Lily's POV:

I am currently being chased by a golden-haired man wearing a black robe, following me exhaustively through the outskirts of my home village.

I am running down a path, heading west towards the edge of town where there should be a clearing ahead. But this man keeps chasing after me no matter how fast or far I run away from him.

"Please leave me alone! I already told you many times, I don't, I won't, and I will never be yours!!!"

"F*cking b*tch, you're still with that attitude!? You already have someone, don't you? Tell me who's your man, and I will beat the f*ck out of him! I'm gonna give you a good time! Come on, b*tch! I know that you want it!"

"Pervert! Pervert! Die! Just die already! Leave me alone!"

The perverted man constantly persisted in me to become his woman. I already refused and ran away from him. 

But yet, he still tails after me until now since then. No, he is a greedy, violent pervert who takes every beautiful woman with him.

That perverted pig is none other than the son of the marquis that rules the region of our village. He's a young man with an imposing physique and a face full of acne, which he tries to hide by applying makeup. The same goes for his clothes; they are tailored in such a way as to make him seem even more impressive and intimidating than usual.

I was on my way to escape the Lord's son this morning and meet with my parents in a remote village using a carriage... I had been planning for some time, but it seems that all of my plans have failed me.

I'm wearing a white magic dress reinforced with strengthening magic to amplify my physical attributes. My dress was tailored specially for my own use to supplement my lack of magic power. 

I've been able to make it work by reinforcing the magical properties in this garment, which has enabled me to gain some extra strength and protection from harm that way.

Even though I have my physical abilities enhanced, I still didn't manage to lose them. I was spotted by the Lord's knights and chased after.

He finally caught me in a dead-end alleyway between two buildings. The man who had been chasing me pulled out his sword as he advanced toward me with an angry look on his face...

"Hyaaan~!!!"

The man suddenly reached and grabbed my arms and forcefully held my body. He then pinned me down on the flat ground and took off his black robe.

The perverted man's face is contorted with rage as he approaches me again... this time grabbing my arm tightly. He growls threateningly. 

He looks at me for several seconds without saying anything or moving away from my position on the floor... He is looking at my body with a disgusting and lascivious gaze with his bloodshot eyes.

"Iyaaaaaa~! Let me go!!! Help!!!"

"Scream all you want! No one will come to help you! Look, do you recognize this?"

The man pulled a familiar ornament out of his pocket. A golden hair comb is hanging in the hands of the man.

"W-What's the meaning of this!? Why do you have my mother's...!? What did you do to my mother!?"

"Hahaha! Don't worry, I didn't do anything yet. Your mother is safe and sound at your home. Just don't resist and enjoy this moment. I won't lay my hands on your family... if you behave like a good girl, that is." 

The man chuckles as he pulls out his sword from the back of my neck to reveal a small red mark where it had been pressed against my skin. 

"You're going to be so much fun..."

My eyes widened in fear when I noticed the blood trickling downwards from beneath my hairline.

"N-No, I don't want to end it like this! I'm finally living a good life, yet, and yet... I can't!!! Husband-sama!!!"

I screamed with tears streaming down my face as I turned around for help, but I immediately stopped short after seeing something happening to the man.

"Shut up, you noisy b*tch! I told y—"

*Zaaaap*

In the next moment, the man suddenly exploded. There were no traces of blood, but the explosion was played out as if blood should have splattered everywhere on the ground. 

The blast itself caused a wave to ripple outward in all directions. 

It knocked me down, threw up dust clouds, and obscured my vision for several seconds until they settled back into place. 

A small, transparent contorting ball suddenly surfaced in the air from where the man blew up.

It seemed like some sort of magical construct made entirely of glassy light. I could see through its surface without breaking a sweat, enough even though it did not appear to look translucent at first glance.

"Ahhhhh, noooo!!"

The small ball slowly and gently draws me into it, engulfing my whole body in a steady succession. 

