Chapter 861 AN ENDLESS DREAM
"HAVE YOU calmed down, child?"
Neoma nodded after drinking the tea that Serafina made for her.
Right now, the two of them were having an afternoon tea under the huge tree in that place. Wherever it was.
"I'm calm now, Grandma," Neoma said politely. "Thank you for the tea."
After she had calmed down, her head cleared up a bit.
She thought the name 'Serafina' sounded familiar. That was when she remembered the young princess that she met when the Eternal Flame "rescued" her.
"Seraphine," Neoma said the name out loud. "Your name reminded me of that child's name, Grandma."
Serafina, who was still knitting, smiled. "All the Aethers are named Seraphine."
"Ah. Is that so? The child introduced herself as 'Seraphine de Moonasterio,' so I had no idea."
"Callisto de Luca killed that child even before she got her first period. She had lived longer as an Aether than a human. Hence, it wasn't a surprise that she had forgotten her own name."
To forget your own name…
[That's pretty sad.]
"Why do you let scumbags like Callisto de Luca live, Grandma?"
Neoma was born a princess and raised to be a perfect noble lady like Hanna Quinzel. Hence, she was strictly taught to only speak "pretty" words.
But during and after the war, she realized that swearing was quite refreshing.
"I summon people like you to end people like Callisto de Luca, child," Serafina explained. "However, there are also forces who want people like Callisto de Luca alive."
"But you govern the world."
"Only the human world, child," Serafina said, smiling sadly. "The gods that I helped bring to the world have already grown stronger than I am."
"You gave birth to the gods?"
"The World Tree, my physical body, was the one who gave gods their hearts."
Neoma nodded in understanding. "That's why the gods' Cores can be burned by the Eternal Flame."
"That's correct. After all, there's no tree in the world that the Eternal Flame can't burn down," Serafina agreed, nodding her head. "However, gods are called gods because of their divine power that makes them almost impossible to kill. If the gods in the Upper World didn't get heavily injured during the Ancient Period while trying to stop the Absolute Darkness, then you and Yoan wouldn't be able to hurt or kill them even with the help of the Eternal Flame."
That was something that she had heard from the gods that she had killed.
They all blamed it on their injuries and diseases that they got during the Ancient Period. Apparently, the gods had never healed properly from that time.
"I don't care if we only got lucky," Neoma said. "The gods I want dead are all dead now, and that's what all that matters."
"You received bad karma points for killing half the human world population and half of the gods from the Upper World."
"Bad karma points?"
"Those points determine whether you'll get punished in Hell or not."
"Ah. So, are you here to determine whether I'll be sent to Hell or not now that I'm dead?"
"Despite saving the world, killing gods has its consequences," Serafina said in a calm yet serious tone. "Your bad karma points are higher than your good karma points. Hence, you should have been punished to eternal damnation with no chances of getting reincarnated again."
Neoma sipped her tea again before speaking. "You mentioned earlier that you're here to reward me, Grandma. Why are you suddenly talking about my punishment?"
The old woman laughed softly. "I'm sorry, child. I got distracted for a moment. But, come to think of it, we need to talk about it anyway. After all, you'll get your reward because your bad karma points will be erased soon. Not all of them, but most."
"Why would my bad karma points get void?"
"Because you're about to be reborn unnaturally, Neoma de Moonasterio," Serafina said, smiling. "Yoan will turn back time for you."
Was she supposed to be happy after hearing that?
No.
She couldn't.
"That foolish, stubborn man," Neoma growled, clenching her hands tightly. "I told him not to make a deal with the cunning Ancient Devil!"
***
"THE DEAL is now sealed– I will turn back time for you and make it so the gods, save for the few, would lose their memories about the current timeline."
Yoan didn't doubt that the Ancient Devil had the power to turn back time.
But he didn't expect that the Ancient Devil had the power to erase the memories of the gods in the Upper World.
Perhaps he shouldn't have been surprised.
[After all, this is the person that not Neoma could kill easily.]
"Were you surprised by my powers? Well, I am, too," the Ancient Devil said, laughing. "I didn't expect that absorbing Trevor Kesser's body would make me more powerful and dangerous than I already am." He clutched his chest. "That child has an infinite power in him that could rival the gods'. It was a shame that he didn't have the will to reach his maximum potential."
Yoan wasn't surprised to hear that because he had always known Trevor Kesser had a power similar to the gods.
But Trevor Kesser had no passion or motivation.
The only time Trevor Kesser showed something similar to passion was when he confessed to Neoma. But Trevor Kesser threw a tantrum and disappeared after Neoma rejected him.
Trevor Kesser said he got bored, but he was probably just too hurt to stay with the group.
[I can imagine Trevor Kesser letting the Ancient Devil kill him just because he couldn't be bothered to fight back.]
"Ah, was I too harsh?" the Ancient Devil asked, grinning. "Neoma de Moonasterio tried to save that boy Trevor Kesser. You did, too, albeit it was clear you didn't care about the Sorcerer. I'm worried I've offended my precious client by speaking about what happened to Trevor Kesser."
