"Alexei..?" Elise's voice was raw but also gentle. Seeing the pain in Alexei's eyes pained her too. She wished all this didn't happen. However, now was not the time for denial. As the mother, she had to be the strong one between the two of them. "Alexei... I know this is a lot to take in.."

"I.. I need a moment to think about everything," Alexei weakly laughed. "You're telling me that the person I've hated all my life is my father and yet, Dimitri.. or Dante really, I know he cared about me too, yet what he did was..."

"Dante thought he was doing the right thing," Elise smiled bitterly. "Almost all of us think that we are justified when we act a certain way. Loriel was hurt terribly and bitter when he married me, so the two of us thought he was justified for treating me like crap."

"But it's not okay." Alexei frowned. "That was a dick move. Just because he was in pain doesn't justify that he could also hurt you or he could lash out in a certain way. I'm surprised you've put up so much with him."

"It never was fine, but it only took.. it took him a long time to realize that, and when he did, I was already heartbroken at that point and just wanted to forget about him." Elise shook her head and sighed.

"What about now?" Alexei couldn't help but scratch his head and ask. "This is all world-shattering news for me. But what happens next? You get a divorce with daddy and then live with me?"

"Did you just call Loriel 'daddy'?" Elise's eyes bulged.

"I'm lightening up the mood, mother?" Alexei chuckled. He tried out to call her by her title as his parent again and then blushed. "Ah, this is weird. Is it weird..? I mean not in a bad way, but yeah. Mother. Is that fine? You don't really look like a mother, though."

"Well, I guess that's the perks of being an immortal?" Elise shook her head and looked at her son dotingly. "I'm just happy to have met you, Alexei. I wish I was there for you while you were growing up, I could have changed your diapers or taken care of you."

"All of us have a lot of wishes, huh?" Alexei chuckled and smiled. He wagged a finger at her. "Be glad that you didn't have to deal with me as a baby, Dante told me it was a bad time. My voice could pierce the heavens, he said."

Elise rolled her eyes. "Nonsense. You are my child and I would have treasured every moment with you and I.. I'm sure that Loriel would have wanted the same."

She lowered her face, trying to hide the tears that were welling up in her eyes again.

"Yeah, I'm sure he would have." Alexei smiled a little and then looked down at his mug. "Though, I do feel kind of justified in hitting him with a lightning bolt. He was a pretty awful husband for a good chunk of the time."

"Haha, to be honest, I still don't know what to feel right now," Elise smiled tiredly. She looked at her son with so much love in her eyes. "You and I.. we are in this together. I just found out everything today."

"Yeah, I don't know what to feel about this too." Alexei nodded slowly. "It's a lot to process, even for a god. It's not everyday you realize that everything was built on a lie after all."

"I'm sorry, I wish I could have said it better." Elise squeezed Alexei's hand.

"You did well for someone who also received the shock of her life today," Alexei laughed. "But as long as we're here.. then the two of us can just stay here in Cretea until you feel like you're in a capacity to deal with things. Does that sound good to you, Mother?"

"It does, thank you, Alexei." Elise smiled.

"You're welcome," Alexei grinned and pulled up to his feet. "I have every motivation to become the son of the year."

"I think you're doing a great job already," Elise smiled and also stood up. She opened her arms and sheepishly gave Alexei a hug. "Compared to your father, you're much less of a headache."

"I think it's not much of a challenge," Alexei chuckled but then gently squeezed his mother back. He buried his head in Elise's hair and tried to blink back the tears from his eyes.

"It's okay," Elise, who noticed it, rubbed him gently on the back. "There's nothing wrong with crying."

"I know that." Alexei sniffed.

The truth was that everything was so hard to take for Alexei and yet he could tell from the way how Elise spoke to him and was gentle despite everything that happened to her.. he couldn't blame her.

Or anyone exactly.

It was a really messy story of how a husband and wife had a relationship that was extremely difficult at first. Alexei's father, Loriel Ashborn, had put Elise under so much strain and pain because he was also forced into the situation.

Alexei tried to imagine what he would do if he was in Loriel's shoes.

A man who fell in love with a woman during his youth but then had to sacrifice himself. Forced to love someone else who he was betrothed to when she was born.historical

It was difficult and the way that Loriel reacted was human.

It still meant that Loriel lashed out at Elise in ways that were extremely irredeemable and yet somehow, along the way, Loriel realized how he was a jerk and finally, he did his best to wait for Elise and pay for his mistakes.

Alexei shook his head for a moment. He was tired, but also curious about what was going to happen afterward.

It all depended on his mother, in a way.

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