Rosie's Games
Chapter 553 553: The Betrayal 2

Meanwhile, Rosalind felt as if she were in a state of limbo. She could somehow perceive her own body, but she could no longer control it, hear, or see what her current body was doing.

Rosalind felt as though her body was floating endlessly, suspended in a dark liquid. However, for some reason, she did not panic or fear.

A part of her seemed to reassure her that Lucas would be coming to save her.

The Goddess remained unaware of this.

At the moment, she struggled to control her emotions as she attempted to calm her racing heart. She glared at Lucas.

"It will only worsen," Lucas stated.

"Only I- cough- can bring this to an end."

"What, exactly, do you intend to end?" Lucas inquired, wondering what she was trying to achieve- what this woman that he met a long- long time ago, wanted to achieve.

Until now, he could still recall the details of what had transpired ages ago. He remembered meeting her, fighting alongside her, developing feelings for her, and eventually falling in love with her.

However, love was never sufficient. It was never enough.

Lucas was not naive. He couldn't comprehend why Belisarius continued to love the goddess despite everything that had occurred. He could not understand how love worked.

Lucas was not stupid. He was someone who consistently placed intellect above emotion. He always followed logic and refused to let his emotions prevail.

To some, this might have seemed heartless and cold. Yet, Lucas had realized at a young age that love would not keep him alive- it was not enough to keep him alive.

His mother had fallen in love with his father. She served him, witnessed his alliances with various women, and saw his harem grow along with the offspring vying to become the next Emperor.

His mother was a demoness, a powerful one. Despite that, she loved, and she loved wholeheartedly.

However, in the end, the Emperor himself disposed of Lucas's mother, suspecting her of plotting to dethrone him. The reason was absurd. At that time, Lucas never understood why his father would even think that a demoness who was weaker than him would attempt to usurp him.

That was when he witnessed his father's insatiable thirst for power.

He wanted more—more of everything.

More power.

More women.

More children.

More territory.

Lucas's childhood had been marked by the harsh reality of his father's relentless pursuit of power and the tragic fate of his mother. As he grew older, he could never forget the look of betrayal in his mother's eyes when she was falsely accused and executed, all for the ambition of a demon who should have been content with what he already possessed.

Lucas observed his father's obsession with power consume him, like an insatiable fire that could never be quenched.

The once-mighty Demon Emperor, the very demon he should have admired, had become a tyrant. The palace was filled with rumors of his father's ruthless conquests, his treacherous tactics, and his expanding harem of women.

The palace had transformed into a gilded cage, a place where ambition and cruelty reigned.

Lucas had witnessed the political maneuvering, the cunning plots, and the ruthless elimination of rivals. It was a world where loyalty was fleeting, and betrayal was the order of the day.

Lucas's encounter with the woman who appeared to be a selfless goddess questioned his unwavering commitment to remain unswayed by ambition and emotion.

Initially, he believed she was different, a beacon of hope in a world tainted by darkness and power-hungry individuals. She seemed kind, compassionate, and willing to sacrifice herself for the greater good, a stark contrast to the people he had known.

It was as if a spark of hope had ignited within Lucas, and he allowed himself to believe in the possibility of a different world, one where love and selflessness could truly make a difference.

It was a poetic notion, the idea that love could transcend the harsh realities of power and politics.

However, Lucas's idealistic image of her didn't last too long.

He soon realized that even the woman he had fallen in love with was not immune to the corrupting influence of power. As she gained more influence and control, her motivations shifted from selflessness to a thirst for power.

Like his father, she sought to use the very humans she had initially aimed to protect for her own gain. She was becoming just like his father, consumed by ambition and hatred.

He had believed that love should have been sufficient to make her an exception to the rules he had set for himself. He had wanted her to be different.

He was mistaken.

He watched her transform into someone he no longer recognized. He realized he could not stand by and allow her to become a mirror image of the tyrant his father had been.

To his surprise, he found it surprisingly easy to betray her by stabbing her in the chest. She cursed him, but he saw it as an act of tough love, one necessary to prevent her from becoming a ruthless ruler like his father. In his eyes, he was saving her.

What's crucial to understand was that he never regretted his actions. As time passed, he realized they were never meant to be together. Their paths had diverged too far, and their ideals no longer aligned. The love or what he thought was love, he once felt for her had been overshadowed by the stark reality of who she had become.

Soon enough, he realized that perhaps what he felt was never love. It was never love to begin with.

*UGH*

Lucas stared at the woman's expression as she struggled to breathe. "Please..." she pleaded. "Let me go..."

Lucas said nothing. He continued to stare at her as if he were watching a show.

It took him years to realize that what he had for her was not love, and then it took him even more years to realize that there were other men who followed her simply because they thought they had fallen for her. Yet, she never reciprocated anyone's emotions.

To an outsider, his past and current actions might have seemed like anger toward her. What they would never understand was that this was not because he was angry.

Anger is an emotion one would feel if they still cared about something.

This was not bitterness that she never loved him back.

It was simply him... loving himself.

In the end, he was selfish and greedy and someone who would always choose himself above everything else—well, not entirely.

He stared at Rosalind's struggling face.

What both the goddess and Lucas knew was the fact that it would be easier for Lucas to kill Rosalind. Once he kills Rosalind while they are in this space, then... everything will end.

The goddess's soul would never survive in this world.

When he realized who she was, he immediately wanted to use her to punish the goddess. He wanted to use her until she was too weak for him to use, then dispose of her.

It would have been that simple.

However, he could not do it.

Lucas did not know when it started.

Was it when she confidently sneaked into his carriage with an offer?

Was it when she saved him on that cliff?

Was it when they got married?

Or was it when he first kissed her lips?

When did it happen?

Thinking back, he could only smile.

He could not exactly call his emotions love, yet he was certain that it differed from the awe he felt when he was with the goddess.

It was lighter, happier.

Was that possible?

He had asked himself this question repeatedly.

Was it possible to fall for someone because... you simply feel happy? He snorted at the thought.

What would happen when you suddenly feel sad? Would you stop loving someone?

This was a question he could not answer.

After all, love is... a mystery.

"I knew you wanted to break the barrier," Lucas uttered after a few minutes of silence. "I knew you wanted to reclaim your abilities."

"You—," the goddess's eyes widened, yet before she could say more, she started coughing up black liquid.

"Atior had been stealing your power that was sustaining the barrier, and you sensed it when you arrived. This was the real reason she did not want the demons to breach the barrier," Lucas said. "Others might think you came to the north because you sensed the demon, but I... I knew you were there to break the barrier."

The goddess's chest heaved as she glared at him, but the black liquid continued to pour from her mouth.

"Times have changed," Lucas said, looking away and letting out a sigh. "People are no longer as foolish as they used to be." He knew that the goddess was helpless in this place. This time, he walked toward her.

"What—cough—what are—you—doing!?" she weakly asked. Yet Lucas maintained his silence until he stood in front of her feeble body.

"I thought our next encounter would be... more exciting than this," Lucas smiled. "I was mistaken."

Then he grasped her head, and the goddess emitted a blood-curdling scream.

.....

A/N: It was actually a really long weekend and I did not even notice. lol.