[Hey guys, just a quick heads-up! I realized I made a small mistake, since Evangeline (the God of Order) and Serafina (Head Assasin) were barely mentioned before, I kinda mixed them up and ended up calling Evangeline "Serafina" for the last 30 Chapters đ . Iâve gone ahead and corrected it now, and Iâm really sorry for the confusion. From here on out, her name is Evangeline, not Serafina!]
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Evangeline didnât answer immediately. Instead, she exhaled and snuggled deeper into his embrace, her voice quiet and weary.
"Let me rest like this while I explain. Iâm honestly so tired right now." She murmured. "Emotionally. Mentally. Dealing with you two is like trying to untangle divine knots with mortal fingers."
Vanitas narrowed her eyes at her, glared, really, but as expected, she did absolutely nothing. She didnât even move. Not when Kafkaâs arms were wrapped around Evangeline too.
And so Evangeline began, her tone growing more serious.
"After Lady Vanitas tried to break through to the mortal realm and failed...she calmed down. And when she calmed down, she realized exactly what she had tried to do. She realized she had tried to devour her own son. To take you. And it horrified her, Kafka...It horrified her to the very core."
Evangeline exhaled.
"She knew then that she couldnât control her emotions anymore, that sooner or later, something like this would happen again. She didnât know how long the barrier would hold her back, but she knew that if you ever came up to the heavens...she wouldnât be able to stop herself. Sheâd pounce on you. She didnât want that."
Vanitasâs eyes fell shut; her trembling hands balled tighter.
"So she tried everything." Evangeline went on. "She tried to sever her emotions. Tried to erase them. Meditated for centuries. Went through rituals. Tried to burn the feelings out. But a True God...a True God canât forget something that has rooted so deeply. We donât shed emotions the way mortals do. And hers had already fused into her being. If she did nothing, it would only grow worse."
Evangeline glanced at Kafka.
"Thatâs when she discovered a possible answer. She realized she might sever those feelings if she ascended further. If she became an Eternal Sovereign. If she did that...she might be able to remove the part of herself that loved you, like cutting out a tumor from her soul. That was the plan."
Kafka blinked hard. "Wait...so she didnât just ascend because she wanted to see me?"
"No." Evangeline said softly. "She ascended because she wanted to see you and because she thought she could erase what she felt. Meeting you was her wish. Removing her desire was her solution."
Kafka rubbed his forehead.
"And she succeeded. She ascended. She met me. But sheâs still...like this. Still trying toâ" He caught himself and glanced at Vanitas, who gave him a desperate, silent plea to stop talking.
Evangeline sighed. "Yes. What youâre thinking is correct. It didnât go as planned and backfired. Severely. It created a big mess."
She shifted, sitting up straighter now.
"Iâve told you before, every True God has a title. Mine is the God of Order. Lady Vanitas used to be the God of Vanity. But when a god ascends to Eternal Sovereign...the title isnât random."
"Itâs formed from the culmination of that godâs entire being: their achievements, their deepest desires, their truest purpose. The universe looks at them, weighs them, and gives them a name that is their soul."
Kafkaâs chest tightened as he realized where this was going.
"So, when Lady Vanitas ascended..." Evangeline said. "...her every thought was of you. Her every desire was you. Her every need was you. She was obsessed with you. She wanted you. Needed you. Loved you. Hugged you in her mind. Dreamed of you."
"So the universe looked at all of that...and it granted her a new title."
Evangelineâs voice grew quieter, heavier.
"The God of Forbidden Love."
"WaitâF-Forbidden Love? As in taboo love?!" Kafkaâs eyes widened.
Evangeline nodded gravely.
"Thatâs why the request you received came from the âGod of Forbidden Love.â Thatâs why her old title, Vanity, no longer appears. Thatâs why sheâs different now. She isnât just the God of Vanity anymore. She is the God of Forbidden Love. And that title, Kafka..." She glanced at Vanitas, whose face was white as marble. "...is because of you. Because of what she feels for you."
