Beast Gacha System: All Mine-Chapter 53: Night and Day

Love was a fickle thing.

Cecilia knew this in her marrow, that falling in love was the most terrifying leap a soul could make.

After everything.

She fell in love once. But that love was manufactured. It began with an attack staged for her political ’yes’. Still, she had forgiven Arzhen for that, for a time. She thought they were mutual victims, two pawns pushed together by colder hands. His distance, his coldness, she had mistaken for a silent protest.

Until everything crashed down all at once.

But now...

Now, there were two men clearly in desperate need of her.

Love was a fickle thing.

But perhaps it was also simpler than the poets and the tragedians claimed. It wasn’t about deserving, or worth, or grand, sweeping gestures. It was an equation of presence.

She wasn’t much. A heartless woman with a borrowed title and a bag of strange tricks. But she was enough. Enough for a Dragon Lord to bind his eternity to. Enough for a Wolf King to reshape his honor for.

So what right did she have to withhold her own heart? What hubris to reject a gift given so completely, simply because she feared its weight?

Being loved was a responsibility as much as it was a privilege. Looking at it from that perspective, Cecilia made a choice.

She accepted that she was loved.

And she accepted that she owned a right to love them back.

The first thing she became aware of was not sight, but sound. A deep, steady rhythm beneath her ear, a living drumbeat. Then, warmth. A solid, comforting heat at her back, and another, broader, rising and falling gently against her cheek.

Cecilia opened her eyes to the grey-gold light of dawn filtering through the chamber’s high windows. She was curled on her side, her head pillowed on the firm, warm expanse of Arkai’s bare chest. His arm was draped over her waist. She was fully clothed in a soft nightgown, the fabric rumpled but intact.

Behind her, pressed along the length of her back, was Oathran. He was fast asleep, his breathing so soft and controlled it was nearly silent. A predator at perfect rest. In contrast, Arkai’s breathing was more present. A low, soothing rumble in his chest, not at all a snore, just... like distant thunder on a summer horizon.

Come to think of it, last night was... well, ’crazy’ felt like an understatement. Her consciousness was simply... checking out.

And yet.

Here she was. Wrapped between them.

A soft smile touched her lips as she closed her eyes again, listening to the dual rhythm of their breaths.

Fuck.

If she ever actually told them she loved them, what would become of her? Two men with three nine inches cocks. One of whom came with a built-in, biological locking mechanism. Well... she did, technically, have three holes...

Fuck.

"System," she whispered into the quiet of her own mind.

DING!

[Good morning, Cecilia!]

The cheerful greeting was immediately followed by a cascade of notifications, scrolling past her mind’s eye.

[Congratulations! You’ve completed daily interaction with Love Interest, Oathran Alicei!]

[Congratulations! You’ve completed daily interaction with Love Interest, Arkai Dawnoro!]

Well, that was one way to put ’survived an erotic hazing ritual’.

[Congratulations! You’ve obtained Hidden Achievement: Double Gentlemanly Devotion!]

[Met specific condition: They respect you so much they won’t touch you without your love!]

A snort escaped her. Gentlemanly. Right.

[Congratulations! You’ve obtained Hidden Achievement: Still Virgin Even With Two!]

[Met specific condition: Have a sexy time with them without going all the way!]

This...

[Congratulations! You’ve obtained Achievement: First 3P Intimacy!]

[Met condition: Have a sexy time with two men for the first time!]

DI-DI-DI-DING!

[Love interests affinities level up!]

[Lv. 1 —> Lv. 12]

[Lv. 9 —> Lv. 21]

[Claim rewards?]

[Yes/No]

How... familiar. Déjà vu washed over her. She’d been here before, waking up to a cascade of rewards after a night of...

She swiped the notifications away. "I hadn’t even checked everything I got from rolling on the gacha these couple of days..."

Her attention shifted to her mental inventory. She noticed the new, permanent Standard Banner now available, containing the general pool of items from the exclusive banners, just without the specific bond copies. It made logical sense. The limited-time event ended, but the rest entered the general circulation.

It made her wonder... would this System ever just... end? Was there a final boss, a credit roll? Or would it just keep conjuring new, five-star love interests until the day she died of old age or... erotic exhaustion?

