"Why are you stopping us?" Sofia suddenly spoke, her voice cutting through the suffocating stillness. As she looker at risa who turned her head as looking at Razeal..
From the very mont this woman had appeared, Sofia had been watching her closely. And yet, no matter how much she looked, she couldn’t find a crack. Not even the smallest change in expression. Not a flicker of emotion. Her face was like still water calm, cold, and impossibly deep.. As if she just doesn’t feel any emotions or whatsoever.
"I ca here to take my son."
risa answered plainly as still looking at Razeal. Calmly. As if stating sothing inevitable.
"And," she added, her gaze shifting slightly, settling back on Sofia, "to see my daughter-in-law."
Her eyes moved over Sofia from head to toe.. not rudely, not judgntally, but with a quiet, assessing precision that made Sofia’s skin prickle.
"As i thought.. I should at least et her."
Sofia felt it then.
That pressure.
It wasn’t killing intent. It wasn’t hostility. It wasn’t even anger.
It was presence.
Just standing in front of this woman made Sofia feel... small. Not weak.. but like as if judged.. Like scared to be judged low.. As this won judgent towards her is important.. Which she couldn’t really understand.. She had stood before her father countless tis, had faced the authority of Atlantis itself, yet she had never felt this kind of weight pressing against her chest.
And then she heard the words again.
To take my son?
Her fingers curled unconsciously.
She didn’t know where this won intended to take Razeal to.. but she knew one thing clearly she didn’t want it to happen. Not like this. Not without his consent atleast.
But she also knew the truth.
She couldn’t stop her.
No matter how strong Sofia was, no matter her status or anything... Currently as she is now? She had no chance against this woman. Not even close. That realization burned quietly inside her, tight and suffocating.
Before Sofia could speak again, risa t her eyes once more.
"You may not see as your mother-in-law," risa suddenly said evenly. "But I do see you as my daughter in law."
The words landed heavier than Sofia expected.
"That," risa continued, "is why I want to say a few things to you."
Her gaze shifted.. briefly to Razeal, then returned to Sofia.
"As his mother," she said, "and as a woman."
Sofia felt her heartbeat quicken.
"You married him," risa went on. "But there are also things you should know about as you want to spend your life with..?"
The water around them felt colder.
"Do you know what he has done?"
Her eyes lingered toward Razeal again, and for the first ti since she appeared, sothing flickered there.. Sadness and small guilt which she zuppressed almost instantly.
"Because if you did," risa said quietly, "I don’t think you would have made the decision you made."
Sofia’s brows knit together.
She genuinely didn’t understand what risa was talking about.
"I honestly don’t want to do this," risa said next, and this ti the hesitation was unmistakable. Her voice remained steady, but sothing beneath it strained. "Afterall he is my son. And what had happened... was just a mistake.. Maybe because he was too young to understand what he was doing."
"But a mistake is still a mistake.. And it did happened."
Her fingers tightened slightly, then relaxed.
"He had improved himself and clearly learned from his mistakes, which I can see and which I am truly proud of.
"That is also why.. i.." She paused "it just feels wrong for to do this, since it wouldn’t matter anymore.. Since it was matter of past."
She inhaled slowly.
"But still as his wife," risa continued, "you have the right to know who he was."
Her gaze sharpened again, resolute now.
"As this is not sothing small. It is serious."
"That’s why I want to tell you."
She paused.
"So that you can decide.. after knowing everything whether you still want to stand beside him."
Her eyes darkened.
"I refuse to be a mother who hides her son’s mistakes and lets them destroy soone else."
Sofia’s confusion deepened.
"What mistake?" she asked slowly.
Her voice was calm, but her chest felt tight now, her thoughts racing. There was sothing different in risa’s expression subtle, but unmistakable. Regret, Sadness, Guilt? And beneath it... resolve. Like soone preparing to do sothing they hate, but believed was necessary.
risa’s lips trembled.
For a mont, she didn’t speak.
She closed her mouth, pressed her lips together, then shut her eyes entirely. Just for a few seconds but those seconds stretched unbearably long.
When she opened them again, there was no hesitation left.
Only decision.
Her lips parted.
"H.. he actually.."
But before she could complete it.
"STOP IT."
Maria’s voice tore through the mont like a blade.
