Blessed Curse of Lust

A few days had passed since their first successful job. They all were handsomely rewarded with points, especially since they more than doubled the quota they had to meet. A few more like this, and they won’t have to worry about the first target that was sure.

The three were in one of the training rooms. It was the usual sword practice with Lily, but this time, Thea also decided to join them. While she left most of the instructing to Yelena, every now and then she gave her input as well, further helping Lily with her sword skills.

The redhead was shaping up nicely; she was getting noticeably better after each session. Sure, she will hardly be a warrior or a magic knight, but that wasn’t the point. Even with magic focus, it never hurt to know how to defend herself in case the enemy got too close. Just like it happened during their last job.

It was likely that event that further encouraged Lily to put in some extra effort. She already had a good prospect at magic, but she wanted to get better with the sword, too. She didn’t want to become a burden to the other two by being unable to defend herself when needed.

The door to the training room opened. All three girls looked, but they already had a feeling who it would be. Just as expected, they saw the blonde girl walk inside. She was wearing her usual proud expression, carrying herself with dignity. That is, until she reached Yelena.

As Valerie stood before the white-haired girl, her demeanor changed in an instant. She blushed and looked to the side, instead of straight to Yelena. She clenched her fists, building up her courage about what she wanted to say.

“Can… we talk for a moment? In… private, please!” The princess stuttered, still unable to look Yelena in the eyes.

Yelena looked over to the other two, who both nodded.

“Well, it is a good time as any to take a little break,” Lily said, as she stretched her arms above her head.

Thea and Lily left the room, leaving only Yelena and Valeire there. The princess hesitated for a while, trying to find the right words to say. For the past week or so, she had been going out of her way to avoid Yelena. She knew she couldn’t put this off anymore. She made a promise, and she was going to honor it.

“I thought… a lot about things. About what happened… about your offer.” She started. “I’m honestly… still confused. Don’t understand how all this… went the way it did. Either way… I’m ready to give my answer.” Valerie looked nervous, looking down at the ground.

Yelena waited patiently. She could see the struggle the princess was going through. She didn’t want to tease her or play with her. Not now. She wanted her to come to terms with things on her own.

“I… I… I want to join!” She said her body was trembling.

A soft smile appeared on Yelena’s face. She reached out to Valerie, gently touching her cheek. At first, the princess winced, but soon realized that Yelena meant no harm.

“Glad to hear that. You don’t need to be so nervous, though. I made the offer, and I won’t take it back. If you wish to join, then you are part of the team now.” Yelena told her.

The princess looked up, and she looked relieved hearing that. She herself couldn’t understand why she was so nervous about it. Yelena surely wouldn’t have offered it if she weren’t serious. That being said, making the decision was hard. Valerie knew that by joining, she would tie herself to Yelena. What happened the other night will likely happen again.

Valerie was still a little conflicted about that, but she steeled herself and was ready. She wanted to be next to Yelena, no matter the cost. If she had to sacrifice her dignity for it, so be it.

“That being said, there will be rules.” Yelena changed her tone; she sounded much more authoritative than before. “First of all, you will follow my orders. Just like during training. Of course, this is a team, and we might disagree on how to approach things. You are free to speak your mind, but in the end, you will have to accept the team’s decision, even if it wasn’t what you wanted. Is that clear?”

Valerie nodded. She already knew this might be the case. She was part of the team, but she wasn’t the leader of it. Things won’t always go her way. She can accept that, especially if it was Yelena who told her.

“Second, you will treat others with respect. I know you won’t have an issue with Thea, but I’m also aware that you are conflicted about Lily. Here, there are no ranks and titles. If you can’t accept that, you won’t last long.” Yelena explained the second rule.

It was a little bit harder for the princess. She was used to throwing her weight around. Being considered on the same level as a commoner was unthinkable, yet she had to swallow her pride. She knew that.

“F… fine! I’ll try.” The princess replied, clearly not happy with the idea, but at least not rejecting it outright.

Yelena smiled and moved her hand under Valerie’s chin. She lifted the girl’s head and looked deep into her eyes.

“Good girl! I knew you would agree. Now, just one last thing. I’m happy to have you in my bed anytime if you want. That being said, you know how things are for me. I’m very closely involved with the other two. That won’t change. Whatever happens between us won’t be exclusive. Hope you can accept that.” Yelena told her the last bit.

Valerie blushed when she heard she was welcome in Yelena’s bed. The events of that night popped into her head. She was too proud to admit it, but she was looking forward to repeating it, sooner rather than later. Still, the fact that she won’t be the only one was a hard pill to swallow.

“I… can deal with that. Not that… I wanted to do it… again anyways.” Valerie turned her face away from Yelena.

The white-haired girl snorted at that reply. She saw clear as day the longing in the princess’s eyes when she talked about having sex again. She was looking forward to it, but just couldn’t admit it freely.

“Fine, I'll let you decide on that. If you ever feel the need, you will have to ask for it yourself.” Yelena said.

Valerie nodded slightly, still not looking at Yelena. She cursed how weak this girl made her feel, yet there was something so desirable about it.

“Anything else you want to discuss? Otherwise, I’ll let the others back in. They are now the same team as you, so it would be best to let them know as soon as possible.” Yelena pointed at the door.

