31

***

"Why do not you get married?" The King once asked his favorite while visiting him in his new home. "An estate like this needs a mistress."

"Why is this?" Taylor grinned. "I live well with my son."

"The Earl's title and dazzling appearance attract many hunters to your person."

"Ha... I am not that amorous, milord, but for a life together, mutual love is important. Ray is not going to leave Arlow for me, and you are the King... that says it all."

"And if I had a lower title, what then?" Eriolan laughed.

"I have no idea. Humans condemn same-sex marriage for reasons I do not understand."

"Because it is unproductive - there are no offspring. It is pointless!"

"Well, not in my case! This is possible with me, we saw it."

"So you are not a human at all. Celestial."

"Then there is no need to match me with ordinary women, milord. I will continue to court you. Your Essence is very pleasing to my spirit and if you allow a deeper relationship, it will bring me much joy."

"Is there someone waiting for you there, in your Abode?" Eriolan asked curiously.

"There are only friends there, no lovers. Actually, I am still very young in the spiritual sense and I did not enter into a heavenly marriage before Eurol. My father was specifically looking for a mate for me, and when I saw a beautiful young man with bottomless eyes on his knees, he, noticing my reaction, did not resist my claims to him."

"You are Ray's second husband, is it so?"

"You can say so. He still has others that he chose for himself. Arlow is not allowed to live in our Realm, so he is considered only a lover in the dense worlds."

"Polyamory! This is hard for me to accept."

"You had affairs with many women. What is the difference? You did not love any of them, you were just pleasing yourself."

"I... did not get attached to the concubines in my heart, I do not know why..."

"There was no attraction or consonance of souls, only beautiful bodies and cute faces. They spoiled you with one word. There are many amazing creatures in heaven, but I spent a long time trying to figure out how to fall in love until I met Eurol. He pierced me with the very feeling that makes me want to live."

"The same thing happened to me. He is like a heavenly gift. I was actually shocked when I saw Ray for the first time. I did not think love at first sight existed. Although I had been waiting for the envoy for many years, I did not imagine that such a relationship would arise between us. My mind was suddenly enveloped in fog, and my heart was beating like crazy. Hands themselves reached out to him..."

"I understand..." Taylor said dreamily. "This is his ability. He is like a weapon for love conquest."

"I would like to ask for advice... How can I communicate with Logos Irmay? What needs to be done for a conversation with Him?"

"Do you want to clear something up? Well... address Him by name, maybe He'll answer."

"I tried, but to no avail... in reality and in dreams... He doesn't hear me?"

Taylor tensed and froze, concentrating.

"Yes, He hears you..."

"Why doesn't He want to communicate?"

"He has reasons not to come into contact with you."

"Did I disappoint him in some way? Because of Rohen?"

"No... He won't tell me. I think He will still... talk to you. Ask more persistently."

The following days Eriolan earnestly prayed to the Logos in the Higher Temple with a request for a conversation, and one night, falling asleep from fatigue on the floor, he heard a warm, velvety voice:

"What do you want to know, Eriolan?"

"Irmay... Is that you? I am sorry I agreed to serve Rohen. I did not know about your existence and that I belonged to you..."

"There is no point in repenting, my son. Nothing can be fixed... his mark is on your heart."

"Am I your son!?" Eriolan screamed.

"Yes... and you are androgynous...

"Like Ray?"

Logos answered after a pause:

"Almost... but his Creator is far superior to me."

"Why... did not I know that you were my Creator? I did not even know your name. So why you keep silence those years?"

"You did not need to know that to not get attached to me. You are my creation, destined for Rohen as a fiancé."

"What!? Fiancé!?"

"We have long-standing friendly relations and he asked to create you in the image of one God."

"It is so simple? Created a soul and made someone live for pleasure?"

"This is not easy at all!" Irmay objected sternly. "The soul still needs to be nurtured, passed through human development in order to be endowed with emotions. This took thousands of years."

"I... was created as goods? In exchange for what?"

"You have to figure it out yourself ..."

"Patronage? He ordered me, did I understand correctly?"

"What bothers you? I am free to dispose of my creations as I please."

"But he already has Ray! Why does he need me now?"

"Eurol accidentally came into his field of vision. The escaped Radiance already lived somewhere and was someone's spouse. There is no information about his past. Rohen took him for himself, but in fact it is not his property. Maybe the real owner will find him and take him back. Who knows? And you were created as he asked, similar to one of my distant relatives. A golden-haired, light-eyed young man with a harmonious, angelic face. This is your intended appearance. Thousands of years ago, I turned myself into a human, entered into a relationship with an earthly woman, separated a part of myself and breathed into the embryo so that you could live, reborn in the flesh, as my descendant. Your subtle body gradually acquired the necessary traits and qualities of character. This is a difficult job, jewelry! You were created as an expensive decoration with a priceless Essence and a precious frame. Now engaged to the Phoenix Rohen, and you have already agreed to be under his wing, that was the agreement. There is no reason to suffer, everything is as it should be. This is your destiny!"

"I can't refuse marriage?"

"No! Otherwise, the army will not protect us and the planet will perish from the invasion of monsters."

Eriolan cried for the rest of the night, suddenly waking up on the floor of the temple. He felt like a purebred puppy, raised to order for a wealthy client. A beautiful body and an angelic appearance, similar to one desired God. He was born a golden- haired handsome man from life to life, becoming more and more graceful and perfect. Apparently at this moment he reached a marketable state so that the customer would be satisfied and take him to his heaven. How humiliating! Fiancé!? And also androgynous! That's where his undisguised femininity comes from! He's also not binary like Ray! What a coincidence!?