"Zirion," called a voice that suddenly startled a man with a chiseled posture, holding onto a pole and observing something that seemed to be moving on the surface of a pond.
Zirion, the man, looked for the source of the voice and found a woman in a white, glowing dress walking toward him and sitting down beside him.
"What do you see? Still observing life on Earth?" she asked. Zirion didn't answer, only took a seat beside the woman and watched. He knew there must be something important she wanted to tell. "You are the only moon god, Zirion."
"I know, Amethyst. What should I do?" he asked. He was reluctant to be reminded that he might have been born into the wrong environment, one filled entirely with women.
"I am giving you an important task. You must do exactly as I say." Zirion nodded, signaling the woman to continue. "Watch over the lives of several groups," she said, then pointed her glowing index finger toward the pond, causing an image shaped like a map to appear on its surface.
"Which ones?" asked Zirion. There were many areas that appeared to be glowing. Usually, she would give orders for the area that looked brightest.
"The dim ones," she replied.
"You must be joking. That's not our territory. They don't worship us."
"That's why. I want you to watch over them because there is something there, and I am giving orders to you only."
"Why me?"
The woman stood up with a smile on her face. "Just do it, Zirion. You'll find out later. Do your best. If chaos ensues, you must calm it down in your own way. Remember, I'll be watching you."
The woman disappeared, leaving Zirion with a furrowed brow, then turned toward the pool, which now showed the area he was supposed to watch over.
A small pack narrowed down to a single family, a single house. Like a camera zooming in on a single person, the image of a girl appeared there. Dirt-covered, unkempt, and... being mistreated by someone.
Zirion sharpened his focus and concentrated on the girl scrubbing the floor with a pale face and beads of sweat on her forehead. He continued to watch until he heard someone calling her name.
"Xavia! Are you fucking deaf?" An object flew toward her, and she couldn't dodge it. Zirion almost jumped out of his seat toward the pool, but he stopped when the girl lifted her face and became clearer in his eyes.
Xavia... so it was her name?
"I told you to get dressed immediately! What are you doing?"
"I-I..." The girl bowed her head, and when she looked up again, there were tears in her eyes. "Please don't sell me, mom. I promise I'll do whatever you tell me to do. Anything. But please let me stay here. I beg you..."
"Wear it now and don't argue, or I'll sell you to the lycan group! Choose!"
The woman left, leaving Xavia sobbing, picking up the dress thrown by her, staring at it as tears streamed down her face uncontrollably.
Xavia slowly removed her clothes. Zirion, who was still watching, quickly closed his eyes, but he didn't want to lose track of her, so he opened his eyes again, and that was when their gazes met.
Seemed to realize someone was watching her, Xavia staring straight at a point with hope expressed within her. However, she quickly looked down again.
"It's impossible for the Moon Goddess to be watching me. She doesn't care about me," she muttered, then continued to remove her clothes and put on the dress she had received from her mother.
How could she accept and calmly meet anyone when what she was wearing now was something that could hardly be called clothing? She knew that the dress was lingerie. But why did her mother ask her to wear such clothes?
"Don't... don't take a single step away from there," said Zirion after watching Xavia for a while. Xavia stopped again and looked back. Her face looked gloomy and she wiped her tears before leaving the room. Zirion clenched his fist when he no longer saw her in the room.
What would happen to that girl?
***
Zirion managed to restrain himself from watching Xavia endure all the injustice. It had only been one day, so it shouldn't have been too difficult for him, but he couldn't close his eyes because he kept thinking about the girl's fate.
He didn't let Xavia go without supervision, so Zirion followed her movements and found her in a room with an unknown man.
There was no need to introduce himself to the man because from the scent that reached him, Zirion knew who they were.
"Damn scoundrel! How much did they pay the girl's mother to make them submit and hand her over to him?" Zirion muttered without blinking. He couldn't lose track of Xavia, though it would be easy for him to find her if she were no longer visible.
Xavia wore a robe to cover the revealing dress she had on—showing clearly the curves of her body here and there. She was too young to dress like that. At nineteen, she should still be enjoying herself: going to nightclubs, drinking alcohol, getting drunk, and spending the night with random men, or anything else, as long as she wasn't being sold and serving scum.
After a thirty-minute journey, Xavia arrived at another room and was asked to sit down and wait for a moment. Zirion was willing to keep watching even though he knew it was late. He should have rested for a while, but no god sleeps. Especially one like him who was carrying out a noble task.
A tall, muscular man approached and, without any preamble, grabbed Xavia into his embrace, kissing her throat with passion, causing Xavia to scream in pain repeatedly.
He didn't care and continued to do more. His hands slipped into the evening gown Xavia was wearing, squeezing her roughly, then heading for the 'main course', but Xavia quickly pushed the man away and ran to the corner of the room.
She didn't like being the center of attention. The man touched her in a public place. Several pairs of eyes continued to watch her.
"Please don't do it, sir," Xavia whimpered, making the man laugh. "Please let me go. My mother must have been wrong. She said I would be a servant for the rogues."
"Shit! You're so naive, Xavia!" Zirion grumbled from where he was standing.
The big man in front of Xavia laughed again. "Do you think this isn't a servant's job? You were sold to serve me. And I'm sorry if it disappoints you that we're not rogues."
Those hazel eyes widened in shock at the big man's answer. She shook her head, still unable to believe that her mother could do all that to her. However, she was too weak. There was nothing she could do but surrender. Serving one person wouldn't hurt her, right? Xavia thought to herself.
"B-but can't we do this in a closed room?" Xavia asked, her throat almost dry. All her strength and energy seemed to have been drained just thinking about what would happen to her after this.
The man laughed again. "That's precisely what makes it special. Let them see, so they can enjoy what I feel. And if I no longer want you, they will be interested in taking you in."
"Bastard!" Zirion clenched his fists tightly and almost slammed them against the pillar. He couldn't act rashly, but why just stand by when he could do more for the girl?
Zirion closed his eyes as the big man vented his lust on Xavia. The girl looked frail, curled up in the corner of the room, trying to avoid the wild gaze of the other men there.
She couldn't bear to do it again. Her core ached, her kneecaps trembling after serving the big man's insatiable lust. She felt as if her life was slipping away. But that was what happened. And if she resisted even a little, she would be beaten and kicked.
Zirion couldn't take it anymore. He climbed to the edge of the pool and was ready to jump in. Saving that girl once wouldn't make him guilty, would it? Besides, Amethyst had already said he had to resolve the conflict in his own way.
So, this was the path he chose, regardless of the risks.