Chapter 35: GO TO HORNY JAIL!
"A SHIP that flies in the sky?"
"Yep," Zoe said, then she continued with her animated story about the mode of transportation that her world had that didn't exist there. "There are different types of airships in my world, but the one I often used to travel is called an airplane. It's a huge ship in the sky that can carry many people inside."
"That sounds impressive."
"You don't look impressed!" she complained to Isaak's stoic face. "I'm trying to brag here, you know?"
"Zoe, what's more impressive to you?" Isaak asked calmly. "The airplane you're talking about or the carriage traveling through space that we're in?"
She clicked her tongue in annoyance. "This is why I hate arguing with smart people."
"Why are you getting angry?" he asked, obviously clueless. "I was being honest when I said I'm impressed. There are ships and trains in our world. But an airplane is yet to be made." He fell silent for a moment before he spoke again. "Should I hire the best engineers in the empire to create the first airplane of this world?"
"You can, but don't ask for my help," she said. "I can describe or even draw what an airplane looks like. But I don't know how you can make it fly."
"That's fine," he said. "We can figure it out later."
"I didn't know that you're interested in businesses like that, Isaak."
"Not really," he confessed casually. "But you said you often travel on a plane. I wanted to build one so you wouldn't miss it that much."
Oh.
Okay, that made her heart flutter.
"You're talking like you're already certain that I'm stuck in this world forever."
He smiled at her, but that smile looked a little sly. "We'll never know," he said with a shrug. "But even if you end up returning to your own world, it's not like having a plane here is bad."
"Ah, you have a point."
"Are you upset that I express my desire for you to stay here in our world?"
"No, I'm not," she said casually. "As you already know, I hate my family. I also don't have anyone or anything that binds me to my previous world. If only I don't feel bad for Marquis Rochester, I wouldn't mind staying in this world to live as Zoanne forever." She let out a deep sigh. "If your stupid half-brother didn't pressure me to marry him, I wouldn't have agreed to marry you."
"Ouch."
"It's not like I'm forcing myself to marry you, and you didn't force me as well," she explained immediately. "I'm just worried about how I'll stay abstinent when someone as hot as you is my husband." She crossed her arms over her chest. "Isaak, we can live under the same roof after we're married. But let's use separate rooms, okay?"
"Why?"
"Because I'm afraid that I might jump your bones!" she said, frustrated. "Did you forget that it's the reason why I rejected your marriage proposal initially?"
He raised an eyebrow at her. "Are you still determined to protect Lady Zoanne's chastity?"
"Of course," she said, even though she knew that staying abstinent when her future husband was handsome, hot, and kind would be difficult. "Zoanne wanted to be a priestess. What if she wanted to keep her body pure? I should at least respect that while I'm borrowing her body."
It was the very reason why she went mental after learning about Empress Veronica's evil plan.
[I will protect this body.]
"Okay," Isaak said casually. "We don't have to consummate our wedding. It's also common in the empire for a married couple to have separate rooms."
"Good," she said, then she turned to the window and stared mindlessly at the starry night sky.
Of course, he would be okay with that kind of arrangement.
After all, the only reason why he wanted to marry her was for the adoption papers.
[I shouldn't be disappointed. This is what I want, anyway. I shouldn't be horny.]
"However."
She immediately turned to Isaak when he spoke. "However…?"
"Let me know if you change your mind," Isaak said, then he gave her a small smile. "I won't hold back then."
"Isaak, you–" she said, then she bit her lower lip when she felt her cheeks turn warm. "You should go to horny jail!"
"If such a jail exists, you would get locked up first before me."
"Excuse me?" she said in disbelief. "Are you saying that I'm horny?"
He smirked sexily, dammit.
"Lady Zoe Kim, who is it that wanted to consummate our contractual marriage?" Isaak asked her, still smiling slyly. "And who is it who keeps saying that she wants to jump my bones?"
She avoided his heated gaze. "Fine, guilty as charged."
"Listen to these kids talk about getting horny in the presence of a holy priest."
She was shocked when she heard an unfamiliar (but sexy-sounding) voice!
When she turned to Isaak, she was surprised to see a man wearing a white and gold robe next to him. But since the ghoul duke looked calm, albeit annoyed, she figured the stranger wasn't a dangerous person.
[Ah, that robe is a priest's robe!]
Then the handsome man with long, lavender-colored hair and deep-blue eyes must be Yosef Geronimo!
[He truly is a god's gift to women...]
"Why did you come here?" Isaak complained while looking at the priest with an annoyed look on his face. "I know the way to your temple."
"What's wrong with coming here to pick you up?" Yosef complained back at Isaak, then he linked his arm with the ghoul duke's. "Hey, did you talk behind my back? I stubbed my toe earlier. I bet it was your fault."
"Oh, I did," Isaak said in a somewhat cheerful voice. "I told Zoe that you have a bad personality."
