Chapter 907 906 - I trust you
Although Anne's words sounded genuine and convincing, Naeku still looked a little sceptical. "But… isn't it manufactured happiness?" she asked, her voice hesitant. She wanted to know more, but also didn't want to upset either Anne or Erik. "And… I know your transition into this current… state was an accident, right? So, how much of a choice was it, really?"
Anne smirked a little, then glanced quickly at Erik to see if he was okay with her answering all these questions. Seeing him nod, she sighed and began to answer.
"Is it manufactured?" she asked, smiling playfully. "I was happy to serve Him even before I became His apostle and finger. I don't think I feel any more or less happy… but perhaps it is purer. Cleaner. There's no more doubt to muddy the waters. Filled with His will, I only have to feel the joy of service to Him."
Naeku nearly felt the urge to flinch at the fanaticism in her words. Meanwhile, Anne cocked her head and continued with a surprisingly thoughtful tone. "As for the matter of choice… I do think it was a matter of choice, still. The process we went through had us constantly and consciously deny personal gratification over the decision to serve Master for the rest of our lives."
Seemingly pleased with her own answer, she glanced over at Erik with a playful, seductive wink. "The fact that the full breadth of consequence was somewhat unknown at the time doesn't change the fact I still want and wanted to serve Him for the rest of my life."
She looked back at Naeku again and shrugged. "But that's not the case for our initiates. Master ordered us to make absolutely sure they fully understand the consequences of the process, and we neither can nor want to disobey."
Naeku looked deep into Anne's eyes, as if looking for any struggle within. Any sign that there was a part of her struggling against the magic binding her mind and soul… but all she found was a playful clarity.
After a moment, she sighed and nodded. "Alright, Anne… Thank you for answering my questions. I have just one more. As I understood it, your current situation is irreversible for the moment, even if you wanted it to—which I understand you don't, or even can't—but you said you still remember everything about who and how you were before. So can you tell me what your old self would think of that?"
Anne giggled at her question. "Hehe, that depends on when you would have asked me, Mistress." She glanced mischievously at her Master, who smirked back at her. "It took Master a little while to make me realise the pleasure of service." She looked back at Naeku again. "But by the end, I wouldn't have minded. In the months leading up to my own initiation, I already couldn't imagine my life not being in service to Him."
Before Naeku could answer, Anne clapped her hands and smiled. "If that was your last question, then I need to go!" She looked at Erik with a mysterious smile. "You chose a good moment to come and visit, Master… There's a special event today, and I need to prepare. Can I be excused?"
Erik cocked an eyebrow, but resisted the desire to ask, preferring to be surprised. He quickly glanced at Naeku, who sighed again as she nodded. So, he turned to Anne and waved his hand. "Go," he simply said, and Anne quickly disappeared through a nearby door after bowing a little.
Erik looked around for a moment. They were in a kind of foyer, with a number of doors and stairs to a second floor. A large set of doors was straight ahead, and Erik could hear the faint, zealous boom of Nora's voice from the other side. Though this was a different building from last time, it looked like it followed about the same layout. He wondered for a moment what it was originally used for… but then shook his head and looked at Naeku.
"Come," he smiled. "Let's take a look at what's happening inside."
Naeku nodded a little absentmindedly, clearly deep in thought about what she'd just heard.
They started moving up to the second floor, and it wasn't long before Erik disrupted her thoughts in a lightly worried tone. "So… are you not afraid that I instructed her on how to answer you?"
She blinked and looked up at him. It took her a moment to step out of her thoughts and realise what he'd asked, but then she smiled warmly. "No, I trust you."
Erik smiled genuinely and nodded, then they walked on.
"It's just… a lot to think about," she sighed as they reached the second floor. "Not to mention that I… I mean, it's not like I don't understand where she's coming from. I enjoy being… you know…" she gulped a little as she blushed, "…submissive to you. At least in bed. And then there's the time Emily used her magic on me, and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed even that."
Frowning, she then shook her head as Erik opened a door to let them through. "I just… can't imagine wanting that all the time. I like my free will. I want to keep making the decision to do the things that I do, and I want to keep fighting for my people." She glanced at him with a strange, almost apologetic expression. "And… I want to be able to oppose you if I disagree with a decision."
"Heh," Erik chuckled, smiling a little. "And I wouldn't want to have you any other way. I hope you don't believe I'd want my wives to be the same as Anne or Nora. A little push back is good. I'd never claim to be infallible."
Naeku nodded with a smile as they stepped onto a balcony. It was a small balcony, barely enough for maybe a dozen people, but it was empty now. The balcony looked out over a large hall from what looked like the second floor. Below, the hall was filled with people, and a much larger balcony above that was filled with people as well, while Erik's balcony looked out over both.
Unsurprisingly, the ground floor had a kind of stage at the front, with a lectern in the middle that currently had Nora behind it. An open book was placed in front as she extolled the greatness that was the Wolf-Sire—aka, him.
What was more interesting to him were the seating arrangements, or lack thereof. The ground floor had everyone standing on their own two feet in orderly ranks, heads bowed as they listened to Nora's words.
Meanwhile, the second floor was set in tiers, so that every tier could look at the ground floor, over the heads of those in front of them. But the people didn't stand here; they kneeled, still with their heads bowed. It was among these people that he noticed the same kind of choker Anne had, but with different symbols or names.
About half of them had one, and he didn't see them on the ground floor. As for the number of people, the ground floor had about a third, and the second floor the rest.
"Doms and subs…?" he muttered curiously to himself.