Kai had encountered the Goddess merely a handful of times.

And every single time, he was always in the same exact position, too stunned to even move in her presence. In his mind—the entity before him was a deity. Someone that a mortal like him could never compare.

But this time, it was different.

For the first time throughout their handful of encounters, Kai rose from her lap and walked.

"W-What are you saying?" He asked, not expecting the Goddess to even ask him that.

"Don’t be shy," the Goddess replied, watching Kai with an amused smile crossing her face. "I will forget about your naughtiness, as long as you call me mom one time. Is that too much to ask?"

"I-I can’t call you that. It’s... weird."

"In case you haven’t realized, nobody is around. I can make sure of that. No need to be shy."

"I’m not being shy!" Kai retorted—but the words came out weak, and the blush on his cheeks made him even more untrustworthy. But then again, this completely caught him off guard. In his mind—the Goddess is this divine being that looks at everything impartially. "My mom... I don’t really know my real mom."

Now, she was asking him to call her mom.

He didn’t know how to react to that.

"Darling, you have my blood in you. Above all pretense, I am your mother."

"But it’s different. Having the blood of a God means I’m a Supernal. Not... this."

"In that case, do you prefer a spanking?" the Goddess stood up—and reappeared beside Kai, moving faster than the eye can see, and poked Kai’s cheek with her index finger. "If you don’t call me mom, then I’ll have to spank you."

"What...?" Kai pushed the Goddess’ finger away in annoyance, but this only made her laugh. "Why do I need to be punished? I met with your second daughter—by accident! It’s not like I planned to meet with her."

"But you want to meet her again. Do you think I would forget?"

"Err..."

Kai had no defence for that.

He did want to meet with Mallory again so that he could dig out more information about the House of Night and the Goddess of the Primordial Night. Since she mistook him for a strong and ancient Nightborn, he could do that.

Now, with the Goddess confronting him like this, that went down the drain.

Eventually, losing to the pressure, Kai surrendered.

"I’ll do it!"

"You’re going to call me mom?"

"No, I meant I’m going to consider calling you mom... the next time we meet."

"Playing hard to get," the Goddess chuckled—and went back to sit down on the ruined pillar again, crossing her ethereal legs before settling her invisible gaze on Kai. "Okay, fine. How can I refuse my precious boy when you’re the one promising it?"

You pressured me to promise it, though.

Kai shook his head, snapping out of his trance, "But I want to meet with her again."

"Sure, I don’t mind."

"Wait, what?"

Considering that the Goddess made one rule for him, and that’s not to get close to his sisters, he was expecting more resistance from her. Especially since she also wanted to spank him for even wanting to meet with her again.

But she agreed instantly, without hesitation.

"You’re fine with it?"

"Yes, I will give you permission to do it."

"Huh...? Then why are you punishing me for?"

Instead of answering, the Goddess only smirked, but that smirk was an answer enough.

She doesn’t mind Kai meeting with Mallory from the start.

Just that she wanted to get something out of it, and she did since Kai already promised.

And since Kai is someone who holds a promise in high regard, she knew there’s no going back for him after saying that. Even though he was tricked, a promise is still a promise. At least, the Goddess was gambling on that.

"I’m worried you’ll get hurt if you meet with your big sisters, so I prohibited you from doing so," the Goddess shrugged—deciding to tell Kai the truth about the matter. "Since she thinks you’re not a threat, then you’ll be fine. My second daughter looked frail, but I can confidently say she’s the most unpredictable."

Kai’s eyes twitched.

He didn’t care about the fact that he now could freely approach Mallory.

From a minute ago, his mind was still stuck on the fact that the Goddess tricked him like this.

"So, I can make contact with her?"

"If you want to, then yes. I’m not going to stop you."

"And since we are on this matter," Kai pivoted his body completely to face the Goddess. This is the perfect time for him to ask questions—as she seemed to be in a talking mood. "Why did you choose me over my sister?"

"Who said I chose you?" the Goddess smiled meaningfully.

Kai paused.

Ever since he read the notifications when he awakened his Primordial Bloodline, that he was given personal divinity by his Patron God—he was always under the assumption that he was chosen by the Patron God.

Gaining personal divinity investment from the Patron God isn’t a common occurrence.

It’s only for Supernals who were favoured by their Patron God.

So, he thought he was one of the chosen ones.

If the Goddess didn’t choose me, then who did?

Flick—!

Kai blinked his eyes when the Goddess suddenly flicked her fingers.

