When Jace woke up, it was already morning.
He looked absentmindedly at the window that sprayed soft golden light, the bright curtain waving due to a slight wind.
His eyes were empty; they held nothing, as was his expression. His lips were red, and there were tears on them; his neck was riddled with bite marks, and the same went for his chest.
Jace was lying down sideways; Catherine, meanwhile, hugged him deeply from behind, pulling him into herself.
They were both naked and in an intimate position—especially so for Jace.
He had coincidentally met Catherine through Natalie, and she fit the description of what he would need in the future, so he had kind of decided to play her.
But instead, it was him who got played. Not only played, but fu...
Sigh. He regretted it deeply; she had changed sex for him, forever.
He had tried getting away from her the first moment after he woke up, but her arm on his torso and chest kept him locked.
She was awake and enjoying the comfort of his body—his body that currently hurt because of her onslaught from last night.
What he remembered of last night was mostly a blur, but he remembered her; she was relentless and lost in pleasure.
Round after round, until he passed out. All he remembered was pain and...
It didn't matter.
He once again tried to get up, but Catherine's arm stayed firm, pulling him to her.
"Get your hand off me," he said in a firm and slightly spiteful voice.
Then Catherine finally reacted; her arms that were already around him moved and held him.
She flipped his position, making him face her. Before he could take a good look at her face, he was pulled immediately into her tight embrace.
Before he could say or do anything, he heard her voice.
"I've decided to take up your offer of becoming a demigod, and I'll help you with what you need in the future as well," she said with a soft and firm tone.
Both her hands were all over his back, pressing him tightly against her, their bare skin touching intimately in all places.
But Jace felt nothing for her. He would have blushed, but why would he?
Their current intimate position felt slightly repulsive to him.
"I retrieve my offer of making you a demigod. I want nothing to do with you," he said in a cold, flat voice.
"Oh, but you do!" she said excitedly as she flipped him and got on top of him, looking at his face.
Her hair fell down like curtains around him; her eyes looked eager and excited.
Jace showed no emotions, and he didn't even need to control his facial features for it.
Looking and seeing that Jace had no intention of speaking, she spoke. "Didn't you say you needed a demigod at your side in the future? Think about it carefully," she said, persuading him.
His face turned complicated at that. This was true.
Unlike Klein, who has the Gray Fog and the support of the Goddess among many other advantages, Jace... had nothing.
So, as a normal Beyonder from the Seer pathway, becoming a demigod itself was almost impossible for Jace.
But with a demigod at his side, it would be different.
Not for becoming a demigod, but for the process itself; he had so many ideas of things to do as a Marionettist.
But it was almost certain he would die before becoming a Sequence 4 or wait for several years to arrange the ritual.
'Catherine as a Sequence 4 could help me greatly.'
But would it even be sensible of him to make her a demigod before him?
He closed his eyes, thinking about it thoroughly.
Catherine, who was on top of Jace, kept looking at him curiously as he thought.
He opened his eyes; after contemplating many things, he decided to go with it. He looked at Catherine with determination in his eyes.
"Ok," he said.
Catherine seemed relieved at that; she leaned in closer to him to kiss him.
But Jace moved his hand and placed it near her upper chest, near the collarbone, and pushed her back.
"But... our physical relationship ends here," he said sternly as he looked at her.
Catherine backed a little and looked at him. She kept looking at him for a minute or two, but Jace too was firmly looking at her without averting his gaze.
"No," she said finally.
"No?" Jace narrowed his eyebrows. "I don't thi—"
"No," she said firmly as she leaned down, disregarding the resistance of his hand on her chest, and nuzzled her face into his neck deeply, her breasts pressed against his chest.
"You should take responsibility for what you have awakened within me, Liebert," she said with a low voice while kissing his neck.
"As for what I did to you... I'll make it up to you for it. And I also promise that it'll never happen again... not without your consent," she said, completely laying down on him.
——
It was still morning.
There was a slight fog and smoke from chimneys around in the Crimson Lane.
Jace, meanwhile, was walking to his apartment.
As for what happened with Catherine... he accepted it.
Well, not really. He never said "ok" or anything; he just moved the conversation in another direction, so he basically accepted it.
He talked with Catherine for another half an hour about some important things and left.
Jace, of course, wanted to reject, but in reality, there was no point in it; she could always get the formula or location out of him by interrogation.
He was likely secondary in her eyes, so he could only accept.
Other than that, he talked to her about a job.
As he had already quit his previous jobs, he was currently unemployed. So he decided to ask her about it, and she gave it to him.
As it turns out, Catherine worked for MI9 as a freelancer, catching Beyonder criminals and investigating for them, among other things.
She had few Beyonders working for her; Natalie was one of them. So he asked if he could participate in their missions with them, and Catherine agreed.
With this, he could actively participate in Beyonder battles and get stronger while digesting the potion.