Zach and on his way to drop Zoe off at her school.
Zoe was walking with her gab's straps in her hand, and Zach was walking while using his phone.
Zoe shot a glance at Zach from the corner of her eyes and said, "Is it true that you got a girlfriend?"
"…!" Zach moved his gaze from his phone's gaze and turned to Zoe. He looked at her with a puzzled look on his face and asked, "How did you know? Who told you?"
"I saw you walking together with a girl. She had the same uniform as you, so I assumed she might have gotten a girlfriend…" Zoe replied.
"That's a weird assumption to make, not going to lie," Zach remarked.
"You always come home together with Kayden, so it was surprising to see you with a girl." After a brief pause, Zoe continued, "But you two weren't going in the direction of home. You were going somewhere else."
'I was going to her house to do the deed,' Zach uttered inwardly.
"So? Was she your girlfriend?" Zoe asked again.
"Yeah." Zach nodded and said, "Her name is Victoria."
"That's a royalty-like name…" Zoe muttered.
A few seconds later, Zoe immediately asked, "Have you two kissed yet?"
Zach smacked Zoe on the head without answering her question and said, "It's too early for you to talk about these things."
"It is not!" Zoe retorted. "How old do you think I am?"
"Umm… 9? 10?"
"I am 11!" Zoe declared.
"Same thing. It doesn't make much of a difference when you look at it from my perspective," Zach stated.
"Come on. I am just curious!" Zoe insisted. "It's still hard to believe that you got a girlfriend since you always avoid romance in your life."
SIGH!
Zach sighed, knowing well that he wouldn't be able to win against Zoe. He could stay quiet and not answer her question, but she would keep bugging him if he didn't answer.
"No, we haven't…" Zach replied in a low voice.
After hearing that, Zoe scoffed softly and said, "I knew it!"
"…."
'But we have had sex, though…' he added inwardly.
Zoe then turned to Zach and said, "I will marry you when I grow up."
Zach smacked on Zoe's head yet again and said, "Do you even know what that means?"
"I know. And I am ready to marry you!" Zoe announced.
"We are brother and sister. But putting that aside." Zach scoffed and said, "You are going to forget all these conversations when you grow up."
"I won't~" Zoe raised her brows repeatedly with a smug look on her face and said, "Did you forget I have the intelligence of 200 years old?"
"Right…" Zach scoffed wryly and uttered, "unlike me, you awaken your soul powers at the age of 2."
"I didn't mean to—"
"It's fine. I am not really bothered by it. I am just sad… or rather… disappointed that father wasn't there for you to see your growth. Furthermore, I bet he would have been proud, unlike with me, who still hasn't awaked his soul powers," Zach uttered in a disdainful tone.
"That's not true. Why do you say this?!" Zoe retorted. "The reason I am what I am today is that you trained me, brother. Everything that has happened to you so far has been for good. I am sure you will awaken your powers sooner or later."
"You know Zoe…" Zach patted Zoe's head and said, "Currently, you are the strongest person in this realm."
"I know…" Zoe nodded. "Grandmaster told me about it…"
"Do you know what that means?" Zach asked in a calm voice.
"What…?" Zoe wondered with a confused look on her face.
"When you are strong, everyone expects you to save them, to protect them. They wouldn't request your help, they would demand it." Zach furrowed his brows and uttered, "The strongest saves everyone, but who saves the strongest? The answer is no one. I truly wished from the bottom of my heart that you hadn't awakened your power. At least, you would have got to spend your life like a normal girl. "
"Father was the strongest… and he had his allies helping him when he…"
"You were barely one year old at that time. Yet, you remember everything…" Zach commented.
Zoe frowned her face, not in anger, but in frustration.
"What's with that face…?"
"If you don't want me to be used by the world, then protect me. If the strongest saves everyone, then 'you' become the strongest and save me," she asserted in a solemn voice.
"That's one way to give me an incentive to start my training again…" Zach scoffed with a sigh.
A few minutes later, they finally reached Zoe's school.
"Say, Zoe. You don't use your powers in the open, right?" Zach asked Zoe in a low voice.
Zoe shook her head and said, "Mother has warned me to not use them without her permission, or unless it's a serious emergency."
"Good. You are already mature enough, so I don't have to say anything else. But be careful."
Zach then went to his school and entered his classroom.
"Yo, bro! You are late than usual!" Kayden greeted Zach.
"Still earlier than shay, though," Zach scoffed out loud.
Zach glanced at Victoria's seat, but it was empty.
"Today is the third day…" Zach muttered. 'Mother said she is cured, so why isn't she coming to school?'
Victoria was suffering from pain after having sex with Zach for the first time.
–
.
Meanwhile, somewhere far away on the other side of the planet.
In the Edens Dynasty.
An ivory-haired girl with green eyes was looking up at the sky from the window of a palace.
She reached her hand to the sky and tried to grab the moon, but of course, she couldn't.
A few seconds later, a maid entered her room and said, "Princess Aurora, it's late. You should sleep."
"Drop the 'princess', Milo." Aurora turned to Milo and said, "I have already told you that there is no need to talk formally with me when we are alone."
Milo was 20 years old, and she was from the maid family who had been serving the Edens for generations.
Aurora sat on her bed and gazed out of the window.
"You truly like to watch the stars, eh?" Milo asked with a smile on her face.
"It's a beautiful world, yet, it's going to be destroyed in a few decades…" Aurora uttered in a disdainful tone.
Since the Edens Dynasty was the biggest kingdom on the planet, and it ruled on the monarchy, they had major problems that didn't have any solution.
The world they lived in was going to be destroyed in 50 years, and they would have to move to another habitable planet. But that would mean the King would have to lose his powers and authorities and live under someone else's rule— the intergalactic democracy.
While the king was trying to evacuate as many citizens as he could on a weekly basis, as he didn't want his kingdom to suffer because of his selfishness.
Milo patted Aurora on the head and said, "Everything will be alright."
"I wonder…"
Milo tried to change the topic, so she mentioned: "You are close to turning 18."
"Yeah…"
"You might soon be wedded to someone…"
"Yeah…"
"What type of person do you want to marry?" Milo asked curiously.
"I want my love story to be like a fairy tale. Something sweet and heartwarming. I want to love a person who loves me for not my beauty, wealth, but I want him to love me for who I am," Aurora uttered with a distant smile on her face.
"That's indeed a very fairytale-like…"
"I want to watch the stars together with him. I want to watch the world with him. I wonder if this dream of mine will ever get fulfilled, but I hope I meet the person I can love."
"Heh…" Milo laughed out loud and looked at Aurora with a grin on her face.
Aurora puffed her cheeks and said, "What's so funny!"
"I thought you would have a more mature dream. But you sound like a 10-year-old girl who recently learned about love," Milo commented.
Aurora covered herself under the blanket and said, "I hate you!"
Milo stroked Aurora's head from over the blanket and uttered, "I hope your dream comes true."
===
Author's Note- This chapter hit me hard, but I wanted to write it to show how they lived their lives before the Gods' Impact. I suggest everyone to re-read the chapter where Aurora was introduced. Chapter 18 and 19, and pay attention to Aurora's and Zach's conversation, it would make more sense, and it will feel related.
The next chapter will be of the present time that would reveal the reason behind the sudden increase in the new players count over the past few days.