"Fine, I suppose this is fine too."
Lan Ze reluctantly accepted Tiamat's affectionate embrace.
Perhaps because they had been traveling all day, or perhaps because lying against Tiamat's warm chest brought an exceptional sense of peace, Lan Ze soon felt a wave of sleepiness. Tiamat let out a tiny yawn as well, tears welling in the corners of her eyes and revealing a small fang.
She cast one last glance at her child, seemingly worried that he wouldn't be there when she woke up. Then, she wrapped her arm around the back of Lan Ze's head, gently pressing him into her embrace before slowly drifting off to sleep.
Late at night, Ishtar returned to the Temple, treading with cautious footsteps as she entered the room, terrified of disturbing Tiamat.
Upon entering, she laid eyes on a sight she had never witnessed in her entire life.
The Creation Mother Goddess, with her sexy and voluptuous figure, was gently holding Lan Ze in her arms. That affectionate posture was a bit too much for even Ishtar, who thought she had prepared herself, to bear.
She looked at the woman's sleeping face and instinctively swallowed hard.
In all her years, she had never slept alongside the Creation Mother Goddess...
"Sneaking over to the side to rest for a bit should be fine, right?"
Ishtar muttered to herself, then crept over on hands and knees to lie down behind Lan Ze, taking the opportunity to catch a whiff of her mother's scent.
Time slipped silently into the dead of night. The boy in his sleep enjoyed the soft, warm sensation against his cheek, but vaguely felt as though a steel plate was pressing against his back. Groggy with sleep, he opened his eyes.
He glanced back slightly, his eyes snapping wide open. "Ishtar?!"
"Shh... shh!" Ishtar pressed an index finger against her lips, signaling Lan Ze not to speak loudly.
"Why did you sneak in here?" Lan Ze whispered with all his might.
He didn't know if Tiamat would allow anyone else to sleep with her. For Ishtar to barge in so recklessly—if Tiamat discovered her, there was no telling what might happen.
Ishtar stuck out her tongue apologetically, pressed her palms together, and whispered, "I'm sorry, but I wanted to know what it feels like to sleep with Mother, so I..."
"Then why are you sleeping behind me?"
"If I slept right next to Mother and got caught, she might get mad," Ishtar aggrievedly said.
"Aaa..."
At that moment, the woman in her sleep emitted a soft, singing hum, as if she had heard the two whispering.
Lan Ze and Ishtar fell silent simultaneously. This arrogant Goddess of Beauty seemed worried about being discovered by Tiamat; she instinctively pressed close against Lan Ze's back to avoid detection.
At the same time, Tiamat slowly opened her eyes.
Almost the instant Tiamat opened her eyes, Lan Ze shut his.
He let out a faint snore, pretending to be asleep.
However—
"Aaa?"
Tiamat reached out a finger and poked his cheek, making a puzzled sound as if wondering why her child was pretending to be asleep.
Realizing he couldn't fool her, Lan Ze had no choice but to open his eyes.
Tiamat's clear, translucent pupils reflected Lan Ze's face. She gazed at him in utter bewilderment and let out another confused "Aaa" sound.
"Mother, why did you wake up so early?" Lan Ze forced a calm expression, looking at Tiamat with a gentle smile.
"Aaaa (I heard voices just now.)"
Lan Ze could distinctly feel the body of Ishtar hidden behind him give a slight shudder.
"Um... that must have been your imagination?"
As he spoke, Lan Ze instinctively tensed his body, attempting to cover for the currently shivering Ishtar.
However—
Tiamat immediately shook her head slightly, staring straight at Lan Ze. "Aaaa (It wasn't my imagination.)"
As she spoke, she started to sit up from the head of the bed. A baseless sense of panic welled up in Lan Ze's heart, and he grabbed Tiamat, holding her down. "Mother, let's keep sleeping. I'm tired."
Tiamat gently stroked Lan Ze's head, as if saying: Be a good child and don't make a fuss.
Then, her gaze continued to fixate directly on Lan Ze.
Ishtar's heart tightened abruptly.
She could clearly sense that Tiamat wasn't looking at Lan Ze, but rather at her, hiding behind him.
