The forest was silent. It was so unnatural.
I walked forward, my steps crisping against the dried leaves scattered across the ground. Every step echoed in my ears, the only sound in this quiet forest.
I wasn’t completely alone, though. Sera was with . And, of course, she was here too.
Walking beside , her white-feathered wings ruffled softly with each step she took.
Lilith.
She was guiding , leading the way until we reached the teleportation point.
But still… Why were we walking exactly?
I glanced at her wings.
’She can fly right? So why are we using our feet?’
Beside , Sera kept her eyes fixed on Lilith, scanning her every movent. She had been doing this the entire ti. I couldn’t bla her.
The Lilith she rembered wasn’t the Lilith standing before us now.
She beca a complete stranger to her.
’What the hell even happened?’
She was different from Sera’s stories.
I let out a deep sigh. The gods. The Authority Holders. These things would drive insane soday.
Their existence, their powers—everything about them was too damn confusing.
’Hey. Ask her.’
Sera’s voice rang in my mind. For the fifth ti.
I ignored her.
"Sighhhhh."
Still, I hesitated.
"So, umm…"
My words caught in my throat. Why was this so hard? Lilith wasn’t even doing anything, but the distance between us felt impossible to close.
Maybe I was just bad at communication? No. It wasn’t . It was her. She was the problem. She was too distant, too awkward.
’What are you scared of? Just ask her!’
I gritted my teeth.
One day. If Sera ever gets a physical body, I swear I’m going to headbutt her. She’s just—too annoying.
’Why don’t you do it yourself? Oh, wait. You can’t. My bad, I forgot… heh.’
I smirked.
’How childish.’
She puffed her cheeks, her pointy ears twitching slightly.
…Huh. Interesting.
Sera’s sharp eyes bore into . It was even more nacing than before.
’Do you want to evade your privacy?’
Her voice was calm. Too calm. The kind of calm that sent shivers down my spine.
Damn scary….
The world was too cruel these days. A young, innocent teenage boy like couldn’t even protect his privacy. What was going to happen to now?
I took a slow step back. Sera’s gaze didn’t waver from .
Lilith, who had been walking ahead, finally turned her head.
"You got sothing to ask?"
Her blood-red eyes locked onto mine.
I swallowed hard.
This was it. My chance.
"Umm…" My voice cracked slightly. "Why are you working under Nathalia?"
I asked. I finally asked.
See that, Sera?
Lilith didn’t respond imdiately. Her expression remained unreadable as she narrowed her eyes slightly. Then, without a word, she turned her head away and resud her walking.
Eh?
She’s ignoring ?
Laughter exploded in my head.
’Hahahahahah! Hahaha! Oh! Poor thing… Maybe she’s just scared of your face.’
Sera’s voice was dripping with amusent.
’Hey! My face is fine! It’s handso!’
I shot back, scowling.
Sera’s expression twisted into pure disgust.
’Ugh! Don’t you feel ashad, calling yourself handso with your own mouth?’
’Well, what can I say? I really am,’ I replied smugly.
’If I were you, I would jump from a bridge.’
"…"
I was left speechless.
This world was too cruel.
But that wasn’t the point right now.
...How could I make Lilith answer my question?
’Give her an apple,’ Sera suggested.
An apple?
I glanced around . To the dark forest. No fruit trees no matter where my eyes landed.
Where the hell was I supposed to find an apple in the middle of nowhere?
As I was about to snap back at Sera, Lilith’s voice cut through our internal personal chatter.
"Master Nathalia… Despite being a demon… She is way too kind."
Her tone was quiet, and distant.
She’s finally speaking.
And that too—without an apple.
I forced myself to stay silent and listen to her, pushing aside my usual thoughts. Lilith rarely talked.
Her voice was softer now, barely above a whisper.
"She saved ."
Saved her?
From what?
My gaze locked onto her. There was a faint smile on her face—not one of amusent, but sothing far more gentler. Almost… nostalgic.
"I didn’t always work under her," she continued. "After they abandoned … after they threw away… Master Nathalia was the only person who took in.
Abandoned? Thrown away?
...Who? Her?
So many questions filled my mind.
But more importantly. Who were ’they’? Why was she abandoned? And why did a demon, of all people, take her in?
I hesitated for a mont before finally speaking.
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"Who were they?" I asked carefully. Then, a sudden thought struck . "Were ’they’… so gods?"
Lilith’s head tilted slightly toward .
For the first ti, I saw her expression clearly.
And I will never forget it.
Helplessness.
Regret.
A sorrow so deep it felt as if, at any mont, she might break apart.
A deity had that kind of expression?
I had always thought of gods and deity as untouchable. But now, looking at Lilith… I wasn’t so sure anymore.
I sotis wondered—what were we exactly?
...Why does regret exist?
And why is life filled with it?
Even a deity wasn’t free from its grasp.
If gods couldn’t escape regret, then how could a re human like ?
I had my own regrets, so so deep that I wished they’d just disappear. But they wouldn’t. They clung to like a parasite.
Regret was a cruel thing. It forced you to rember, to relive, to think about all the what-ifs that could never be changed.
How cruel.
"So gods understand us," Lilith said, her voice going quiet.
Then her expression darkened.
"While others…"
I could piece together the rest.
She didn’t need to say it.
I had seen enough, learned enough, to connect the dots. The gods weren’t a unified force. There were two sides. Divisions. Conflicts.
"It’s alright," I said.
What else could I say?
I wasn’t in a position to comfort her.
After all, I was a target of the gods too.
The mont they discovered —which they would, eventually—I would be forced to endure all their sches. Their manipulations. Their so-called divine will.
The war between the gods over the division of the universe…
It was pointless in my opinion.
Lilith had nad it the Divine Conflict.
It was a fitting na, to be honest.
We both walked in silence.
I paced myself to match Lilith’s stride, neither of us were rushing nor lagging behind.
Fifteen minutes had passed since we began walking through this forest.
...I wasn’t doubting her sense of direction though.
End of Chapter.
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