PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

In the end, Cecilia intervened before the argument between Claire and Sasha turned for the worst. As for Revna, she never considered herself in a position to compete for her Master’s affection. Under Cecilia’s guidance, the girls opted for a method based on chance.

Ironically, the first to deliver her gift was precisely Revna, who did not even think of competing at first. Under the watchful eyes of everyone present, Revna walked over to Desmond with love flooding her eyes and pulled out a relatively small case. At first glance, the case in Revna’s hands looked like the kind that would contain a piece of jewelry, but the dimensions weren’t correct; it was too big.

Under Desmond’s watchful gaze, Revna held the case out in her hands for her dear Master to take, but not before saying something. “I hope Master understands my intentions.”

Desmond smiled warmly, thinking it was corny or sentimental, but his smile froze as soon as he opened the box. Inside the box lay a long steel chain ending in a hook that fits snugly on Revna’s slave collar harness. The chain was not intended to restrict; its measurements do not match such a purpose, but given the handle on one end, added to its design, and Revna’s flushed cheeks, one could guess the true intent of the item.

The rest of the guests just watched Desmond open a box and stare at its contents as Revna blushed at him, no one really expecting the redhead’s gift to be a blatant sexual proposal and innuendo, one with a rather unique flavor, to say the least.

It would be a lie to say that Desmond wasn’t interested in what Revna was implying, she was simply too sensual, and the game of Master and servant was too attractive. Despite this, Desmond was still in the middle of his birthday party, so he kept his composure, smiling at Revna before closing the box and tucking it inside his robes.

With a smile that only Revna understood, Desmond added. “I can’t wait to use your gift.”

The maelstrom of darkness ever reigning within Revna’s pupils filled with purple hues of lust and obsession as she received the nod from his Master; she couldn’t wait to hand over her body to her dear Master for his enjoyment.

.....

Utterly oblivious to the perversions brewing within both Revna and Desmond, Sasha stepped forward, ready to deliver her gift.

Being the considerate soul that Sasha has always been, she had known for a long time that Desmond’s birthday was coming up, so she spent considerable time focused on crafting her gift. That’s right, Sasha had made Desmond’s gift herself. Since Sasha was a genius alchemist, it would be a damn shame if she didn’t take advantage of such abilities.

With Desmond’s recent taste for alcohol, Sasha focused her efforts on that area. In what can only be considered an absurd waste, she spent a good amount of her reserves of magical and medicinal herbs to distill the best wine. Sasha wouldn’t be satisfied creating just any kind of alcohol; she had her own pride as an alchemist and wouldn’t give her beloved something mediocre.

Sasha approached Desmond with a beautiful glass bottle filled with a delicious-looking amber liquid. Although it might seem that the bottle contained the purest honey in the world, what was inside was the result of a couple of months of Sasha’s work and was anything but ordinary.

Those more sensitive to mana could notice a strong scent coming from the bottle, even when the bottle functioned as a barrier preventing the alcohol scent from seeping out. Desmond didn’t know the exact details behind Sasha’s gift, but he could draw his own conclusions. Given that even in a containment bottle, Sasha’s gift gave off a stronger presence than the best of her potions, it was obvious that the contents were valuable.

Showing a smile as warm as the sun and pure as spring water, Sasha held out her hands, offering the bottle to Desmond. “Since you have acquired a taste for it, I prepared some wine for you. With all my heart, I hope you like it and think of me every time you drink this, but remember, don’t drink too much.”

Desmond wasn’t stupid enough not to realize how much Sasha had probably invested in this little bottle. Stepping forward to take the bottle with one hand, Desmond used the moment to reach out to stroke Sasha’s vermilion hair. “Thank you, Sasha; I’ll remember to drink carefully.”

There was no need for more words. Desmond’s loving gaze and affectionate gesture told Sasha everything she wanted to know, so the alchemist, being intoxicated with love, left with a satisfied smile and a few flames coming out of her hair.

Now that only Claire and Cecilia were left, Desmond waited patiently for one of them to step forward, and to his surprise, Cecilia approached him with a hint of shyness on her face.

