This Ascent to Divinity is Lewder Than Expected

6.34 – Keep The Story Straight

It took nearly two full hours of Zoey idling inside her bed chamber, waiting for Rosalie while unsuccessfully trying to fill her time with alchemy study, for her girlfriend to finally arrive. After a polite knock and a "come in!", the blonde walked inside, her slumped posture looking nearly harried—an uncharacteristic sight that instantly worried Zoey.

Meeting her eyes, Rosalie let out a deep sigh. "You would not believe how exhausting that was."

Setting aside her alchemy book and rising from the bed she'd been stressfully lounging on, Zoey walked over and scooped her girlfriend into a hug. Rosalie melted into her.

"I bet," Zoey said. "Your dad seems like a pretty intense dude."

"That's one word that could be used to describe him," she huffed. "If insufficient. But I meant more, keeping everything straight was the hard part."

"Oh?" Zoey asked, pulling back to look at Rosalie. "You didn't just tell him the truth?"

"I told him … some of the truth," Rosalie settled on after a moment. "Where's Delta?"

"Ah," Zoey replied. "She, uh, got antsy. Not here right now. Headed out into the city, I think. Said she wouldn't be gone for long, since she wants to talk to you, but she had to clear her head first. You know her, doesn't handle sitting around well."

Rosalie grimaced. "I should've just told her when I had the chance."

"Hardly your fault Lucinda fell out of the sky to stop you."

"I had plenty of opportunity to earlier."

"You didn't want to mess up the delve. And after that, we were hiking through the wilderness. You were obviously waiting for a private moment."

"Stop making excuses for me."

"Nope. That's my job. Girlfriends, remember?"

Rosalie pressed her forehead into Zoey's chest. Zoey hugged her for a few moments.

"Is she mad at me?" Rosalie mumbled.

Zoey chewed over how to reply. "I think you two just need to talk," she settled on. "She's more confused and disoriented than mad, though. It was a lot to take in. And sudden."

Rosalie sighed. After a few more moments of staying in Zoey's embrace, she finally pulled away, withdrawing from her brief show of weakness. Her shoulders pulled back into their proper posture, and she wiped away the exhaustion.

"So. We have a few things to discuss."

"Since you apparently didn't tell your dad everything?"

"Yes. Which means we need to keep our story straight."

"Let me guess. You didn't go in-depth on how my skills work?"

"No, I didn't," Rosalie said, seeming a mixture of amused and unamused by the concept. "But I did tell him about Ephy. Your relation to her. The shard eaters. And," she said carefully, "I told him that your bonds are permanent and irrevocable, since he wasn't thrilled about me … forgoing his other choices of teammates. But that ties his hands on the matter."

"I think he dropped the phrase 'worthy of my daughter' enough for me to get the message," Zoey said wryly.

"Also," Rosalie said, hesitating. "I didn't tell him the two of us are dating."

Zoey went quiet. For her own part, she had avoided revealing that tidbit because she suspected Rosalie would want to deliver the news herself. Or possibly even hide it. But that didn't mean she was pleased by Rosalie's decision.

"Ah," Zoey said.

"You're not happy with me."

Zoey hesitated. "I want your dad to know who I am to you. Besides, keeping things from people we care about isn't usually a good idea." She gave Rosalie a significant look.

Rosalie grimaced, picking up the obvious allusion to Delta. "You're right," she said, looking away. "But at the same time, if Father knows we're together in that way, then he might assume my judgment is impaired. Simply being your teammate, he'll view me as capable of being rational."

Zoey frowned.

"And that's important," Rosalie said. "Because he views you as an asset. As a world-changing asset, which you are. If he doesn't think I have you under my thumb, he'll put you under his. One is better than the other, I promise."

Rosalie's presentation of her father didn't sound all that generous. "Should we have told him anything, then? If he's a tyrant like that?"

Rosalie winced, but she didn't try to refute the pejorative. "There's no helping it. We can't just keep the world's endangerment a secret. The appropriate authorities need to know. It just happens one of those is my father." Rosalie grimaced. "And I do trust him. He's not unpredictable, in who he is. Nor a bad person. I'm confident we can navigate his involvement." After a second, Rosalie added, "Also, if I hadn't given him some information about who you were and why we're together, he'd have simply revoked your right to be my teammate."

"Seriously?"

"He has expectations, Zoey. Of me. I'm his heiress. The inheritor of a Highguild. You knew that would complicate things, surely? Even if my Father were a … laxer person than he is, I couldn't just associate with anyone."