And suddenly
Everyone froze.
Maria was still standing to Sofia’s right, her head lowered bitting her lips slightly.. Looking not with fear, but with sothing sharper. Anger and Pain.
risa stopped mid-sentence.
The words she had been about to speak vanished into silence.
Slowly, risa turned her head.
Her gaze shifted from Sofia... to Maria.
"What?" risa asked calmly.
Her eyes were unreadable again, but the air around her seed to tighten.
"You have sothing to say?"
Sofia turned sharply toward Maria, shock flashing across her face.
Maria didn’t look up.
"Stop it," Maria said again, her voice lower now, strained. "Don’t say it."
The words sounded more like an order then like a plea.
risa studied her.
For a mont, it seed as if she might speak again, might push through despite Maria’s interruption. But sothing stopped her.
She looked back at Maria fully now.
Sofia stared between the two won, her confusion deepening, unease settling into her chest like a stone.
"What are you talking about?" Sofia asked, her voice tense. "Maria?"
Maria still didn’t lift her head.
"Don’t," she repeated quietly.
Maria still didn’t lift her head.
"Don’t," she repeated quietly.
The word ca out soft, almost fragile.. but there was sothing beneath it. Not weakness. Resolve. A thin, trembling resolve that had been forced out of fear rather than confidence.
Sofia paused.
She had heard Maria speak coldly, sharply, mockingly. She had seen her irritated, being annoying, sarcastic. She had seen her glare, argue and provoke her for no reasons even all that fucked up stuff. But she had never never.. seen Maria like this.
Her head lowered. Her shoulders stiff. Her voice restrained, as if one wrong breath would shatter sothing inside her.
This wasn’t arrogance.
This was fear.
And not the shallow kind.
It was the kind of fear that ca from knowing exactly how powerless you were.. and choosing to speak anyway.
Sofia’s gaze lingered on Maria longer than she realized. Sothing inside her shifted. Unease crept in, slow and heavy, settling in her chest.
Wanting to know what happened? And what she doesn’t want her to know?
risa remained silent for a few seconds.
Then she spoke.
"You are the daughter of the Grave family, correct?"
Her voice was still calm and even. Still stripped of emotion. But now, there was attention in it.. focused on her
Maria though didn’t answer.
Her head remained bowed, her eyes fixed on the water beneath them.
risa studied her.
"You’re clearly scared to even look at ," risa continued calmly. "You won’t even et my eyes, yet you’re trying to stop ?"
Her gaze stayed steady on Maria. She could see it clearly now.. if risa hadn’t restrained her.. As ristricting her to move her body down to her neck, Maria’s whole body would probably be trembling. And yet, she still dared to speak, as if ordering her to stop.
risa though didn’t get angry.
Maria still didn’t speak or raise her head.
"You know what I’m saying is necessary, right?" risa asked. "What he did... she has the right to know. Don’t you think so?"
Her eyes narrowed slightly. "Then why are you trying to stop ?"
"Yes, she should know," Maria suddenly said. Slowly, she lifted her head and looked back at risa. Her voice was still fearful.. obviously so. She was certain that risa could kill her in a single mont if she decided Maria didn’t need to exist anymore. And Maria also knew no one would be able to save her if that happened but still she continued. "But I don’t think it’s your right to tell her," she looked at her. "It’s his right to tell her about his past. Not yours."
risa went silent.
She only looked at Maria.
From Maria’s eyes alone, she could see everything the fear, the hesitation, the sheer effort it was taking for her to stand here and not break down. Maria was terrified. Completely aware of the danger she was in.
And still... she said it.
For several seconds, neither of them spoke. risa just calmly looked at her. Maria didn’t break eye contact either, even though her whole body was screaming at her to look away.
"And you believe he will?" risa asked calmly.
"No," Maria answered imdiately.
"And do you know why?" risa asked again.
Maria bit her lips. "Because he never admitted he did it," she said.
risa’s expression didn’t change. "Do you believe in that he didn’t?"
"I... I don’t believe it..." Maria replied straight, but suddenly she closed her eyes for a few seconds before opening them again. She took a light breath, finally gathering the courage to say what she had wanted to say for so long.
"But... I want to believe what he said. He said he never did it," Maria finally said, looking at risa calmly.
