"I wanted to thank you again. What’s your name?"

"Noctis."

Noctis didn’t hide it. They had already give our their names when meeting strangers. It was fine as long as they didn’t say their family name.

"Noctis..."

She uttered his name, even muttering it a few times before her fingers moved to the clasp of her robes.

Noctis’s fingers moved ever so lightly, wondering if she was taking out a concealed weapon.

However, his pupils dilated as he saw her robe fall.

The blue fabric slipped from her shoulders and pooled at her feet, revealing a figure that was both refined and striking. Her body was lithe yet full in all the right places, the curves of her waist and hips flowing naturally, her skin smooth and faintly glistening under the moonlight. There was no deliberate seduction in her posture, only a quiet resolve that made the scene far more intense.

Noctis nearly gulped as he witnessed Thamana Deuce in her full glory. He felt that her tits were even more glorious.

"A hero like you deserves the grandest of rewards for saving us," Thamana Deuce said, her voice steady despite the vulnerability of her state, "But for avenging my father, my mother, my twin elder brothers, and my little brother... I owe you my life."

Her gaze locked onto him, her voice finally cracking.

"Today... I offer you my innocent body and soul."

Noctis’s expression churned.

Because of his upbringing, he turned his head away, trying to respect the woman’s dignity, but he was confused. He had already seen her, right? Should he not see anymore? Should he turn around again? That somehow felt wrong. But he had already seen her buck naked, so what was the harm in seeing her again?

Even as his brows knitted in spiraling confusion, his senses remained sharp. A faint ripple of soul sense spread outward, not toward her, but around him, scanning the surroundings, ensuring no hidden presence crept close under the guise of this strange scenario.

"Why me?" He asked, his tone controlled.

"There’s also my brother Ragna and my sister Styx, who saved you. You could thank Styx. If you want to repay her, you could serve under her for a few years if she accepts. As for Ragna, he..."

Before he could finish, warmth pressed against his back, especially the pair of mounds that nearly made him gasp.

Thamana stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him from behind, her body trembling faintly, though her grip was firm.

"Because I saw you first."

Her voice softened, yet it carried an unshakable certainty.

"And when you used those twin axes to cleave them apart... my heart skipped a beat, and its rage quelled."

Noctis’s breath hitched ever so slightly.

This wasn’t unfamiliar to him. Confessions were not rare for someone like him. He had received three in total, but that was before they knew of his inability to have children, since the chances of him siring children were very low because of possessing a death-attribute and also the racial curse. They didn’t know if the racial curse affected them or not. However, he was open about it, not hiding it, since anyone with a tiny understanding of death energy could deduce it.

Otherwise, people or magical beasts who practiced death energy wouldn’t have gone extinct every few eras.

He wasn’t unfamiliar with confessions, but this...

This raw, desperate sincerity, mixed with grief and gratitude, stripped of all restraint, was something else entirely; everything about this made his jaw tighten.

He could feel the warmth of her skin, the softness pressed against his back, the faint tremor that betrayed the fear she had yet to fully cast away.

For a moment, silence stretched between them.

Then he spoke again, quieter this time.

"You’re mistaking intensity for affection. You just came out of captivity. You lost everything. Anyone who cut down your enemies would look like a savior in your eyes."

He slowly reached back, not to pull her closer, but to gently loosen her grip.

"That feeling isn’t something you should decide your life on."

Thamana Deuce’s hold faltered slightly, but she didn’t let go completely.

"... Even if that’s true," She whispered, "let me make that mistake."

Her fingers tightened again, though not as forcefully as if she were afraid he would flick her arms away.

"For I have nothing left to lose other than myself, which I wish to offer to you."

Noctis fell silent.

The night breeze passed between them, carrying the distant crackle of the campfire where he felt his siblings might be watching and snickering. However, he didn’t feel their presence, and his soul body was kept watch over them.

By the lake, his soul sense remained active, unwavering, even now.

Not because he distrusted her but because that was who he was, a firm older brother who needed to look after his little siblings. And yet, despite that vigilance, there was a flicker of something unfamiliar in his chest and even his lower body.

There was confusion in his sharp eyes as he didn’t know whether to give in to his instincts or follow the family’s recommended way of engaging in a courtship.

He didn’t know if he even wanted to be in a relationship with Thamana.

"I don’t care if you discard me after this, for I only want to reward the man I fell for with my absolute sincerity."

When her soft voice fell again, something snapped.

Noctis turned around and pushed her, falling along with her.

Above the trees, a tiny wolf’s single tail shook with happiness before it took its gaze off and guarded the space while shrouding it.

In the early morning when the sun rose, Noctis finally returned with Thamana Deuce by his side.

Styx and Ragna obviously knew what happened. They managed to guess naturally when they didn’t see Noctis coming back, so when they asked his soul body, it disappeared after saying he was safe. Ragna cursed that Noctis was taken advantage of when their mother came to stop them from leaving.

That was the moment they knew this was the night their elder brother lost his virginity.

Noctis kept his head up, but it was slightly more angled than his usual position, making Styx and Ragna know he was hiding his embarrassment.

They were about to bombard him when Nadia’s voice echoed from the shadows.

"You should take her to Sister Everlight in case her womb gets harmed by your deathly yang essence."

"Hmm, I understand," Noctis said, his expression steely.

Of course, his mother already knew. He guessed the reason why no one disturbed them was because of their mother. He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry since he didn’t know how he should explain this to his father and other mothers, much less his siblings.

"You-" Styx walked to him when she suddenly stopped.

*Clink~* *Clink~*

The sound of bells echoed in the distance. Along the path of the sunrise, a black-robed person, shrouded in death energy, slowly walked toward them.

"This time, I finally caught up without being delayed by the spirit."

He grinned at Noctis, Ragna, and Styx, but when he turned to look up and caught sight of the gigantic beast in the skies, his lips began quivering as tears flooded out from his eyes.

"Ahh... ahhh... what a magnificent deathly wolf beast of the legends..."

He fell to his knees, crying soundlessly as he gazed at Nadia’s Mythical-Tier Deathhowl Revenant Wolf form.