She smiled warmly while watching Isaak and Yosef's intimate interaction, even though Yosef practically ignored her.
Thankfully, she wasn't that sensitive.
[God, they're both so handsome! To be honest, I won't mind even if the genre of this novel changes and takes the yaoi route instead.]
"'Zoe?'" Yosef asked in an amused voice, then he turned to her and laughed softly. "That sounds like 'zombie' which is the best way to describe you, my lady."
Zoe blinked, confused. "Why am I a zombie, Your Eminence?"
"What do you mean by that, Yosef?" Isaak asked impatiently. "Explain."
"Let's talk over some booze," Yosef said energetically. "I can only hear my god's voice when I'm drunk."
***
[I KNOW that priests are humans, too, but this is the first time I've seen a priest get drunk like there's no tomorrow.]
But Zoe was amazed by the fact that even if Yosef Geronimo's face was already red from having too much booze, his deep-blue eyes remained clear. So she could tell that even though he was acting like a normal drunkard, he must still be sober.
[He's used to doing this.]
Yosef's temple didn't look like a temple at all. It would be more appropriate to call it a mansion. Even the drawing room where the priest brought them was luxurious.
[Look at all the gold in this room.]
"Hey, you're drunk enough," Isaak, sitting beside Yosef on the couch across from her, said. "Spill the beans now. Why did you call Zoe a 'zombie?' She's a living human."
"That's right, Your Eminence," Zoe said. "I'm not a zombie."
"Zoanne, my precious underclassman, is already dead."
She sipped the booze in her glass after hearing what the priest had just said.
[Well, I should have expected this. In the novel, Yosef Geronimo is described to be perceptive. Plus, the god he serves has a loose mouth and would often spout secrets in Yosef's ear.]
Did that god reveal my secret to Yosef just like that?
[What kind of god does he serve again…?]
"Yosef–"
"Zoanne and I attended the same Theology class when we were at the academy," Yosef said, cutting Isaak off. "Back then, I already knew that she won't live long. You see, Lady Zoe, I've been hearing the voice of my god since I was a child."
She turned to Isaak for confirmation.
Thankfully, the ghoul duke realized immediately what she wanted from him. "He's telling the truth, Zoe," he confirmed. "Yosef has a bad personality, but he doesn't lie."
"Aww," Yosef said, then he hugged Isaak's arm and put his head on his shoulder. "I'm touched, Isaak."
The Grand Duke frowned, but he didn't remove the priest from himself. "That wasn't a compliment, punk."
The two's friendship was heartwarming, but that wasn't important at the moment.
"Your Eminence, as you already know, I am not the real owner of this body," she said, making the two men focus their attention on her. "May I know what happened to Zoanne's soul? Is she… still "alive" somewhere?"
Instead of giving her a response, Yosef just removed himself from Isaak and grabbed his glass of booze, and gulped it in one shot.
"Don't worry, Yosef isn't ignoring you," Isaak explained right away. "He's not lying when he said he has to be drunk to hear his god's voice."
"His Eminence said that he has been hearing his god's voice ever since he was a child," she said carefully. "Just how early did he start drinking?"
The ghoul duke let out a sigh. "Twelve," he said. "That bastard is an alcoholic."
"Oh," she said, surprised. "The god His Eminence serves seems to be… lenient."
"The god I serve is the God of Booze," Yosef said after finishing a glass full of beer. "But when he's being fancy, he wants to be called the 'God of Ecstasy.'"
Wow, both sounded wrong.
But she wasn't like she was a morally upright person.
[You do you, Mr. God of Ecstacy.]
"Lady Zoe."
She put the glass on the table and sat properly when she noticed that Yosef looked more somber and serious than earlier. "Yes, Your Eminence?"
"Zoanne's soul no longer exists in this world," Yosef informed her indifferently. She didn't know if she was being sensitive or if it really felt like he was talking to another person now. "She feels sorry that you're stuck in her place, but she wishes to let you know that she's not coming back anymore."
She already expected that, but it still came as a shock to her.
[Then, Zoanne must have really taken her own life before I transmigrated here.]
But… why?
"Lady Zoanne said that she doesn't wish to return here?" Isaak asked Yosef. "Did you talk to her?"
"No– but my god did," the High Priest said, then he turned to her. "Lady Zoe, do you wish to speak with Zoanne?"
Her eyes widened in shock. "I can?"
"My god can give you a few minutes to talk with Zoanne's soul," Yosef explained in a somewhat gentle voice. "Consider it as my wedding gift to my best friend and his lovely bride."
Isaak scoffed, but he didn't refute what Yosef said.
Zoe smiled, knowing that she could trust the person that turned out to be Isaak's best friend. She knew that the two were good friends, but she didn't expect them to be this close. "Then, I humbly accept Your Eminence's wedding gift."
***
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CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
sola_cola
sola_cola The real Lady Zoanne seems to have a tragic story. :'<
***
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