Kafkaâs mouth went dry. "You mean the âforbidden loveâ isâ"
"Yes." Evangeline said, cutting him off gently. "Her love for you. The universe gave her a title embodying love that should not exist. Taboo. Love between those who should never be together. It didnât punish her with the name. It defined her by it."
Vanitas shut her eyes, trembling, while Evangeline continued.
"And just as a godâs title shapes their power, it also shapes their being. It bees what they are. Your mother isnât just a goddess who has fallen in love with her son...She is the Goddess of Forbidden Love."
"It is her nature now. Her power. Her life. She canât escape it. She canât undo it. Her entire existence revolves around you, her forbidden love for you is literally the source of her power now. It will never fade."
Kafka sat back, stunned. "So no matter how much therapy...no matter how much timeâ"
"It wonât change." Evangeline shook her head. "From here to eternity, she will continue to love you as a man. It isnât something she can control anymore...Itâs what she is."
Kafka felt like his brain had just been drop-kicked by the universe itself. The words "From here to eternity, she will continue to love you as a man" repeated in his head like a death sentence, each echo louder than the last.
Heâd already been running scenarios in his head, therapy, rituals, isolation, something, anything to help his mother and himself. And now Evangeline was standing there coolly telling him that nothing would help.
That this was simply what it was. That he should "accept it." It felt like a slap across his face, like sheâd shoved him into the mud and told him not to think of himself too big.
He dragged his eyes up at her and just stared, full of frustration. To him, Evangeline looked like the villain here.
She, meanwhile, tilted her head, looking almost puzzled. "Why are you staring at me like that, Kafka?" She asked softly. "Why are you looking at me like I did something wrong?"
He forced a smile onto his face, though his eyes burned. "Iâm sorry for asking this, Evangeline." He murmured. "But...is it possible I could pinch your cheeks a little?"
That surprised her. "Pinch my cheeks? Why?" Her brows lifted. "Is there some particular reason?"
Kafka chuckled bitterly. "Itâs actually pathetic, but every single word ing from your mouth has been burying me deeper in the mud. Every second you speak I get a bigger headache. And I canât help but want to pinch that mouth of yours for throwing so much bad news at me."
He chuckled again, shaking his head.
"Actually, never mind. Just ignore me. Iâm rambling."
But Evangeline slowly shook her head.
"No. Iâm fine with it. If it makes you happy, Kafka, Iâd happily let you pinch my cheeks." She looked straight into his eyes and added calmly. "Ever since Lady Vanitas ascended, I am technically her vassal. Which also means..." She thought for a moment. "That since youâre above Lady Vanitas, Iâm sort of yours. Your...aide, I suppose. Which means I have to follow whatever you say. So if you want to pinch me, you can."
Kafka blinked, caught off guard. "Really? You really donât mind?"
Evangeline simply thrust her cool, expressionless face forward. "Please do so, Kafka. I donât mind."
Hesitatingly, Kafka reached forward, cupping her cheeks in his hands. He started to pull them gently. To his surprise, her skin was soft and warm. His lips twitched.
"Even though you always look so cold, your cheeks are actually warm and fluffy." He muttered, a small blush creeping over her own face as he continued to pull, finding an odd kind of solace in the simple act.
But then suddenly out of nowhereâhe felt his own cheeks being pinched. He blinked and turned his head, only to see Vanitas, her fingers pressing at his jawline, though barely able to pinch anything.
She looked curious, almost shy and Kafka chuckled in response, asking, "Mom, what are you doing? You want in on the cheek-pinching game too?"
"No, Kafka." She shook her head with a small, wistful smile. "Itâs just that when you were a baby, in my arms, I used to pinch your cheeks. They were so soft I was actually scared theyâd tear apart. It was probably the softest thing Iâve ever touched in my life. Seeing you pinch Evangeline...it reminded me of that. But now..." Her smile dimmed. "Now thereâs nothing. Nothing left to pinch. All that baby fat is gone. I lost the opportunity to pinch my baby because...because I wasnât there."
