Chapter 153

--- 24th Day, Evening ---

“Do you think it’s true?” Zoe asked a moment after Virelia, who claimed to be my daughter, had left.

“It might be some Sage’s joke or twisted deception, but… I have a hunch it’s not.”

If Virelia wasn’t really my daughter, then Sage had hired an amazing actress to play that role, because I truly believed her. Something in the way she looked at me, with uncertainty but also hope…

The age in my status would make sense. I still couldn't understand why Gemma was trying to hide Virelia from me, but at least it seemed there was some real reason behind it. Though in three weeks she could have at least mentioned that we had a kid.

And what happened to my memories?

“You have a daughter that’s only one year younger than Azura,” Zoe said, pulling me out of my thoughts.

“Yeah…” I sighed, the age difference between us was quite big, and then there was also those nineteen years missing. “Let’s go to bed,” I added. “It’s early, but I don't think I can focus on anything right now anyway. And I should probably tell Amber too.”

Together we headed to our room, where Amber was still sitting with her book. Zoe and Azura immediately jumped onto the bed while I remained standing, looking at the elf.

“What?” Amber asked.

“I just learned that I most likely have a daughter,” I replied.

The elf snorted, shaking her head. “I’m not even surprised.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?”

“You’re fucking every woman in sight. It was bound to end like this. And what about that skill that was supposed to prevent this? Are we going to have a kindergarten here soon?” she asked, gesturing toward Zoe and Azura.

“The skill is working and has been active the whole time,” I replied. “It happened before I got my class. And she’s… already eighteen.”

“What?” Amber asked.

“He’s actually an old man,” Zoe cut in cheerfully.

“I’m not old,” I protested.

“Care to explain what you’re talking about?” Amber asked.

“Well… I might look twenty, but I’m a bit older. I went through body rejuvenation, or whatever you call it here.”

“First of all, how old are you actually?” Amber asked.

“That’s… also complicated.”

“Wait, you’re not like five hundred years old, right?” Amber asked.

“No. My status shows fifty-five, but I’d say I’m really thirty-six. The nineteen years of difference were spent in some sort of magical coma.”

“Magical coma?” Amber asked.

“I don’t know all the details yet, but apparently getting the class I have required it.”

“How the fuck could you afford to rejuvenate yourself?” Amber asked. “It’s expensive. Wait, did you spend your entire life savings on this? At thirty-six?”

“No, someone else took care of it,” I replied.

“And you didn’t know you had a daughter?” Amber asked.

“She was born while I was in that coma, and I only woke up three weeks ago. And her mother didn’t seem interested in telling me we had a kid.”

“Who’s the mother?” Amber asked.

“It’s complicated,” I sighed.

“Are you fucking her?” the elf accused.

“No.”

“A-Are you going to?” Zoe asked quietly.

“Ugh… I don’t know. We need to talk first, and she needs to explain some things.”

The succubus frowned deeply, uncertainty visible in her pink eyes locked on me.

“Zoe, what’s wrong?” I asked, sitting down on the bed beside her and placing a hand on her thigh.

“W-What if she doesn’t want to share you?” she asked quietly.

“In what world would I choose her over you?” I asked.

“She’s beautiful, rich, powerful, and you have a kid together,” Zoe replied.

“You know her?” Amber asked.

“Oh…” Zoe muttered, then averted her gaze, pressing her lips tightly together.

“Zoe, I would never choose someone over you. Any of you,” I added. “She knows about my relationships, and if anything were to happen between us, she’d have to accept that I’m not leaving anyone for her. But that’s all speculation for now. First, she needs to explain why she hid our daughter from me. Assuming Virelia really is my daughter.”

The succubus stared at me for a moment before shifting into my lap, wrapping her body and tail around me. She pressed her face against my neck, her lips softly brushing my skin there.

“Besides, she’s the one who put me in your cave,” I added. “And she knew what would happen.”

“Oh…” Zoe murmured softly, but she seemed to relax, a faint smile appearing on her lips as she cuddled against my chest.

“Who the fuck is she?” Amber asked.

I thought about it for a second, but Amber already knew so much about me that hiding it no longer seemed to make sense.

“Gemma Ardenvale,” I replied.

“What the fuck?” Amber asked. “The leader of Tenebre?”

“One and only,” I murmured.

