ravenna’s very soul. "I can't believe my most favored subject doesn’t recognize me. Or rather, you aren't, isn't that right… Joy Cha Kim?" Herptian said

  The words struck like thunder, sending an icy shiver down Ravenna's spine.

  She felt frozen, her breath hitching as she stared at the divine being before her.

  “I… I—” Ravenna stammered, unable to form a coherent response.

  Herptian’s golden eyes gleamed with amusement as she leaned closer, placing a finger beneath Ravenna’s chin.

  “How arrogant of you…” Herptian purred, her voice dripping with mockery and amusement, “to steal my beautiful Apostle’s place and deprive me of indulging in her beauty.”

  Her lips curled into a teasing smirk as she crawled onto the bed, her body bare and divine, a vision so alluring that Ravenna felt her senses slipping. This is dangerous.

  She was overwhelmed. The soft glow of her golden skin, the delicate curves of her form—everything about Herptian was hypnotic, unnatural, divine.

  Ravenna forced herself to focus, clutching the silk sheets closer to her chest.

  “I… I didn’t take this body because I wanted to!” Ravenna protested, her voice shaky but firm. “I just woke up in it! I don’t even know how it happened!”

  Herptian’s expression didn’t change, but there was something amused in the way she tilted her head.

  “Oh? So you claim innocence?” The goddess's voice was soft yet dangerous, like the purr of a lioness about to pounce.

  Ravenna took a deep breath, trying to calm the storm inside her head. She needed to think.

  Where was she?

  She looked around, her mind racing through the religious texts and myths of this world.

  This must be Celestia Castle, the divine palace in the realm of the gods, the heaven of light’s conquest’s world.

  Herptian, the goddess of indulgence and lust, ruled this place. It was said she brought souls into her embrace, seducing them into pleasure and servitude before passing them along to Solious, the goddess of light, for reincarnation.

  A terrifying realization struck her. "Am I… dead?" Ravenna whispered.

  Herptian's laughter rang through the air—rich, sultry, and full of mischief.

  She reached out, trailing a soft finger over Ravenna’s lips before answering.

  "No, my dear. You're very much alive. I simply summoned you here for a little… fun."

  Ravenna felt her stomach drop. The goddess’s voice dripped with implication, making her clutch the sheets even tighter.

  "You… you didn’t—” she started hesitantly.

  Herptian chuckled. "Why do you think I wouldn’t?" The goddess leaned back, stretching like a satisfied predator.

  "I did," she purred, her golden eyes locked onto Ravenna’s. "Many times, in fact."

  Ravenna felt the blood drain from her face. "What…?"

  "Ravenna was already mine," Herptian continued casually, twirling a strand of golden hair around her finger. "She belonged to me long before you ever stole her body. I've taken her to my bed countless times, after all. She is an Apostle, my favored beauty."

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  Ravenna's mind reeled.

  She had read the legends—Herptian, the most depraved of the divine, was famous for claiming her Apostles. It was said that once an Apostle of Herptian passed on, their soul remained in her harem forever, as a divine resting place for them.

  What More the whispered folklore—that Herptian could summon the souls of her chosen even while they still lived, indulging in them and then erasing their memories before sending them back to the mortal realm.

  And now, the goddess was telling her that Ravenna had been one of them too.

  "Your interference has cost me dearly," Herptian sighed dramatically. "Ravenna was supposed to join me permanently months ago. Do you have any idea how much effort it took to make one of Solious’s own lineage my Apostle? Do you even understand what you've ruined?"

  She stretched, her movements slow and deliberate, as if to torture Ravenna further with seducation.

  "You’ve deprived me of a beautiful soul in my bed, little thief."

  Ravenna clenched her fists, frustration and confusion warring within her.

  “I told you, I don’t know how I got here! It wasn’t my intention, okay?!"

  Herptian sighed, resting her chin in her palm as she studied Ravenna with an unreadable expression.

  "Even so," she mused, "you should be grateful."

  Ravenna blinked, her expression with wariness.

  "Grateful?"

