“Could you give up your position as Aaron’s tutor and let me take over?”

  “No.” Luther’s reply came out short and cutting, so direct that Natasha froze in place.

  She had expected at least a hesitant pause, if not instant agreement. Whenever she acted cute and fragile, people usually gave in right away, or at the very minimum, showed a moment of hesitation.

  “Hey, why are you being so rude, huh?! Do you even know how much courage it took for Natasha to say that?” her friend broke in, raising her voice. “You’d better keep your distance from Aaron, otherwise…”

  “?” Luther blinked, not understanding what in the world these two girls were talking about.

  To him, both of them seemed to be out of their minds.

  “Luther, completely switch off the cloak of ambiguity, heh heh heh,” Acher urged, his voice carrying a mischievous, sinister laugh.

  Although Luther didn’t really understand what Acher was aiming at, he still followed the instruction, letting the raven-like feathers withdraw until not a single one of them remained.

  “…otherwise …” The black-haired girl faltered, her threat trailing off into nothing.

  Both of the girls went slack-faced, their rationality faded, and their hearts thudded in their chests, beyond their control.

  He was the Abyss crowned with moonlight; his midnight eyes swallowed all meaningless resistance. Even knowing so well that a single step forward would mean falling into certain doom, mortals still flung themselves into his fatal embrace, like moths willingly plunging into fire.

  “… you should really be careful with Aaron,” the black-haired girl blurted out. “What if he has bad intentions toward you? You'd better watch out, there are so many creeps around these days.”

  Luther:

  “???”

  “Luther, what I meant just now was… maybe you could stop teaching Aaron and instead teach me?” Natasha asked, her eyes shining with a pleading glimmer.

  “And me too!” the black-haired girl chimed in, almost shouting.

  Luther:

  “??????”

  Aaron’s voice cut through the air:

  “What kind of nonsense is that?! And talking shit about me behind my back, don’t expect me to let that slide. Also, stay away from Luther!”

  He gave them a glare that made the two girls shrink back, before grabbing Luther and storming off.

  Aaron complained:

  “Why did you take off your cloak?? The way those girls were looking at you wasn’t… appropriate at all.”

  “I didn’t make any promises,” Luther said.

  “From now on, don’t ever fully remove the cloak while we’re at school. It’s dangerous,” Aaron warned, frowning.

  “What danger could these human kids possibly pose to a reaper? It should be the other way around,” Acher cackled. “Any being of demigod level and higher will have a divine aura. It’s a charm rooted so deeply in the soul that no mortal logic or willpower can fight it.”

  “On top of that, when the two of you grow stronger, that allure will only become deadlier. That’s why whenever gods walk among mortals, they often have to disguise themselves. Many divine beings even radiate an aura that could drive mortals into madness. ‘You shall not look at a god directly’ was common sense back then,” Acher added with a croak of amusement.

  Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

  “There was one time, in the early years of the Era of Weeping, a demigod lustmoth bewitched an entire archworld. Every living creature there, including three arch beings, ended up taking their own lives and sacrificing flesh and soul to her,” Acher recounted. “Feeding on that apocalyptic offering, her divinity coalesced, and she ascended beyond demigodhood to claim the throne of a helllord.” (Note: divine beings of hell are called helllords.)

  “Damn, no wonder it was called the most insane era in all of cosmic history.” Aaron shuddered. “And that’s the reason why lately I keep feeling like people are staring at me in a strange way.”

  For the first time in his life, he found his own looks to be kind of troublesome.

  “They stare at you like that… inappropriate,” Luther said, curling his lips in faint irritation.

  Aaron blinked at him, then burst into laughter.

  “Hahahahahaha, alright, alright. Maybe I should make myself look ugly before we go to school. Hahahahaha.”

  “No need.” Luther shook his head, a faint flush coloring his face. “And stop laughing.”

  Acher let out a harsh, rattling laugh. These two foolish boys.

  “Disguising won’t work anyway. That attraction of yours comes from the deepest pit of your being,” he remarked.

  “Then what are we supposed to do? We’re still weaklings right now, and it’s already like this. If we get stronger, will we never be able to step outside again?” Aaron asked, his shoulders twitching uneasily.