"The only death I mourn is the death of Neoma and our child– I don't care about the rest."
The Ancient Devil laughed. "Yoan Solfrid, your feelings for Neoma de Moonasterio is really interesting. I've lived long enough to witness the birth of the first de Moonasterio in the world. But this is the first time I encountered a man who loved a female de Moonasterio as hard as you do."
"Haven't you met the late Saint Zavaroni?"
"Ah, yes. Dominic Zavaroni did love Nichole de Moonasterio, but he wasn't crazy enough to ask me to turn back time when his beloved died."
"Why would the SAINT ask for the devil's help?"
"Why would the DIVINE SON of Lord Levi ask for my help then?"
Touche.
"You're crazy, Yoan Solfrid– you and your feelings for Neoma de Moonasterio," the Ancient Devil said, laughing. "I can't wait to make them mine."
Yoan just scoffed. "It won't happen– only I am allowed to love Neoma the way I do."
***
"IT'S TOO late for you to stop Yoan since the deal has already been made."
Neoma frowned, unclenching her hands slowly. "Yoan never says the things I want to hear from him. And now he doesn't listen to me anymore."
"He loves you, child."
"I know, Grandma. But that doesn't mean I'm not allowed to be upset with him. In the end, we're just a normal couple."
"I'm not sure about you and Yoan being a 'normal' couple since normal couples don't destroy the world when they have a lovers' spat."
Neoma just drank her tea and avoided the old woman's teasing gaze.
"Child, you and Yoan have both used the Eternal Flame," Serafina said, changing the subject in a serious tone. "You know that using the Eternal Flame has a consequence?"
"Anyone who uses the power of the Eternal Flame has to seal a piece of their soul with it and act as a guardian until the new wielder comes to seek the power of the Eternal Flame," Neoma said, reciting the 'consequence' that the Eternal Flame had mentioned to her before. And now she was a bit confused. "Yoan will turn back time. So, do we still need to leave a piece of our souls with the Eternal Flame?"
"The Eternal Flame is one of the selected few who won't get their memories of this timeline erased," the old woman explained. "Hence, you and Yoan are still obliged to leave a piece of your soul with the Eternal Flame."
"But my soul will still regress?"
"That's right," Serafina confirmed while nodding. "But you will only remember half of your memories. Most parts related to you being a god and ending the world would be erased. It is to prevent the gods from realizing that time was reset for you."
Oh.
She couldn't wrap her head around it yet.
"Your piece of soul that will be left with the Eternal Flame will have your full consciousness, Neoma de Moonasterio," Serafina explained. "You will live with the Eternal Flame as if you were complete. But the Eternal Flame's domain isn't as big as the outer world. You might get bored, and you might get lonely. Will you be alright with that?"
"Grandma, I can live anywhere as long as I have my baby. And Yoan, too."
She didn't mean to make it sound like Yoan was just an afterthought.
It was just her baby was more important to her.
[I'm sorry, Yoan. I love you. But I'm yearning for my child.]
"Then I won't keep you here longer than I already had," Serafina said, then she held her hands and smiled sadly at her. "Neoma de Moonasterio, the world you'll live in with your child and Yoan may not be completely real. However, I still wish you all the happiness in the world."
"I'll take it, Grandma," Neoma said, smiling back at the old woman. "I'll take a piece of happiness no matter how small it is."
***
A BABY'S cry.
Neoma was woken up by a baby's loud cries.
When she opened her eyes, she was surprised when she found herself sitting on a rocking chair while holding a baby boy in her arms.
It only took her one gaze to fall in love with the baby.
[This baby is mine.]
Neoma gently and carefully hugged her child while holding back her tears. "Hush, baby," she whispered to the child. "Mommy is already here."
"Why is our little prince crying?"
Hmm?
She raised her head in surprise, then she smiled when she saw her man walking into the room with a dazzling smile on his face.
[What a beautiful dream.]
"Yoan, I'm a princess and a lady. I can't live with a man unrelated to me," Neoma said, teasing him. "Shall we get married first before living together?"
"Why do you always beat me to it?" Yoan complained, then he got down on one knee and held her hands tight. Then he kissed her knuckles before putting a beautiful ring on her finger. "Let's get married, Neoma."
***
NOTE: I posted the Royal Secret Alternate Universe novel here on Webnovel. Just search for Let's Not Divorce by sola_cola, or look for the story in my profile.
I'm grateful that there are two readers who subscribed to read the complete story on my Patreon page. Even so, my heart feels a little heavy that only two people got to read the story that I poured my heart and soul into writing. LOL. So, I decided to share it here on WN for the people who don't have access to Patreon. But, of course, there are parts that will only be available on my Patreon page.
It's already completed there, you may head to p atreon.com/sola_cola if you want to read the entire story in one sitting. Thank you. <3
***
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