Chapter 651
I am your Shepherd (Requesting Monthly Passes)
…Does this personality of Selene still hold Lily’s past attachment to her mother?
After all, she didn’t experience much motherly love, so it’s normal to subconsciously desire it. And at the same time, motherly love itself is one of the core narratives of the Path of Love…
However…
Eivass in his “Number Fourteen” form subconsciously looked at Lily.
This time, Lily didn’t lose consciousness directly.
Her reactions just became a bit slower—and when Selene raised her hand or spoke, her body would subconsciously move, wanting to raise her hand and open her mouth. But before she could actually perform these actions, she would immediately snap back to her senses and suppress the impulse. As a result, her movements looked like twitches.
It was as if they were telepathically linked twins, but their connection was even closer—either one could control both bodies, with Lily, as the main personality, having slightly higher authority.
Eivass thought of a very fitting analogy: at this moment, Lily and Selene were like drawing a circle with the left hand and a square with the right.
When attention was focused on the left hand, the right hand might stop or deviate from its trajectory; and vice versa. It’s just that Lily’s control was stronger, to the point where it only made the circle less round; whereas when Selene was in control, the other hand essentially stopped moving altogether.
This wasn’t dividing a personality into two parts and assigning them to two bodies—it was creating another body and having two personalities jointly control it!
Their connection hadn’t been completely severed… Eivass finally understood why Selene had said, “The ritual might have failed.”
Perhaps the ritual didn’t fail, but succeeded.
Hengwo in the past used this ritual to ensure the shedding of the old self. And from the perspective of the “new self,” the ritual was successful—Lily’s beastly personality, “Selene” of the Path of Love, had indeed been unsealed and survived. If Selene were to completely abandon Lily, she would be reborn.
And this ritual was invented during the era when the Path of Love was still the Beast Path. However, because the difference between these two paths was not significant, it was difficult to distinguish them.
Simultaneously, Eivass’s Shepherd’s Method was precisely “Beast Taming Techniques”!
The moment Selene was born and lost control, she was successfully tamed by Eivass’s blood. Because of this, she had subconsciously retreated earlier when Eivass reprimanded her.
Originally, the purpose of this ritual was like severing ties and dividing property, ultimately achieving separate living spaces to avoid conflict; now it was like two people jointly controlling two separate living spaces. Although they could live apart, they weren’t truly separated. They could enter the same space at any time.
From the perspective of self-separation, this ritual had definitely failed because it wasn’t a clean break.
But this didn’t seem to be a bad thing.
“… You two should practice well first. Try an experiment to see how far apart you can get while still influencing each other.”
Number Fourteen sighed and looked back into the mirror, transforming back into Eivass.
“Yes, Young Master,” Lily replied softly, looking over, while Selene slumped back down somewhat disappointed, not responding.
“I want to drink Master’s blood,” Selene said loudly, fidgeting restlessly. “I also want to eat Master’s flesh.”
As she spoke, she opened her mouth wide at Eivass and tentatively bit down on his palm.
It was then that Eivass finally felt Selene’s monstrous nature—her teeth were sharp, unlike those of humans, more akin to those of a Child of the Moon, suitable for tearing flesh rather than for a “lamb.”
The structure was completely different from that of a human.
And Selene’s personality was also different from Lily’s—Lily was bound by law and morality, while Selene was untamed and closer to an animal in human form. Her habits were more like those of a Child of the Moon than a human. Even the color of her pupils resembled those of a Child of the Moon.
At first, Eivass didn’t pay much attention, letting Selene bite him.
But soon, he felt a pain in his right hand—Selene had drawn blood and was still shaking her head and tearing at it.
Eivass’s gaze immediately sharpened.
“Selene!” he commanded.
Selene immediately stopped shaking her head, but her sharp, barbed predator’s teeth were still embedded in the palm of Eivass’s hand. Eivass could clearly feel her tongue secretly licking his wound, sucking his blood.
At this moment, Lily said somewhat flustered, “I’m sorry, Young Master! I…”
Selene’s pupils instantly reverted to the round pupils of a human, and she released Eivass’s palm.
“You go back first, Lily,” Eivass said seriously, instructing Lily to return to her own body.
Looking at Selene, whose pupils had returned to those of a sheep but whose demeanor had become obedient, Eivass let out a cold laugh. “So, you know you’ve made a mistake.”
“Master… you smell so good,” Selene whispered.
“Give me your hand,” Eivass said sternly.