What do I do, what do I do... If Mother finds out I sneaked in the middle of the night to disturb her... I have no idea what terrible things might happen. Ishtar panicked inwardly.
This proud Goddess of Beauty pictured what Tiamat looked like when angry, and her heart grew even more anxious.
She instinctively grabbed Lan Ze's sleeve, hoping her Divine Messenger would do something useful.
Before her Divine Messenger could manage anything useful, however, Tiamat had already sat up from the head of the bed, her gaze fixed entirely on the slender goddess hiding behind Lan Ze.
Tiamat tilted her head. "Aaa?"
Realizing she could no longer play the ostrich burying its head in the sand, Ishtar lifted a hand with a forced, friendly smile and gave a little wave. "Good evening, Mother..."
Then, the aura around Ishtar suddenly shifted. In the next moment, the smiling Ishtar from a second ago vanished.
Ereshkigal, having just taken control of the body, looked around the surroundings in a daze, then blankly raised her head to look at the woman before her.
Ereshkigal froze visibly, staring at Tiamat as she blinked.
"Aaa?" Tiamat blinked as well.
Immediately afterward, Ereshkigal, who had been bewildered for ages, slowly widened her eyes, staring straight at Tiamat.
"Wait, wait?! Mother?!"
She let out an incredulous gasp, crying out in shock.
Then she snapped her head toward Lan Ze at the bedside, looked down at herself, and instinctively covered her chest, her face turning crimson. "Wh-why am I sleeping in the same bed as you?!"
"And why is Mother here? Isn't she—"
After lingering in a daze for several seconds, Lan Ze finally snapped back to reality and said helplessly, "Are you Ereshkigal?"
Ereshkigal nodded, her brain still stuck in a buffering state. "What on earth is going on here?"
She was still completely clueless.
Just a moment ago, she had felt Ishtar's consciousness fade away, and she'd intended to take the opportunity to come up to the surface for some fresh air. But the moment she opened her eyes... she was lying in a bed, sleeping next to her Divine Messenger.
And right beside the Divine Messenger sat a well-proportioned woman with flowing blue-green hair, tilting her head like a cat while emitting a melodic "Aaa" sound from her mouth.
"Well... to put it simply, you've been sold out by Ishtar," Lan Ze said with a subtle expression.
Ereshkigal blinked, wearing a confused expression that screamed, Who am I, where am I, and what am I supposed to be doing right now?
Lan Ze glanced at Tiamat, then leaned over to whisper something in Ereshkigal's ear.
The Goddess of the Underworld, originally still lost in a daze, slowly widened her eyes when she heard the conclusion, staring at Tiamat in disbelief. "Is that idiot a moron?"
Sneaking into "Mother's" room in the middle of the night and actually waking her up, of all things...
Was this really any less than what you'd expect from that idiot goddess?
At that moment, an "Aaa" sound drifted from the room. With a complex expression, Ereshkigal looked up at Tiamat, seeing a gentle smile on the woman's face.
Lan Ze looked at Tiamat with some surprise, then explained, "Mother says she's glad someone isn't afraid of her, so she won't blame you."
Only then did Ereshkigal finally let out a sigh of relief.
Then, noticing Lan Ze's gaze, her face flushed red. "However, unlike that idiot goddess, sleeping together and things like that... at least wait until we become lovers. We can't do that right now..."
As she spoke, she lowered her head, nervously twisting the golden strands of hair at her brow. Her face dyed with a bashful blush, she darted another glance at Tiamat. "Still, sleeping by Mother's side is fine, I suppose..."
"Are you not afraid of her either?" Lan Ze asked.
Ereshkigal cast a strange look at Lan Ze. "Why would I be afraid of Mother?"
The current Tiamat wasn't a beast; she was the Creation Mother Goddess. Among the gods, there were those who feared her, but there were also those who loved her.
And both Ereshkigal and Ishtar were among those who loved her.
Lan Ze immediately turned back to Tiamat and smiled. "See, Mother? I told you nobody is afraid of you."
Tiamat gave an "Aaa" nod, a gentle smile blooming on her face.
