"Say, Seraphina… wanna be mine?"

Okay, that… might've sounded wrong or maybe it didn't.

Honestly, at this point, I couldn't even tell what right was supposed to sound like anymore.

My smile widened as if I meant every word, as if I had just confessed something profound.

I mean, the girl in front of me had technically awakened some divine insanity and managed to not die, which, frankly, already placed her above ninety percent of people I had met.

So maybe it would've been poetic to say I had fallen in love at first sight, that her brilliance had reached through the cracks of my weary heart and melted the ice or whatever other romantic nonsense bards liked to sing about.

But nope.

Not even close.

Love wasn't the word. It wasn't even in the same dictionary. What I wanted was much simpler and infinitely more honest, I wanted to use her.

Her power, her connection to that Goddess because in a world that kept throwing me into chaos, a useful piece on the board was worth far more than any sentimental distraction.

And when I said be mine, what I really meant was be my assistant.

I mean, I did have one slot open and instead of waiting around for another glorified animal from the wildlife department to crawl into it, I would rather pick a human and a useful one, at that.

Besides, having a champion of a Goddess as a servant didn't sound like such a bad deal. In fact, it was the smartest move on the table.

It was like… aligning with divinity without actually bowing to it, using the Goddess's faction as a convenient shield against the rest of those self-important gods without ever truly being a part of their little hierarchy.

At least it would keep some useless trouble away.

Honestly, it was the perfect arrangement.

She would get someone to rely on and someone who wouldn't abandon her, well, not unless my own life was on the line, and I would get a reliable and powerful piece on the board.

Fair trade, right?

Now she just had to accept it, preferably without overthinking herself into a corner.

I had actually studied psychology a bit in my previous life and according to every textbook and self-help scam out there, most normal people would think.

They would hesitate and ask for time to decide but Seraphina wasn't most people.

She was… different.

A socially anxious bundle of contradictions with too many insecurities and one glaring issue that defined her more than she realized was,

Abandonment.

That was her wound and the reason why she clung so hard to anyone who stayed, thinking herself as a burden.

And that's exactly why I had phrased my little assistant proposal the way I did and not as some bland, formal offer.

Because words matter and for someone like her… they mattered too much.

"W-what?" She stammered, her face blushed… and her golden eyes trembling more than before.

I could almost see her thoughts stumbling over themselves, the hesitation, the uncertainty and the quiet panic she tried to hide.

So I spoke softly, letting my tone smooth out like I meant every word.

"I want you, Seraphina," I said. "Become my assistant… and I promise, I'll never abandon you."

I was sure that if there was ever a perfect time for my Myth—The one who scammed Hel— to kick in, the one that made my words sound unshakably sincere, this was it.

And really, if fate was going to hand me an ability that made people trust me, the least it could do was activate at moments like this.

"W-what do you m-mean?" She asked, her voice flustered.

That was a valid reason, really. I mean, it wasn't like she even knew what kind of gibberish I was spouting.

I hadn't actually explained what assistant meant, just dropped the word mid-conversation like it was supposed to make perfect sense and then immediately started talking about it as if we had already agreed.

In hindsight… yeah, maybe that wasn't my most transparent approach but come on, clarity's overrated when confidence works just as well.

"It's simple," I said, my tone calm and reassuring. "I have an ability that lets me recruit assistants. I want you to be my new one and in exchange, I promise not to abandon you…well, at least not unless I'm dying."

That little spark of honesty was also completely deliberate. Too-perfect offers always sound suspicious, so I had to sprinkle in just enough realism to make it believable.

"I'll help you grow stronger," I continued, watching her carefully, "and make sure no one ever dares call you a burden again."

The words left my lips like a vow calculated to perfection.

"And… what do I have to do in exchange?" She asked hesitantly.

The fact that she even asked was enough. It meant she was interested and honestly, it was smart of her to ask, surprisingly smart, actually, especially considering the mental minefield she carried around in that fragile head of hers.