He had realized… this failed ritual was originally meant for Lily’s beastly nature to replace her personality. However, she had been forcefully rescued by Eivass’s Shepherd’s Method, but Selene’s personality remained uncontrolled.
For a moment, he considered sealing her away, but he ultimately decided against it.
However, since the Shepherd’s Method held such a fatal attraction for her… why not just tame her like an animal?
Rather than an immature child, Selene was closer to a beast with human knowledge and intellect.
When Selene obediently handed over her hand, Eivass unceremoniously, and with great force, struck her palm three times.
It was a force capable of shattering mortal bones—for a Witch, or potentially a Werewolf like Selene, it should be just right. Any lighter, and it might be mistaken for affection.
Selene cried out in pain and retracted her hand, curling up in the bathtub.
Eivass’s tone remained stern: “If there’s a next time, I’ll hit your face or use a whip on your palms. Do you understand?”
Seeing Selene nod obediently, Eivass’s tone softened somewhat. “What I give you is yours; if I don’t give it to you, you cannot take it… Do you understand? There are no daughters who bite their mothers. If you continue like this, I will sever ties with you.”
“If I don’t offer it voluntarily, the blood isn’t as delicious, right?”
“…It’s also sweet,” Selene interjected timidly. “But indeed… it’s not quite as delicious.”
“See? So if you’re obedient, I’ll give you my blood. You are the beast I tamed, and I am your Shepherd…”
Eivass paused abruptly at this point.
Strange illusions flickered in his eyes—
It was a fragment of memory.
He seemed to have said the same thing somewhere before.
A ferocious Punisher Demon was prostrate before him, lowering its head to kiss his feet.
And he himself, clad in a white robe, holding a wooden staff, with bare, wounded feet, stood in the desert as endless yellow sand howled around him.
“I can give you my flesh and blood, my life. But you must heed my teachings and not act rashly.”
He looked down at the demon, softly admonishing, “You are the beast I tamed, and I am your Shepherd…”
It was a fleeting memory fragment.
Just for an instant, without beginning or end.
…Strange.
Was that a memory of a “Shepherd”?
Eivass remembered seeing a similar scene in the Shepherd’s Secret Manual. However, that book had been destroyed, so he couldn’t re-examine it for confirmation.
He was silent for a moment, deciding to skirt around the topic for now.
So, he continued to instruct, “Also, Lily… you need to get used to controlling both bodies simultaneously. Look after Selene like an older sister. Given Selene’s personality, she might get into trouble at any moment. Your senses are shared, right? So remember to take over her body for her whenever necessary and help her resolve any issues. Normally, you can let her have control of the body first.”
“Selene, do not bully Lily, and obey Lily. If Lily enters your body, do not act impulsively; first see how Lily handles the situation. If Lily is in danger, remember to protect her.”
Eivass assigned tasks to the newly formed sisters.
For some reason, he subconsciously felt that Selene would be stronger than Lily.
However, seeing that neither of them objected, Eivass decided to proceed as is.
After Selene was separated, Lily’s presence was reduced to its historical lowest point… If Eivass wasn’t careful, he might even fail to realize Lily’s existence.
Eivass fell into thought at this moment.
Why… even though Lily consumed his own flesh and blood, did Selene become more like Number Fourteen?
Logically, “Number Fourteen” was merely an avatar, a false mirror image prepared by the Twin for Eivass.
The real Number Fourteen must have died long ago.
…Could it be that he and Number Fourteen had some blood relation?
It wasn’t entirely impossible.
Eivass suddenly recalled his first Ascension Ritual—although he had no memory of his biological mother, Annie Alexander, during that ritual, Eivass had clearly seen the appearance of Annie, as portrayed by Lulu.
Annie had the same hair color as Eivass, not black hair like Number Fourteen.
However, her pupils were precisely the emerald green of Number Fourteen!
Number Fourteen was once the daughter of a viscount in the Hrasal Empire, and Annie hailed from a noble family in the Iris Kingdom. Given the messy and complex relationships of noble bloodlines, there might indeed be some connection…
Or perhaps… Grandfather stuffed some miscellaneous things into his body when he created it?
“In conclusion, it’s good that the ritual didn’t go wrong. At least this way Lily won’t go mad from conflicting paths, and Selene has her own body… all in all, it’s a good thing.”
Probably.
Eivass sighed. “Alright, you two, wash yourselves up first… I’ll wait for you outside.”
Whatever needs to be said, let’s say it after you put on your clothes.
(End of Chapter)