"First of all, I want to see what five-star items I got other than the bonds..." she muttered, mentally sifting through the clutter.

Last night’s rolling spree had been... hmmm... well, decent, perhaps. For her luck.

She’d lost the 50/50 twice. Which meant, amid the bond copies, she’d actually acquired two other five-star prizes. The first loss, on Oathran’s banner, had given her that... fellatio skill manual. The second, on Arkai’s, had granted the sleek mana-sealing bracer. At least it was useful.

Back to Oathran’s banner, besides the bonds, she’d also gotten that terrifying Venom Spear. Which left the final two five-star pulls...

What the fu—

"Be honest with me, System," Cecilia thought, her inner voice flat. "Do you have a specific kink?"

[...]

A long, telling pause.

[We don’t understand what you mean, Cecilia...]

"Sure you don’t." She focused on the latest five-star artifact icon. It resolved into the image of an object that was both practical and... distinctly styled.

[Five Stars Artifact: Berserker’s Muzzle]

[Rank 1]

[40% effectiveness at preventing and stopping insanity and rampage for any berserker-type user, without decreasing the power boost.]

Hmm...

Okay, that was... objectively useful. Tales of beasts driven mad by the loss of a mate were common tragic ballads in this world. A device that could curb the mindless destruction while preserving the raw, grieving power? It could prevent tragedies. It was a tool of mercy.

But... the design. She focused on the details. It wasn’t a simple, functional strap. It was a cage-like structure of decorative, intricate metalwork on the outside, lined with soft leather. It was exquisitely made.

But it looked less like medical equipment and more like a... a very bold fashion accessory. A statement piece for the dungeon enthusiast.

[Cecilia, are we sure it’s not just you that is the pervert one?]

"Wow," she thought, impressed. "You learned to insult me back?"

[We apologize for the misunderstanding! That’s not what we meant!]

"I’m not talking about the effect. I’m talking about the aesthetics... this muzzle... it doesn’t look strictly functional." It looked very... bdsm-y.

Her gaze drifted unbidden to a particular man just beside her. The one with proud, fluffy black wolf ears twitching in his restful sleep...

Mmmm...

It would look pretty on hi—

STOP.

Giving Arkai Dawnoro, the Black Wolf King, a muzzle, no matter how decorative or magically potent, would imply something weird about their relationship dynamic. She shelved the thought, and the artifact, into the deepest corner of her inventory. Some gifts were best left ungiven.

Or...

NO.

Nu-uh.

Well.

Consent first, at least.

Now, for the other five-star item...

"You don’t have to admit it. The evidence is piling up. You have a type. A kink. A... niche."

[...]

[Five Stars Artifact: Silver Horn Ring]

[Rank 1]

[40% mind magic effectiveness increase. Can be worn as a bracelet. Adjustable size.]

A ring. Or a bracelet. The mind magic boost was significant, a serious boon for someone whose arsenal was rapidly expanding to include telepathy, and one who already had dragon born authority, the Dragon Tongue. But the description...

"Sure. ’Adjustable size.’"

[...Cecilia... you’re so... lewd... and mean!]

Cecilia didn’t deign to reply to the accusation. Instead, she turned her head slowly on the pillow, her gaze traversing the landscape of the rumpled bed to land on the other side. There, Oathran slept on. Such a serene, ancient majesty, his handsome face relaxed in a way she rarely saw when he was awake. Peaceful. Innocent. Deceptively innocent.

Her eyes narrowed.

One of those magnificent, troublesome beasts between his legs had developed a... mmm... bad habit of drenching her at inopportune moments. It was going to require some... management.

She’d better clamp it.

[...your attitude with your first husband and your second husband is like night and day.]

"What?" she shot back mentally, her tone unrepentant. "Oathran is meaner to me. I can be mean back to him. Or... he wouldn’t like it."

[...]

[...we are shy...]

She would catalog the rest of her bizarre gacha haul later. The mental inventory could wait.

There was a faint, hesitant scuff against stone. Then, two fluffy, jet-black wolf ears appeared from the back of the chamber door, followed by a mop of dark hair and Rinne’s wide, uncertain eyes as he peeked into the room.

He took a careful step inside, his small form dwarfed by the grand doorway.

"Lord Father... Lord Mother... umm... God Father...?" he whispered. "Are you... awake...?"