I feel myself being pulled toward the center of the glowing orb, which seems almost too large to contain inside such a tiny vessel. As I am drawn inward with increasing speed, everything around me is blotted out by darkness...

I lost consciousness for a while...

Afterward, I found myself being pushed out by an unknown great force from a massive opening, directly falling into a black stone-hard surface.

"Ahhhhh, that hurts!"

I squealed from the pain after falling down on firm, rough ground. It was cold as well... with the contact made by my skin... the floor gave me a chilling sensation.

A deep silence enveloped me... so much deeper than any soundless vacuum I had ever experienced. But then there came something else, far more disturbing -- a sense of intense pressure pushing against every inch of my skin.

"!!!"

This place is...

I turned my head to look around the place. A spacious open room is in view.

An enormous dark, lusterless room, populated by a peculiar and dense atmosphere, is occupied by a faint, black figure... There is nothing to see but the standing-out object in the distance a few steps away from me...

My eyesight has improved significantly since entering this place. The walls and ceiling appear to be composed entirely of swirling patterns of shadow. From somewhere beyond them, a dull glow can occasionally be seen.

The aura emanating from the body sitting on the throne is grim and suffocating, just from looking at it. And the hefty, bending ring surrounding its head is like trying to obliterate my presence... 

"W-Who...?"

There was no response. I can't see the figure clearly from my current position. It's as if it doesn't allow me to see it directly.

Even when I move closer, still... I won't be able to make anything out except for the vague outline of what looks like a human silhouette.

I slowly move and walks toward the body sitting on the sinister throne to take a good look.

It appears to be staring straight in front of it, ahead blankly... Completely ignoring both me and the surroundings.

Suddenly, the thing in front of me moved...

「『Stop right there.』」

"Hyaaaaaa~!!!"

I was suddenly alarmed by the voice that came out of the black body and fell on my legs. 

What a bizarre sound...

The voice was so daunting and cold... It mercilessly embraced the disfigured space. The atmosphere became very heavy after the sound was let out.

And then there came a silence. A deep, dark void where nothing existed except the echoing echoes. 

The figure then turned the direction of its head toward me. It's as if the figure is familiarly looking at me...

I took a deep look at the body of the black figure. 

I finally managed to discern the form of the seated individual. It turns its face toward me, revealing itself as a familiar figure. 

Its features are indistinct, barely discernible due to the shadowy background behind us. 

But it's somehow really familiar... that single red eye... those bottomless dark arms...!!! 

I can't be mistaken... that figure... it's absolutely the same, just like back then...! This must mean my memory hasn't gone wrong after all...

It's been so long since I last saw that figure in person, but its eye was still clear as day... 

The happiness suddenly swells up inside me. I started to tremble inside. The joy and bliss began to stimulate the spark in the very bottom of my heart.

I can't believe it... you are watching over me... 

You have no idea how happy this makes me feel right now. The idea of seeing the sight of this figure again brings tears to my eyes... 

I'm barely holding my feelings...

You saved me again. I knew it... I knew that I'll meet you someday!

The paramount delight and joy are taking over my mind. My restrained emotions are about to burst.

To think that I was loved that much... I can't contain my feelings anymore. I might explode because of extreme happiness at any moment.

That noble appearance back then, I will never ever forget it...

 

✩✩✩✩✩

 

My past life was not the greatest nor a desirable one, but what came after it was a life that turned everything into an unforgettable moment. I finally came across the path with my desired love...

I was born and raised in an ordinary, happy family. Or so I thought... 

My parents named me Lily, based on the Goddess of Creation, Lily. I never asked my parents why I was given a name like that. 

Why was I named after the Goddess...? I didn't ask my mother because I have my own interpretation, a false belief. No, it was something that I just wanted to believe.

The immediate thought of appreciation, love, and value for me are the things that came to my mind... and I was very, especially happy...

But the reality was cruel for me...

I was never loved at all... It was all... a fake, an illusion of happiness. 

