The golden breeze of the endless plain gently faded around them as Celeste rose from the small white table. The movement was simple, delicate, almost too human for an entity whose existence transcended basic concepts of reality. Yet, the instant she stood, space itself seemed to subtly rearrange itself around her presence, as if all of creation unconsciously adjusted its posture before her.

Vergil watched this silently as he put his hands in the pockets of his dark blue coat. The conversation had left his mind dangerously full of thoughts he didn’t yet know exactly how to process. Destiny. Red threads. Lucy. Samael. Soul contracts. Hope.

It was too much information for a single day.

And, strangely...

He wasn’t annoyed enough about it.

Celeste gave him a small, amused glance, clearly perceiving her grandson’s mental state without any difficulty.

"You’re overthinking again."

Vergil sighed through his nose.

"Today was a conceptually exhausting day."

"That’s an extremely elegant way of saying ’my life has turned into a metaphysical disaster.’"

"Technically correct."

She chuckled softly.

Then she raised one hand.

The air before them rippled gently.

There was no explosion of light.

Nor exaggerated dimensional distortion.

Reality simply... opened up.

A white door slowly emerged in the middle of the golden plain, made of soft light and delicate lines that seemed drawn directly onto the fabric of existence. The wind swept through its structure as if it were partially conceptual, and ancient golden symbols shimmered discreetly around the frame.

Celeste tilted her head slightly.

"Let’s go back before Metatron has an existential meltdown trying to explain to Michael where you disappeared to."

Vergil chuckled softly through his nose.

"Has this happened before?"

"More times than he’d like to admit."

Without waiting for an answer, Celeste went through the door first.

Vergil observed the soft light beyond her for a moment before calmly following it.

The world had shifted again.

The white library of Eden reappeared around them almost instantly, its endless shelves rising in impossible directions under the golden glow of celestial runes floating through the air. The comfortable silence of that place returned immediately, accompanied by the faint scent of ancient scrolls and condensed sacred magic.

Metatron was exactly where they had left him.

Seated elegantly next to the materialized white sofa, watching Lucy draw something extremely important involving a dragon, three crowns, and what appeared to be a floating loaf of bread holding a sword.

But the instant Celeste’s presence appeared in the library...

Everything changed.

Metatron froze.

Completely.

The multiple golden halos behind his head literally lost synchronization for a fraction of a second. The runes orbiting around them slowed abruptly, as if the library’s own conceptual system had hesitated.

Then his lilac eyes widened.

Vergil noticed immediately.

"...Oh." A small, tired smile appeared on his lips. "You’ve never physically appeared before him before."

Celeste seemed genuinely amused now.

"I rarely see the need."

Metatron stood up immediately.

Not in a panic.

Nor dramatically.

But with a respectful swiftness that Vergil never imagined witnessing from that absurdly composed creature.

The celestial scribe inclined his head slightly as his luminous wings discreetly emerged behind him.

"Heavenly Father."

The entire library seemed to fall even quieter after those words.

Celeste immediately raised one hand gently.

"It’s not necessary, son."

The answer came with such absurd naturalness that even Vergil had to suppress a small reaction.

Metatron blinked slowly.

Then nodded silently.

"...Understood." Vergil observed the scene for two full seconds before letting out a small, low chuckle through his nose.

"That was uncomfortably familiar."

Celeste smiled.

"Maternal authority transcends cosmic hierarchies."

"Terrifying."

Metatron clearly decided to completely ignore that part of the conversation in favor of preserving what little conceptual stability he still possessed at that moment.

Then something small happened behind him.

Lucy finally noticed the new presence in the library.

The girl slowly lifted her eyes from the drawing she was making on the floor.

And froze.

Celeste’s golden eyes immediately met hers.

For a brief instant, the atmosphere plunged into absolute silence.

Lucy’s eyes widened.

Then she ran.

Directly towards Vergil.

She practically lunged behind him, discreetly gripping the side of his blue coat while hiding half her face behind his back. Only her red eyes carefully peeked out as she cautiously observed Celeste with childlike skepticism.

Vergil immediately let out a small chuckle through his nose.

"You really can scare children."

Celeste put her hand to her chest in feigned offense.

"I’m devastated."

Lucy remained hidden behind him.

She didn’t seem terrified.

More... intimidated.

Which made sense.

Even trying to soften her presence as much as possible, Celeste was still an absolute entity. Space itself reacted to her existence. For someone like Lucy, whose spiritual perception clearly exceeded normality, that was probably impossible to completely ignore.

Vergil calmly placed one hand on the head of the girl hidden behind him.

"She won’t hurt you."

Lucy lightly squeezed the fabric of his coat.

Vergil then smiled discreetly.

"Besides..." His eyes moved to Celeste. "...theoretically, this woman is your grandmother."

The silence that followed was magnificent.

Lucy slowly tilted her head to the side behind him.

"...Grandma?"

