I slowly bent on one knee before her and said in a low, soft tone,

"I never saw you as a second choice, Ume.

Yes, I did open up to you because Nymeria left, but it isn't because I'm using you to fill her place. Her sudden disappearance made me realise that I shouldn't hold myself back from how I truly feel, or it might get too late."

I gently held both her hands, still kneeling as I spoke further,

"Every moment I shared with Ume is solely intended to be shared with Ume."

I moved one hand into my pocket, took out a ring embedded with a blue gem in the shape of a cute fox, and declared,

"I wanted to give it to you at a proper place after leaving the mines, but since the things went this way, I don't think I should delay it any further.

Ume Kitsune, "

I put the ring on her finger and continued,

"This is the first time I carved a ring, so it might look a little clumsy, but may you content yourself with it for now. I will provide you a better one later."

"Th-there is no need. It-it looks… really beautiful," Ume murmured, a tear rolling down her cheek.

Before the tear could fall, I immediately rose to my feet and caught it on my index finger, letting it rest on my lips as I said,

"Silly, these tears are too precious to be wasted on someone like me."

"Dummy, you are the only one my eyes could get moist for."

She tightly hugged me in her arms and whispered,

"Thank you for this gift. I really liked it."

Ume's ring in my hand began to glow, and an unexpected notification popped up.

Ding…

"Some of the information about Goddess' Ring of Engagement is revealed.

Description: A Goddess' Ring of Engagement is an extremely rare and epic item gifted by a goddess to her betrothed.

Grade: Epic

Type: Growth type (current rank: A)

Skills:

– Lover's Compass: The ring can guide the Host to the goddess' location, and the goddess can detect the Host's location as well.

More skills – [Locked]

Conditions to unlock new skills and evolve the ring:

1. The goddess must accept the Host as her betrothed. [Completed]

More conditions – [Locked]"

"Does that mean, even after giving me the ring, she didn't accept me as her betrothed from the heart?" I thought inwardly, but decided not to ask her anything.

---

"How long are you going to keep looking at that?" I asked, sitting at the dining table in the castle as the maids set the table and the cooks prepared the meal in the kitchen beside the hall.

"The carving on this ring looks so beautiful, and the material itself looks very rare," Ume said, sitting on the chair beside me, her hand raised in the air and her emerald eyes locked on the ring. "What material is this ring made of?"

"Well, it's not anything rare," I replied, scratching my temple. "I heated the Soul Stone in the blue flame and it turned into a blue-coloured crystal. That crystal is what I used to make this ring."

"Oh, I need to study that blue flame. It seems to be a saturated artifact of ancient times. But that comes later…"

Ume leaned closer to me, her ears twitching in excitement as she asked with an irrepressible smile, "When did you prepare this ring?"

"After I took the Sacrifice's place in the cage, I spent the free time there to make this while thinking about you," I murmured, my face blushing with a rosy hue.

She rose from her chair, sat on my lap, grabbed my face between her hands, and whispered, "Since your right cheek was claimed by Sister Nym, I shall bless your left one."

Before I could comprehend her words, she moved her face closer to me, her hand placed on my eyes to stop me from looking at her flustered visage, and her arousing sweet-blossom scent made my mind go blank as her heavenly lips marked a heart on my cheek with an affectionate kiss.

In the same breath, she parted her lips. I lifted her hand from my eyes and gazed at her adorable face glowing with blushes.

"D-don't look at me!" she blurted, her hands flying to her face as she tried to lift herself from my lap for a run.

I grabbed her by the waist with my right hand, placed her on my lap again, and spoke softly, lifting her hands that hid the endearing beauty behind them. "I'm not a child that you two keep kissing me on the cheeks."

"Wh-what else do you want?" she stammered.

Without saying a word, I touched her lips with my finger and then touched mine, signaling what I wanted.

"Y-you didn't demand this from Sister Nym in the forest," she protested, her face almost fuming with heat.

"Well, she is scary. I can't possibly make a demand like this from her," I chuckled.

"Am I not scary? I'm an actual beast with divinity!" she frowned, her ears twitching, which only made her look more lovable.

"No, you are too cute to be scary," I stated, shrugging my shoulders playfully before continuing, "Now, how long are you going to keep me waiting? My lips are getting dry."

"You are too pushy and mean," Ume hissed in a low tone. "I hate you."

She closed her eyes and locked her hands behind my neck while my hands softly caressed her waist, pulling her even closer.

Her lips slowly parted, her nose brushed past mine, and our breaths began to sync with each other… and just as our lips were about to touch,

Thud…

"Ya goddamn idiot, yer a joke as a God o' Stealth if ya can't even keep yer body straight," Jambavan's groaning voice echoed.

"You were the one who kept leaning your heavy body onto me," Vyaghra's voice followed.

Vyaghra was lying on the floor while Jambavan stood on top of him at the corner of the wall from where the two were peeping inside along with the maids and cooks.

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