Chapter 403: I am Loyal!
In a quiet corner of the cafe, at a table set apart from the rest…
Penelope sat across from Aether. She silently slid a document across the table toward him, her face unreadable.
Aether frowned as he picked up the paper, confusion clouding his expression, “Infertile? What are you saying?” His voice wavered as he stared at the words, trying to process them. He began reading the document slowly, his fingers trembling ever so slightly.
Penelope, her face cold and indifferent, watched him. But her eyes… her eyes held something almost like pity as she saw the realization begin to dawn on him.
When he finally finished reading, Aether’s face went pale. “T-This is…” His voice faltered. The words stuck in his throat as he looked up at her, shock etched across his features.
Penelope said nothing. She simply waited, giving him the space to digest the reality of the situation.
“I…” Aether ran a shaky hand through his hair, gripping it as if trying to hold himself together. “M-Maybe it’s wrong,” he stammered, desperation seeping into his voice.
With a slight frown, Penelope responded, her voice tinged with quiet sympathy. “Aether, please understand… I tested it more than once. Every result came back the same.”
Aether’s breath hitched, his heart racing as dark thoughts swirled within him. “Oh God… W-What am I supposed to do? Everything was fine… why now?” His body trembled, a deep-seated fear creeping in.
“Everything is fine?” Penelope snapped, her face contorting with sudden anger. “Are you serious, Aether? You’ve been losing jobs left and right! You can’t even hold one down for more than a month or two, and you think it’s fine? Really? When did you start living in this delusional world?”
Aether recoiled at her words, his brow furrowing deeply, “P-Pene? Why are you speaking like this?” The sharpness of her tone cut deeper than he expected. They had been together for years, and this side of her—this anger—felt new to him.
Penelope let out a long, exhausted sigh, her voice softening with a hint of sadness. “I’m sorry, Aether, but… I can’t handle this anymore.”
His heart sank, his face paling further as the gravity of the situation hit him like a wave. “Pene, just… give me a little more time. I can fix this, just—”
“Wait?” Her voice rose again, furious. “I’ve been waiting for ten years! How much longer am I supposed to wait for you to get your life together?”
Aether sat there, stunned, unable to find the words. The reality of her frustration and exhaustion weighed heavily on him.
THUNDER!!
“I tried, Aether,” she continued, shaking her head, her expression worn with fatigue,
“I tried to be patient.
I tried to support you..
I waited and waited, hoping things would change…
I tried to accept your flaws….
I dealt with your anger…..
But I’m tired, Aether….
I’m tired of waiting…
I’m tired of trying..
I’m tired of… accepting you.”
Aether felt something deep within him shatter. He knew he had to speak carefully now. If he didn’t, he was going to lose something far more precious than he could bear.
“Please,” he whispered, his voice cracking, “Heh…Give me one more chance, Pene. I can fix this, I will—”
“You’re still not getting it, Aether.” Penelope’s voice was calm now, almost eerie, as she pointed at the document, “I’m not talking about your life or your job. I’m talking about this.”
Aether’s heart sank further, his face ghostly white, “I-I… What if we consult with doctors? Technology has advanced so much. We could try IVF or IUI. There’s still hope, right?”
Her face softened, but only with resignation, “Aether, I’ve already consulted with specialists. They’ve run all the tests. They said… it’s impossible. Medically, you can’t have children.”
Desperation clawed at Aether’s chest, “Hehe– Maybe we can talk to your mother—she always has ideas, right? Maybe she—”
“She’s the one who sent me here,” Penelope cut him off, her voice low and sad.
Aether stared at her, shocked. “Oh… I see,” he whispered, disbelief lacing his tone.
“I’m more devastated than you can imagine, Aether.” Penelope’s voice trembled with the weight of her emotions, “I wanted to have your child… OUR child!!
To love our child, to have something we created together. But now… now I don’t even know what to think. All this waiting, and for what? This?…. Defective… ah”
Aether was startled by her words, blinking a few times as his thoughts scrambled, ‘M-Maybe she’s just angry…’ he tried to reason with himself, attempting to understand Penelope’s harsh words.
Deep down, he knew she had longed for a child, had dreamed of it for years. She had even told him five years ago that she didn’t mind waiting, that she would take care of the child until he was ready to step up as a father. Her patience had seemed endless back then.
‘She didn’t care what I was doing… she was always so understanding,’ Aether reminded himself, trying to soothe the sting of her cruel remark. But now, out of nowhere, the crushing news that he couldn’t have children… it must have hit her harder than he realized. It wasn’t just his failure.
For her, it was a devastating blow to the future she had imagined for so long.