Amber hissed. “I heard she’s a completely heartless bitch. And she’s not even that pretty. It’s all fake. Magically created. She probably looked like a troll before. Not pretty like… us,” she added after a brief hesitation, her gaze flicking toward Zoe and Azura.

“Are you worried I’ll replace you with her?” I asked with a chuckle.

Amber snorted disdainfully. “I’m not worried. You’d be an idiot, and… and…”

“And what?”

“Nothing! And I don’t care,” Amber huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Come here,” I said, gesturing toward the bed in front of me.

Amber pouted, but moved closer and sat down beside me.

“I won’t let anyone come between us, my princess, okay?” I asked, softly brushing her cheek as I stared into her pale blue eyes.

She gave me a small nod before I pulled her into a kiss. Her lips parted as she returned it passionately, with Zoe still sitting in my lap between us. When Amber finally pulled back, she remained close, staring at me silently, looking as if she wanted to say something. Her lips moved slightly, but no words came out before she shook her head and leaned away.

“Let’s fuck,” Amber stated, and I wasn’t sure if she was trying to distract me or herself from whatever she had been thinking about.

“I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but I’m not really in the mood for some long sex marathon,” I replied.

“What about a quick blowjob?” Zoe purred. “It’ll help you relax,” she added before softly brushing her lips against mine and immediately pulling away. But even that brief touch was enough to make me want more.

“I guess a quick one would be fine,” I murmured.

Zoe grinned before sliding down along my body. She was quick, using her mouth, hands, tail, and her skill together, she could easily erase every thought from my mind, replacing them with pure pleasure and bringing me to orgasm within a minute.

Afterward, we got rid of our clothes and cuddled together, with Azura and Amber joining in. We went to sleep fairly early, but more than anything, I wanted to finally talk to Gemma.

--- Dream World ---

When I woke up in the dream world, I was glad Gemma hadn’t skipped that day or avoided me on purpose. But judging by the smile on her face, I suspected she had no idea what I had learned earlier that day.

“Someone paid me a visit today,” I stated.

“Who?”

“Virelia,” I replied, which already caused Gemma to frown. “Apparently our daughter,” I added anyway.

A whole storm of emotions crossed her face as she simply stared at me, but even after a moment passed, she still didn’t say a word.

“You have nothing to say?” I asked.

“There are too many things to say,” Gemma replied. “And I don’t know where to start.”

“So it’s true?” I asked.

“It is,” Gemma replied.

“How could you hide something like that from me?”

“I was going to tell you,” she claimed.

“When? When she turned thirty?” I asked.

“You woke up three weeks ago. A few weeks one way or another wouldn’t change anything. Even if I had told you immediately after you woke up, she was already eighteen. You were absent in her life for eighteen years! On that scale, three weeks don’t matter.”

“And whose fault is it that I missed her entire life?” I asked.

Gemma snorted before replying, “You can’t put all the blame on me.”

“Then who?” I asked.

“Yourself,” Gemma snapped.

“You put me into some fucking magical coma for ninteen years.”

“I didn’t do that! It was a side effect of the ritual.”

“A ritual you performed on me.”

“We both did it! And it was necessary for you to get your class!”

“You forgot to mention that when you made the deal with me!”

“I had no fucking clue that would happen. And I warned you that it was powerful magic and could have side effects.”

“No, you didn’t,” I replied.

“Yes, I fucking did!”

“No, you didn’t!”

“Do you remember what happened after I brought you to this world? Before you woke up in the cave? No? Then don’t fucking tell me what I did or didn’t do, because you have no fucking clue what happened!”

“Then finally tell me!”

Gemma paused, staring at me before lowering her voice back to normal. “I brought you to this world, and I was in a hurry, so I put your body through rejuvenation while we were discussing your class. And I gave you one more chance to decide whether you wanted to go through with the ritual or just take a normal class. But you want to know what happened? The moment you heard part of the ritual involved having sex with me, your brain fucking shut off, and you stopped caring about anything else. None of my warnings that I didn’t fully understand the ritual or that it was ancient magic registered in your head, because all you could think about was sex.”

“I don’t remember any of that,” I replied.

Gemma sighed before rubbing the bridge of her nose. She glanced at me, then looked away with another sigh.

“I might not have thought everything through very well,” she mumbled.

“What?”

“Moving you from another world here was also with the use of an ancient magic, and I didn’t realize how much strain it would put on your body. When I moved to your world, I only sent my presence, and I already had a class, so I didn’t feel it. But you… back then you were just a human. Well, a human with mana, but still without a class. And moving your actual body…”

She paused briefly before continuing.

