Aura of Goddess

Cytherea winced, although it didn't really hurt but she understood the slap just now was really shown to her.

"Get your hands off my head, you bitch," Xavier gave her a knife-sharp stare. He did not want to be treated like a child in front of his senior.

"Your words are outrageous. You want me to curse you into a demon, huh?!" The pain was getting too much. The goddess was on the verge of tears, her eyes glazed over and quickly shook her head as a distraction.

Xavier chuckled to himself, there was no way a real goddess would curse someone into a demon, unless she was a person who recognised herself as one of the gods.

"How long have you been travelling? I've never seen My Brother commit violence and ignorance towards women." Enrique interrupted, eager to join an intolerant conversation.

"You are far-fetched, Senior Enrique Charlton. We are not as close as you think and our journey only began this week."

Cytherea nodded, agreeing with her partner's statement. "That prawn-brained fellow doesn't seem to have any experience in exploration at all." She said that as if she had not witnessed how Xavier protected himself and survived in the wild.

Luckily for the goddess, her partner was completely indifferent to her insults, and the conversation continued. Enrique pointed at Cytherea, then asked.

"So, do all gods use robes and scarves to cover their forms?"

"Of course not. This time it was just a personal matter and I was forced to use this." After saying that, her breathing suddenly became labored. Her chest seemed on the verge of bursting, needing more air. The goddess fingered her chest, twisting and turning as if straightening things back to the way they were.

Her face was paler than before and a bead of sweat ran down her back. Full of doubt and fear, Cytherea ventured to ask.

"Is it safe for me to take off my robe here? None of you are in league with the villagers, are you? I can't take any more of this."

Looking panicked and frightened, Enrique rushed over. "Sure, you're actually free to do anything in this room."

Without returning the favour, her robe was instantly removed and thrown around aimlessly, eventually landing on top of his partner's head.

"Get used to not being rash, you idiot."

Enrique tried to calm him down while swinging his palms up and down.

"You usually look patient and authoritative, My Brother. Has your encounter with her made you a different person?" Enrique muttered softly.

Xavier clucked his mouth, unwilling to hear and heed the advice of his former superiors.

In the next second, for the first time the few strangers in the room witnessed the figure of the Goddess of Beauty. Her blue hair was completely shiny even though it no longer shone like before. They could also feel the sweat running down her neck and hands. The rest of her body was also wet but her clothes were already quite evident.

'How long has she been hiding that sweat? It must be very heavy and sticky.' Some of them thought that.

At first, Cytherea complained about how poor the market leader was, but after seeing the fan in the corner of the room, it was immediately directed entirely at the goddess' body.

"Wow, her aura as a goddess is really dazzling. I thought she was lying," said one of the three women on Enrique's lap.

"Oh my God. Do I, who am full of sins, deserve to see a goddess from Heaven?" The other women were insecure about how graceful and enchanting Cytherea was as the Goddess of Beauty.

Not only them, the market leader also agreed. Even his eyes observed her from toe to head. At that moment, he thought that he would ask her to sleep together if possible.

The little old man looked both happy and moved. He was like a proud father seeing his daughter being praised by many people. But that praise sounded like hypocrisy in her partner's ears.

'At least their meeting began with kindness and welcome. It was my misfortune to meet her in that hut.' Xavier remembered well how his encounter with the goddess had been while his life was much happier than it was now.

"Don't praise me too much, human. After all, perfection itself is something every god must possess." Cytherea puffed out her chest, head slightly raised like a figure expected of the weak and lowly.

The meeting was like a cult and a reunion all in one. They threw questions at each other and it went on for an unknown amount of time.

As an active individual, Enrique did not let silence or awkwardness disperse them. In contrast, Xavier was like an NPC in a video game. He would occasionally break his silence and choose to stay away from them for a while.

As the most sacred figure, Cytherea became the main topic of conversation this time. This was a question for his partner because before their meeting, the goddess said she had always received rejection from countless people.

'But from now on, it seems like she's changed her methods in recruiting any witches or someone who has potential. Nice try, false goddess.'

Xavier was not a wizard, but he was confident in his physical fighting ability, even if his opponent was Enrique himself. But the goddess reckoned his chances of becoming a powerful member were slim. They still had a long way to go and there were still a lot of strong people in the world.

***

Realising he had fallen asleep, Xavier hurriedly opened his eyes, wide-eyed. He regretted not maintaining vigilance when he experienced a little cosiness around them.

Not alone, Enrique was also leaning against the wall next to him.

"You are still the My Brother I know. Sleeping standing up is not something everyone can do."

"Don't bring up the past, Enrique. All the habits from my time in the army have been forgotten and I don't want them to become a habit in my daily life."

"Nonsense. You're still the same person. It's just that your skills are starting to decline because they haven't been honed in a long time. Don't you believe it?" Enrique bullied him a little, but it didn't seem to work.

"I'm trying to avoid any trouble, at least for now. Then, you have your own reasons for being the market leader here. What about your duties?"

Enrique chuckled softly. "Well, at first the Brigadier didn't like my recent performance. But his devotees also came to hate for no reason. That trivial matter eventually escalated and they slowly started to ignore me. Very childish, isn't it?"