Teressa Hydronia

[You have awakened the Path: Corrupted Celestial] the system said, causing Theos' eyes to widen slightly.

'Corrupted Celestial, shouldn't my Path be that of the Fallen Angel?' Theos asked in confusion. According to his guess, it should be a Fallen Angel like the original Theos in the novel.

[Actually, a Corrupted Celestial is an evolution beyond a Fallen Angel, a Fallen Angel is a rank beyond the Supreme, but a Corrupted Celestial is a rank beyond the Supreme and the Fallen Angel] the System explained, causing Theos to go into shock.

Fortunately, the System continued its explanation. [You are not the original Theos, you are a new being based on Theos' body and much of Theos' soul. You also have negative mana, so your original path has been modified and improved. Thus your current path was born] the System explained, causing Theos to go into a state of contemplation.

'I have more potential now, I'm stronger, so I shouldn't complain… This is great news!' he concluded, quite satisfied.

No longer in doubt about his path, Theos began to observe his surroundings and witnessed all the destruction he had caused in the room.

"Ahem," Theos coughed and cleared his throat, turning his attention to Matheo, who had been silent the whole time.

"Relax, I'm Theos, or as everyone calls me, The Fallen," Theos explained casually, causing Matheo to nod with a smile.

"I see, that's a relief to know," the albino sighed in relief.

His father's words did not seem strange to Theos, for there were several records, albeit scarce, of the Paths corrupting and possessing their wearers, even from birth, thus initiating a catastrophe.

His father's concern was common, especially because of the unstable seal he had. "Let's go," Theos said, taking a step forward before he could go any further. The pressure of a greater force prevented him from moving.

"What now?" he said with deathly cold eyes, watching his father.

"Sorry, son, but in case you haven't noticed, the runic markings are still on your body. It's dangerous for you to come out now, even if you don't move," Matheo confessed, applying pressure with his mana so as not to provoke Theos to move.

The runic texts were still spinning all over Theos' body, from one place to another, randomly, aimlessly.

"So this is it," he muttered in confusion as he watched all the runic text move to his left side, specifically his heart, running down his entire left arm and part of his neck.

All of the runic text gradually turned to black letters until it finally disappeared, leaving only the runic text on his heart like a shapeless tattoo.

[¿?????????], the system notification came with question mark symbols that made Theo's frown, feeling a bad feeling inside.

'Something is wrong… And it's obvious what these texts are about,' he concluded, deciding in his heart to cut off the skin covering the entire runic symbol when he got home.

"It's all over," Matheo said, releasing the pressure on his son's body, causing Theos to move again, where he gave him a cold stare.

"Never do that without warning," he declared, ignoring all the cracks in the floor on his way to the exit and the entrance of the room.

"Kya!" before he touched the doorknob, a shout came from the other side.

The door burst open and from it a figure jumped out and embraced Theos. Because of the surprise, he was unable to keep his balance, so the figure and he fell to the floor in an embrace.

"My son, you have grown up very well," she said with a smile full of pride and happiness.

'Son?' knowing that he could not be his father, only one person was allowed to call him that? His mother, of course.

Theos studied the figure in front of him: a woman of great beauty, unfortunately the ravages of time and age had taken their toll. Wrinkles could be seen all over her face to the naked eye, but it is clear that in her youth her beauty was incomparable.

His mother was Teressa Hydronia. She was the daughter of the former king of the Kingdom of Hydronia and the sister of the current king, a former princess of the most powerful kingdom in the world, Zeifer.

"How are you, Mom?" he asked, trying to put on a half smile. Talking to his father was easy because they were similar, but talking to his mother was another matter.

"Is that how you talk to your mother after not seeing her all this time?" He pinched her cheeks and she scolded him like a mother scolds her children.

The truth was that she didn't see him as much as Matheo did.

She knew that there were few occasions when she had been present in her son's life other than during his childhood, so she wanted to make up for that lost time, but she could do nothing in the face of her son's natural indifference and coldness.

She knew this, so after scolding him, she immediately separated from him.

'Her attitude is tough and stubborn, but deep down, she's really afraid that I'll hate her and get angry with her,' Theos thought with a raised eyebrow at his doting mother's attitude.

"Don't worry, I wouldn't hate you," Theos said with a smile, unlike the forced smiles from before. This time it was a natural smile that made Teressa's eyes sparkle with joy.

'He smiled at me!' she exclaimed inwardly, her heart filled with happiness. Outwardly, however, she flashed a smile that said more than a thousand words.

"Hey, son, I heard you got a girlfriend," she said, causing Theos to stumble as he stood up.

"Where did you hear that?" he had no problem with his parents knowing about his relationship with Alice, but he felt uncomfortable knowing that they had heard about it from a third party.

"He told me Duke Sonne; he recognized you and told me as soon as he recovered." She continued, "He also told me that you were given a nickname at the banquet disaster. I think it was Blood Shadow," she said, touching her chin to try to remember.

"No, no, it's Red Hat," Matthew interjected as he tried to remember the nickname.

"Yeah, yeah, I think it's Red Hat too," they both smiled broadly.

It was a joke, it was obvious…

'I think I should cut off my blood relations' Theos thought with a twisted grimace.

~