I'd just lied to an S-Rank sermon in armor.
Now I had five seconds to sell it before the shrine melted — or I did.
"...Meditation?" Lucien repeated.
His voice didn't rise. It lowered — just enough to make it feel like I was being graded.
"On the sins of our ancestors," I said again, slightly louder. "It's a core part of my, uh… spiritual training."
[Lie Registered – Skill: Improvisation Not Found]
[Consider redirecting: Suggest emotional trauma or noble lineage]
Thanks, system.
Lucien's gaze slid past me — to the shrine's stone mouth. The veil shimmered faintly behind it. Gold light bled through cracks in the spiritual seal like nervous sweat.
"Odd place to meditate," he said. "This shrine's been sealed since the Echo Crisis. No recorded class syncs."
"Guess the system missed mine," I said, managing a shrug that screamed innocent delinquent instead of secret MILF-bonded anomaly.
He didn't answer immediately. Just stared like he was parsing a bug report made of sweat and suspicion.
I shifted my weight.
Not guilty. Just… systemically misunderstood.
[Note: You are absolutely guilty.]
Thanks again, system. Love the support.
Lucien's aura pressed against mine again, faint but surgical — like he was trying to read my code through smell alone.
I really hoped he couldn't detect MILF climax traces.
[Update: Your soaking in it.]
Where the hell is this coming from systeem?
Then I clenched my jaw and asked. "Something wrong?"
He didn't blink. "Just wondering how an unsanctioned anomaly gained shrine access."
Cool. Great. So the interrogation was starting early.
[Warning: Threadweave Residue Active – Shrine Sync Traceable]
[Matron Echo Fading: Anchor at 28% Stability]
"Your aura," Lucien said. "It's... nonlinear."
I'd heard a lot of things about aura inspection in the capital. That it was polite. Discreet. Performed behind silk curtains and enchanted screens.
Lucien didn't bother with any of that.
His gaze scanned me like a divine MRI with judgment baked in.
I didn't flinch.
Mostly because I wasn't sure which part of me was actually guilty anymore — the guy who soul-synced with a forgotten MILF shrine spirit, or the one who kind of liked it.
I blinked. "You get that often?"
"No."
He took a slow step closer. Not aggressive — but authoritative. Like he knew how to make you confess just by existing near you. Holy charisma. Weaponized.
[Thread Sync Pressure Rising – Recommend: Exit Strategy or Emergency Seduction]
"Not now," I muttered under my breath.
[Clarify: That was not a real suggestion. You absolute moron.]
Good. Even the system knew I was out of my depth.
"You're not listed in any Heroic intake logs," he continued. "And yet your system signature is... unique."
I smiled. "I've always been a bit of a mystery."
[System Note: You are, statistically, the least mysterious player in the capital]
[Also: MILF Aura Residue Detected – Suggest evasive positioning]
I side-stepped left.
Lucien's head tilted. His gaze lingered on the altar behind me, narrowing.
Then the Matron pulsed.
Just once.
Not a full reappearance — but a flicker. A breath. A shadow over the glyph stone.
Lucien saw it.
I lied before he could ask.
"A trick of the light," I said. "The shrine sometimes hums when the wind shifts."
I glanced back toward the altar.
She was gone again.
No shimmer. No whisper. Just a cold ache where warmth had once wrapped around my soul like silk and heat.
The Matron wasn't gone.
She was suffocating.
And I was wasting time playing hide-and-soul-seek with the sermon knight from heaven.
He didn't speak.
He didn't need to.
The silence was louder than any divine proclamation.
Then he stepped back.
Not far.
But enough to say: "I'm not pushing. Yet."
"I'll be watching you, anomaly," he said.
[System Ping: Rival Thread – Escalation Stage I Complete]
[Holy Swordbearer – Lucien Drake – Tracking Enabled]
He turned.
Walked back toward the palace like he'd just finished inspecting a cracked statue. Not broken enough to smash. Not sacred enough to spare.
I exhaled.
Barely.
The shrine trembled behind me.
The Matron wasn't gone. But she was dimming — fast.
"I'll fix it," I whispered. "I'll find the glyphs."
[Quest Reminder – Reforge the Matron's Anchor: Glyphs 0/3 Found]
[System Mood: Unimpressed]
(Also: Stop flirting with danger. MILFs are already enough.)
I glanced toward the garden wall.
Lucien's form vanished through the palace archway, back straight, expression unreadable.
He hadn't pressed harder.
Which meant he was either stupid — or certain I was lying.
Neither option was comforting.
And if he circled back?
I'd need more than sarcasm and shrine musk to stop him.
I'd stalled the hero.
But the system was still leaking.
And the Matron was running out of time.
[SYSTEM LOG – CHAPTER END]
Kaius Vale – Lv. 11
Class:MILF Hunter (SSS-Rank – Forbidden Lineage)
Tree Path:Matronbound → Combat-Bound (Widow's Path)
Titles:
– Keeper of the Forgotten Queen
– Battle-Bound Consort
Base Stats:
STR: 8
END: 6
CHA: 11
WIL: 8
INT: 6
AGI: 6
Quest Updates:
– Reforge the Matron's Anchor – Ongoing (Glyphs Found: 0/3) Shrine instability increasing. Glyph recovery required.
– Keep the Watchers Blind – Escalated
– Prove Your Loyalty to the Crown – Ongoing
Bonded MILFs:
– Sealed Matron – Claimed (100% – Spirit-Consummated)
– Queen Celestia Velmira – Intimate (92%)
– Seraphine Dawnhart – Claimed (100% – Combat-Consummated
– Duchess Talraine – Bond Route Seeded (6%)
Current Skills:
– Fertility Favor (Passive)
– Matriarch's Blessing (Passive)
– Royal Presence Lv.1 (Passive)
– Body Language Mastery Lv.1 (Passive)
– Sanctified Endurance Lv.1 (Passive)
– Spirit Embrace Lv.1 (Passive)
– Soul-Linked Touch Lv.1 (Passive)
– Wombfire Resonance Lv.1 (Passive)
– Widow's Wrath Lv. MAX (Passive)
– MILFflare Slash Lv.1 (Active)– Obsidian Submission Lv.1 (Passive)
Core Traits:
– MILF Affinity Lv.1 (Hidden)
– Divine Anchor (1/3)– Submission Link (Active)
Threadweave Chamber:
– Status: Stable (Monitoring Fusion Conflict)
– Sync Pressure: Moderate
– Shrine Fusion Attempt: Logged
– Rival Thread Interference: Active
System Alerts:
– Shrine Synchronization Unstable – Matron Anchor Conflict Ongoing
– Matron Anchor Instability Logged – Sync Incomplete
– Shrine Sync Trace Logged – Audit Trail Active
– Heroic-Class System Crosslink Detected
– Threat Tag Added: Holy Swordbearer (S-Rank – Audit Class)
– System Personality Drift Detected – Snark Mode: Enabled
Exposure: 54%
Hero encounter increased divine triangulation. Matron echo unstable. Time is running out.