[Nightmare]

"Marie. Will you go on a walk with me? Just us." Helix asked with a strange smile.

"Y-Yes!" Marie replied excitedly.

The two walked through the forest on the outskirts of Lexion together.

Helix pointed out the various plants on the ground and their medical, psychoactive, or poisonous features.

Marie pranced around and pointed to things she found interesting.

Helix would smile at her happy expression and look up the query on the plant.

Then they'd chat about it before Marie would hop away again.

"Marie." Helix called out when they were in an open meadow.

"Yes, Helix?" She asked with a passionate gaze.

"I just want to say… I'm thankful that you came back to me." Helix said while flashing her a bright smile.

Marie's eyes went wide, and her face heated up.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"It just… feels like a dream.

You have helped protect me and have certainly saved my life." Helix confessed.

"You're smart, strategic, kind, have strong leadership qualities, and drop-dead gorgeous.

Yet you love me. I'm not sure why, but it makes me happy.

This life we have… it's because of you. Thank you for coming back to me."

Marie blushed, and her face lit up with unbridled happiness.

She pranced over to Helix and stood before him, rocking on the balls of her feet with her hands clasped behind her back.

Helix chuckled and embraced her face.

He then kissed her passionately for five minutes.

"Keep your eyes closed." He whispered.

She complied with an excited expression.

Helix touched his neck and pulled out a silver item from his item storage.

Suddenly Marie felt something tickle around her neck.

"You can open your eyes, now." He whispered with a smile.

When she opened her eyes, she stared at a beautiful necklace with a dazzling yellow pendant.

"H-Helix…." Marie whispered in awe.

"It's cheesy, but I call this necklace the [Love's Protection]." Helix explained.

"If a projectile is moving fast in its direction, it will activate and protect you with a barrier.

It also works on humans and weapons if you are not prepared for the attack."

Marie's eyes went wide with shock.

"It's made with a copied blood pact seal from our Nightmare pact.

I… stuck some information out of the Myriad Record, so it only protects you." He smiled.

"It also has a Circle of Remembrance with a recording of a love vow to you.

Love's Protection is a project I've been working on since I came here.

I want you to be the first to get it since you were my first love."

Marie broke down in tears and gave Helix a passionate hug.

She cried in his arms for five minutes, allowing her emotions to flow.

"I love you, Marie." Helix whispered.

"I love you, too, Helix." She replied with a bright smile.

—

Everyone received Love's Protection.

Each necklace had a different stone and different qualities.

The barriers were different as well.

They represented the fighting style of each of the women.

The group enjoyed lying on the bed together in comfortable silence.

The women looked at their necklaces, and Helix looked toward the ceiling.

"You want to look at earth stars with me?" He asked.

The women's eyes sparkled as they replied [yes]!

Helix chuckled and activated his Nightmare.

The skies filled with stars.

They weren't just [any] stars.

He brought out each of the women's birth constellations so they could see their earth stars and hear a myth about the character.

Each gave him a spirit particle transfusion when it was their turn.

After a period of enjoyable silence, Marie broke the silence with an anxious voice.

"Hey, Helix…." Marie commented nervously.

"Hmmm? What is it?" He asked.

The stars of Marie's constellation glittered against his usually pitch-black eyes.

"I… um. I was just wondering if we treat you as good as Emelia did…." She whispered.

"You treat us so good that I want to—"

Marie felt something soft against her lips.

Helix kissed her before she could finish speaking.

"Helix…. I…." Marie stuttered.

"All of you, hear me out." Helix replied with a smile.

"You're perfect to me and make me happier than you could know."

The women listened to him nervously.

Riley and Charlotte were appalled when Marie brought up Emelia.

So they were concerned about the response.

However, their fears didn't seem warranted.

"I was planning to show you this at some point.

I guess right now is as good of a place as any." He chuckled.

Helix touched his neck, lifted his hand into a warp gate, and took out a Circle of Remembrance.

"That's… is a royal circle…." Riley gasped.

The Circle of Remembrance was a royal purple color and professionally drawn by a master.

Magic circles are traditionally made with chalk and sealed permanently with a spell.

However, the master used Circle Ink, which is extremely expensive and requires a master confident enough to create something on the first try.

"Yes. That's right." Helix smiled.

