Prince of Gluttony: Born from Betrayal

When Jayden saw the golden glow surrounding Cain, her first thought was

'Wow, my man really is an angel?! Thats.....So cool!'

But then she noticed that the golden glow didn't carry even a hint of divinity in it. She had once felt what a divine aura was, having encountered a saintess on her travels to the academy, so she knew that whatever this glow was, it wasn't holy in any way.

"What's that gold aura around you?" Jayden couldn't help but ask with a look that was a mixture of suspicion, unease and slight fear.

Cain looked up and was equally surprised to see the golden aura floating around him. While he had originally come here to offer the fragment of Pride to her, it seemed like the fragment itself had taken a liking to her.

Not knowing how to explain himself in a way that would make a lot of sense, he did the next best thing: He told her the truth.

"My innate skill was once called Consume which was why I was called the Trash Prince,"

Jayden nodded her head in understanding. She had heard that much about Cain when she was looking into him before. However while in the abyss, he had awoken a 2nd skill and that propelled him to his current strength.

Cain seemed to be able to read what she was thinking and immediately shook his head.

"I didn't awaken a new skill in the Abyss. My original skill was just fully awakened. My innate skill isn't Consume....It's Gluttony."

Jayden felt her hair stand up on end at the name of the skill. She had never expected that there was a skill named after a Deadly Sin and that Cain would be its wielder. Looking back, it kind of made sense why people were calling him the Demon Prince....He technically could be considered one, no?

"When I killed Abel, I consumed his skills and among them was a weird one that was fragments of some of the other Sins. More specifically Pride, Envy, Lust and Wrath."

"I wasn't able to consume those fragments and instead something weird happened..."

Jayden's ears flattened against her head as she waited for Cain to continue with his story. At some point, she had begun to hold her tail, as if she was listening to a scary story.

"Gluttony woke up," Cain remarked with an incredulous look as he himself struggled to comprehend what that implied.

"You don't mean...."

"Yeah....Gluttony is alive...and sentient."

Jayden's eyes widened in disbelief as the faint golden aura began to coil around Cain, almost as if it was getting impatient. Both Jayden and Cain noticed this so the latter explained the final point as fast he could, lest he piss off one of the other Sins.

"Gluttony was able to summon the fragments of the other Sins and he struck a deal with them. I help them find hosts and they will be subordiante to Gluttony and by extension myself until I die."

Jayden frowned at that explaination. A host. Just like a parasite. She glanced at the golden aura that swirled around Cain. She opened her mouth to speak when Cain interrupted her "I was going to offer you one of the Fragments if you wanted. If it ever tries to harm you, I will do my everything in my power to rip it out and destroy it! However, the choice is yours. I won't blame you if you say no."

Jayden couldn't hide her shocked expression. Cain was showing her an unprecedented level of trust. Not so long ago, he was someone who had been betrayed and believed in nobody. Now he was here, offering her a choice because he believed in her.

Jayden nodded her head in understanding as warmth filled her heart. Of course there was only one answer she could give him.

"If it's for you, I will do whatever you need of me. So yes. I will take the Fragment."

Cain had a blank look on his face as honestly, he had expected Jayden to decline. He had no guarantee for his own safety, let alone hers when it came to the Sins and he was essentially getting her to jump into the same boat as him.

While he did not express it outright, he was overwhelmingly grateful for Jayden's unwavering devotion. He let out a sigh of relief as his gaze turned back to the golden glow that swirled around him.

"You heard the lady. She said yes. Though I am warning you, she is my woman. If you harm her, I will not rest until I crush you. Am I understood?" His voice was like cold steel as he threatened an embodiment of Sin.

Jayden blushed when Cain called her his woman and wanted to lower her head but the moment Cain spoke to it, she couldn't tear her eyes away from the glow anymore. The moment Cain stopped talking, the golden aura surged towards her, enveloping her body before her vision went golden.

Jayden felt the world tilt. The moment the golden aura touched her, warmth spread through every inch of her body. It wasn't painful, but it carried a weight, an overwhelming pressure that made her ears twitch and tail stiffen.

Then a voice slid into her head. It wasn't loud, but it was smooth, too smooth, like honey poured over glass.

Do you accept?

Jayden froze. Her entire body locked up as her mind went racing in the worst possible direction.

Oh no. Oh no, no, no. Please tell me this isn't Lust.

Her ears flattened as the thought hit her like a brick. If this was Lust, then she would basically be the biggest hypocrite in the world. She had spent years swearing she wasn't some walking stereotype, some lovestruck mutt with her tongue out. And yet… she had slept with Cain in less than a month after meeting him.

Her tail flicked in agitation. If this was Lust, she was never living this down. Not with herself. Not with anyone.

"Uh… who exactly is talking right now?" she asked aloud, voice cracking just a little.

The presence didn't answer. It just repeated itself, slow and calm, like it had all the time in the world.

Do you accept?

Jayden bit her lip. This was ridiculous. If this was Lust, she was cooked. There would be no talking her way out of it. Cain would never let her hear the end of it. Heck, she would never let herself hear the end of it.

But she remembered what Cain had promised. His voice had been like iron when he said he would protect her. That thought settled her nerves just enough.

"Fine," she muttered. "I accept."

The golden presence surged forward. Something snapped inside her chest, like a lock breaking open. Heat roared through her veins, sinking deep into her soul as if a brand had been burned into it.

Cain watched sharply as the golden glow flared once, bright enough to fill the room with light, then vanished. Jayden dropped to one knee, panting like she had just finished a sparring match.

He was at her side immediately. "Jayden. Are you alright?"

She waved him off with a hand, still catching her breath. "Yeah… I think so. It asked me if I accepted, but it never said what it was."

Cain's eyes wandered over Jayden's body to see if he could see any changes but he didn't see anything. At least not yet. Relieved at that, he remarked "It was Pride. You were chosen by Pride."

Jayden immediately felt a sense of relief wash over her. At least it wasn't revealed that she was a horny mutt for now.