What?
He told them the truth!
He actually told them fucking everything!!
Only the truth!
What more could anyone expect from him at that moment?
Target?
Well… everyone was his target. That much was true. So technically, there were no lies there either.
Tricking them?
Playing with their emotions? Manipulating with carefully chosen words?
Of course he did, duh. What else was he supposed to do?
Just walk up to them and admit everything outright, without considering the consequences of what those confessions could do?
He knew Aqualina.
He knew Sandra.
He knew them better than he knew himself sometimes. He knew how sharp their instincts were, how dangerous they could be when betrayed. They were brilliant, calculating, and emotionally powerful… and he couldn’t just drop the truth on them like it was some mundane piece of gossip.
That’s why he told the truth differently… twisted.
But it was still the truth.
And more importantly, he didn’t do anything wrong—not really. In a certain way, if anyone really thought about it, he was the one who had been thrown into this. He didn’t ask to seduce them… he was made to do it.
And somewhere along that path, somewhere between manipulation and connection… he truly fell in love with them.
So yes. He played with words.
Because he had to.
Because he was desperate.
Because he wanted—no, needed—them to stay by his side.
Until the end.
And for that… he would do anything.
Even deceive them.
Had he lost his mind?
He already had… Long ago.
Was this really love?
Yes. It was love.
A twisted, obsessive, all-consuming kind of love. The only kind he had left to give. After everything he’d lost, after the empty pain that echoed in every breath, he wasn’t going to let anything be taken from him again.
Not now… Not them!!
No matter what it cost him… even if he had to break himself to keep them… even if he had to die again and again…
He would do it.
Because he loved them.
So much it hurt.
So much it burned.
A messed up man!!
Aether stood on the balcony, watching the bright daylight shimmer with birdsong and wind.
He connected with his clones silently, pulling fragments of information about the Empire—what had changed over the past three days, what he’d missed. Especially details about Kai and Leon… who were now being hunted like prey.
Meanwhile, deep within the Archive…
His words still echoed like a haunting chorus in the hearts of the women. They hadn’t moved from where they’d sat. Their eyes were locked on the entrance like it held answers… Or ghosts.
Celestia sat quietly. Her face unreadable… but her mind far from calm.
She wasn’t overthinking it.
No, her feelings were crystal clear.
That bastard—yes, the perverted bastard who shamelessly grope her ass, who made her heart stammer in ways she didn’t understand—he wasn’t getting away.
Not from her!!
He had made her heart flutter… and now he had made it ache.
He thought he could just walk away?
‘Hehe… Does he really think he can escape me?’ she mused, a slow smirk forming on her lips. Her eyes gleamed with mischief and something darker—something possessive.
She would go to any lengths to chase him down.
After all… she wasn’t normal either.
But then her gaze flicked to Sandra. The woman looked lost in a fog of emotion, her expression unreadable, her thoughts tangled.
And then… Celestia looked at Aqualina.
Aqualina… who was nodding slowly to herself. As if she’d made a decision.
A final one…
‘Hmm… interesting,’ Celestia thought.
She could feel it too—those emotions, that ache, that desperate sincerity Aether had poured out. She was linked to him, after all.
That’s why Aqualina made her decision very fast!
Aqualina took a breath. A long, slow, trembling breath.
“I… I still love him,” she whispered. Her voice was steady, but fragile, like a flame in the wind.
“I can’t live without him. I don’t want to.
I won’t leave him.
He… he told me everything. He opened himself up and handed me the truth—even knowing what it could cost.
Even knowing I could walk away. He risked our relationship… just to be honest.” Her lips quivered as she smiled weakly. “If he wanted, he could’ve kept it all hidden. Until the very end. I wasn’t pressuring him. In fact, I’d forgotten he even had a secret left to tell. But he still told us…. He told me…”
Her voice cracked as she looked down, then clenched her trembling fist.
“For that… I’m thankful. I’m genuinely… happy that he opened his heart to me.”
She took a moment. Her eyes filled with unshed tears as her chest rose and fell and continued,
“I’m not saying I understand everything about his methods.
I don’t.
I don’t know if I ever will.
But there’s one thing I’m certain of…”
She raised her gaze and looked straight at Sandra.
“He loves me. I can feel it… The way he smiled… The way he took care me… The way he protected me… That wasn’t a lie.
That wasn’t a game.
