The dragon's harem

Chapter 1205: Staged By A God

As Merlin used her magic to move Alice to a sofa that was in the corner of the room, she looked at Arad, who stood there with a confused face. ”Whatʼs up with her?”

”Youʼve seen the list, right? She is one of the women we picked for the role of queens. The problem is that none of us wives had suggested or brought her name up.” She approached him, ”All others were people that we expected, like Claug and the elvish queens.”

A long smile curled up Merlinʼs lips, ”Alice, on the other hand, she is the one who asked for it. And for a strange reason.” With a flick of her fingers, Merlin created two chairs for them to sit on. Arad couldnʼt sit on any normal chair, so she had to make him a large one, and then went made herself a chair just because she could.

Alice Dagon had come on her own to the castle a day before they even announced the news. She suddenly appeared in front of the gate and sent the castle guards into panic. Alcott even failed to recognize her for a fraction of a second and attack, only to end up being pinned to the wall with a spell.

Alice Dagon didnʼt know that much, and the few people who knew of her existence assumed that she would never leave her castle. When Alcott saw her, he expected her to be an impostor. But he was wrong, and the Archmagus and the high priestess of the goddess of magic had indeed appeared in Aradʼs castle.

It wasnʼt long before Merlin herself flew down to check on what had happened and found her. The two of them then headed to the castle, and she has been living here since then.

Yog, the goddess of magic in informed Alice Dagon about the things going on in the castle and that Aradʼs wives would start looking for more wives for him to spread the influence of power across the lands. Alice was a master of all magics, and divination was one of them. It also helped that Yog holds the gate to the forbidden knowledge.

Alice was guided to the castle by Yog for three reasons. One was her pursuit of magic, which had stagnated for several centuries, but Yog informed her that she could once again grow stronger by observing Arad on his journey.

Alice was also fascinated by Arad from the moment she saw him in Alina, through magic, to his battle with Vlad. He was someone like her, a being who adorned magic and was quite adept at studying it. His raw talent for it was quite captivating, especially how he mixed it with physical might that could even put titans to shame.

The second reason was both personal and linked to Yog. Alice Dagon was a priestess, like all clerics and paladins; she was bound to the oath of chastity. Yog did the same thing she did with her priestess Mary, whom Arad met in her world, and told her that she could lose her virginity to Arad without breaking that oath.

Unlike Mary, who just accepts the fact with a happy face, Alice asked for the details. And what do you think? Yog actually answered, albeit that her answer was terrifying, confusing, and utterly insane.

There were three paths for an oathsworn to commit the act without losing their power. The first one was to have their god do it personally. The second was to lose it before swearing the oath, and the last one was to be done by someone who cannot be chained by the world.

Arad looked at Merlin as she leaned back, ”Youʼre the third one. It explains why hell canʼt chain you down. For whatever reason, the world canʼt impose its rules on you.”

Listening to her, Arad turned to the unconscious Alice and sighed, ”So what about her? What does she think?”

”That I donʼt know. She asked to be a mere concubine. In fact, the first thing she did when I went to greet her was beg me to take her under me. It was quite awkward for me.” She sighed.

”But… now I wanted to see how sheʼll react, and I didnʼt expect her to react this strongly.” Merlin seemed lost in thought for a few moments. ”I think she actually wanted more, but decided to aim for something more modest to increase her chances of getting accepted.”

Arad rubbed his eyebrows, ”From what Isdis showed me… isnʼt she supposed to be a full-on wife?”

”Of course, Yog sent her here.” Merlin looked a bit frustrated. ”As much as I hate to listen to that goddess, Yog usually knows more than we mortals do. Thatʼs why we agreed that if a woman got recommended by a god, weʼll most likely accept it as a wife.” She then cursed under her breath, ”And Iʼve already angered her enough by making the labyrinth… she has leverage on us thanks to that.”

Arad looked at her with a straight face, ”You donʼt have to listen to that halfling. You didnʼt break any of her rules over magic.”

Merlin shook her head, ”It is more complicated than just breaking rules. It is about why those rules were set in place. Yog might be enforcing the rules, but she isnʼt the one to deliver the punishment for breaking them; the world itself will. Going beyond the rules will lead to disaster eventually.”

It was then that Alice started to wake up. She stirred, her eyes slowly opened with a groan, ”What… did happen?” She sat up, looked around, and saw Arad. Immediately, her eyes widened and her lips parted.

Arad lifted his hand and looked at her with a smile. ”I hope youʼre fine.”

Alice froze; she slowly looked down. ”Iʼm sorry.” She mumbled.

Merlin scratched the back of her head, ”Listen, I told you not to mind it. Everything already went out of control.” She then looked at her, ”But, youʼve got time to help Arad if you want.”

Alice blinked a few times, then straightened her face. ”Really? What… I could do?” She looked calm and collected, but Arad could smell her sweating; he could see her hands struggling not to shake. Something was off about her, but he couldnʼt tell what bothered her.

”Then Iʼll explain the situation in the Storm Titan Kingdom for you.” Merlin started going on a lengthy explanation while Arad found himself helping Merida study her scrolls.