My Free Will System: Transmigrating Into My Favorite Immersion Game

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"They're coming this way," Ireleen said, her voice panicked. "What do I do?"

Elias thought quickly, then turned to her with a serious look. "Do you trust me?"

Ireleen blinked, surprised by the question. "Not really."

Elias shrugged. "Fair enough, but if you don't want to get caught, you'll have to."

She nodded nervously, and without warning, Elias pulled her close and kissed her.

Ireleen's eyes widened in shock, and her entire body stiffened, but she didn't pull away. Across the square, Priestess Margo paused in her tracks, her eyes narrowing as she watched Elias and the woman he was kissing.

"Look at him," Margo muttered. "That shameless playboy. He's kissing one of his girls in public."

Mathias, however, squinted at the couple. "From behind… doesn't that woman look a lot like the High-Luminary?"

Margo rolled her eyes. "Don't be ridiculous. There's no way the High-Luminary would be kissing Elias in the middle of the market."

After a moment's hesitation, Mathias nodded in agreement, and the two priests continued on their way.

As soon as they were out of sight, Elias pulled away, only to find Ireleen still standing there, her face bright red and her gaze lowered, shy and embarrassed. She had never been that close to a man before, let alone kissed one in public.

Elias smirked, trying to lighten the mood. "Well, you're in the clear now. You should head back before they come around again."

Ireleen nodded, still flustered, and hurried off toward the church, clutching her baskets of sweets. Elias watched her go, shaking his head with a smile. As she disappeared into the distance, he touched his lips thoughtfully and muttered to himself, "Not bad."

As Ireleen hurried through the narrow streets, the weight of her baskets swinging in her hands, her heart raced, not just from the rush to return unnoticed but from the memory of the kiss she had just shared with Elias. Her first kiss. Her lips still tingled from the brief contact, and despite her best efforts, she couldn't banish the vivid image from her mind.

Her cheeks flushed a deep red, and she quickened her pace, determined to focus on the looming temple gates ahead. 'I can't think like this,' she scolded herself. 'I am the High-Luminary of Eldoria, closest to the Goddess. I'm supposed to be above such… distractions.'

But no matter how hard she tried to shake the thought, it kept creeping back, tugging at the edges of her mind. The way Elias had kissed her—boldly, without hesitation—stirred something in her that she wasn't quite ready to confront. She had always been disciplined, devoted to her duties, following every sacred custom. Yet, for the first time, she found herself daydreaming about something… personal.

'What is wrong with me?' she thought, biting her lip. She tried to mentally recite the sacred scriptures, focusing on the Goddess, on her responsibilities. But the scriptures blurred in her mind, and all she could see was Elias—his confident smirk, his steady eyes, the feel of his lips pressed against hers.

She caught herself smiling, lost in a daydream where the kiss wasn't just a ruse to avoid discovery but something more, something real. The thought sent another wave of warmth rushing to her cheeks. 'No! This is ridiculous! I am the High-Luminary!'

Still, her resolve wavered as she imagined it happening again—this time not as an act of necessity, but because they both wanted it. Her pace slowed slightly, her mind spinning through a dozen impossible scenarios, each one more inappropriate than the last.

"Stop it," she whispered to herself, shaking her head violently as if the motion could shake loose the thoughts. But her attempts at self-control were failing miserably.

By the time she neared the temple, the grand marble structure coming into full view, her thoughts were still a tangled mess of devotion, guilt, and longing. She hesitated at the base of the temple steps, the baskets of sweets now feeling much heavier. The enormous stone pillars loomed before her like silent judges, reminding her of her responsibilities, her vows, her position.

She was not just any woman. She was the High-Luminary. She had the sacred duty of guiding the people, maintaining the connection to the Goddess. What kind of example would she set if she let her mind wander into these… inappropriate fantasies? She could already imagine the scandal if anyone found out about the kiss, let alone her thoughts afterward.

But then, another voice, softer and more tempting, whispered in her mind. 'The Goddess never forbade love, did she?' The thought lingered, and for a moment, Ireleen considered the possibility—of allowing herself to feel what she was feeling without shame, without guilt.

She shook her head firmly once more. There was no time for these distractions. She needed to get back to her quarters before her priests began to wonder why her seclusion in prayer had lasted longer than expected. But even as she took the first few steps up the stone stairway, the feeling of Elias' lips refused to leave her mind.

She reached the top of the stairs and took a deep breath, her composure returning, or at least appearing to. As she pushed open the large doors to the temple, she could already hear the faint sounds of her attendants moving about in the halls. They would notice her return any moment now, and she needed to act as if nothing had happened.

Her posture straightened, and she assumed the serene expression she always wore in public.

'You're the High-Luminary,' she reminded herself one last time. 'There are greater things at stake than your fleeting, foolish thoughts.'

But as she stepped into the sanctuary and the heavy temple doors closed behind her, the ghost of a smile tugged at her lips once more. The memory of the kiss lingered still, like a sweet secret hidden just beneath the surface. And as much as she tried to convince herself that it was nothing, a small, traitorous part of her hoped that it might happen again.