"He still shouldn't pick who you spend time with."

"Whose hands I put my life into?" Rosalie asked pointedly. "Who assists with my development as a wayfarer—since I'm also an asset to the guild, and my people? I believe he does have some claim to that."

Zoey sighed. She disagreed, but she saw Rosalie's point. Who would've thought dating a literal princess would come with political and familial hurdles? She had been expecting it, but that wasn't to say she was happy about the situation.

"Regardless," Rosalie said. "As much as his involvement might be a headache to our autonomy, it creates opportunities."

"I'd rather be your girlfriend than 'have opportunities'."

Rosalie blushed. "I'll tell him. I promise. Just not right now. Give us time to settle in."

Delaying a secret hadn't worked out well last time with Delta, but Zoey had already made that point. Rosalie did have valid reasoning for keeping their relationship hidden; it wasn't just that she was afraid of the fallout.

"Alright," Zoey said. "You're not wrong about what you're saying. I just …" she frowned. Then, she stepped forward, grabbed Rosalie's hips, and leaned in for a kiss. Rosalie met her instinctively.

"Just, I seriously like you," Zoey murmured into her lips. "If that means I have to deal with your family, that's perfectly fine. Or if it complicates things. But I don't like the idea of having to pretend we're only friends."

"It won't last forever," Rosalie mumbled back. "Just until we find our footing."

Zoey hummed, unhappy but understanding. "Fine. But there's one thing I absolutely won't allow."

"Hm?"

"You're gonna have to figure out how to sneak into my bed every night. I'm not sleeping without you."

Rosalie's face turned a shade redder. "I'll find a way to make that happen, then."

"Good." Zoey pecked her one more time on the lips. "Any other things I have to keep straight?"

"No. I caught him up on just about everything, as it happened chronologically. Minus any references of …" Rosalie hesitated as she looked for a way to phrase it, so Zoey did so for her.

"Sex dungeons and team orgies?"

"S-Shut up. But yes." Rosalie shook her head. "Also, there's plenty of other announcements. I kind of wanted to go over them as a team, but maybe with you first is fine, too."

"Oh?"

"The most important is our fifth team member. Father wants a say in who it is." Rosalie scrunched her nose. "Or more bluntly, he will be choosing them. I can't deny him that."

"You can't?"

"It wouldn't be worth the friction. He's already being … open-minded. About everything. Letting me have all but free reign."

"That's what you call this?" Zoey asked dryly.

"As much as a man like him can allow," Rosalie conceded. "To refuse him even a say in our last teammate would cause more problems than it's worth, I believe."

"Okay…" Zoey said slowly. "But what if we don't like her? What if she's not cool with my class?" She paused. "What if she's not a her at all? That'd be a problem for me, you know." The requirements of Zoey's class were rather particular.

"I'm hoping things will just work out," Rosalie said. "But if the worst happens, then I can discuss alternatives with him." She chewed her lip. "Or possibly, we don't even go on those types of shard explorations with them."

"Huh?"

"Assuming the shard stabilizer works how it sounds."

"Oh." Zoey blinked. "So we'd just do normal shards with them."

"You mentioned wanting to, didn't you?"

"Yeah. I did."

"Though having the option to do both with our fifth is ideal," Rosalie said. "But I can't imagine a rational reason to tell Father our fifth has to be a woman, much less one sexually compatible with you," she added dryly. "So I think we're going to have to see how things go."

"And only risk upsetting him if we have to."

"Yeah."

Zoey shrugged. Like the other aspects of this situation Zoey didn't like, Rosalie's reasoning unfortunately made sense. "Wish we could have picked them out ourselves, though."

"Life is compromise. Much less for people in positions like ours."

"Ours?"

"You're the champion of a goddess, Zoey. I dare say my own status is no heavier than your own." She frowned. "You need to come to terms with that."

Yeah. Again, Rosalie was right. In a continuing trend, Zoey just wasn't thrilled about it.

"Besides," Rosalie said. "Whoever Father picks, they're going to be good at what they do. And it'll open up further political connections."

"More connections than the d'Celestins already have?"

"We're one of the eminent families, Zoey, but no single individual, or group of individuals, holds all power. And our goal is preventing the destruction of the world. We need as much as we can get."

"Fair enough."

Rosalie sighed. "I need a moment to sit down." She eyed the bed. "I'm not just mentally exhausted. Do you have any idea what sparring with an eighth advancement wayfarer is like? Especially one trying to throw you off? Not pleasant, I can assure you."