As Aether started to speak softly, “Adopti—” Penelope cut him off,
“I would rather sleep with another man than raise a child that isn’t mine.” Her words came out sharper than she intended.
Aether’s heart skipped a beat, “Heheh–What did you just say?” His eyes narrowed as he stared at her, disbelief and anger building inside him.
Penelope facepalmed as she realized what she had just let slip in anger, “I-I didn’t mean that, Aether. I’m sorry, it just— Ouch!”
But it was too late. He grabbed her wrist, his voice dangerously calm, “What. Did. Heheheh… You. Just. Say?”
She winced as his grip tightened, “A-Aether, you’re hurting me.”
His grip only tightened further, “What. the. fuck. Did. You. Say? Hehehe…”
In a moment of desperation and pain, Penelope slapped him, her eyes burning with anger and frustration, “I said I’d rather sleep with another man than raise an unrelated child! Is that what you wanted to hear?”
THUNDER!!
Aether’s expression went blank. He released her wrist as if it had burned him. The pain in his chest intensified a sharp, unbearable ache. For a moment, he just stared at her, unable to process what she had said, what she had become to him in that instant.
Then uttered only one word “Go,” Aether his voice barely audible. A single tear escaped, rolling down his cheek.
Drip…..
Penelope flinched, her gaze falling on the tear that slid down his face. She rubbed her sore wrist.
Aether lowered his eyes, his knuckles resting against the table as he mumbled, “Go.. Heh.. go… go…. go-Hehehehe-go-he….. go… go-Hehehe….. go…..”
He repeated the word over and over, like a broken record, his voice filled with despair as he stared at nothing.
Moments later, the quiet murmur of the cafe was broken by a waiter’s voice, “Excuse me, sir. The madam has already left. We’re closing now.”
Aether didn’t respond immediately…. He simply stood up, his movements mechanical.
The rain had not stopped, and when he stepped outside, it poured harder, the cold water blending with the tears that still fell from his eyes.
Just like that day… the rain once again served as a mask, hiding his pain from the world.
His heart had shattered once before, but now… this time it felt worse, as if the pieces that had been left were crushed into dust.
…
The current Aether, watching this memory unfold, felt his own tears spill over, as if reliving the agony of that moment.
Drip…
Aether’s tears mingled with the rain as he stood on the street, lost in the echoes of his past. He watched his younger self in his mind, crying in the rain. The child he once was, the man he now became… it all seemed the same.
Every time, the rain had been there, the only witness to his darkest moments.
Aether’s Vision, the level bar that had been tracking his emotions surged rapidly, moving toward the top, but it stopped just centimetres short.
The reels stopped spinning before him, and two doors appeared just like before. One door was pure white, its surface glowing softly, while the other had changed…. It was darker than it had been the last time, now mixed with white streaks.
Without hesitation, Aether reached for the white door, ready to turn the knob when a voice interrupted his thoughts.
[Are you sure?]
Aether’s hand froze, “Yes… I am.”
[You might not see the truth]
“The truth?” Aether paused, confusion creasing his brow.
[Yes… you are not naturally infertile~]
His heart skipped a beat, “…What do you mean?”
[… See for yourself~]
An inexplicable force urged him toward the darker door. Hesitant, but drawn by an unseen compulsion, Aether opened it.
[~Fu~Fu~ Finally~]
As the voice faded, Aether found himself standing in a surreal vision, watching a scene unfold before his eyes….
There, in the dim light of a kitchen, he saw…. his mother.
She stood by the stove, her hands moving with calculated precision as she poured a strange substance into a pot of food.
The same food that only he had eaten.
Aether’s blood ran cold.
“W-What did she…”
[She drugged her own son, ensuring you would become infertile]
“No… that’s not possible… she would never…” His voice cracked with disbelief, his mind desperately rejecting the truth.
[Accept it. Your mother made you infertile]
“NO! You’re lying! This… this isn’t real! You’re making this up!” Aether’s voice rose in fury, his eyes wild as the truth slowly broke him from within.
The image of his younger self, happily eating the food his mother had served him, played out in vivid detail. He watched his oblivious smile, the carefree joy on his face…
[Making up? If that’s what you want to believe, go ahead. But remember, I only show the truth and the results of your actions… Nothing is fabricated. I am loyal to the truth and to Mother God.]
“….. NOOOOOOOOO!!!” Aether’s scream tore through the room, and in an instant, the space around him erupted in blue flames. The heat radiated outward, scorching the metal walls as his rage burned uncontrollably.
Meanwhile, the mission tab blinked furiously.
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