Razeal, who was still floating in one place, so distance away from her, couldn’t see her. He couldn’t even move his head but he definitely heard what she had just said.
She had said it, yet no expression appeared on his face. Though his pupils moved slightly. After all, this was the first ti the first ti ever soone had said sothing like this in front of him.
He didn’t even know what to feel about it... honestly.
"You don’t believe it... but you want to believe what he said?"
risa repeated Maria’s words slowly, as if tasting them. Her voice remained calm, almost detached, yet there was a subtle edge now an analytical sharpness, like a blade held close to skin but not yet drawn.
She shook her head faintly, deep violet hair drifting with the movent in the still water.
"Do you even understand what you’re saying?" risa continued, her eyes steady on Maria."Your first statent is clear. You believe he did it. That belief is firm. But what cos next..." She paused, her gaze shifting briefly.. just briefly toward Razeal before returning to Maria. "That sounds like sothing else entirely."
"It sounds like half-belief," risa said. "Or perhaps a belief you are forcing yourself to hold. Sothing you are saying because you want him to hear it?"
"No, it’s not that," she said, her voice low but imdiate. "It’s just... he said he didn’t."
risa’s eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly.
"You just said you believe he did it," risa replied, her words precise. "You cannot hold both as truth at sa ti."
Maria’s jaw tightened.
"I want to believe him," she said again, this ti with more force, as if pushing the words through sothing heavy in her chest. "I’ve been on his side for a while now. I’ve watched him.. Closely."
Her head lifted a fraction more, eyes no longer avoiding risa’s gaze.
"I’ve seen what kind of person he is."
She inhaled, then spoke.. no hesitation now, no softness.
"He’s arrogant. Prideful. Stupid at tis. Brainless, Cruel, Heartless, Mannerless." Her voice didn’t shake. It sharpened. "He’s calculating, Narcissistic, Toxic.. Exploitative."
Sofia’s brows knit together, confusion deepening as she looked from Maria to Razeal, then back to risa, struggling to grasp what was unfolding.
Maria continued.
"He doesn’t care about himself. About his pain. His suffering. He treats his own life like sothing disposable." Her lips pressed together briefly before she went on. "He’s barbaric. He never shows people that he cares. He never admits it. He acts like he doesn’t feel anything..."
"As if he’s trying to make people stay away. As if he’s desperate to keep everyone at a distance. Like letting soone close would cost him sothing he can’t afford to lose."
"But that?" Her eyes hardened again as they locked back onto risa. "That thing you’re talking about? That cri? That act?"
She shook her head.
"He’s not that. He’s definitely not."
Her voice dropped, quieter now, but heavier.
"If he were... I would’ve seen it."
There was silence after that. A dense, suffocating pause.
risa watched her carefully, her expression unchanged, but sothing unreadable moved behind her eyes.
"Well," risa said at last, her voice calm, almost reflective, "I suppose I should be pleased."
"He built an image for himself convincing enough to make soone like you say this," risa went on. "To trust him.. even after judgnt was passed. Even after guilt was proven."
Her gaze drifted again to Razeal, restrained and silent, then back to Maria.
"If that is the case," risa said, "then perhaps my punishnt was not aningless after all."
Her tone did not soften.
"Painful as it was," she continued, "it seems to have shaped him. If nothing else, it created a version of him capable of inspiring this kind of loyalty."
Maria frowned at her words.
"No," she said suddenly. "I didn’t say i believe he’s guilty or not.. I won’t atleast not until I make sure myself."
The words cut through the tension, abrupt and resolute.
risa turned fully toward her now.
"So," risa asked calmly, "you do not trust the Imperial judgnt? Nor the Holy verdict?"
Maria didn’t answer.
At that, Maria said nothing. Even she wasn’t sure what she truly wanted. She herself was tangled in confusion.
"Sigh... He finally seems to be moving on. After everything trying to change himself. Let him be. Just stop interferinggg."
"Like Stop destroying his life even more, or trying to drag him back to the sa mistake he already made. You’re doing nothing good here... just ruining your own son’s life, which is already in shambles."
Maria finally spoke, biting her lips lightly.
risa didn’t respond, only looked at her quietly.
Then she spoke again
"So you are trying to stop ," she said. "From doing what is right."
She gestured faintly toward Sofia.