“Then there was a rejuvenation. Typically it should take two or three days, but it’s possible to force it into just a few hours. Both of those things affected you physically, and then came the ritual itself… My memories are fuzzy too, but apparently the strain on your body and mind fucked up your memories even before the ritual started.”

“So you put me through some magical roller coaster without even knowing what it would do to me?”

“What the fuck is a roller coaster?” Gemma asked.

I groaned.

“And I did warn you,” she added. “And back then, you didn’t care. And in the end, what really happened? It’s not like you remember those nineteen years. For you, nothing really changed. You went straight from your shitty life to the cave with Zoe.”

“Nothing changed? I have an adult daughter! I missed her entire life! I never got the chance to raise her! She’s eighteen, and she’s a stranger to me! My daughter!”

Gemma frowned before asking in a calmer voice, “You… really would’ve wanted to raise her with me?”

“Of course,” I replied. “What kind of question is that?”

“Well, I don’t know. When I asked what you desired while making the deal with me, you didn’t say you wanted a house on a hill, a loving wife, kids, and a peaceful life. You said you wanted to fuck as many women as possible. That doesn’t sound like someone who wanted to start a family.”

“Yet you decided to start one with me anyway. And maybe I don’t remember it now, but before the ritual I knew what was going to happen, and you saw my reaction back then.”

“Ugh…” Gemma grunted, averting her gaze. “I might not have mentioned that you’d actually need to impregnate me during the ritual, and only told you we’d have to have sex.”

“So you were planning to hide it from the start?!”

“No! Not exactly. First of all, you only cared about having sex with me, and didn't care about protection at all, so I don’t know what you expected. But also… You being a biological father is one thing, but actually being a dad is another. I wanted to get to know you better before deciding what our life would look like. And then everything went to shit! Do you think I was happy that you fucking went to sleep for nineteen years?! I needed you back then when I brought you to this world, and instead you became completely useless to me.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” I mocked. “That I failed to live up to your expectations after you put me into a coma.”

“I didn’t do it,” Gemma protested. “We did it together!”

I groaned before asking, “And why the fuck didn’t you tell me about Virelia during those three weeks? You could’ve just mentioned it during one of our meetings.”

“It’s not that simple,” Gemma groaned.

“Then explain it to me.”

“You woke up as if nothing had happened, but I had almost nineteen years to think about everything. And I’ve lived for centuries. I’ve seen a lot of horrible shit, and nineteen years of thinking created doubts in my mind. I… I wanted to see what kind of person you really were, because let’s be honest, you didn’t exactly make a good first impression. All I knew about you was what I saw in your apartment, and then you spent every moment acting like some sex-obsessed maniac!”

“So you were testing me?!”

“Yes, I was testing you! To see if you’d be a suitable father for Vi. She had huge hopes about meeting you, and it would’ve become the biggest disappointment of her life if she found out you didn’t give a fuck about her and are only interested in fucking as many women as its possible! So yes, I was protecting my daughter. Our daughter!”

“And after three weeks I still haven’t passed that test?” I asked.

“It’s not some simple yes or no answer. I only have scraps from what you and Sage told me. I still don’t know whether you’d actually be a good father for Vi.”

“You could’ve figured that out if you had come to meet me instead of keeping your distance.”

Gemma groaned, tossing her head back before she started pacing around the room.

“Do you think you’re the only one affected by that ritual?! That fucking thing…” she groaned again.

“Oh, poor you. You got some fuzzy memories from a few hours,” I mocked.

Gemma snorted, staring at me in disbelief before shaking her head, still pacing across the room.

“A few hours?! The ritual lasted almost a week! And… and…” She groaned again without finishing the sentence.

“A week?” I asked.

“Yes, we were having sex for an entire week before you suddenly passed out and didn’t wake up for nineteen years, and I… I was left…” She groaned again, and with another step she took, she simply vanished from the room.

“Gemma?” I asked. “Gemma?!”

I was left alone in the dream world. Normally, I would wake up, but not this time.

“What the fuck, Gemma?!” I shouted again.

But no answer came.

“Fucking bitch…” I muttered when she just left me there in the dream world.

There were no doors or windows in the completely sealed room, and suddenly I realized I was trapped there like her prisoner.

“What the fuck?!” I gasped. “Gemma, let me out of here!”

But no answer came.

