NOVPUB
Chapter 166: Cult Fingers (I)
Zayn wasn’t sure what was softer — Celeste’s voice or her chest.
She had taken his hands, placed them gently on her breasts, bit her lips and then made a noise that quite honestly made his brain stutter.
A soft, breathy sound that definitely didn’t belong in polite society. Her lips brushed his ear.
"Even if you don’t remember... I do. Every time you pinned me down, every time you made me scream."
Zayn blinked. "Wait... what?!"
Celeste gave a mischievous little smirk as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "Oh, you weren’t shy before. Not even a little."
He gulped.
The original Zayn had taken the first time of the princess eh?
’Sounds like things the author should have stated after the end!’
Up until now, he hadn’t known that Zayn was this precious to the princess. He had just assumed that this was some background character, an extra that found himself dead within the first month.
But it was clear things were different.
Celeste leaned down and bit his neck lightly, inhaling his scent like someone who hadn’t tasted oxygen in months.
She moaned again, as if just his skin was enough to break her down.
’What kind of imperial princess acts like this?’ Zayn thought inwardly.
She was more yandere than royal.
Zayn flinched when her hand dipped under his shirt.
"You’re supposed to be elegant and demure," he mumbled, trying to control the situation —and failing spectacularly.
"Please," she said, rolling her eyes. "I was raised with swords and scandals, not lace and lies."
Before Zayn could respond with something witty or at least not stupid, a knock landed on the door, firm and direct.
"Zayn." Seren’s voice sounded. "The Guild Master’s downstairs. He brought someone. Tobias asked for you."
Celeste froze, glaring at the door like it had insulted her family name. She let out an annoyed groan and reluctantly got off him.
Zayn exhaled in relief — or disappointment, he wasn’t entirely sure.
"I’ll deal with you later," she said in a tone that sounded dangerously like a promise.
Her shirt was only half on as she turned away. "And you’d better remember it."
Zayn sat up and muttered, "My brain’s going to remember this whether I want it to or not."
He fixed his clothes, splashed some cold water on his face, and finally made his way downstairs.
The second his foot hit the bottom step, the atmosphere shifted.
No more teasing. No more seductive threats. Just a heavy, quiet seriousness hanging over the room.
Tobias stood near the large dining table, arms crossed, a sword leaned casually against the chair beside him.
The Guild Master — grizzled as ever — was drinking from his chipped coffee mug like it was holding more than just caffeine.
And beside them stood a girl.
No, a woman — young, pale, and visibly tense.
Her skin had the pallor of someone who hadn’t seen sunlight in weeks, and her fingers kept twitching, as if she was barely holding herself together.
"Zayn," Tobias said with a short nod.
"Hey," Zayn replied, straightening his posture. "What’s going on?"
"This," the Guild Master began, "is Yua. A spy. One of mine. She’s been inside the Demon’s cult for the past month."
Zayn’s brows rose. "You sent someone in there?"
"She volunteered," the Guild Master said quietly. "Knew the risks. Disappeared into the woods without a trace. We weren’t sure she was still alive until she came back last night."
Yua didn’t speak. She kept her eyes low, body still except for her twitching fingers. She looked like a candle burning on its last drop of wax.
"I didn’t want to involve the Hero," the Guild Master continued. "But Yua insisted you and Tobias both needed to hear what she had to say."
Zayn stepped closer. "What did she see?"
Yua’s shoulders twitched.
Slowly, she turned her back to them and pulled up her shirt, revealing a horrifying sight.
Zayn’s heart skipped.
A mark — burned into her skin.
A brand.
It glowed faintly under the skin, shaped like a crescent moon twisted by thorns.
He had it already on the backs of the members, but there was a difference seeing a person you didn’t know with a brand and someone who was supposed to be your ally with a brand.
Tobias stepped forward immediately. "That’s active," he muttered. "It’s magical. There’s... something threaded into it."
The Guild Master gave a grim nod. "That’s why I didn’t want to delay."
"Don’t speak it’ll be over soon." Tobias said calmly, his hand hovering just over the mark on the young woman’s back.
"Okay, seriously," Zayn muttered, squinting as he leaned forward from his chair, "can we not phrase it like that? ’Don’t speak, it’ll be over soon’? Man, you sound like a villain."
The GUILD master let out a tired sigh, clearly too old for this kind of back-and-forth.
"You two always like this?" he muttered.
"Only when the fate of the continent isn’t immediately in danger," Zayn replied with a smirk, folding his arms.
The woman — pale, anxious, and clearly exhausted — sat still, despite the odd tension in the room.
Now that Zayn looked at her well, She had dark, shoulder-length hair, and her robes were still singed from her journey.
Her skin was a bit fair, too pale to be healthy, but color had begun to return to her face now that she was in safety.
Tobias leaned in, inspecting the mark on her back.
The twisted half-moon shape glowed faintly, and there was a strange, almost serpentine texture to it.
He didn’t touch it just yet.
Instead, he narrowed his eyes and asked, "What did they use to brand you?"
She hesitated, then spoke in a low voice. "It was some kind of... burning seal. Not with fire, but — it slithered like a worm. It was alive."
Tobias nodded grimly. "Thought so."
Zayn raised a brow. "You saying she got worm-tattooed?"
"I’m saying she got cursed," Tobias muttered. "There’s something embedded in this mark. Something that’s still alive."
