When Medea opened her eyes, the first person she saw was Thirteen, sleeping peacefully beside her. Thɪs chapter is updatᴇd by novelꜰire.net
She was holding him in a protective embrace, comforting him as he had cried in his dreams last night, something that occurred regularly.
Over the years, she had come to know that the Angel of Death whom everyone feared was very vulnerable in his sleep.
So, she made it a point to sleep beside him, ensuring that someone would be holding him during his darkest moments.
But there was one thing that surprised her as well.
Thirteen... was a very big baby.
Perhaps, it was because he was now human and had learned the human touch from Kate, he subconsciously sought it out when someone was nearby.
’I won’t be able to marry anyone anymore,’ Medea thought as he planted a kiss on Thirteen’s head, whose painful memories were slowly being erased by the Norns.
As long as those memories existed, he would remain unstable.
Medea had taken the role of stabilizing his heart and emotions so they wouldn’t run wild as they worked together to make the world a better place.
Three years had passed since the Demon Lord had made peace with the humans. He’d been working alongside them and the other races, forming a harmonious relationship with each other.
Kingdoms were rebuilt, and in those kingdoms, Humans, Demons, Elves, Dwarves, and Beastkins lived side by side.
The progression of these inter-species collaborations hadn’t been smooth sailing.
It was not only the physical differences between the races that had slowed down the attempt for a peaceful and harmonious relationship.
Their beliefs were also very different from each other, including the religion that they believed in.
But regardless of whether they serve the Earth Goddess, the Goddess Valoria, or some other Gods, all of them had one thing in common.
They had hailed Kate as a Saintess of their own religion.
They called her the Holy Mother.
Anyone who dared not to call her that would find themselves facing the Angel of Death, who was more than happy to erase them from existence.
Medea stayed with Thirteen for one more hour, watching his sleeping face.
’He only looks human when he is asleep,’ Medea thought. ’When he is awake, he looks like an aloof, almost untouchable existence whom no one dares to approach.’
Only the Demon Lord, Medea, the Beast King, the Elven King, and the Dwarven King could approach Thirteen without worrying if their heads would be severed from their bodies.
The Human Kings, who were known for their greed, all acted humble and subservient to him. Fortunately, they were only forced to meet with him whenever some problems rose somewhere in the world.
That Thirteen really looked different. The asleep one before her looked so vulnerable that Medea’s maternal instincts couldn’t help but hold him close.
She was now twenty-one years old, ripe for the age of marriage.
Medea had many admirers, but since she was always with Thirteen, those admirers could only look at her from afar.
None of them was brave enough to ask her hand in marriage, fearing that the young man beside him would not allow such a thing to happen.
Medea even thought that as long as Thirteen was around, she would probably grow up single all her life.
Finally, Thirteen opened his eyes.
He was still asleep, but after realizing that his head was buried on Medea’s chest, he sleepily closed his eyes once more and even sucked a bit as if it was the most natural thing to do.
"Hey, don’t go back to sleep!" Medea wanted to face-palm because the big baby had truly become a baby. "We have things to do. So let’s have breakfast and see if everything is in order."
Thirteen, who had finally woken up for real, pulled back, his face returning to his cold, indifferent persona.
Medea still couldn’t get used to his near-instant mask switching.
She also felt a little sad. It had been three years since they had been together, and yet, there was still a distance between them that she couldn’t overcome.
Only when Thirteen was asleep and vulnerable would she see something past his look of indifference, something she wished to see when he was looking at her.
Without another word, Thirteen got off the bed, completely butt-naked, and grabbed the naked Saintess to take her to the bathroom.
Thirteen didn’t like how Medea would leisurely take an hour bathing by herself every day, so he decided to make it a point to wash her personally, just like how he did it with Kate when they were still traveling together.
At first, Medea protested, but since she knew that she couldn’t escape, she simply accepted it, and by now, it had become a daily routine of sorts for the two of them.
Half an hour later, they sat in the dining room and allowed the servants to serve them.
"All of you may go," Thirteen ordered.
The servants all bowed and left because their Master didn’t like it when people watched him eat.
"I had a dream last night," Thirteen said.
"Yes, you were crying last night," Medea replied. "Was it a bad dream?"
"It was a good dream," Thirteen answered. "In that dream, I reunited with Vincent and Hugo."
Medea smiled faintly. Thirteen tend to share stories about his other Hosts whenever he was in the mood for it.
"Three days ago, you dreamed of a girl named Tiona," Medea commented. "That was also a happy reunion, right?"
"Indeed." Thirteen nodded. His gaze softened a bit, which made Medea feel an ache in her chest. The young man in front of her had never looked at her with such a gaze, one filled with tenderness and affection.
"I’m sure you will meet them in the future," Medea said. ’And I won’t be there in the future.’
The Saintess couldn’t help but feel sad because she would not be part of that promised future, where Thirteen would be reunited with Kate and the people who were important to him.
"Why do you look sad?" Thirteen asked because she noticed Medea’s expression. "Are you sad because you can’t produce milk? Although I am indeed curious what breast milk tastes like, I won’t force you to have it, you know? I can live without it."
The Saintess choked on the coffee she was drinking and suddenly had a coughing fit because of it.
Thirteen, who had no idea what he just said, looked at the Saintess with a frown.
"Are you okay?" Thirteen inquired.
"Do I look okay?!" Medea complained after she was forced to use a healing spell to help herself recover.
Thirteen blinked. "Do you want to have milk?"
"Shut up!" Medea glared at Mr. Clueless. "Stop talking about milk, okay?"
Princess Xynalia, who wanted to see how this dream would end, facepalmed because this version of Thirteen was worse than the one she knew about.
’When I return, I will have stories to tell his lovers,’ Princess Xynalia thought. ’Hmph! This guy seriously has baby issues.’
Although she thought that way, she could still remember the times when she and Kate had merged together to make love to Thirteen.
Remembering her friend, Kate, the Succubus Princess was unable to stop a sigh from escaping her lips.
However, after finding out that there would come a time when Kate and Thirteen would be reunited, she couldn’t help but look forward to that day as well.
She didn’t hold any expectation that Kate would still remember her. However, it would be nice to know that miracles still existed in this world, even for a System that had lost many precious things that he held dearly inside his heart.