No matter how much I want it, no matter how much I wish that my heart could feel something other than emptiness and loneliness... I know that it is not possible. The truth is that I have no value as a human being.

My life was all a lie, all a mockery. And I had to live with that fact every single day. 

They are treating me well because I was a tool. They loved me because I am a tool with use... An instrument that should not be damaged. They appreciated my existence because I have a purpose... a mission to fulfill in this world. 

Later after I reached 12 years old, I found that my family was a direct descendant of the Goddess's Vessel Clan.

It is a clan that carries out a ritual. The head of the family is forced to offer their eldest daughter to the Goddess every 500 years...

The Goddess's Vessel Clan has the blood of a pure and perfect human, the blood of the Dark Supreme Being, and it contains a power that only Gods can use. 

That unusable power renders our magic power useless. That is why they have been cursed for generations with an inferiority complex... And because of that, even though we are descendants of the Dark Supreme Being, the reality is that we have no power at all.

It became the reason why the clan was established.

When coming of age, the woman will be called upon by the Goddess. The body's soul will be destroyed, and the Goddess will merge, then adapt to it.

After reaching 15, my parents started to show their true colors. At first, they feigned ignorance of my existence, but slowly, they became unconditionally disgusted.

They started getting violent to me, hurting me every time possible. They would lock me in dark rooms and throw me around like a rag doll for days, leaving me hanging in a straight manner. I always ran out of energy as soon as they were done with me, so there was nothing I could do.

I kept pondering why is this happening to me... did they experience the same? I haven't heard anything from my mother or father about their early life... but if that's what happened to them, it's not surprising.

Or is it just because it was my fate to experience hell...?

I am the only child in my family... and I did my best to grow up normally. But it seems like I can't escape my fate.

It hurts more than ever when I think back on those years when I cried to sleep night after night while thinking how unfair everything is. Why does the world be against me...? It doesn't make sense at all!

I had no one to rely on. I had no one to ask for help... No one was willing to help me escape my fate. Everyone merely sees me as a tool. A thing to be used by others. Even the ones who claim themselves as my friends are mere puppets dancing according to someone else's will.

I once asked for help from my childhood best friend. My best friend set off as a court magician recently, but it hurt me that he gave me a nasty condition. 

A condition for me to sleep with him. I refused him once, but he tried to force himself on me, and fortunately, I escaped the unimaginable situation.

One day, I tried to ask some kind-looking nobles too... But in the end, they confined me for days without food or drink. They are either waiting for compensation for my freedom or to violate me before sending me to the Goddess.

No one came to help me... but I broke free by myself. I fought for my own freedom, alone.

No one actually loved me. Everyone only wants my physical body, not myself. 

If you're wondering what made me do such an impossible task... Well, there weren't that many choices I had since I couldn't run away anymore. I tried escaping several times before, but sometimes, my pursuers caught me.

I hated everyone. 'Why is this happening to me...?' ...That thought was engraved in my heart. 

I cursed everyone. Everyone betrayed me. 

This world is rotten. An unfair, decaying world.

I had nowhere to go. I was being pursued by the world...

After reaching 18... a day before the ritual after I came of age, I was about to be taken by the Goddess's angels. I am finally held captive.

But I knew what was going to happen. I'm not going to die at the hands of the Goddess but at the hands of those angels.

Before my surrender, I went to the Axis Saint Church, a cult where they are against the Goddess, Lily, and worship the Dark Supreme Being instead.

They are neither kind nor bad. They are all about business and their god. As long as you pay the amount, they will give you the necessary service you want.

I went to the Axis Saint Church for fortune-telling, for accurate divination of my future. It cost me 1500 gold, as it is that kind of power. You can effortlessly get your gold back, or probably even more with the information from the divination, so it is priced just like that, generally.

The 1500 gold can give you about twenty-five life cycles of luxury. I earned it through my desperate attempt to seek a future where I can have the choice to live freely.