Kafka paused, his fingers still holding Evangelineâs cheeks as he turned toward Vanitas. Then, gently, he reached out, pulled her in by the hand, and pressed her head to his chest.
"Itâs alright, Mom. Itâs really alright since even if those moments are gone, we can make new ones. We have the future together." He leaned in and added firmly. "And itâs exactly because weâre not separated anymore and we have a future, that we shouldnât take the situation weâre in too badly."
"...Somehow, some way, weâll get through it. And right now, we should just be happy weâre together."
After saying this, Kafka felt a burst of optimism, as if those words were told to himself, anything to keep himself calm in this chaos. But just as he was feeling positive, Evangeline, suddenly spoke up.
"...Actually, Kafka." Evangeline said, cheeks still being tugged. "Thereâs one more thing I need to tell you."
Kafka froze. "Please donât."
"Youâll probably hate me for it."
"Stop."
"I was actually thinking of telling you later, but since Lady Vanitas brought up the topic of babies I thought I should tell you now."
Kafka let go of her cheeks. His hands slowly dropped to his lap. His eye twitched. "...Iâm going to cry. I swear to the gods, I am going to cry right now."
He looked ready to scream at the sky. "How does this situation keep getting worse?! Iâm already dangling off the cliff of sanity! This is cruel! Sadistic!"
Vanitas tried to fort him, reaching out, only for Kafka to wave her off and face Evangeline with dead seriousness.
"Lay it on me." He said. "Whatever it is, just say it. Iâm already neck-deep in cosmic nonsense, might as well finish the dive. End my misery!"
Evangeline paused.
"...Kafka. Maybe we should talk about this later. Youâre, uh, emotionally unstable right now. If I tell you this now, you might faint. Literally."
"Evangeline..." Kafkaâs voice was flat.
"Yes?"
"Tell. Me. Now."
"Alright. You asked for it." She took a breath before going on to say, "What I wanted to say is that because of Lady Vanitasâs ascension...the trial for your ascension has changed."
He blinked. "What?"
"Itâs no longer the same. The system replaced your previous trial with a new one. Everything before, every quest, every requirement, itâs all void. Thereâs only one final request left now. Just one."
"Just one?" He echoed. "So...so that means itâs almost over? I can bee a true god with just one final step?"
Evangeline nodded slowly. "Yes."
Hearing this, Kafka looked like he was finally seeing a light at the end of a very long, hellish tunnel. He turned to Vanitas.
"Mom! Did you hear that? Just one more quest! We can do this!"
But Vanitas didnât smile. She didnât even look at him.
She turned her face away, staring at the stars, her cheeks flushing an intense red. It was the look of someone going through the most humiliating moment of their life.
Kafkaâs smile faltered.
"W-Why does she look like that? Why do you look like that, Mom? And you too Evangeline!?" He turned to look at Evangeline, who also had a troubled, almost shy look on her face. "Why do you look like youâre struggling to tell this final piece of information?!"
"I-Iâm not going to say anything." Evangeline exhaled. "Just...read the final request that I held back for your mental sanity yourself."
And just like that, the final request entered Kafkaâs divine consciousness.
Ding~
[The Will of the World sends your final request: Impregnate your Mother, the Eternal Sovereign of Forbidden Love just like she desires and let her bear your child]
[Successfully fulfill the request and Ascend to the Heavens and bee the most powerful demi-god in existence]
[Fail the given request and your Motherâs Heart Demons will devour her whole, leading to the collapse of existence itself]
He read it.
His face went pale.
His throat felt dry.
His body trembled.
He blinked once. Twice. Thrice.
And then, like a puppet with its strings cutâKafka dropped backward and fainted.
Out cold.
"K-Kafka!? Kafkaaa?!?!?"
Vanitas screamed his name in panic, holding his head up only for it to fall down, while Evangeline could only sigh and say,
"I told you, you wouldnât be able to handle the truth...You shouldâve just listened to me."
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