For the next few minutes, I was left sitting on the bed, replaying everything in my mind, until Gemma finally stepped back into existence in front of me.

“You just left me here?” I asked, staring at her.

“Don’t panic,” she said, rolling her eyes. “You would’ve woken up normally in the morning, and it would’ve pulled you out of here. I just needed a break.”

“Let me speak,” Gemma said before I could even reply. “Before I traveled to your world, I wasn’t scared of anything. I was, and still am, one of the strongest mages alive, in a position where very little could truly threaten me. And… I had lived a long time too. But then…” she sighed.

“Becoming a mother changed a lot. It created a whole new spectrum of fears and worries. Ones I was left alone with. But that’s only part of it. The ritual put you into hibernation, but you weren’t the only one affected by it. It had its… effects on me too, and…”

She moved to sit beside me on the bed, resting her elbows on her knees and curling up slightly as she stared at the ground in front of us.

“I’m scared,” she muttered.

“About Virelia?”

“That, but also… of you.”

“Me?”

Gemma sighed deeply before looking at me. “You don’t feel it?” she asked.

“Feel what?”

She grimaced and looked away again.

“Nineteen years, and I still don’t have words to properly describe it…” Gemma muttered. “The aphrodisiac we drank to start the ritual worked… well, like an aphrodisiac. It pushed us to desire each other. And… even if it’s nowhere near as strong as it was back then, I still feel the effects of it…”

“So… you desire me?” I asked with a frown. “Then I feel it too. I mean… you’re gorgeous and hot, of course I desire you.”

Gemma sighed and shook her head.

“Can you promise me something?”

“What?” I asked.

“That we’ll meet when I’m ready, and you won’t force it,” Gemma replied.

“Not like I really have a choice in that matter.”

“Tobias…” Gemma said quietly.

“Okay, I promise.”

“You do have a choice,” she murmured. “Because of the ritual, the effects of the aphrodisiac never fully faded for me. I’m not talking about normal physical attraction, but something magical. And… strong. It’s… when I get close to you, my body and mind…”

She paused, struggling to find the words.

“It’s like… I don’t think I could control myself around you. When I was in Ortas buying Mari for you, there was half a city between us, and I was barely able to stop myself from rushing to you and…” She trailed off, sighing deeply instead of finishing the thought.

“I think if you entered the capital and got close enough to me, I would know. And even if I didn’t want to meet you, my body and mind would still seek you out. So yes, you do have a choice. You could just get close enough, and the magic would do the rest.”

“So the aphrodisiac is still affecting you, and you want to have sex with me?” I asked.

“Have sex, but also kiss you, hug you, just… be with you,” Gemma replied. “I thought maybe keeping some distance would help, and while I don’t feel it as strongly anymore, there’s still this constant desire somewhere in my mind to find you.”

“Then you could just do it,” I replied. “I made my interest very clear. You could show up, we’d fuck, and you’d feel better.”

“It’s not only about sex,” Gemma replied. “It’s not like I’ll suck your cock and it’ll suddenly pass. I… I’m worried about what this magic could…” she sighed, thinking for a moment. “I’m scared of how much control this magic could give you over me.”

“Control?” I asked. “Like… a slave bond?”

“Not exactly,” Gemma replied. “A slave bond simply forces someone to obey you. This is more like… ugh…” she groaned, hiding her face in her hands. “That fucking ritual…” she muttered before looking back at me. “Beyond the desire to find you and be close to you, there’s also this fucking urge to make you happy. And I’m scared that all those feelings become stronger the closer I get to you. I’m worried that if we were actually standing next to each other, you could ask me for anything, and I’d do it just to make you happy. Not because I truly wanted to, but because of this fucking magic. It’s like nothing else would matter anymore except you. And that’s fucking terrifying.”

“You swear a lot,” I noted, still trying to process everything she had just told me.

She looked at me and sighed, though a faint smile crossed her face.

“I do it when I’m stressed. And right now I’m very stressed, because I just told you that you could probably turn me into your brainless sex slave.”

“You really think I could?” I asked.

Gemma’s expression immediately darkened as she glared at me.

“Not that I’m planning to,” I added quickly. “At least not constantly.”

Gemma groaned, shaking her head.

“I don’t know,” she said. “I have no fucking idea how strong the effect would become or… how I’d behave once you got close. That’s what’s so fucked up about all of this. I don’t know if I can trust my own body and mind around you.”

