For the second time in her life, Astoria wondered if she had been wrong about Aurora. Maybe the female had sold her out to the other gods

Lord Karan’s grinning face would certainly indicate this fact. And it would also explain what the other good was doing in Aurora’s room.

“Lord Karan and I are childhood friends. No, more importantly, he is not even Lord Karan but someone else stuck inside his body.”

Aurora’s explanation sounded wild and Astoria should not be believing her. But there was no aura of lie or deception around her.

Moreover, Lord Karan’s aura felt clean and came across as shining to her. It was a much bigger tell than Aurora’s assurance. The god had never hidden what he felt about a given situation.

“So, you mean to tell me that you are not Lord Karan. But someone else impersonating him? Then how do you have his aura around you? Is this another one of your tricks?”

Astoria did believe the pair in front of her. But she had to ask just to cover all her bases.

“The body is Lord Karan’s so the magic force it emits belongs to him. But the soul inside of this body belongs to someone else. And I used to know Aurora when she was young.”

Things were beginning to make sense to her now. And it also explained a lot about Lord Karan’s recent behavior.

The eccentric god had always been carefree. But it was only recently that his carefreeness had begun to take an unconscious role.

Sometimes, he lashed out at the smallest of things. It indicated that he was having trouble keeping himself in check.

“I see. What name would you like for me to use? Should I call you by your older name? It would confuse but I can explain that it is a nickname for you.”

As awkward as Astoria felt about calling the man another name, she would do it if it meant that he would keep her and Aurora’s secret.

“There is no need to. I have gotten used to this name and form. This body is much more comfortable than my previous one anyway and I always wanted to live as a guy.”

Astoria tried to understand where the man was coming from but she could not. Gender was not a big norm for gods and goddesses as it was for everyone else. Most gods and goddesses could shift between either gender but preferred a dominant form that they kept.

“I see. So was that all? You will keep our secret?”

Astoria was hurrying the god to make a decision. She needed verbal confirmation of security from the other.

“Yeah, I will keep your secret for now. I want to help Aurora in her time of need and I also do not want to give those old fools any unnecessary advantage.”

Lord Karan’s tone indicated that there was some beef between him and the other council. Astoria had never heard about such a thing before.

“Don’t mind him. It’s something from his previous life he’s carrying over.” Aurora assured.

“Oh, I see. In that case, I will try not to think too deeply about this issue. Though that does explain how the resistance got past the tower defense so many times.”

Karan’s grin was a little maniac when he looked back at the pair.

“I don’t know what you are talking about. I just toss whosoever I want to in the fold and call it a day. The guard candidates do not get a choice in this matter.”

Astoria just shook her head at the plausible denial the man in front of her presented her with.

He was a devilish man who hid behind a carefree exterior. She would not make the mistake of underestimating him again.

“I shall be going now as well. As much as I want to shaft my duties, that old hag will have my head. And for the love of God, do something about the egg’s aura and smell. Anyone who walks in here could tell what you stole.”

The man left with just as much fanfare as she had arrived. But he had presented the pair with useful advice.

“What should we do now?”

Aurora asked. If they believe Karan’s words, then that made the situation much more dangerous for them.

“For now, stay here and spray the room in perfume. I will leave my magic residue behind since it is similar enough to the egg. Make sure to supply your magic to the egg in the meantime to help it hatch.”

As expected of Astoria, she had a few methods ready to try.

By the time the elder goddess left, Aurora’s room positively reeked of strong perfume and other kinds of smells. The magic inside the room was thick and uncomfortable as well.

And hopefully, it would be enough to get them by till they had to leave the tower.

===========================

“You all, leave this place. You are not permitted to be here.”

The guards froze as soon as a powerful presence descended upon them. No one could even lift a finger in the almighty goddess’s presence.

Lady Minerva was a vision of beauty and grace. Her face held an ageless beauty along with a healthy sheen. Her eyes were a captivating shade of blue, the same as her daughter’s.

She was not beautiful in an aesthetic way but in an other-worldly way.

“L-Lady Minerva, allow me to make this report to you.”

The guard fumbled his words when he faced the goddess. Her soul-piercing eyes were too much for a mere mortal to be able to handle.

After all, she was hailed as a half-incubus. That was the source of her magic.

Like all gods and goddesses, her magic was also a counterpart to the lord of the abyss. There were 7 main counterparts to the seven commandments of the abyss.

“You all can leave now. I do not need you any longer.”

Her words were cold and the guards around her shivered. Their weakness disgusted the goddess but she did her best to not sneer at their retreating back.

The goddess inside her would not allow her to show such an undignified side of her character.

She did not need those foolish guards to tell her what happened since she had already picked up the briefing file submitted to her.

It was daring of the resistance to send their soldiers to confront her in broad daylight. But they had underestimated her security breach.

The two people they had captured might not have talked about their origins or their purpose for coming here, but there was no need to ask that of them.

After all, dead people did not talk and those two captives would not survive the night in interrogation.

They were not even aware that their thoughts were not safe inside their mind. An empath was reading their thoughts all the while and making a record.

The secret base looked almost destroyed when Lady Minerva stepped into the room. The debris made it difficult to spot where things were placed but Minerva had sorted this place out enough times to know which thing went where.

However, the more she sorted the things, the more she felt like something was missing.

The dragon egg she had stored in this room no longer laid there. It had been stolen by someone.

But how would dare steal from a goddess?

It could not have been the rebellion since their thoughts did not show that they were after it.

Unless the rebellion had found a way to counter the empaths, there was no way they would have been able to hide this information from her.

And that meant that there was someone else who had entered this room as well. Someone whom even the resistance did not have any knowledge about.

And Lady Minerva had an idea who could have down that.

Although she did not want to put Astoria under suspicion, the younger had been making pretty suspicious moves all this time. She had even been bold enough to bring a cleverly disguised female companion.

Whatever she was cooking, Minerva had turned a blind eye to it. But if she was behind this theft, then it changed things for them.

“Someone, go and get the tower master. We have a few rats to catch.”

Minerva hated the thought of involving the tower master in this situation. She had no love left for that lineage since they had deteriorated every generation.

But she still could not help but hold out the hope for the youngest master of that household.

Quince was a good kid and had a sensible head on his shoulder. He would be a good leader with Clove by his side.

As for his father, he was a necessary evil she had to bear for now. And it was also something he had to know about.

Things needed to change inside the tower and a silent investigation needed to be carried out in the meantime.