Ereshkigal's eyes instantly lit up.
Mother is smiling at me!
The atmosphere wasn't nearly as terrible as imagined; the air in the room was exceptionally warm.
Right then, however, Ereshkigal suddenly felt her control over her body slipping away... It was Ishtar, who had forcefully rendered herself unconscious earlier, waking up again.
"What a shame... If there's a chance next time, I'll come find you again," Ereshkigal said, looking up at Tiamat and Lan Ze. In the next instant, her demeanor underwent a heaven-shaking transformation.
Just then, Tiamat gently stroked Ishtar's head.
"Huh...?" Ishtar was still in a daze. She looked up at Tiamat, staring blankly for a moment before reacting, then closed her eyes and immersed herself in Tiamat's headpats.
Amidst this warm atmosphere, however, Tiamat grabbed the back of Ishtar's collar, as if seizing the fate of her nape.
"Eh?"
Ishtar blinked and looked up. "Mother?"
"During rest time, you cannot approach my child," Tiamat said.
"No... but I'm your child too."
"Not the same," Tiamat shook her head. "Only one child sleeps with me at night."
Whether it was his imagination or not, Lan Ze could clearly feel Ishtar glaring at him with a gaze full of envy, jealousy, and hatred. Then, under Tiamat's watchful eye, she slinked out of the room in defeat.
The next morning.
When Lan Ze woke up from his slumber, Tiamat was already sitting in a chair not far from the bedside, tidying her hair.
The morning sunlight outside was just right. Under a bright blue sky barely dotted with white clouds, sunlight streamed through the window, casting light and shadows that swayed gently on the floor whenever the wind blew.
Lan Ze didn't disturb Tiamat, sitting to the side and waiting for her to finish brushing her hair.
Actually, the original Tiamat wouldn't have cared about such things, but she had watched an anime previously. In the show, the heroine would meticulously doll herself up before going out on a date, and it was said that dates would feel much better when the object of affection saw the girl they liked all dressed up.
Lan Ze didn't know when Tiamat had woken up. The woman was normally notorious for her love of sleep, but she seemed so excited about today's date that she woke up even earlier than he did, sitting off to the side to brush her hair and even fretting over what outfit to wear.
She touched the horns on her head, then let her long, smooth, blue-green hair cascade down naturally. From her profile, one could see her slightly pursed, full, and sexy lips. Her side profile was flawless and pristine, breathtakingly beautiful.
After confirming her hair and dress were properly arranged, she picked up a domed bowler hat from the side. Putting it on, she felt the top to make sure her horns wouldn't poke through.
"Very pretty," Lan Ze commented from the side.
"Aaaaa (It won't be pretty if I take the hat off.)" Tiamat took off the hat and pointed to the horns on her head.
She didn't really like wearing hats, but leaving her horns exposed might frighten the local residents during their date, so she had no choice but to wear one.
"Not at all, it's very distinctive," Lan Ze said with a smile. "Super cute. If my girlfriend is you, I'd be more than happy."
"Ishtar thinks so too, right?" He glanced back at Ishtar, who was peeking from the doorway.
Ishtar was clearly startled, but then nodded with a hesitant "Mm-mm." "Ah... yeah, right! Mother is very pretty!"
Ishtar had been peeking ever since Tiamat woke up. Several times she had wanted to come in and help Tiamat brush her hair, but the tsundere goddess simply couldn't drop her pride, hesitating by the door for half the morning and watching helplessly as Tiamat finished brushing her hair all on her own.
"By the way, where are you two planning to go today?" Ishtar suddenly asked another question.
This was the first time she had ever seen Tiamat take something so seriously, waking up early just to groom her hair and prep her clothes.
"I'm taking Mother out on a date."
Ishtar froze, blinking as a question mark popped up over her head.
"A date...? You and Mother?"
"It means taking Mother out to have fun, eat good food, and look at the scenery," Lan Ze explained.
"No, I know what a date means... I mean, you're actually planning to go on a date with Mother?!" Ishtar marched over to Lan Ze in a few steps, closing in on his face with wide eyes and a look of utter shock.
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