"She has every right to know. And as a woman, I think even you understand that. What I’m doing is the right thing."
Maria lowered her head again.
She didn’t argue or deny it.
Because she had thought the sa thing.. countless tis during their journey. She had considered telling Sofia herself. Warn her... just to remind Sofia of what kind of person he truly was.
risa watched her silence and nodded faintly, as if reaching a conclusion.
She shifted her gaze back to Sofia, clearly preparing to continue. As about to ignore maria completely.
But just then
Maria spoke again.
"What is more important to you?" Maria said, her voice trembling but firm. "Right or wrong... or your son’s life? Let’s say.. even if he did it? it was just a mistake. So stop it already. He didn’t even do it. And even if he did, he already received his punishnt. How much more do you want to torture him? Just let him live his life. He has the right to live too. No one gives you the right to punish him again after he’s already suffered for what he’s done. What’s the point if you keep doing this anyways? Just trying to belittle him or sothing? Punishing him for sa mistake for whole life?"
Her words started coming faster now, like she was afraid if she stopped, she wouldn’t be able to continue.
"Like what’s eve the point... if you keep doing it again and again? Now trying to humiliate him and destroy his whole image in front of.. Soone he just married? Its not even one day. Like this is just over the limits."
Maria’s voice slowly lowered, suppressed by emotion. "Just forgive him already... He doesn’t deserve this much."
Her head stayed down.
risa heard her words.
She didn’t interrupt or showed any reaction.
She just simplystood there.
Calm, Still and still Unmoved.
No one said anything after that either.
Silence spread between them thick, suffocating, heavy enough that even breathing felt loud. The water around them felt still, frozen, like even the ocean itself was waiting.
Seeing the silence stretch on, Maria slowly raised her head, confusion flickering through her eyes.
What happened?
But just as her chin lifted
"I’ll choose right or wrong over my son’s life."
risa’s voice suddenly cut through the silence cleanly, coldly.
Maria froze mid-motion.
"A wrong and disgusting kind of son would only hurt and dirty people around him," risa continued, her tone steady, emotionless. "That kind of existence has no value.. Better be dead."
Even Razeal froze.
He was already restrained, already unable to move, but those words locked sothing deeper inside him. He wasn’t even able to react outwardly.
He just smiled internally.
Of course. What’s new?
Mother talking about killing her son? What’s new to him anyway?
His crimson eyes dimd slightly.. Like sothing that had already been dead for a long ti was confird again.
Even Sofia stood stunned.
Her mouth parted slightly as she stared at risa, disbelief written clearly across her face. She couldn’t understand how soone could speak about their own child like that ..so easily, so cleanly and calmly.
"You an it?" Maria suddenly lifted her head fully now, shock flashing through her eyes as she looked up at risa.
There was no hesitation.
No wavering not even any guilty expressions.
"I did," risa admitted plainly.
Maria’s chest tightened painfully.
She looked at risa, then instinctively toward Razeal.. restrained, silent.. who was forced to hear every word.
Her throat burned.
She couldn’t understand how soone could say things like this knowing their child was standing right there, hearing it all.
She felt sad... Deeply, unbearably sad.
And there was nothing she could say to fix that.
"I don’t know what he did," Sofia suddenly spoke, her voice cautious but firm, disbelief still evident in her expression not able to beleive she would say sothing like this. "But from you both of your conversation... he’s gotten better, hasn’t he?"
She looked between risa and Razeal.
"Have you forgiven him now?" she asked.
risa didn’t hesitate.
"I haven’t," she said. "And I won’t."
Her voice grew colder.
"At least not until he cos in front of , admits that he did wrong, and apologizes."
Sofia went quiet.
She didn’t know what to say. Didn’t know how to respond to that level of cold resolve.
Then risa turned her gaze slowly toward Maria.
"Did you forgive him?" she asked calmly. "If he really did it."
The question hung heavy in the air.
Maria paused.
Her lips parted, then closed again. Her expression wavered for a mont uncertainty, pain, conflict flashing across her face. Then she forced a small smile, one that didn’t reach her eyes.
She shook her head lightly.
"I did," Maria said.
Her voice trembled, but she continued anyway.
"I think he deserves at least that much," she said quietly. "At least he should be given a chance."
She inhaled shakily.