I felt it… His love.. is genuine, even if it started as a lie… I know… his face, his happiness” as she remembered the day he kissed her, he took care of her… those filled with love…. nothing else… It’s not even lust that she knew clearly!
She then stated firmly, “I believe him. I believe in him.”
She stared at Sandra, who blinked before nodding, “I see…” as if she was letting her make her own decision.
Aqualina noticed Sandra’s hesitation. Aqualina softly smiled with motherly, tender eyes,
“I’m not the one to decide for you, Sandra. That’s not my place… Heck, I have no right to tell you what to feel. What to choose. But… if there’s one thing I can say… it’s this.”
She looked into Sandra’s conflicted eyes with her own heavy with memory.
“Don’t make a choice you’ll regret.
Not again.
Because regret… it follows you. Across lifetimes… Across every breath.”
Aqualina’s voice cracked again.
“I know. Because I’ve lived with mine.”
Sandra blinked, her lashes fluttering as she slowly lowered her head.
She believed him?
Of course, she did!
If she didn’t… then why was she still alive?
He came back for her.
For her… only her!
What else could she even ask for?
And yet…
The word echoed like a cruel whisper inside her mind.
Target.
He said she was a target.
Her chest tightened.
So… did that mean he didn’t love her from the start?
That it wasn’t from his heart?
That it was never real?
That he was forced… manipulated by something else… into loving her?
Not because he felt it…
But because he had to?
Her bottom lip trembled as she bit into it hard, trying to stop the shaking in her chest. She couldn’t believe what she’d just heard.
She wanted to scream.
She wanted to cry.
She wanted to punch something.
She was happy, you know?
Genuinely happy when he loved her!
Happy that someone—anyone—could love her… someone as twisted, as wicked, as broken as her.
And yet, even that love… was forced.
How the hell was she supposed to take that?
She didn’t know what to feel anymore. She was spiraling.
“I… I need to res—”
Before Sandra could gather her thoughts, still feeling dizzy from the emotional whirlwind—
Aqualina’s lips twitched slightly.
“I can’t believe you’re doing that,” she said flatly.
Sandra flinched and looked up at her, blinking in confusion.
“What…?”
“Don’t run away from this,” Aqualina said, her tone blunt, though her gaze softened after a breath. “Give him an honest answer. He probably doesn’t deserve it… but still.”
Her voice lowered into something more tender, more personal.
“And no… don’t think about me. Whether I’m your mother or your daughter… both parts of me want the same thing. I want my dear mother… or aha… my dear daughter… to be happy.”
Aqualina let out a soft chuckle, her eyes shimmering with warmth despite the turmoil.
“This isn’t about me.
It’s not even about him, really.
It’s about what you want.
I told you before, didn’t I? I love him. I want him. And I’ve already decided—I’m going to take him.”
She leaned closer, her expression calm but fierce, her voice now firm and full of feminine power.
“And if you want him… then take him too. This isn’t about fairness or who came first or what’s your relationship with me. This is between women… Nothing more. Nothing less.” She spoke it like a declaration!
Even though they have a messy relationship… still, Aqualina could not give Aether away!
Then Aqualina smiled gently, that almost motherly smile that made her eyes glow with peace… and shrugged.
“Of course, that jerk still deserves a little punishment—even if I’ve decided to forgive him.”
With that, she turned on her heel and began walking out of the Archive, her steps slow but heavy, as if already planning the delicious torment she was going to inflict on his poor, clueless soul.
“Hah… look at her…” Celestia muttered, a soft amused laugh escaping her lips as she watched Aqualina leave.
“It almost feels like she really is your daughter, doesn’t it?… Just Aqualina… Whether she’s your mother or not.”
Sandra stared after her too, lips slowly curling into a gentle, conflicted smile. But before she could say anything—
“Sooo…” Celestia leaned in closer, her grin positively wicked, “Whole family falling for the same man, huh? Sisters… and the daughter too? Damn. That bastard must be real lucky.”
Sandra’s face turned beet red, her hands curling into fists as her voice cracked, “Tsk! You’ve been completely corrupted by that bastard! I can’t believe you’re saying this kind of stuff now!”
Celestia didn’t even flinch. Instead, she winked and leaned in with a teasing glint in her eyes.
“Once you’ve had a taste of him… You don’t really get a choice, do you?… Hehe~ He will corrupt you~” she whispered with a sultry giggle.
Then, in a voice uncannily like Aether’s, she let out a laugh—low, eerie, and filled with wicked delight.