Celeste immediately seemed dangerously happy.

"Oh, that sounds lovely."

Vergil instantly realized he had made a gigantic strategic mistake.

Metatron realized it too.

Lucy watched Celeste carefully now, still partially hidden behind Vergil as she tried to process this new concept.

Celeste then completely softened her presence.

Literally.

The golden glow around her diminished. The luminous particles partially disappeared. Even the conceptual pressure of her existence receded delicately, becoming more comfortable for a child’s mind.

Then she lowered herself slightly until she was closer to Lucy’s height.

Her smile became absurdly gentle.

"You’re quite big."

Lucy blinked slowly.

Celeste tilted her head slightly.

"Want some cake?"

Then she chuckled softly.

The next instant, tiny golden particles began to delicately gather on one of her hands. Soft light condensed in the air like melting sugar until it formed... a cake.

Not just any cake.

An absurdly perfect slice of chocolate cake delicately appeared on a small white plate adorned with golden details. The frosting shimmered softly in the library light, thick and creamy, while small shavings of golden chocolate decorated the top along with perfectly fresh red berries.

The aroma immediately filled the entire room.

Lucy froze.

Her red eyes slowly widened.

"...Oh."

Metatron discreetly looked away to hide a small, amused reaction.

Vergil observed the girl’s expression and almost laughed again.

Because she was clearly waging an internal spiritual battle between "strange creep" and "extremely beautiful cake."

Lucy hesitated.

Very much.

Her eyes nervously alternated between the cake and Celeste.

Celeste just waited patiently, still crouched before her.

Vergil sighed softly through his nose.

Then he calmly extended his hand.

Sacred energy shimmered discreetly between his fingers as he took the plate directly from Celeste’s hands without the slightest difficulty.

Metatron immediately noticed this.

And became even more internally disturbed.

Because directly manipulating matter created by the supreme entity in that way required an absurd level of spiritual compatibility.

Vergil completely ignored this conceptually alarming revelation.

He simply turned slightly to Lucy and delicately placed the plate in her small hands.

"Don’t be afraid."

His voice came out calm.

Soft.

Natural.

Then he placed his hand on her head once more.

Lucy immediately relaxed.

The residual fear vanished almost instantly.

Because, for her, if Vergil said everything was alright...

Then everything really was alright.

She slowly looked at the cake again.

Then at Celeste.

The hesitation in her eyes gradually disappeared, replaced by genuine childlike curiosity.

Then she smiled.

Small.

Sweet.

"Thank you so much... Grandma." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

The silence that filled the library afterward was dangerously intense.

Celeste literally froze for a fraction of a second.

Her golden eyes widened slightly.

Metatron saw.

Vergil saw.

Lucy saw absolutely nothing because she was already extremely busy analyzing the cake with top priority.

Celeste slowly brought one hand to her face.

"...Oh no."

Vergil immediately narrowed his eyes.

"What?"

She looked at him with an unexpectedly serious expression.

"I think I love this child now."

Vergil immediately let out a low laugh.

"Good luck. She does this often."

Lucy had already sat quietly on the library floor with the plate resting on her lap, carefully tasting the first piece of cake.

Then her eyes widened dramatically.

"...IT’S SO GOOD."

Celeste smiled instantly again.

And at that moment, watching Lucy happily on the floor of the celestial library holding chocolate cake as if it were a sacred treasure...

Even Metatron began to suspect that the entire universe might be silently shifting around that little child.

...

Far from the almost absurd tranquility of the celestial library, in a part of the underworld, a significantly less stable emotional situation was unfolding.

The enormous main room of the mansion remained immersed in a heavy and uneasy silence. The rain outside had already lessened considerably, but drops still trickled slowly down the large windows while distant lightning occasionally illuminated the dark sky. The normally elegant and comfortable atmosphere now seemed too tense to be called welcoming.

Katharina had been pacing back and forth across the room for almost twenty minutes.

Heels echoed repeatedly on the flawless marble as she crossed her arms tightly enough to clearly demonstrate the state of her own mental patience. Her long black hair swung behind her in irritated movements, and her demonic tail occasionally whipped the air whenever particularly unpleasant thoughts crossed her mind.

Ada sat on the sofa near the unlit fireplace, resting her elbows on her knees while slowly rubbing her forehead. Although she normally seemed calmer than Katharina, at that moment even she showed clear signs of growing nervousness. Her fingers tapped rhythmically against her own leg in a failed attempt to alleviate her anxiety.

Roxanne was probably the most restless of the three; even while eating her favorite cake, she was nervous.

She remained near the window, constantly glancing outside as if expecting Vergil to simply appear walking through the rain at any moment. Her arms were crossed tightly below her chest, and her demonic wings would partially emerge behind her from time to time before disappearing again as her irritation grew.

The silence lasted a few more seconds.

Then Katharina finally exploded.

"WHERE IS OUR HUSBAND?!"