Chapter 96: Chapter 96

Sitting in the quiet backyard of a Hieron station, beneath the warm light of the morning day, were Xenos and Gaia.

The station’s marble walls caught a faint gold tint from the sun, giving the whole place this calm glow. It would’ve been a perfect romantic moment... if not for the fog.

Because yes, before them sat a figure shrouded in black fog, only a pair of glowing crimson eyes visible through the haze.

Xenos casually pointed at it with his thumb.

Gaia blinked a few times, processing that bombshell.

He nodded, absolutely serious.

"The Goddess Herself."

"...what? I... Eris?"

Yes, indeed, it was Eris.

The fog moved, and a hand-like form waved at her.

Xenos added while gesturing at Her.

Gaia, meanwhile, remained stiff, her mind blank.

A Goddess sat before her, an actual damned GODDESS.

To reinstate, this was not metaphorical or symbolic, but LITERAL.

And Xenos was acting like it was some casual introduction.

"I... I... why is She...?"

Her words fumbled over each other.

"Yes, yes, indeed, it’s Eris."

Yet he repeated the same thing.

Just how was Xenos taking this so casually?

And Gaia had only just woken up!

What was even going on?!

Though, after a few minutes of staring with wide and unblinking eyes...

Gaia didn’t say any of that; she couldn’t, and so instead, she finally gave the weakest, most awkward wave in history.

Xenos burst out laughing.

He couldn’t help it; her panic, her wide eyes, the little tremor in her hand, it was all too good.

A Goddess in fog, a wife still in disbelief, and him just sitting there, enjoying the show.

Gaia puffed her cheeks, embarrassed and scared in equal measure.

"This isn’t funny! She’s a Goddess!"

"Which is what makes it funny."

Eris’s eyes glowed faintly red through the mist, but he pretended not to notice.

He leaned back lazily against the ground.

"While you might’ve kneeled to Gaia Herself, ironically being named Gaia yourself, only to witness one of Her Friends Of God..."

Something that could not happen unless that Goddess was dead in the mortal sense, because a person couldn’t be named after a God if that God was still alive like Eris was.

"I saw Goddess Eris Herself, and She saw me. Since that day, we’ve remained together . I talk to Her, but I can’t have you do the same. You’d die."

Gaia looked down, unable to process this all... Googlᴇ search novel⚑fire.net

’Die? What kind of introduction is that?’

While Eris complained, annoyed at how scary he made Her seem.

Xenos casually shrugged.

’And don’t forget, we Calamity are "scary."’

They continued to exchange words as Gaia stared at him, speechless.

This was her husband. Her insane, Goddess-talking husband.

"But... but how do you—no."

She shook her head, finding that question useless.

"Why are you telling me this?"

Xenos tilted his head.

"Hm? Why? Rather, why shouldn’t I?"

Gaia frowned a little.

"I-Isn’t that how it usually goes? I’ve read in most... r-romance novels that the husband usually hides such big secrets from the wife, and now... now in the Academy, I’ve heard my friends complain when t-things like that are revealed... calling it stupid."

Xenos couldn’t help but chuckle at what she found weird and how she did.

"Oh, don’t worry. I’m still hiding plenty from you."

Gaia, the apparent book nerd, twitched but said nothing.

"I just thought you should know about Eris. I can’t have my wife not know about my eternal partner. Our House literally bears Her name, after all."

Gaia stiffened up a little, as did the fog.

The air grew still for a reason Xenos didn’t notice.

Even when it was pointed out to him.

Xenos nodded, utterly oblivious...

"Yeah. She lives in my Soul, after all."

And only made it worse.

Realization dawned in Gaia’s eyes.

Her whole face went crimson in a second.

"D-D-Does that mean She saw what we did yesterday?!"

Something that he realized too late.

He blinked a few times.

Quickly waving his hand, he ’quickly’ fixed the misunderstanding.

"No, no, She averts Her eyes during my private moments."

Good thing he was quick with it; otherwise Gaia would’ve exploded then and there, her face brighter than even yesterday, a flash red tomato, winning the brightest one in all realms.

Thankfully, Eris waved Her hands as well, confirming Xenos’s words.

Gaia mumbled, trying not to die from embarrassment.

That had only calmed her down a little, but it was enough.

Enough for them to quickly move on before Xenos dug himself a deeper hole.

"Good. Now that that’s cleared up—"

Eris’s sarcastic voice teased faintly in his head.

He sighed and looked up.

’Can I get back to fighting already?’

After that, and a long list of explanations and even longer re-explanations, a rather improvised ceremony took place.

What should’ve been a three-day, three-part ordeal became a single afternoon, rushed and clumsy but surprisingly beautiful in its simplicity.

The guests were few, only Gaia’s side: her father, his people, her guards, and Medea.

House Kharon, though a direct participant in this union, at least on paper, was, of course, nowhere to be seen, leaving Xenos’s side of the celebrations empty, something he was quite used to, a man forever titled Stranger.

Her father tried to stand tall in the ceremony, perhaps to act the part of his father-in-law, but whenever Xenos stepped next to him, he was made to look like a dwarf, further embarrassing himself before House Gift.

Medea, on the other hand, stuck to openly glaring.

Whether that was because of her loss or what happened after, Xenos didn’t care to find out.

The ceremony was held in the same garden of colorful rosebushes he admired on the night of his proposal, where, Theodore seemingly admitting defeat, began with a slow nod toward Xenos.

"I don’t approve of short ceremonies, but my daughter seems... happy."

Xenos bowed a little, playing along.

"That’s usually a good sign."

The man’s brow twitched while Medea’s eyes narrowed even further.

Before things could escalate, Gaia stepped in quickly, smiling awkwardly between the two.

"Let’s not make this another duel, please."

Gaia pinched Xenos’s arm immediately.

He didn’t flinch but rather focused on rubbing it on Medea’s face while he had the chance.

It was like a children’s playground instead of a wedding, and the visiting Elder from Hieron gave up on trying to make it professional.

Xenos had enough romance for a while, so he kept their vows short, though still a bit poetic, wanting this to be a memorable day for Gaia, making the "blessings" from that fat Elder shorter, and before long, the ceremony ended with a light shimmer from a projection of three chains forming above their joined hands.

Husband and wife... just like that.

Afterward, they stood by the platform steps as everyone began to leave.

Theodore offered one last nod, Medea shot one last glare, and Xenos responded to both with a cheerful wave.

When they were finally alone, Gaia turned to him, her eyes soft but uncertain.

"So you’re saying... we’ll only meet again when the Academy hosts another game?"

Xenos nodded, adjusting his cloak.

"Yes, it’s not ideal for a married couple, I know. But we both have our own paths, don’t we?"

Gaia hesitated before smiling slowly.

She then stepped closer and wrapped her arms around him.

He hugged her back, his usual bluntness melting into something almost gentle.

A few quiet tears ran down her cheeks.

"This past day... was the best of my entire life."

Xenos brought her closer, resting his chin on her head.

"Good. I had a great time too."

They stayed like that, enjoying each other’s warmth, until eventually letting go.

"And... be careful where you’re going."

Xenos’s smile softened.

He tilted his head up slightly.

Gaia blinked, giggled, and waved at Her.

"Tell Her I said goodbye too."

And Xenos felt Eris do the same, making this quite a funny scene.

For a second, everything felt strangely normal, but just then...

Xenos turned around and began walking toward the gates.

If he stayed any longer, he might be barred from leaving.

’Where to, my eternal partner?’

Ignoring that last part, he cracked his neck.