The contents of the divination are... my only end. 

I fell into despair. My last hope of living suddenly vanished. There was no option for me to live ordinarily. 

An ordinary life where I, a woman, will live and find my true love, marry and have kids, grow up, and die happily sleeping in bed... The only wish... my desire since childhood. However, now that dream had been shattered once.

The content of my future is that... I'm about to be violated until my death by the Goddess's Angels. Then my corpse will be used as a vessel after cleansing. 

My heart hurt so badly that it felt like it would explode at any moment. My chest burned with pain. It felt as if someone were cutting out my heart. The thought of how I'd be defiled through and thoroughly pierced my mind.

I kept thinking about how horrible the future I had... I can't do anything anymore.

No one will save me... should I just give up already? I kept asking myself such thoughts before...

I didn't resist my fate anymore. As the Goddess's angels called me, I lifelessly accepted my fate. 

I hoped that I'll receive a second life... A world where I can finally live my dream. My dream of living happily... I want to see that world someday... But those were my supposedly last wishes...

Until it happened.

In the Goddess' realm, I was wearing a white dress... lying on a gigantic white bed... 

It was the time. I'm about to be violated.

I smiled and closed my eyes. The tears are falling down from my eyes. I was about to lose consciousness...

The angels and The Goddess surrounded my body. The angels then took a step closer and removed their white clothing.

But before the angels even had the chance to start reaching out their hands to me, an unknown dreadful stream of powerful energy flashed right in front of me...

A mysterious black shadow figure is looking at me in the realm from a far distance. The black hand pointing in my direction released an abnormal force and destroyed the Goddess realm like a toy. It looked like the whole world shook. 

A blue light followed, manifested after that. Then, it disappeared.

It was ruthlessly and casually removing the view in my sight. No struggles or resistance was made, and everything was slowly removed, everything I'm seeing without a trace.

The red eye of the figure is sparkling, flickering sharply, and it's as if a demon is looking at me with a strange feeling of comfort. 

Afterward, the head of the figure turned up a bit and seemingly did something. Suddenly, massive openings in the air appeared out of nowhere. The feeling of the horrifying power is drifting out of the crack.

The surroundings changed. A scenery of void, black space is in front of me. I can feel the intense pressure that makes me want to close my eyes even though there's no light.

In that instant, the black scenery is gone, replaced by the familiar view of the same land where I was born.

There was something that changed inside me. Something different. It felt like my entire body was filled with energy. My mind cleared itself of any negative thoughts.

My family... my mother and father are standing in front of me. A moment ago, I was about to lose my life in the hands of those angels, but for some reason, I didn't.

I didn't know what exactly did happen to me... My parents were acting weird. They are not violent anymore. This time, the way they looked at me... it's as if I became a treasure.

Even the Goddess's Vessel Clan is nowhere to be found in history. The Goddess and the angels didn't appear as well... It's as if they didn't exist in the first place.

No, they don't exist anymore... The influence of the Goddess on my fate was nullified. 

My fate was entirely reversed.

Everyone treated me just like how I wanted it to be. People are treating me now ordinarily. 

My name, Lily, was supposed to be based after the Goddess. But this time, the meaning behind my name given by my parents is rebirth and perfection. It was after the Dark Supreme Being.

The Axis Saint Church didn't disappear. It became the main religion and not a cult anymore. 

The Dark Supreme God then eventually became known to the whole world...

But it was weird. The black god was never mentioned in the divination I received... But I don't care anymore...

The name fits the black figure I saw at that time...

But before everything, I went for divination for the last time, and this time I confirmed everything... It showed me a shocking future... A future where the Black God is present.

: "Your destined man doesn't exist, wait, no way... this is an abnormality... A man that doesn't exist will come to existence only for you... and you are the chosen one by this being as his purpose of existence... You will meet your fated one hiding in a guise of a black shadow... I can't see any more than this...! This man... h-he has the power to defy all that exists!? A-And... N-No way... He is watching me...!?"