  Herptian’s lips curled into a slow, indulgent smile, her golden eyes gleaming with amusement.

  "Yes, grateful," the goddess murmured, voice dripping with honeyed mischief. "Grateful that I didn’t strip you of your status as my Apostle after you merged with her soul. You’re still mine, after all."

  Ravenna uneasily. "What… what do you mean?" she asked, her voice quieter now, laced with apprehension.

  Herptian let out a soft chuckle, shifting to sit beside Ravenna on the bed, her presence both intoxicating and suffocating. She leaned back against the plush pillows, her body draped in nothing but divinity.

  "You see," she began, tracing lazy circles on the silk sheets, "Ravenna—the youngest of Solious’s bloodline at the time—was never meant to live."

  Ravenna was confused. Never meant to live?

  Herptian sighed, as if recalling something mildly inconvenient. "Solious messed up," she continued, her voice laced with satisfaction. "Ravenna’s soul was flawed—defective, even. She was born incapable of circulating mana, meaning she wouldn’t have survived infancy.".

  "So Solious… begged you for help?" Ravenna asked cautiously, she used ‘begged’ to appease Herptian's ego.

  Herptian smirked, tapping a finger against her lips. "Life might be her domain, but death belongs to me," she purred. "She came crawling, pleading for me to intervene."

  Ravenna processed the words carefully. "And in return, you made Ravenna your Apostle… to keep her alive?"

  "Naturally." Herptian stretched luxuriously, tilting her head. "How could I possibly resist? A direct descendant of that insufferable wench of justice and purity—in my harem?" Her laughter was rich and sultry. "It was the perfect revenge."

  Ravenna nodded slowly, piecing things together.

  In The myths of the First Age, when the twelve gods, alongside the Saintess, waged war against the Absolute Being, Who enslaved the world.

  Herptian had no interest in that war—until Solious made an offer.

  She had promised to sleep with Herptian in exchange for her support in the final battle.

  But once the war was won, Solious had turned her words against her.

  "I promised to ‘sleep’ beside you, not to lay with you," she had said with a triumphant smile.

  The deception had enraged Herptian.

  Since then, their faiths had been locked in eternal opposition—Solious, the paragon of purity and light, and Herptian, the embodiment of indulgence and lust.

  Herptian had never forgiven her.

  And now, taking Ravenna into her harem had been her way of one-upping her divine rival.

  Ravenna exhaled.

  "But then you came along and ruined it," Herptian mused, her voice turning colder. "Ravenna was supposed to die, poisoned, fated to join me here in my bed for eternity. But then you, little thief, interfered."

  Ravenna swallowed hard. She hadn’t known. She hadn’t meant to change anything. She had only woken up in this body and had to survive.

  Ravenna clenched her jaw, biting back the first thought that came to her mind. "Incestuous pervert."

  Herptian’s expression shifted again, a lazy smirk playing on her lips.

  "But despite your transgression," she continued, "I didn’t revoke your status. I allowed you to remain my Apostle, even as you—" she trailed a finger down Ravenna’s arm, her touch feather-light, "slowly erased everything that made you An Apostle."

  "You stopped indulging in the luxuries Ravenna once adored," Herptian mused, her voice almost wistful. "You dissolved the traits that defined my Apostles, and yet, I let you live."

  She tilted Ravenna’s chin again, forcing their gazes to meet. "You should be grateful."

  Ravenna gritted her teeth, her throat dry.

  “I…” She took a slow breath before stiffly murmuring, "Thank you, Goddess. Is that enough?"

  Herptian’s smile widened.

  "No."

  Before Ravenna could react, warm lips pressed against her neck, sending a shiver down her spine.

  "You dared to ignore Ravenna’s greatest desire," Herptian whispered against her skin. "And that, my dear, I will not forgive."

  A pulse of divine energy surged through the room.

  Ravenna jerked back, her body instinctively trying to retreat. "What—?"

  Herptian finally pulled away, standing to her full height, her golden hair cascading over her bare shoulders like liquid sunlight.

  Her expression was no longer playful, but resolute.

  "You must become the Empress Of Ancorna."