A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

Chapter 931 - 930 - The new Aster

The next day, Erik was resting in his dimension’s living room. With chest bared, he leaned back on a sofa, arms spread across the backrest. A satisfied smile on his face. After a week of hard work, he’d created the next step in his evolution as a runesmith, and he was content.Now he was nearly prepared to travel outside the city for a while. Elora was out preparing the city for their absence, and Naeku was spending some time with her father.

Meanwhile, Emma and Astrid—both of whom would not be going with him this time—as well as Alice, were busy with their own things. Astrid and Alice were training with the army officers, as the former would be their de facto leader while Naeku was away.

As for Emma... he actually wasn’t entirely sure. All he knew was that she’d left for Maghradi to ’train his new maid’.

He suspected with some certainty who Emma’s target was, but not exactly what she had in mind...

As for Erik himself, he had nothing to do right now. He’d had a busy few weeks and was happy to have a moment to himself. Or, mostly, anyway. Eira was always with him, and he was also exchanging the occasional message with Emily. Though she’d been away for a little while now, they did stay in near-constant contact.

Yet... they were both looking forward to their reunion—which is why Erik would certainly make Azania his first visit. Only as a mid-stop, however. His plans for Azania still needed a little more time and would hopefully be truly set in motion during his second stop.

These thoughts and more floated through his mind as he relaxed, until he received a message from Nora.

"I hope I’m not disturbing you, Master, but Aster is ready for you," she chimed, her voice ever respectful. "If now is a good time, I can send her over to the palace so she can present herself. I must admit, however, that she’s surprisingly willful, despite her new identity..."

Erik raised an eyebrow, wondering what she meant by that. He became curious and, having nothing else to do right now, told Nora to send Aster over. Immediately after, he sent instructions to Seraphina. His begrudgingly loyal, but power-hungry vampire servant was guarding the entrance to his dimension, as she usually did.

Then, he waited. It wasn’t long before the door to his living room opened behind him, and a pair of soft feet stepped inside. A chirpy, excited voice followed. "Master...?" Though Erik recognised the voice, it was far different from the calmness she’d displayed when he first met her, and also missing the tinge of insanity she’d had by the end.

He looked over his shoulder and immediately cocked a surprised eyebrow. Just past the poor stood Aster. Her face looked the same as before, and her long, dark-blond hair remained styled in two wavy pigtails. That wasn’t the only thing that remained the same, however, as she also continued to wear the blindfold she’d had on before.

Erik smirked, knowing that would have been Nora’s idea. It’s entirely possible that blindfold had remained there for the past seven days, to ensure he was the first thing she’d see after becoming fully his. Exactly how she had arrived from the church to his dimension with that thing on was a mystery.

But that wasn’t the most surprising thing. That dubious honour belonged to the clothes she wore. Once, they’d obviously been the standard servant outfit Elora had designed, but no more.

The shorts were replaced with a thong, barely visible past the knee-high loincloth that belonged to the original outfit. Most of the upper body had disappeared in favour of a single, heavy cleavage halter-top that barely contained her full, heavy breasts. The blue and gold colours remained the same, and Erik’s symbol was still prominently displayed.

A deep chuckle escaped his throat. "I must say... I’m not sure if Elora will appreciate what you’ve done to her outfit design. You might be in for a punishment later."

Aster’s ears immediately honed in on his voice, and she turned her entire body in his direction with a blinding smile. "Hehe, that’s alright, Master!" she chirped, skipping over to him. Her movements caused the skimpy clothing to shift and her body to jiggle satisfyingly.

She moved expertly around the sofa to stop directly in front of him, despite her blindness. She was holding up both hands, palms up, and on top of them was a choker just like the ones he’d seen Nora and Anne wear before. Interestingly, however, there was a moderately thick chain on this one.

"All that matters is looking desirable for you, Master!" she grinned playfully, her body swaying seductively in front of him. "I’ll take any punishment if it means I can look better for you! And so long as you allowed this Elora to punish me..."

Erik smirked, his eyes travelling up and down Aster’s body, possessively admiring his new property. Though his wives were still superior—and obviously every woman’s body had its own parts to appreciate—he had to admit her body was an art form, more beautiful than Nora or Anne.

"What if I don’t want you to show so much skin to others?" he asked, his voice curious and playful.

"Then I’ll cover myself with an illusion that only you can look through!" she answered immediately.

"What if someone breaks the illusion or looks through it, anyway?" Erik continued.

"Then I’ll scratch their eyes out!" she answered, still cheerful and smiling brightly.

Erik chuckled, appreciating her answer. Yet, he shook his head. "Well, fortunately for your future victims, I don’t mind if others admire what they can never have. Just make sure that the top and the thong remain in place. Those places are still only for my eyes."

Her smile brightened even more. "They will, Master!" she promised. Then she extended her hands a little. "W-Will you collar me...?" she asked, her voice suddenly wavering a little. Though Erik couldn’t tell if she was excited or nervous, he might reject her. He suspected both.

Grinning, Erik pushed himself off the couch and took the collar and chain from Aster’s hands. She immediately dropped her hands to fold them behind her back and then lifted her head to expose her neck. Her breath hitched a little.

Erik gently caressed her neck, causing her to shiver. He leaned forward, wrapping the choker around her nape. "Now you belong to me," he growled, locking the clasp. A shuddering moan escaped Aster’s lips in response. She nodded eagerly, unable to find the words to express herself.

Erik looked down. The chain now dangled down in between her barely contained breasts. He grabbed the base of it... and then ripped her blindfold off.