Valerie nodded. She already said what she wanted to; she also got what she came for. Despite knowing the rules won’t be easy for her, she was happy with how things went.

Yelena walked up to the door and opened it, letting the other two back in. Thea had a fairly natural expression on her face, although she could guess how the conversation went. Lily, on the other hand, looked very smug. She knew full well how things went and was looking forward to seeing how things would go with the princess.

“Well, you might have guessed already, but Valerie accepted my offer. That means she will be joining our team. With that, we already have four and two more to go. We will have to sit down and discuss who else we want in. I want to have a complete party as soon as possible.” Yelena shared the news that everyone already expected.

“First of all, nice to have you in the team, Valerie.” Lily said with a smile on her face.

The princess immediately tensed up. Hearing the girl address her so casually was sure a shock. She glanced at Yelena, who was basically telling the princess to behave nicely with the way she looked at her.

“Y… yes! Nice to be here!” Valerie was gritting her teeth while trying to put on a fake smile, but her face was twitching.

Lily was rather amused by the sight. She knew it would be only a matter of time before the princess would become much more humble. She was waiting for that day.

“Yes, it is good to have you here. With you, we have two mages and two warriors. Now, we just need support and another warrior.” Thea added her part.

“Any luck finding anyone? I asked around the Azure dragons, but everyone there who is the same year as us is already taken.” Yelena shared her lack of results with the team.

The other two didn’t look like they’ve had any better results. Finding competent people was not easy. Especially since many had already formed their teams even before the year started. So most of those who remained tend to be subpar.

“I asked around, too, at the flames. Found some who seemed promising, and they had shown interest in joining too, but I’m still scoping things out. I know support mages are especially important, so we can’t take that decision lightly.” Lily explained her part.

She was right. Support mages played one of the most important parts in the success of a party. They not only could heal their teammates, but also provide all sorts of buffs and shields as well, making longer and more perilous quests much easier to complete.

“I did my rounds too with my group. All the competent girls I could find were in a party already.” Thea said.

Yelena noticed something. What did she mean, girls? She was already getting a headache. She had a good idea about what was going on, but she needed to get confirmation first.

“Girls? Why are you only asking girls to join?” Yelena voiced her question, which she already knew the answer to.

“Well… Lily said it would be better that way.” Thea folded immediately and let the cat out of the bag.

Yelena turned to Lily, who was narrowing her eyes at the redhead who was now awkwardly laughing and scratching the back of her neck.

“Care to explain? No, wait, you don’t need to. I think I already know the answer. You want to turn this party into some weird harem situation, right?” Yelena asked.

The white-haired girl already figured out how Lily operates. She was a hopeless pervert who was enjoying the situation she and Yelena got into and was taking full advantage of it. Still, Yelena had to learn how to rein her in; things would turn into a complete disaster. Well, it already was a disaster. The party was pretty much already a weird harem situation. Something that was not planned to happen, especially not by Yelena, but Lily was doing her best to make things worse.

“Umm.. you know. I was just thinking… it would be better that way. Given your goddess’s domain and your interests. I mean, come on! You can’t tell me you wouldn’t enjoy leading a party of cute girls who are open to please you on a moment’s notice!” Lily was feeling a bit awkward at first under Yelena’s glaring eyes, but eventually she doubled down on her idea.

Yelena sighed. She didn’t expect Lily to go this far, but she was severely underestimating the redhead, for sure, and could see that now.

“Look, I get the idea.” Yelena was massaging her temple as she was speaking. “That doesn’t mean it is a good one. This is not about fun, or whatever. Having a competent party is essential, especially to get through the next four years. Most of our points will be gathered by the missions we complete, and by the end of it, we will need every single point to make sure we can meet the targets.” Yelena explained.

Lily listened, but she didn’t look sorry at all. In fact, she seemed like she was ready to give her own opinion on this matter.

“But it is not just fun! I mean, sure, it is partially, but you do need to have sex to improve your powers. The goddess told you already that the more different experiences you can get, the better. So, going by that logic, by providing you a party of girls means that you can grow significantly faster, right?” Lily was good at justifying her twisted thought process.

Yelena hated to admit it, but she wasn’t wrong. Especially considering what Lucia told earlier. She still wasn’t sure how the follower pact worked, but if it meant she could share the divine powers with her team, it could really give a boost to them.

Given how most missions tend to be at places out of sight, they won’t even have to worry about using divine magic and being discovered. It would be perfect, but of course, Yelena couldn’t just blindly accept that.

“Either way, from now on, make sure to check with the male students as well. We really can’t afford to wait around.” Yelena put her foot down on the matter.

Thea nodded, and Lily looked a little dejected, but she also seemed to accept, or at least pretended she did.

Valerie didn’t say anything throughout the whole conversation, more like she couldn’t. She just watched the scene unfold with her mouth gaping open. She was wondering what kind of weird situation she just got herself into.

Just from this brief conversation, the princess could understand where things stood. Especially when it came to Lily. That girl was so much more dangerous than she originally thought. It seemed like the redhead loved playing games, no more than that. Despite her lowly origins, Lily acted more like a puppetmaster who was controlling things from the background. Valerie knew she would need to look out for that girl.