26 'My Fated Lover' (1)
"...Can't I fucking have some privacy?"
⋘ The constellations laugh at your response. ⋙
"Tsk..." Matthew clicked his tongue.
He wouldn't expect these constellations to actually peep at him while he was taking a bath, however, he did not mind.
"Watch all you want..." Matthew sighed, and he simply continued washing his body.
Having experienced a fair number of women in his previous life, Matthew's body was seen by numerous girls.
And as a result, Matthew was not at all ashamed of his appearance; in fact, he felt rather pleased that they thought that his body looked nice.
"However, since both of you did indeed hear my 'monologue' from a while ago... how about it?"
⋘ The Goddess of Night exhales, "Well, you are quite mistaken. Erebus is not my husband; rather, he is a low-tier constellation; while he is my 'Brother', I would never have any relations with him." ⋙
⋘ The Goddess of Earth replies, "Oh my~~, how could you think that I had 'two or three guys on me'!? Reluctantly, this deity shall forgive you this once. According to what I have seen, you must have thought about the Ancient Mythology from your previous 'planet', which states that I did indeed have three consorts, which is obviously false. As the 'Mother of Earth', one of the three basic principles is 'purity.' Thus, I cannot lose my 'virginity' or 'purity' until I find my fated one." ⋙
"Fated one...?" Matthew's eyes furrowed as he remembered about the "string of fate" that had tortured his mental health quite a bit.
⋘ The Goddess of Night smiles, "Do not worry, my child. That so-called 'string of fate' is a mere facade. Well... not really, since it supposingly links the souls of two 'fated lovers', however, the 'real' effects are really unknown to even us. But what I know is that this 'string of fate' was created by the 'Goddess of Fate', and she was one of the most powerful Goddesses before... now, she must be sealed and will be waking up at any moment... so we can't really gather too much information about it. ⋙
"I see... What about the side effects of breaking it? Just like I did?" Matthew pondered another question.
⋘ The Goddess of Earth smiles with concern, "About that... Since the like between the two 'fated lovers' will be broken, there are only two side effects." Death, or a severe blow to the soul of the person who had the 'string of fate' broken, in other words, Lilian. That kind of hit is quite profound, especially since it's on the soul, so Lilian must have gotten a few mental issues due to the lack of 'Soul Energy' but since she is a S-Rank Hunter, her soul should be slowly healing itself, so it's not permanent damage. ⋙
"Mental issues... but, she seems completely fine, though...?" Matthew mumbled to himself, after all, he didn't find Lilian's actions strange.
If anything, she had just a bit of a bipolar nature, but that's quite reasonable when it comes to women.
They're like a ticking bomb that can stop or explode at any moment.
"Whatever... it's not like I'd have any relationship with her... after all, it feels like she's bisexual or something."
With a faint sigh, Matthew stopped thinking and continued washing the remaining part of his body, which he still did not wash.
⋘ The constellations still wish to see your "White Dragon" ascending and releasing its mighty white flames. ⋙
"...Alright... now it feels quite weird..."
—
Getting out of his room, Matthew's thoughts remained on the 'side effects' of the broken 'string of fate', he really couldn't help but have a bad feeling over it.
Being naturally cautious, he couldn't simply dismiss it.
"I should simply stop overthinking about it... I don't know how many times I've ever thought about it." He furrowed his eyebrows, trying to shake off the uneasy feeling that lingered within him.
He walked down the halls of the Hero Association and looked around, since he had almost never left his room.
"Mhm... it's already 11 PM... Did I just sleep eleven hours?" Matthew flinched in shock.
Because his room had automatic lights, he couldn't see if it was already night or not, so he was quite shocked by this.
However, as he continued down the halls, an odd sensation gripped him.
It felt like he was walking in circles...
"Mhm..." To confirm his thoughts, Matthew raised a faint vine on the ground and continued walking in a straight line.
After a few minutes, his eyes widened as he noticed the familiar green vine beneath his feet, validating his suspicions.
Rustle...
"What is this about?" Matthew concentrated mana in his eyes, hoping to discern an anomaly like an unusual mana flow.
To his surprise, however, he found nothing out of the ordinary.
"Weird..." He looked around.
"Activate 'All-Rounder'..." He muttered to himself.
This time, Matthew immediately noticed what was wrong. He was actually inside a 7th-circle illusion magic!
'The fuck... who would want to trap me?...Stella.'
Fizzle!
Immediately, a violet flame appeared on the palm of his hand, and Matthew directly threw it at the eye of the magic.
Slowly, the high-grade magic stone that was being used to support the magic dissipated into wisps, and as the illusion shattered, a figure slowly appeared in Matthew's eyes.
"A-ah... t-t-that... how d-did you..!?" The figure stammered.
"..."
Hearing her words, Matthew simply approached the figure and silently raised her chin with his index finger, looking directly into her eyes.
"...Stella, why the fuck are you so annoying? Tell me... I know that you deeply hate me, but surely, you wouldn't go to such lengths to take 'care' of me, would you?"
Biting her lip, Stella averted away from his gaze, and slowly... Matthew saw a faint layer of mana covering her body.
Bam!
Before he could react, a sudden burst of energy exploded from Stella, propelling Matthew backward several meters.
Surprisingly, he emerged unscathed, cleaning out the 'dust' from his shoulders as he looked at Stella.
"W-why? Y-you are asking me, w-why!?" Stella's pupils dilated as she suddenly started laughing madly.
Although she wasn't using mana, Matthew could feel an extreme amount of killing intent coming towards him.
Stella's composure shattered, and from her parted lips, a torrent of words came out while tears continuously flowed down her face.
"It's because of you! Everything was fine until you showed up! Lilian... she's everything to me. I can't stand the thought of her looking at anyone else! Before, Lilian would act 'normal' with everyone, but now... her expressions change a lot when it comes to YOU!"
"And just to prove my point, yesterday, I saw her smile... that deep, genuine smile as she listened to you destroy Ronald's project. Do you know HOW MUCH I WANTED HER TO SMILE LIKE THAT TO ME!?"
Sweep! THRUMM!
Continuous waves of mana came out of her body, and slowly another barrier emerged around them.
"Ahahahah... Hahahaah... HAHAHAHAHAH!" Stella's mad laughter resounded through the whole barrier.
"Haaaaaah~... By now, you must have thought that I'm crazy, right? I mean... I, myself, know that I'm deeply obsessed with Lilian. But, you wouldn't understand these feelings."
"Do you know how it feels to be on your last moments before you actually die? And then, a silent hand reaches out to you with a face of angel, rising you up again? At that moment, I exactly knew who she was. She was my 'Fated Lover' and the one I'll always LOVE. YOU CAN UNDERSTAND THAT, RIGHT!?"
"..."
"Ahhh... Of course you wouldn't understand... Nobody CAN NOR WILL!" She exclaimed, her voice tinged with desperation as she clutched her face tightly, her fingers digging into her skin.
Her laughter turned into a hollow, mocking sound, reverberating off the barrier as she grappled with her emotions.
Matthew remained motionless as he watched Stella fall apart, but suddenly, his lips slowly parted in a manner that sent shivers down the spine of anyone witnessing it.
"Then..."
"Do you know how it feels to lose your 'Fated Lover'?"
His voice, once alive with emotion, now turned cold and devoid of feeling.
The vitality that once sparkled in his eyes faded, leaving behind an emptiness that seemed to consume everything.
Even the vibrant red spades symbol that adorned his eyes vanished, replaced by an abyss-colored gaze that pierced through the very essence of one's soul.
