Chapter 89: Chapter 89

Inside his Soul, Eris waited.

She sat on Her couch, before the same hearth.

The projection position didn’t change as well.

Only She seemed to be different.

Around Her, the entire world shifted in rhythm with Xenos’s steps.

Or perhaps it shifted with each thump of what would’ve been Her heart.

Again, She could see through him literally and otherwise, and right now, She didn’t know what She was supposed to feel. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novel⟡fire.net

Her tone was too soft.

Through the projection, She saw him moving across the city, humming, his cloak trailing while he played with a pouch filled with coins that jingled from his "honest business" and "entrepreneurship."

He looked as he always did—foolish, brilliant, infuriatingly mortal—but to her eyes, that felt... bad.

She didn’t know what else to say to describe how She felt about his "marriage" move.

Her heart felt... constricted, but She still didn’t know why.

A strange ache that didn’t belong to Gods.

Eris raised a hand to Her chest and pressed lightly over where Her heart should’ve been, though she hadn’t felt it beat in epochs... and yet, it hurt; it hurt really damned bad.

Was it because he was going to get close to another woman?

Gaia? Why only her? Why didn’t she feel the same with Deianira?

She didn’t know, Her power, Her very Divinity, was meant to overwhelm all emotion other than a certain few belonging to said Divinity, to prune and purify until only essence remained.

Yet this mortal had become a crack in Her perfection, something on which Her obsessive self could latch.

Through him, She felt emotions so strong that again, they came through Her shield—irritation, laughter, warmth, and now this strange, infuriating ache.

Indeed, only now, with him, was She able to think of such things...

Only now, and somehow, in Her eyes, that was, again, far from a good thing.

Eris hated it. And hated even more that She didn’t want it to stop.

Yes, She knew that Xenos was only doing this for the land.

She knew that he never thought of anything beyond that, but still...

It almost felt like it wasn’t just going to be the two of them anymore.

Perhaps that was something She had grown attached to since the two-plus weeks She had met him, something that She didn’t want to ever change.

’...am I afraid to be alone again?’

Through the shimmer of his Soul’s window, the image expanded.

Xenos now walked along the cobblestone path that led to House Gift’s manor.

He, of course, didn’t rush; that was something he seldom did.

His every movement was measured, and his posture was neither proud nor humble, simply his, something that She found in almost everything he did.

And while he seemed carefree, humming along the path, She clearly saw his eyes scan everything: the gates, guards, and the materials of the walls, measuring where to strike if things went wrong.

One might not think he was on his way to propose.

Still, the manor he scanned was beautiful in that predictable, aristocratic way.

Tall white columns, gardens lined with beautiful flowers, and House Gift banners.

How ironic was their banner? A hand holding a lantern.

Eris only felt darkness from it.

She felt Her teeth ache to break something.

That was how She dealt with most of Her problems.

And yet, She couldn’t now, as that would only hinder Xenos.

So naturally, left with no outlet to relieve such frustrations...

"...why do you smile like that?"

Eris began to obsess even further.

He didn’t answer the question, of course, but She didn’t need him to. She already knew the reason; it was his little thrill, that quiet madness that always hummed in his mind. It was what made him so dangerous and so utterly his own.

But now that smile made Her feel annoyed as well.

Was he that happy to be ruining their duo?

To slowly push Her out?

In Her right mind, Eris would’ve never had such thoughts, but all this frustration and anger She felt had compounded into something dangerous, and if not released soon, She might just fully explode.

Xenos, none the wiser, reached the gate where two guards stepped forward, one tall and armored in white, the other smaller, holding a staff that glowed with Divinity.

It was obvious they were strong, at least of the Shepherd Class, but Xenos was far from intimidated, caring not for when they crossed their weapons before him.

He didn’t even look annoyed; he only tilted his head and waited.

Seconds later, the taller one grunted and led him through.

Eris’s projection shifted along with him as they walked through the long path lined with white rosebushes, where every petal shimmered, no doubt kept this bright by an irrigation spell.

Xenos admired their taste in decoration while walking through.

’The red ones remind me of your eyes.’

Almost instantly, Her cheeks went bright red.

Her ruby eyes trembled as She quickly fanned Her face.

And Her chest tightened, though this time, for an entirely different reason.

Yeah, that relief She needed? Xenos had provided it just like that.

Without even knowing it, he saved both his life and Hers.

A cycle that repeated many a time without his knowledge.

Xenos hummed back as the doors ahead of him opened.

They revealed a hall of ivory, too polished to be anything but pretentious.

At the end of it, a familiar man waited, the same blonde, long-bearded Noble She’d seen before through Xenos’s eyes.

Eris’s gaze darkened, Her blush disappearing.

Her Will rose just a fraction, enough to make the Soul around Her quake.

If She had a physical form and if She were there in the flesh, She would’ve erased that man from existence for even looking at Xenos in the way he now did.

But She wasn’t there... not yet.

"Ah, Lord Theodore~."

"It’s nice to see you again."

The blond Noble’s expression soured further.

"Be thankful I didn’t kick you out at the gate."

He didn’t even try to hide his disdain.

"What are you here for, you Daemon?"

That word made Eris’s fingers twitch.

But Xenos only scoffed and bowed slightly, in that mocking way he loved to pull off.

"I’m here to propose to your bastard."

Eris paused, and the projection flickered.

It had nearly failed from the sudden surge inside Her.

’...that really hurt.’

For the first time since Her birth, a Goddess found herself wishing She could feel less.