As if she was trying to speed things up and not draw so much attention, Cecilia did everything quickly, pinning a white brooch to Desmond’s robes as she resisted her shyness at such close range. Even Desmond was caught off guard when Cecilia displayed such intimate behavior, but it didn’t distract him from the gift he was receiving.

“We haven’t known each other for a long time, but it was you who rescued me when I thought I had lost all hope. You gave me something to believe in and accepted me into your family; I will ever be grateful to you for it. I give you the only thing I have of value; you are free to do with it what you want. I will never take my gift back.”

Even a fool would have noticed something odd about how Cecilia spoke of her gift, that it was just a four-pointed star-shaped brooch, and the strange white metal it was made of was not the reason.

Desmond viewed the brooch with complex emotions; he knew that the item, although made of precious magical metal from Cecilia’s homeland, was not what mattered but its meaning. It was none other than Nana who explained such a custom to Desmond, although back then, it was just a random comment that came up when Desmond asked about the religion and culture of her kingdom.

The small star-shaped brooch had an inscription that corresponded to what Nana described, and it was precisely that inscription that gave the object so much weight and meaning; to be honest, Desmond found it almost too heavy.

To put it simply, Cecilia had given Desmond her faith. No matter what happened between Cecilia and the church, she was still a girl of faith; the only thing she changed was the recipient of her devotion.

To Cecilia, her faith was more valuable than any worldly possession; in a way, it was the only thing of value she had, and with her gesture, she was giving her faith to Desmond. Cecilia even had the audacity and courage to tell Desmond that he could do whatever he wanted with the faith she placed in him because she would never take her gift back.

Since Cecilia had gone so far and her emotions were so sincere, it was beneath Desmond not to do anything about it. In the most heartfelt and calm tone Desmond could muster, he spoke words of conviction. “I never thought I would receive such a heavy and precious gift... Thank you, Cecilia; I will ensure you never regret giving me this gift.”

Cecilia felt something inside her fill with warmth and sweetness, falling victim to Desmond’s charms and sincere words. Cecilia was too inexperienced to know, but at that point, Desmond was completely her type. Desmond’s appearance was never an issue; to begin with, he was handsome and masculine to the point of being unfair to his peers, but Cecilia never felt any attraction due to the bad boy air around Desmond, something she didn’t like.

Without knowing it, both Desmond and Cecilia began to feel attracted to each other, even though, under different circumstances, they would never have been the other person’s type. Desmond learned to filter the maternal air around Cecilia, at the same time that she understood that there was more to Desmond than just a bad boy.

Claire’s sixth sense told her that something was going on between Desmond and Cecilia at the time, but she decided not to intervene. In her heart, Claire would rather not have to share Desmond and be able to give him all of her love without any restrictions, but she was always aware that such a scenario was unlikely.

Claire grew up seeing Desmond’s intimate life, and she eventually understood what kind of man he was. In theory, Claire could just tell Desmond up front that she refused to share him, and Desmond would have listened to her for various reasons. However, Claire never felt comfortable with that idea; she owed Desmond so much. He had done so much for her and sacrificed so much that she did not think it was fair to take advantage of Desmond’s convictions to monopolize his love by force.

Desmond almost stripped away his humanity and happiness to protect her in this cruel world. What right did she have to impose her will on him? Because of this, Claire quite easily accepted Sasha and the girls to come. It also helped a lot that the first girl to join the family was Sasha, who was an adorable girl that Claire quickly befriended.

Currently, Claire’s heart has made a lot of progress in accepting her love life with Desmond as well as the presence of the other girls. To some extent, she liked being around girls who understood her love for Desmond and how great he was. Given that in Claire’s mind, Desmond deserved all the happiness, love, and pleasure in the world, wouldn’t it be easier to give Desmond all of that if she cooperated with such beautiful and virtuous women?

With all of the above, Claire only felt a little conflict as she watched the development between Desmond and Cecilia; it didn’t take long for that discomfort to fade away, leaving only good wishes behind.