Chapter 3

03.

I stepped outside the temple gates and found the High King himself waiting before my residence.

We were certainly no strangers.

Before his daughter was set to marry Darian, the High King had personally confronted me in secret.

Back then, he sneered with cold contempt. “My celestial daughter will never share a husband with a dirty mortal woman. The Demon Lord must get rid of you before we finalize the wedding.”

Now, staring at my divine face which looked identical to the mortal woman he once threatened, his expression turned deeply awkward.

Still, he forced a polite smile and stepped forward.

“Goddess Kendra, the young demon prince is gravely sick. He shares your bloodline after all, so please show mercy and take a look at him for the sake of old times.”

I did not care for his pathetic groveling and looked down at him with cold detachment.

“The High King should address me as Supreme Commander.”

“Furthermore, when seeking an audience with me, should you not bathe in holy water, burn sacred incense, and bow three times?”

The High King turned ghostly pale, and I shut the temple doors right in his face.

Flint tilted his head and asked innocently, “Mother, does everyone have to bow three times and burn incense just to see you?”

“Of course not,” I replied, gently cupping his cheek.

Only hypocrites like them deserved such treatment.

My history with Darian went far beyond a single mortal lifetime.

Three hundred years ago, during the devastating holy war between gods and demons, I was mortally wounded, and Darian had saved my life.

We were sworn enemies on opposite sides of the war, yet his unexpected mercy stirred feelings in my heart.

I had even been willing to renounce my glorious divine status just to be with him.

My Grand Master was furious, but after I knelt in the freezing rain before the temple for seven days, he finally relented.

He made Darian and me drink the potion of forgetting and descend to the mortal realm together.

If our love could survive the trials and heartbreaks of a mortal life, our union would be blessed.

At first, everything was idyllic; we lived as simple, impoverished mortals, sharing quiet joys and welcoming our baby boy, Casen.

Then, unrest erupted in the Demon Realm, forcing their elders to awaken Darian’s demonic memories ahead of time.

The very second his demon powers returned, his warmth vanished.

Darian looked at me like I was a stranger. “My bloodline cannot be left in the human world, but a lowly mortal like you is unfit to be Casen’s official mother.”

“I will keep you in a secluded side courtyard until Casen grows up.”

As if tossing me a bone, he added coldly, “I will not take a wife either.”