Interstellar Age

To say that Lunaria was pissed when Erich contacted her was an enormous understatement. The fury that burned in her soul at the moment would be capable of engulfing half the galaxy if it could be manifested into a physical form.

And even so, the woman forced herself to remain calm, while Erich wore a stone cold face, admitting that he was in fact on Svartalfheim consorting with her little sister.

“Apologies, my love. I did not expect you to be so furious simply because I visited your sister. I had an important matter to discuss with her, and I will be leaving shortly. Is this really such a matter to be so angry about?”

Despite Erich’s smooth words, Lunaria was far from convinced that he was free from wrongdoing, and because of this, her tone was quite shrill as she addressed the man, and his claims with an unhealthy amount of skepticism.

“Oh really? And just what were the two of you talking about, that my presence was so unnecessary? I thought that this marriage entailed an alliance between the three of us, and not just the two of you!?!!”

It was clear that Lunaria was suspicious about Erich, and what he and Daelia had been talking about. If Erich didn’t know any better it Lunaria seemed to suspect that her sister had told him the truth of what happened all those years ago.

And knowing that Lunaria would one day be an enemy that he would have to force to submit to him. Erich could not very well reveal the truth to her, as that would only hasten the day the two of them came to blows.

While Erich was fully capable of taking on the Alfheim armed forces at the moment, doing so would almost certainly be costly, and such losses would only heighten the chance of a Naraku victory when the day came that they should finally invade the Milky Way in full force.

It was with this future battle in mind that Erich was forced to deny that he knew the truth, even if Lunaria asked him directly. At least for the time being. Thus, he put on his most convincing façade possible and lied through his teeth about his reason for visiting Svartalfheim in the most shameless manner possible.

“What? Can’t a man answer his wife’s request for intimacy? You know, if you had called me and asked me to visit Alfheim so that you and I can spend some quality time alone together, I would be there with bells on. Is this really such a matter for you to be so furious about?”

The utter shamelessness in Erich’s voice, and the sincerity in his words, made Lunaria reflect on things. The image Daelia had sent her was one that proved Erich and she had recently been intimate.

Was it possible that she was overreacting? Had she really over thought a simple image meant to taunt her about getting a leg up in the battle for their husband’s heart? It couldn’t be possible that she was simply being paranoid, could it?

Erich, who was a master of deceit, had a poker face that was absolutely perfect. Not only from his own experience, but more specifically because Tia was in the background manipulating the nano robots in his bloodstream so that they perfectly matched his facial expression and tone to a state that showed not the slightest bit of lies within them.

It was because of this that Erich was able to gaslight the one million plus year old Elven Empress, who was practically a biological lie detector into believing that she might have been overreacting. It was possible that it was indeed mere coincidence that the image resembled that ancient painting.

If that were the case, then she had really over reacted. Even then, Lunaria did not want to admit this, and thus asked more probing questions, hoping to find some kind of chink in the armor that was Erich’s poker face.

“That’s it? You only visited Svartalfheim for a simple booty call? There was nothing of importance discussed between you and my sister? Nothing about history, perhaps?”

If not for Tia perfectly manipulating Erich’s facial features and the tone in his voice via the nanites in his bloodstream, then there was a high probability that he would have failed this specific line of interrogation.

But because he had Tia on his side, Erich was able to perfectly resemble an honest man, despite lying through his teeth at this very moment.

“History? Why the hell would we be talking about history in the bedroom? Lunaria, have you been drinking? I think you should probably get some rest. You’re not making any sense right now!”

This remark had stunned Lunaria to the core of her being. She wasn’t making sense? Was her logic really so unfounded? She had been so certain that Erich and Daelia had discussed the ancient past based upon the image that Daelia sent to her.

But… What if she really was just being paranoid? I mean, it’s not like she could ask Celestia about this matter. The only two people in the galaxy who knew what had really happened all those years ago were here and Daelia, and if Daelia had violated the terms of their ancient treaty, she would never outright admit to it.

Wait… Now that Lunaria thought about it, why would Daelia even do something that had such destructive and galaxy spanning consequences? Would that woman really risk outright galactic war simply so she could ruin Erich’s opinion of her? No, that was unlikely. In fact, that was simply ludicrous when she really thought about it.

What the hell had she been freaking out about for the past six hours? It was ultimately her own conscious thoughts that compelled Lunaria to buy into Erich’s lies. And thus she rested her forehead in the palm of her hands and took a deep breath before admitting that she had overreacted.

“I’m sorry Erich, I think, I think you might be right. I think I got worked up over nothing but my own delusions. I do apologize. Do enjoy your time on Svartalfheim. Just next time, make sure to alert me in advance, even if it is a simple message.

I swear I will make this up to you the next time you visit Alfheim… I think I’m going to take you up on your offer and go get some rest now. Goodbye…”

With that said, Lunaria hung up on Erich, leaving the man to take a deep breath and sigh heavily. He had successfully and narrowly averted a galactic catastrophe, and he really only had one person to thank. Which he was quick to do so.

“Tia… You’re a lifesaver….”

Tia simply giggled in the back of his mind, before correcting Erich on his statement.

“By my estimates, I am the savior of over five hundred quadrillion lives….”

Her statement really put into perspective just how grave the consequences would have been had Erich completely failed to gaslight Lunaria into submission.