He put the marble disc with the magic circle in the middle of the three.

The circle glowed brightly, and a white light passed from it.

"It uses a emotion capture modification.

Yet… it's pure white…." Riley gasped.

The spell lights up with a unique color when the circle captures emotions.

Crystal blue is usually a sign of warm emotions, and crimson is a sign it's capturing a death threat.

"What does white—"

When the women heard the voice on the other end, tears instantly welled in the corners of their eyes.

—

"You want to know about Sir Helix?"

"Yes. Sir Helix has intentions of leaving with you.

Therefore, I need to know more about your relationship before permitting it."

—

"Who is that girl—ow!"

"Shhhhhhhh!"

—

"What would you like to know, your majesty?"

"Let's start with a simple question. Do you love Sir Helix romantically?"

"Y-Your—"

"Come now! Let's gossip. He won't get in trouble for your love for him. So be honest!"

"I…."

"He's trying to buy you out of servitude.

So you'll be permitted to love him romantically.

Will you love him then?"

"Y-Your majesty…. Y-Yes. I-I love him."

"So cute. Please continue. When did you start loving him?"

"V-Very early on, your majesty. It only grows as well.

I can't believe how good he treats me, but I'm grateful for it."

"What do you love about him? Not just his kindness, but what are the things you like?"

"I… I like how Sir Helix plays with my hair at night."

"He plays with your hair?"

"Y-Yes. I always try to get Sir Helix ready for the morning, but he t-tickles me and makes me lay down.

Then he plays with my hair to get my mind off of work…."

"That's… cute. I'm sure that's wonderful."

"I think so…."

"What else do you like?"

"He… reads to me sometimes. Sir Helix finds the things I enjoy and reads about them to me. Sometimes he makes stories…."

—

Marie's eyes started sparkling after the revelation.

The other women were mesmerized.

—

"Wow… I'm jealous."

"I-I…"

"Hah. Don't be silly, Emelia. That's a good thing. Will you continue?"

"Yes…. I like how he tricks me into shopping.

He read about flowers to me one night and asked what I thought of them.

He bought me my favorite the next day, and I was so embarrassed."

"Awwwww! Don't turn bright red!"

—

The young women giggled.

All three remembered Emelia's legendary rosy cheeks.

—

"..."

"Please continue."

"Okay…. Sir Helix tricks me all the time.

He asked me if he could use finger polish on me to provide feedback to other women.

Then he gave me a task to keep using the nail polish to provide feedback to him."

"Hoh? Do you not believe him?"

"W-Well, it's not that I don't believe him…. It's just…. None of the women around him use nail polish."

—

Charlotte was rolling around in the grass laughing.

Marie and Riley were chuckling with amazement as well.

The geeky, anti-social, RPG-playing women in their group were not known for their girliness.

—

"Hah. Good point. But do you love it?"

"I-I… Yes. I do. I like it a lot."

"What else?"

"I like… that he notices me. Sir Helix loved the hair clip I wore on the first day, so he had some made specialty for me.

It's like he's always watching me when I look around and he buys things I'm interested in.

He knows my expressions and desires and then watches for them while I'm not looking."

"Yeah. That is pretty amazing."

"I agree."

"I have a question. Have you accepted Sir Helix's tricks as acts of affection, or do you still think they're orders?"

"I-I…. Part of me sees them as acts of kindness. However, I treat them as orders to convince myself to follow them…."

"I see…. Does he pretend to order you every time?"

"No… Two weeks ago, Sir Helix explained that my happiness has [brand value], and I had to be happy to represent him…."

—

The hillside exploded with laughter and teary eyes.

Helix watched the three of them with a warm, pitiful expression.

—

"So I follow that order when in question."

"How cute."

"..."

"Would you accept Sir Helix's feelings if he shared them with you?"

"I…. If Sir Helix asked anything of me, I would accept.

Even if I am no longer his servant, I will still devote my life to him regardless.

I will follow him as long as he permits me."

"Why are you so hesitant?

Is it because Sir Helix tricks you into being happy that you don't accept that he loves you?"

"No… it's just that… there are so many women around him he loves.

It would be a disservice for him to love me when they're around."

—

[A/N: I'm giving two extra chapters for every honest review until review 20. I'll give one extra chapter for every supporter from Nightmare who throws a power stone to NN. ]