“I’m not going to force you into doing anything terrible,” I replied.

“Just spend my days on my knees sucking your cock while you waste my money buying yourself more sex slaves,” Gemma replied dryly.

“I don’t have sex slaves. And-”

“I was exaggerating,” Gemma interrupted. “At least I hope I was. But nineteen years of waiting for you to wake up gave me a lot of time to think.”

“And the effect doesn’t work here?” I asked.

“No,” Gemma replied. “We’re still far away from each other, and being here together doesn’t make those feelings stronger.”

“So… theoretically, I could come to the capital, find where you live, and you wouldn’t be able to resist me?” I asked.

Gemma grimaced, but nodded.

“Well… if it makes you feel any better, I probably wouldn’t be able to resist you either,” I replied.

“It’s different,” Gemma said, rolling her eyes.

For a moment, I remained silent, thinking through everything she had told me before speaking again. “I’m still not happy that you hid our daughter from me. And that I missed her entire life.”

“I would’ve preferred you didn’t fall into that coma either, but it is what it is,” Gemma replied. “And does three weeks really change that much?”

“It’s only three weeks because Virelia found me, not because you told me.”

“That girl…” Gemma muttered. “I was going to tell you soon.”

“She’s your first child, right?”

“Yeah.”

“And you decided to have one with me? Some random guy from another world? And you told me before that you weren’t thinking about kids.”

“Well… I wasn’t thinking about them for most of my life, but I did start thinking about it a few years before I met you. And besides, I was a lesbian before the ritual.”

“Wait, what?”

Gemma shrugged. “I wasn’t interested in guys. But I was considering sacrificing one night, just so I could become a mother. Then there was the whole ritual, and the aphrodisiac that would actually make me enjoy it… And then there’s also the whole thing with mana.”

“What thing?” I asked.

Gemma sighed before replying, “It’s only a theory, but Zelda thinks your children might have mana even if they’re male. There was a chance that if I had a son with you, he’d have mana. That… doesn’t sound great when you say it out loud, but it made you the best possible candidate to have a child with.”

“But instead a girl was born with a sex mage class.”

“Yeah… But Vi has an exceptionally large amount of mana, which, according to Zelda, suggests your sons would have mana too.”

“How much does she have?”

“Twenty-six hundred,” Gemma replied.

“That’s almost three times more than I had at the start.”

“And if her class lets her increase it the way yours does…” Gemma trailed off. “She would already be an incredibly powerful mage if her class hadn’t been blocked for eighteen years.”

“Doesn’t she have other classes?” I asked.

“She has a Mage class, just like you, but her entire class system was blocked. With that much mana, though, it's only a matter of time before she gains more classes.”

We both fell silent as I thought over everything I had learned, and everything Gemma had been hiding from me. At least she had reasons that made sense. Assuming everything she told me this time was actually true.

“So… are you not a lesbian anymore?” I asked.

Gemma sighed deeply before replying, “It’s complicated. I’m still not attracted to guys… except one,” she added, gesturing toward me.

I frowned, realizing that the magic ritual must have really messed with her mind to actually change her sexuality.

“Tobias,” Gemma said, waiting for me to look at her before continuing, “If you hurt Virelia in any way, you’ll regret it. I might not be able to hurt you, but Sage can do very bad things to you.”

“I’m not going to hurt my daughter,” I replied.

Gemma nodded before speaking again. “I know you probably have a lot of questions, but I think we should wrap this up for today.”

“Okay.”

“Oh, and tell Vi that the moment she comes back home, she’s grounded,” Gemma added.

“For finding me?”

“She’ll know what it’s for,” Gemma replied.

“Don’t be too hard on her just because she wanted to meet her father. Oh, and by the way, Sage knows,” I said.

“I figured. Otherwise, Vi wouldn’t have found you that quickly.”

We both fell silent again as I waited for her to send me back to sleep, but she just kept staring at me for a long moment.

“Gemma?” I asked.

“Are you mad at me?”

“Do you really care, or is that just because of the magic?”

“That’s a good question,” Gemma replied with a frown.

“I think you should’ve told me earlier, but I’m not mad,” I replied. It wasn’t exactly a lie, but it wasn’t the full truth. I wasn’t mad at her, but I wasn’t okay with her hiding it from me either.

“That’s… good,” Gemma murmured. “I… Goodbye, Tobias,” she added instead of whatever she had originally wanted to say, and this time she finally sent me back to sleep.