I immediately understood it. 

I thought I was all alone until now... but I was wrong. Someone was looking after me all this time all along.

The Dark Supreme God... That supreme being was the only one who loved me all this time. 

When that time I was seeking love, no one gave it to me but the Dark God itself... It was the then first time in my life when I truly believed in love.

The Dark God gave me the world I wanted and saved me from my world of suffering. 

The Dark God loved me so much and did everything of this just for my sake!

I felt super happy. I never knew someone was bound to exist just for my sake, my existence... A soul tied to me, a supreme love that exclusively exists for me.

It was then that I promised myself to dedicate my whole life to the Dark God...

My body... my soul... my everything... it all belongs to the Dark God.

 

✩✩✩✩✩

 

I can't help but remember the romantic scene after meeting husband-sama... and he finally summoned me here!

And to meet him in this place... does that mean he will finally take me in as his wife..!? 

That should be it... there's no way he will call me in this place for no reason! He is probably going to marry me right now!!! He probably decided that sooner or later, he had to take me in!

My heart was beating so fast that I thought my chest might pop out of my skin. My entire body was tingling with excitement. 

The man behind that black figure, I can't wait to eat... I mean, meet my beloved man!

Ahhn~♪

How many children are we going to have? What should I name them...? Are twenty children enough...? Or maybe thirty? No, forty... sixty...? Ahh, what if he wants more!? How wonderful it would be~!

I'm not sure if I could handle all those children by myself... But I think they'll look adorable once they grow up. And they will definitely be a handful when they're growing up too.

Will we live happily ever after until the end of our days? Ahnnn~♪

I want to spend forever with you, my beloved husband!

As long as I can spend the rest of my life raising our children and spending time together with you, then anything else is just a bonus to me~.

"..."

O-Oh my, my wildest dreams...~♪

W-Well... anyhow!

I just found myself thinking about how exciting and wonderful our future together would be.

I can't show my shameless side to this beautiful husband of mine. I could use the little acting skills I practiced for this very situation! I came to be keeping this side of mine to become the ideal woman, a graceful and lovely wife!

Fufu~

I kept myself composed and graceful as much as possible without leaking my overflowing feelings.

I once again talked to my husband-sama.

"O-Oh... are you perhaps my fated husband-sama...?"

A-Ah... I almost messed it up!!! I can't hold my excited thoughts!

「『Kneel.』」

Kneel...? W-What happened...? I have been suddenly pulled down on the floor forcefully. I can't move my body at all...

"A-Ah... I-I can't move... why...?"

Is this...! Does he like this kind of stuff!? 

I read some books about umm... A man feels happy from dominating a woman, and the man likes it if the woman is submissive... that's what they said in one of those books. But does this mean my husband-sama actually wanted me as his slave? He should be saying something among the lines, such as, "It has been decided already."

But if that's the case, then...! You don't need to ask me, my husband-sama! I was planning to do it even if you don't ask me to anyway!

「『 The moment you came here means that you only have two options left, it's either cease to exist or to serve under me. What will it be? 』」

Ohhh!!! So he really does like this kind of play! And the way he said it was really cool too! His voice is so lovely! 

Ahhn~♪ 

I will be more than willing to become your slave, your pet, husband-sama! You can use my body as you like!

 "Y-Yes! I will be your thing! Please let me serve under you, husband-sama!"

I can feel that my body is warming up. But I have to hold on until we make it to bed... I also have to keep my calm stance.

Suddenly, I found my body freed from the binding force pulling me to the ground.

「『 You can stop with that oscar-level acting skills already. Show me your true face.』」

"T-True face...?"

Oscar? W-Wait... did he actually find me out!? 

As expected of my husband-sama! He does really know who I am! But I wanted to become a suitable wife for you, so it can't be helped. Please punish me! 