For someone tangled up in her own insecurities,

the simple act of questioning me showed… initiative.

A hint of awareness.

Maybe she wasn't as broken as she looked or maybe she was just broken in a way I could use.

"You don't have to do anything complicated," I said, keeping my tone light.

"Just… follow my orders occasionally. And of course, entirely by your own free will. I won't force you into anything, I promise."

A pause just long enough to sound honest.

"There's only one tiny clause," I continued. "You can't harm me and aside from that, there are no other restrictions."

I mean, that's how it worked for the most part. Simple system, really except for one tiny detail… That part about not being able to force orders? Yeah. That was a lie.

I could do that, very much so, if I wanted to. I just never had to do it with Bearlo because his loyalty was high enough to make coercion useless.

Of course, forcing orders required a bit of mana and focus and all that… but honestly, why bother? I was, after all, a firm believer in democracy and in free will as long as the said free will wasn't directed against me.

On paper, there wasn't much use in having an assistant but come on, if you're getting carrots for free, why in the hell would you refuse?

Having an extra card in your pocket is always better than having none. Especially when that card comes blessed by a Goddess.

That was the whole reason I was still wasting my time with her, instead of checking what exactly I had received after that little sob story rerun of the transmigrator's life.

That Skill, the one with all the question marks, the one that dumped a tragic backstory straight into my head like some divine melodrama wasn't useless.

At least, I didn't think it was.

Right before I had woken up to reality, I had seen it, a faint flash of a status window across my vision.

[???? Received]

And then it was gone.

But that was enough.

It meant that whatever that mysterious Skill was, it had given me something.

Something potentially important.

Something I should've been testing right about now.

And yet… Here I was, wasting my valuable and irreplaceable time on a girl who couldn't even make up her mind fast enough.

I could almost feel my patience evaporating with every second she hesitated.

Honestly, I was giving her a far greater privilege than she seemed to realize… my time and still, she was taking so damn long.

—

Seraphina looked at the boy.

His offer sounded simple… almost too simple and yet it felt impossibly heavy. Her thoughts were a mess.

What if he was deceiving her?

What if this was just another trick, another cruel hand reaching out only to let go later?

What if he only wanted to use her?

What if… he was lying?

Each question pressed harder than the last and she couldn't tell anymore if it was her own fear whispering to her or the echo of something divine warning her again.

But through it all, a voice echoed within her.

"Accept it."

It wasn't loud or commanding. It was quiet but it reverberated through her mind.

The voice sounded like her own… and yet vastly different. There was something sharper in it, something steady and sure where she was fragile and unsure.

It was her other self.

And for some reason, that part of her, that confident and unrestrained shadow, wanted her to accept his offer.

She could have asked for more time, to think, to breathe or to understand but something deep within her heart whispered otherwise.

If she hesitated now… she would lose something she might never find again.

She didn't know where that feeling came from, whether it was instinct, fate or another echo of her other self but she knew one thing with absolute certainty:

The chance to reach out and take the boy's hand in front of her wouldn't come again.

So, for the first time in her life, she reached out.

Her hand trembled but she reached anyway, for the only person who had ever extended a hand to her, even if it was out of greed.

Because in her world, known greed was safer than unknown compassion. Because at least greed was honest about what it wanted.

And if something worse came out of this gamble, if trusting him turned out to be another mistake, then so be it.

She could always remind herself that she was supposed to die here anyway.

The only reason she was even alive was because the boy had pulled her out of that small, suffocating part of the cave.

Because without him, she might never have escaped and would have been killed by the orc… and more importantly she might never have received that divine blessing at all.

"I accept," she whispered.

Then she raised her head and met his gaze.

"I am ready to be yours."

—

Author's Note 💫

Before anyone gets ideas, this ain't romance 😂 Neither Rael nor Seraphina are in love here. This is manipulation, survival, and a whole lot of emotional chaos, not hearts and flowers 💀

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