Two sapphire-blue eyes snapped open abruptly and met another pair exactly like them, though these were red-rimmed and shimmering with tears.

"Hi, Mom."

William spoke with a faint smile as he looked up at Anne. His head still rested on her lap, and despite the exhaustion weighing on his body, he tried to reassure her with that single greeting. He did not say much more. There were moments when words became meaningless, and this was one of them. He already knew what Anastasia was going through.

The instant she realized he was truly awake, Anne clasped a trembling hand over her mouth and jerked backward in shock. William’s head dropped from her lap and struck the hard ground below with a dull thud.

"Ow..."

He slowly pushed himself upright while every bone in his body creaked painfully. His newly repaired flesh shifted and strained as though an old machine had been forced back to life after years of disuse. Even breathing felt strange.

The first thing he saw was Tamasya lying beside him.

She looked peaceful at first glance, but her eyes were empty and distant, completely devoid of focus. Even after noticing William awaken, she did not react immediately. It was as if her consciousness had drifted far away into some unreachable place.

William turned his head toward Anne. She had broken down completely by now, sobbing uncontrollably while Yue and Andrea tried to comfort her. Andrea looked visibly stunned by his resurrection, but what surprised William more was Yue’s reaction. She seemed calm, almost as though she had expected this outcome all along.

Nonetheless, William kept that concern for later; right now he had to reassure his mom and then his love.

Without hesitation, William rose to his feet and crossed the distance between them in an instant. He wrapped his arms tightly around Anne.

"I’m alright, Mom."

Anne’s chest trembled violently as she cried against him. Her hands immediately moved across his face, his shoulders, and his hair, checking desperately for wounds that no longer existed. It was the frantic touch of someone terrified that the person before them might disappear again at any second.

For several silent moments, William simply allowed her to hold him.

Only now did he truly realize how deeply she cared for him. They had been reunited for such a short time, yet the fear in her eyes felt no different from that of a mother who had raised her child her entire life.

Then, suddenly, Anne spoke in a trembling voice.

"Do you really consider me your mother?"

William blinked in shock and immediately looked up at her.

"Mom, I feel genuinely hurt that you would even doubt that."

His voice carried real pain, but Anne did not soften.

"Then why did you leave me behind while dealing with Lux?" she demanded, her voice rising. "Do you think I don’t have the right to avenge your father? Do you think only you have the right to stand against a god? Do you think carrying everything alone makes you brave?"

William fell silent.

His gaze lowered because he had no answer he could give her. He had done it to protect her, but Annasthsia already knew that. This argument was not truly about his decision.

It was about her regret.

William could see it clearly now. Every word she spoke was directed more toward herself than toward him.

"The curse is still there..." she whispered brokenly.

William frowned in confusion for only a moment before realization struck him.

She had experienced it again.

Once more, she had failed to protect someone she loved.

She had disappeared into his domain of infinity, only to return a day later and find him dead. The same nightmare had repeated itself before her eyes, reopening wounds that had never truly healed in the first place.

And this time, William had become the reason those wounds deepened further.

Seeing her break apart like this became unbearable for him.

He firmly held her shoulders and gently pulled away the hands covering her tear-filled eyes.

"Mom. Listen to me."

His voice turned steady.

"Your son will make everything right. I promise you."

There was a quiet conviction in his eyes that words alone could never fully express. William understood the value of family more than anyone. He knew exactly what it meant to lose people and what it meant to fail them.

That promise finally broke whatever restraint Anne still had left. She pulled him into another embrace and held him tightly, as though afraid the world might try to take him away again from her.

Even Yue and Andrea grew emotional watching the reunion between mother and son.

After some time, William slowly stepped away from Anne and looked back toward Tamasya.

She still sat there motionless, though exhaustion had finally dragged her into a light sleep. Her swollen face and pale complexion made his chest tighten painfully.

William walked toward her and gently rested a hand against her head, softly caressing her hair and bruised cheek.

Feeling his touch, Tamasya stirred awake.

Her eyes slowly opened, widening the moment she saw him alive before her.

For several seconds, she said absolutely nothing.

William smiled faintly and brushed a few loose strands of hair away from her face.

"Missed me?"

The attempt at humor was a mistake.

He suddenly saw her stand on her feet. Her eyes turned red with emotion, trembling with fury and grief all at once. Before he could react, her hand swung across his face.

A loud slap echoed through the room.

William accepted it without resistance.

One side of his face immediately turned red, but his expression never changed. He simply looked at her quietly while she stood there shaking, tears threatening to spill from her eyes at any second.

Her slap carried a message louder than words.

How dare you leave me behind and try to die alone!!

William lowered his gaze toward her trembling hands and noticed the blood smeared across them.

He recognized that it was his own blood.

Something terrible must have happened while he was unconscious.

Without saying anything, he gently took one of her hands into his own and pressed a soft kiss against her bloody palms before resting them on his face. His eyes never left hers as though silently apologizing for everything she had suffered.

Then he pulled her tightly into his arms.

The moment her face buried itself against his chest, all the fear and pain she had been suppressing finally shattered apart. Tears streamed down uncontrollably as she clung to him. She cried loudly like a baby.

"I promise," William whispered softly, "from now on, wherever I go, I’ll take you with me. Till death do us part."

"No—"

"Even death won’t dare to separate us. I will kill death itself."

He leaned down and kissed her forehead.

[Ding!! Mark of Destiny is evolving...]

[Ding!! Mark of a soulmate has been placed on the individual Tamasya.]

[Ding!! Individual Tamasya has gained the title ’The First Eternal Queen.’]

[Ding!! Individual Tamasya has gained the title ’Queen of the Eternal Sovereign. ’]

[Ding!! Individual Tamasya has gained the chance to evolve her path.]

[Ding!! Supreme System is integrating with individual Tamasya’s soul.]

"What?!"

William’s eyes widened in alarm.

"Is it safe for her to be exposed to this?"

[It is only a secondary integration, available exclusively to those destined to become the soulmates of the Eternal Sovereign. She will not receive the hundredfold multiplier benefits or access to the shop, but she will gain the ability to communicate with me and utilize all other functions of the Supreme System.]

[The Shadow element will remain unaware of this integration. Tamasya herself will also be incapable of revealing the secret to the Shadow. She has officially become your soulmate, so significant changes will begin occurring within her from this point onward.]

Orion’s explanation eased William’s concern slightly.

It was not that he distrusted Tamasya. The real problem was the shadow residing within her mind, monitoring everything. That existence, knowing about the system, could have created countless dangers.

Still, William could not help smiling afterward.

Orion had once explained that for someone to truly become his soulmate, they would need to survive a crisis together powerful enough to forge an unbreakable bond between them.

William now found himself wondering what exactly had happened while he had been unconscious.

[I possess fragments of the trial within my memory. I will show you later.] Orion spoke, and William silently nodded with eagerness.

Then he lowered his gaze toward the pair of pitch-black eyes staring up at him from beneath his chin.

"Did it hurt?" Tamasya asked quietly; her voice remained muffled against his chest.

William’s heart softened instantly.

"Yes," he replied with complete seriousness. "You slapped me really hard. My cheeks and lips still hurt badly. Maybe a few kisses would help me recover."

A sharp pinch suddenly twisted the skin near his stomach.

William flinched.

"I was asking about the damn sword wound, you pervert!" Tamasya glared at him furiously through tear-filled eyes.

Andrea burst into laughter while Yue even chuckled softly nearby. Anne, however, stared at the two of them with widened eyes and an unreadable expression, clearly unsure whether she should feel relieved, embarrassed, or exasperated.