"After all, he was just a kid," Maria added. "And he already received punishnt... equal to it."
She hesitated.
"Or maybe far greater than it."
Her voice cracked slightly at the end.
"I... I forgive him," she said, stuttering just a bit.. but she said it.
And this ti, she didn’t look away
And suddenly everyone went silent.
The silence wasn’t calm.
Obviously Sofia didn’t know what they were talking about. She could sense it.. that sothing important had just been said but the words didn’t connect to her. The tension did. The weight did. The way everyone suddenly froze did. But the aning stayed just out of reach.
Others knew.. At least everyone except her... and Yograj. So could understand the heavyness of Maria’s words
Levy and Aurora stood there, stunned in their places.
Shock wasn’t even the right word for what crossed their faces. It was disbelief mixed with sothing closer to rejection. Even they ..in any way couldn’t bring themselves to say yes so easyly.. Or even plain or forced yes. Not after what Razeal had done atleast. Not after what they knew. Their throats felt tight, their chests heavy, like the answer had been forced out of Maria against all odds.
They didn’t move.
Didn’t speak.. just stared.
While Razeal floated there silently.
No expression changed on his face. None at all. His eyes stayed forward, unfocused, as if staring through space rather than at it. His body was restrained, his limbs locked, his posture frozen.. but even beyond that, nothing in him shifted outwardly.
Still... hearing the words "I forgive him" felt strange.
He didn’t know how to describe it. He felt weird even though he didn’t do it.. He didn’t even know if it mattered.
It wasn’t relief..not comfort not even gratitude.
It was just... sothing.
Sothing heavy and unfamiliar pressed sowhere deep inside his chest. Sothing he hadn’t felt in so long that he couldn’t even recognize it properly. It didn’t warm him. It didn’t soften him. It just existed.. quietly, awkwardly like a foreign object lodged inside him.
And even though he didn’t react, even though his face didn’t change, he wanted to turn his head.
Just once.
He wanted to look toward Maria. He wanted to see what expression she wore when she said those words. He wanted to understand why she said them. What kind of resolve it took. What kind of pain. What kind of stupidity or kind of courage.
But his body didn’t obey.
His neck didn’t move.
His eyes couldn’t shift.
His restraint made even that impossible.
But risa definitely didn’t appreciate those words.
As she simply shook her head slow, deliberate and fully disappointed.
"I am disappointed," she said calmly. "Maria Grave."
The na alone landed like a strike.
"You are his daughter, right?"
Maria’s eyes, which had gathered every ounce of strength just monts ago, froze completely.
Shock ripped through her expression.
Her pupils widened breath caught and body going rigid.
That single question shattered whatever resolve she had forced together.
Without saying a word, her head dropped.
Not slowly.
Not hesitantly.
It fell as if gravity itself had suddenly increased, dragging her down with sha. She didn’t even try to look up. Didn’t dare.
risa continued.
"From everyone... you were the one to say those words?" Her voice remained level, emotionless, but the disappointnt underneath it was unmistakable. "You should be ashad."
Maria’s shoulders tightened.
"I think your mother would also be ashad of you," risa added, her words cutting cleanly, precisely. "If she heard what you just said. After everything."
Maria’s fingers twitched slightly.
"And I thought you.." risa stopped herself.
She didn’t finish the sentence.
She didn’t need to.
The silence after those words was heavier than anything spoken.
She shook her head once more, dismissively, as if there was no point continuing.
The more risa spoke, the lower Maria’s head dropped.
Her chin nearly touched her chest now. Her breathing grew uneven, shallow. Her lips pressed together tightly, trembling despite her effort to control them.
Her face started to shake.
Just enough to betray what she was holding back.
If her body hadn’t been restrained, she wouldn’t have been able to stand. That much was obvious. Her knees would have buckled. Her shoulders would have collapsed inward. The weight of those words was too much for her.
Then tears broke free.
Thin, quiet streaks slid down her cheeks, catching the light as they fell.. Just floating in water around.
And they just kept coming.
risa saw it.
She looked at Maria.. really looked at her taking in the trembling shoulders, the bowed head, the silent tears.
And she said nothing.
No comfortno apology.. Not even any regret.
She simply shook her head again and turned her gaze away, as if what she saw only confird what she already believed.
----
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