And a notification appeared before him.

<A new quest has been issued>

<Quest: Enter the Second Daughter’s Domain>

"Now that you are feeling a lot better than earlier, you can return," the Goddess brandished her hand with authority, and the House of Night obeyed absolutely; the darkness swallowed Kai whole and sent him back to the real world. "Don’t forget your promise, darling."

Swoosh—!

Kai was given no time to answer or even react.

By the time his consciousness returned, he found himself inside the emergency staircase.

It was darker now as night had already drowned the world.

"Eugh..." Kai stood up, feeling sore from sitting on the floor for hours on end. His body was still sluggish, but it was far better than it was earlier. "What happened to her? Why is she like this? In my mind, before this meeting, she’s a mysterious and powerful Goddess.

"Now, she’s acting like a mom," He rolled his eyes when he recalled what happened.

Even though he had never really gotten to feel the experience of having a mom, he assumed it felt close like this. Being teased and reprimanded. "Also, what’s with this quest?" Kai opened his status window and read the description. "I have to enter her domain—and explore it without getting into trouble? Isn’t that really hard to do?"

Recalling his first encounter with the second daughter, Kai knew that this quest was very hard.

She was fooled right now, but she seemed sharp.

Especially remembering that Noxian had warned him why she gave away her name—it was to test him, to see if he would be foolish enough to speak it aloud. An old Nightborn would never make that kind of mistake.

And if Kai did mention her name, she would be able to pinpoint his location.

Just that alone showed how sharp she was.

It also meant she had her own suspicion that Kai was lying about his identity.

Right now, she was fooled, yes, but it wouldn’t take long for her to find out the truth.

And when she did, Kai would be in big trouble, as she’s really strong.

"I’d planned to meet with her once or twice, then keep my distance until I was ready. But this quest..." Kai massaged his forehead; freeing about how to approach this matter. "I don’t think I can go through with my initial plan. How do I get close enough to be invited into her domain without her wanting to learn my name?"

Mallory would undoubtedly ask his name.

She even said last time that she’d make a room so that she could learn his name.

Kai has no idea how she’d do that or how long it would take her to do that—but he reckoned it wouldn’t take long at all. And by that point, there’s no more excuse left for him to say. "I’ll need to get closer to her quickly. Give no time for her to make room for another Nightborn."

Once he decided that he’d make the first move, Kai walked out of the emergency staircase.

He headed straight to the dormitory.

Since the creation of the Ambrosia Pact was not only good news for him, he was planning to inform the others about this. But when he knocked on Matilda’s door and gained no answer, he remembered that the others must still be asleep.

"I’ll inform them later tonight," Kai shrugged and headed back to his room.

Frankly, the moment he arrived at the dormitory, he wanted to run back to his room first.

He knew that Talitha would be as excited, if not more excited, to learn about this.

About the fact that the Ambrosia Pact was finally created.

Moreover, right now, he really wanted to talk to someone and share the good news.

Instinct from sharing all the good news with Bella in the past.

Now, even though Bella wasn’t around, he still has someone to talk to. At first, he had resisted the idea of having Talitha assigned as his servant. It felt really unnecessary. Not to mention, it also would only remind him of what he did to earn her as his servant.

But knowing how harsh the living conditions in the hive truly were changed his mind.

It didn’t seem so bad to have her around.

As a matter of fact, it might even be a blessing for her and him.

Especially since she’s really considerate about his conditions, and also friendly.

"Talitha!" Kai entered the room and descended the staircase in a hurry. "Talitha, it went really smoothly! The group registration was accepted—and the Ambrosia Pact is created. Seems like the lucky charm wo—"

Just as he reached the bottom and turned, he stopped mid-sentence.

He saw nobody inside.

"Hmm?" Kai frowned and went to check her bed and bathroom—but couldn’t find her. He paused in the middle of the room and saw the buckets of flowers and pouch of seeds lying on his bed. "She already went to get these things, so where did she go?"

Even though he was confused, he didn’t mind it.

She’s his servant, but she has free rein to go anywhere she wanted.

Kai went to his bed and grabbed the bucket of flowers, the shimmering purple one.

He sniffed the flowers, and his nostrils were immediately overloaded with fragrance.

One that made him remember Bree.

"I’ll give this one to her," Kai said with a nod.

But then something warm traced down the bucket’s base—and touched his fingers. He looked down, and the moment he saw the liquid, his brows dropped into a frown.