Chapter 898: The Father Of My Child

Ragnora’s entire body went rigid.

Isabelle, seemingly oblivious to the effect her words were having, continued in a dreamy, poetic tone.

"He’s a master in bed. A connoisseur under the sheets. He can make a woman moan and whimper with just a few simple moves. The things he does with his hands, his mouth, his—"

"Isabelle!" Ragnora hissed, her face burning. "You don’t have to say such things! I have no intention of—"

"You saw it yourself last night." Isabelle interrupted, her cheeks flushing slightly. "You did watch me with my husband."

Ragnora’s face somehow turned even more crimson, a deep, bluish red. She remembered the scene vividly.

Cassius’s massive member penetrating Isabelle’s fragile body. The sounds. The movements. The pleasure on both their faces.

"I never used to be like this." Isabelle continued, her voice taking on a nostalgic quality. "In the past, my husband was always the one who came on to me. But ever since he rammed that thing into me over and over, I’ve completely changed! I became the succubus I am now."

She smiled, and there was something almost predatory in it.

"Now, I’m usually the one who craves my husband and his massive—"

"ISABELLE!" Ragnora shouted.

The entire group turned to look at them.

Brenda raised an eyebrow. "What’s wrong, Commander? Is everything alright over there?"

Ragnora’s face was the color of a ripe aubergine.

"N-Nothing! Everything’s fine! Isabelle and I were just...discussing something from the past! There’s no need to be concerned!"

The soldiers exchanged glances but ultimately shrugged and returned to their conversation. Cassius lingered for a moment, a suspicious look on his face, but eventually turned back as well.

Ragnora let out a long breath.

"Isabelle." She said, her voice strained. "I have no intentions of doing anything like that. I only want to experience the wholesome things that couples do. Anything beyond that,.anything involving...taking your husband into bed..." She bit her lip, shaking her head. "That’s not happening! I won’t do such a thing. Especially not to you."

But Isabelle shook her head vehemently.

"Not at all, Commander! Like I said earlier—your happiness is my happiness. If you enjoy what my husband gives you, I’ll probably be the happiest person in the world!"

Ragnora stared at her. "You...You really mean that?"

"With all my heart."

The sincerity in Isabelle’s voice was undeniable. Ragnora felt a strange mixture of gratitude and awkwardness.

Here was a woman who was essentially offering her husband to another woman, encouraging it, even and she seemed completely genuine about it.

’I’ve never met anyone like her.’ Ragnora thought. ’She’s too good for this world.’

What Ragnora didn’t know was that Isabelle had her own motivations, that she kept carefully hidden behind her cheerful smile.

’If darling manages to win the Commander’s heart.’ Isabelle thought. ’He could bring her back to our home! And then I could spend so much more time with Commander Ragnora! Not just as a distant admirer, but as family!’

Her mind raced with possibilities.

’I could bathe with her! I could sleep beside her! I could do her hair, show her around the Holyfield estate, introduce her to everyone...’

She was practically glowing with anticipation.

But Ragnora, unaware of Isabelle’s scheming, was still wrestling with her own conscience.

"I appreciate your leniency, Isabelle." She said quietly. "But I think I’ll keep things below that line. I won’t take it too far."

Isabelle’s face fell with disappointment. She knew from personal experience that once a woman got into bed with Cassius, there was no escaping.

It would have been so much easier if Ragnora just gave in.

But then Ragnora spoke again, her voice barely above a whisper.

"However..."

Isabelle perked up.

"I do think that...maybe...just maybe...tonight..."

"What?" Isabelle leaned closer. "What is it, Commander?"

Ragnora took a deep breath, gathering her courage.

"I might...I might just kiss your husband."

Isabelle’s eyes went wide, then she beamed with delight. "Really?!"

Ragnora nodded nervously. "I was too scared to do it today. But maybe tonight, I might take that step forward. I might give him a kiss." She glanced at Isabelle. "I hope you don’t mind."

Isabelle’s response was immediate.

"Do what you want, Commander." She said softly. Then her expression sharpened with a glint of mischief. "But I will warn you..."

Ragnora swallowed. "Warn me?"

"My husband’s kisses are basically a drug."

Isabelle’s voice was serious now, despite the playful glint in her eyes.

"The moment his lips touch yours, you’ll be transported to a completely different world. You won’t know who you are, where you are, or what’s happening around you. You’ll be completely mesmerized."

Ragnora’s own lips twitched, as if she could already feel the kiss.

"After that kiss." Isabelle continued. "You won’t be able to hold back. You’ll only want more and more. And before you know it..." She giggled. "You’ll end up right back in bed."

Ragnora shook her head firmly. "No. No, that won’t happen."