My body was completely taken over by the thought of being used by him. My mind is starting to go blank.

I-I have to keep a hold of myself. 

But if he knows it, then there's no point in trying to hide it anymore. But what does he mean by oscar? I must be really acting poor...

"I don't understand... but I'll do my best to serve you, husband-sama!"

H-He is staring at me so hard... Please stare at my body as you please!

Now that I get to see the figure of husband-sama once again... 

Indeed, his appearance matches perfectly with what was mentioned in the divination. So there's no doubt that the Dark God and he was the same person.

"So it is true... that the man I was fated with is hiding in the guise of a black shadow..."

I can't help but want to know more about what kind of person he is... 

I...

I love him. I love him... I love him...! I LOVE HIM!!! Ahhhn~♪ 

My husband-sama~!

"That's right. The moment you were born... you are already tied to my existence."

He finally said it!!!

"R-Really!?"

I asked as my cheeks flushed red from embarrassment while feeling excited at once. I had been so close to reaching heaven a moment ago that it was hard for me to concentrate on anything else anymore.

O-Oh no... I might lose control of myself!

My heart flutters, and I feel all fuzzy inside. My coquettish side is ringing. I might attack husband-sama right now!

I-I need to relax...

Husband-sama will not run anywhere...

*Exhales*

「『 You there. Let me tell you this, you will absolutely follow my commands. In return, I will grant you any wish you desire. Be it wealth, fame, power, or destruction of your world, I will bestow you them without fail.』」

...

Just now... did he invite me...? Are we starting right away!? He's being really bold! What should I do? Shouldn't I say something before doing the deed?

But I don't see the turtle head...

"U-Um... if you say so, then... husband-sama, I will follow your w-wishes. But u-um... you don't have the thing...?"

「『 Thing...?』」

O-Oh...! Just what was I thinking and saying in front of husband-sama!? I can't get my emotions ahead of my will!

Cleanse! Cleanse...! Purify these wicked thoughts of mine!

"Nevermind!!!"

「『 Stop calling me husband or whatever. It's annoying. You will have to call me Izeno from now on. And you don't have to worry about me, I'm somewhat a monster or something, not a human.』」

My husband's name... is Izeno-sama... How magnificent! Splendid! 

My husband was so cool that he didn't even mind if his wife called him by another man's nickname like 'husband'. He seemed rather pleased with himself as well for having such an excellent sense of self and pride in the first place.

His name was just so breathtaking it made me forget my own. I can feel tears flowing up from my eyes as this thought springs through my mind.

"Izeno-sama... what a noble name...! U-Um oh."

「『 My only wish is for you to accompany me in fulfilling my dream... to become a mysterious protagonist...』」

"Izeno-sama... what is a mysterious protagonist?"

I don't know what it is, but of course! I will follow you by your side forever! After all, we are tied by fate! 

「『 No, forget it. Anyway, I kept calling you without a name for a while now. What's your name?』」

He is, at last, finally proposing to me...

My heart skipped a beat, and my body trembled... it's as if it was going through an earthquake when he said that. 

"M-My name...? It's not that great... b-but I was named after the Goddess in my world. My name is Lily."

Just in case, I don't think that he knew the Goddess's name before... And it would probably sound awkward if I blurt out that I was named after him... But it's my husband we're talking about now... He knew everything about me anyway.

「『 Then Lily, we will have a long... long discussion today.』」

Yes... it won't be just long... it will be forever!

We're bound together with our fates as a pair from the start; he's my beloved partner, and I'm his beloved wife. The only thought that could possibly make me happier would be... if we were allowed to live in happiness for eternity.

I want this feeling of being able to see him every day forever—to never ever lose sight of each other again.

I'll never let anyone or anything get between us, be it fate itself. We won't ever break apart, no matter what happens! 

My life is his responsibility... and so with this, we are officially husband and wife! We shall live happily ever after, both me and Izeno-sama! Just like those stories say...!