  “Idiot, did you forget about Luther’s cloak?” Acher reminded him.

  “Oh, right!” Aaron exclaimed with sudden realization.

  After that, Luther followed Acher’s instructions and masked the divine aura of both of them.

  “Heh, perfect. Now we don’t have to worry about getting bothered anymore,” Aaron said with relief.

  Acher cast a sideways glance at the two boys.

  Not quite.

  Even if they got their aura hidden, just by normal standards, both of them would still draw plenty of admirers. And besides, divinity was never something that could be completely concealed. That was the very reason why, no matter what form the King of Gods chose to take, he could always seduce any creature he wanted within a blink.

  …

  Winter came a little late that year. The first snowfall didn’t arrive until the very last day of November. It wasn’t just a light dusting either; it came as a full snowstorm. Snow had been falling since midnight, and by morning it still hadn’t stopped, blanketing everything in thick white.

  By six thirty in the morning, the pumpkins had already raised a ruckus. They clambered up onto Luther’s and Aaron’s bed, bouncing while shrieking at the top of their lungs:

  “Squeak squeak! Luther! Aaron!! White! White!”

  “White? What do you mean?” Aaron rubbed his eyes, still half-asleep; Luther sat up as well.

  “Look! White!” Jack-O pointed toward the window.

  There wasn’t much to see right outside the house, since the weather scroll protected the yard from snow, but it was easy to spot the distance beyond, where endless white flakes fell like feathers from the sky.

  “It’s snowing!” Aaron shouted with excitement.

  “All that fuss over something so simple. You brats are unbelievable,” Acher muttered.

  “This must be their first time seeing snow. After all, they used to live in a volcano,” Aaron said with a smile.

  He picked up his phone, checked it, and cheered:

  “Yay! No school today! I love snow!”

  “Snow good for sleeping. Sleep till noon. Wake up, eat lunch, then sleep again,” Luther said.

  Aaron laughed at that. “You can go ahead and sleep some more. I’ll take them outside to play a little bit.”

  “I’m going too,” Luther said, shaking his head. “Not staying home alone.”

  So the two of them dragged along the three pumpkins and Mr. Raven to wash up, ignoring Acher’s grumbling:

  “I’ve told you a thousand times, I don’t get dirty! I’m a divine being!”

  “Not anymore. I can smell it. You stink,” Luther said.

  Soon, Aaron bundled Luther up in layers of thick winter clothes; even the three pumpkins and Acher were wearing the thick coats Aaron had custom-made just for them, then the whole group stepped outside. Out in the middle of the street, the snow was already piled up to knee height. The three pumpkins couldn’t hold back their excitement; they leapt straight out of the boys’ arms into the snow, creating perfectly round holes as they sank in.

  With a snap of his fingers, Luther sent out three strands of shadow that stretched from his own and coiled around them, keeping the little ones from getting lost.

  “Don’t go too far,” he said.

  “Squeak squeak!!”

  Jack-O, Squashy, and Pompo dove and chased each other beneath the snow like moles.

  “This is so beautiful. Haven’t seen this much snow in years. I think the last time was back in seventh grade,” Aaron said, his hand slipping into Luther’s, sending a warm flow of solar magic through.

  “Beautiful,” Luther agreed with a nod.

  Truth be told, he hated snow ever since it killed off his plants. But this year was different. Aaron’s hand was warm, warm enough to melt the chill lodged deep inside his chest.

  “If you all like snow this much, then in the future we should do a trip to the Borealis Constellation. That place isn’t bad at all,” Acher suggested.

  “We’ll definitely have to go there someday,” Aaron said, eyes gleaming.

  They wandered along the white roads, passing groups of people here and there who were also playing in the snow.

  “Jack-O, Pompo, Squashy, come here! Let’s build a snowman!” Aaron called out.

  The three pumpkins popped out of the snow and climbed up onto him. Jack-O tilted his head and asked:

  “What’s a snowman?”

  “Like this.” Aaron rolled up his sleeves and began working.

  In no time at all, a chubby snowman stood before them, its eyes made from two rocks and its nose from a dry stick.

  “Looks like Pompo on top of Jack-O!” Squashy commented.