"We’ll see about that." Isabelle pulled back, her expression serene. "We’ll see if the great Commander Ragnora can resist my husband’s charms. My money is on no!"

Ragnora wanted to argue further, but a small voice in her mind whispered: Can you? Can you really resist him?

She thought about Cassius’s smile. His laugh. The way he looked at her as if she were something precious rather than something to be feared.

She thought about how, even now, her heart raced at the mere thought of him.

’No.’ She admitted to herself. ’I don’t know if I can resist at all.’

But she pushed those thoughts away, building up her mental defenses.

After all, she was a warrior. She could certainly resist the charms of one man.

She was snapped out of her reverie by Isabelle’s sudden, hasty question.

"Commander! Can I ride on your shoulders?"

"What?"

"Your shoulders!" Isabelle’s face was flushed with embarrassment. "I’ve always wondered what it would be like to be as tall as you. Sometimes, when I was younger, I would climb trees to try and see the world from your perspective. But it wasn’t the same."

She looked up at Ragnora with hopeful eyes. "Can I? Please?~"

Ragnora couldn’t help but chuckle. This woman, a future future Supreme Mage was asking to ride on her shoulders like a child!

Instead of answering with words, she simply reached down, grabbed Isabelle by the waist, and lifted her effortlessly onto her shoulders.

Isabelle gasped. "Oh my gods! I’m so tall!"

She looked around in wonder, pointing at various sights in the distance.

"Look! You can see the entire world from up here! There are the miners over there—oh, what are they doing? It looks like they’re playing some kind of game! And over there, I can see people eating breakfast! And there’s a battle going on in the distance—is that normal?"

"And that must be the intelligence building ahead—the one with all the walls around it. My goodness, it’s enormous. It looks like a fortress!"

"It essentially is." Ragnora said, her voice warm with affection.

She felt, in that moment, as though she were carrying a child. A daughter, perhaps. Someone small and precious who trusted her completely.

The thought sent an unexpected pang through her heart.

A daughter. A child of her own.

And the moment she thought it, an image flashed unbidden through her mind: Cassius!

Standing beside her, holding a small, crimson-skinned baby with tufts of white hair and bright blue eyes.

Ragnora nearly tripped over her own feet.

’What are you thinking?!’ She screamed at herself internally. ’That’s another woman’s husband! You cannot—you must not—’

But even as she scolded herself, her mind refused to cooperate.

Because when she tried to imagine the father of this hypothetical child being anyone else, not a single face appeared.

Only Cassius. Always Cassius!

She pressed a hand to her burning face and groaned internally.

"Commander? Are you alright?" Isabelle leaned down, her expression concerned. "Am I too heavy? Should I get down?"

"No, no." Ragnora forced a smile she didn’t feel. "I’m fine, Isabelle. Stay as long as you like. I was just...thinking."

"About what?"

"Nothing important." Ragnora gritted her teeth, silently praying that her treacherous emotions would settle. "Nothing at all."

—

As they journeyed deeper into the central fortress of the Holyfield Mines, the heavy combat patrols gave way to dense, concentric rings of high-level defensive architecture.

Massive, reinforced blast-walls bristling with heavy enchanted ballistas and mana-cannons lined the pathways. Every thirty paces, heavy security checkpoints verified their signatures through complex rune-scanners.

"This is the perimeter of the Intelligence Department." Brenda explained, stepping beside Cassius as they passed through a heavily armored archway. "The mines hold priceless mineral wealth, Sir Cassius, but our most valuable asset in this entire territory...is right here."

She pointed toward a distant, massive structure.

"Without Master Evander and his department, the entire military operation would collapse in a single day." Brenda said with absolute gravity. "They manage everything—troop deployments, weapon allocations, ration distribution, tactical espionage...even who gets assigned to latrine duty."

"They are the brain of the Holyfield Mines. Not even a fly enters this sector without Master Evander’s explicit clearance."

Cassius looked around, genuinely impressed by the sheer scale of the security.

’To think Ragnora’s right-hand man built an operation this tight...’ He mused internally.

Then, a subtle, razor-sharp glint flashed deep within Cassius’s eyes.

’Evander Drakostos...’ Cassius thought, his mind quietly shifting into a competitive, sizing-up gear.

Throughout their late-night intimate session, Ragnora had repeatedly brought up Evander’s name with profound, glowing admiration. She had praised his unmatched intellect, his tireless work ethic, and his unyielding devotion to the brigade.

Every single time his name had left her lips, Cassius had felt a subtle, sharp sting of jealousy in his chest.

A quiet, burning desire to establish his own dominance over this so-called "unmatched genius."

’Let us see what kind of man you truly are, Evander...’