"So basically, I've been your guardian angel this whole time. Actually, no, that sounds wrong. Guardian devil fits way better. Either way, I've always been there and honestly, I'm just glad your life turned out better."
Veneri let out a faint huff that almost counted as a laugh.
"Even so, I don't have feelings for you anymore."
"That's a lie and you know it. You're the Love Pentarch, Veneri. Out of everyone, you're the last person who gets to be confused about what you feel. You're glad I'm here. You're relieved, even if you don't want to admit it, and more than that, you're happy that your lovely Greshina Emberforge hasn't changed."
That made him look away. Greshina watched him for a second, then added quietly:
"It's not that you don't feel anything. It's that you haven't forgiven me."
Greshina gently reached up and touched his cheek.
"And that's okay. I'm not mad at you for loving other women or for moving on. I accepted the consequences of what I did a long time ago. I've been living with it for ten thousand years after all. I love you, and I'm going to keep loving you for the rest of my existence. That part isn't going to change. You don't have to feel the same way. You don't have to give anything back. All you have to do is live. It's one-sided, unrequited and tragic but I'm fine with it. It's been fun."
Veneri stared at her for a second.
"No. I'm not letting you do that again."
Now that caught her off guard.
"Do what?"
"You act like it's enough to just sit on the sidelines and watch. You spent ten thousand years saying you won't give up on me and now you're telling me you're fine with this? That's bullshit."
Greshina stared at him, genuinely taken aback.
"You know, I never pursued anyone in this life. It just… happened every single time. I did my own thing, and somehow, they fell for me and I fell harder but this? You're telling me you're going to give half the effort and call it a day? If that's how you're going to handle this, then you should just leave."
That made her eyes widen.
"Because I want answers. And that's not happening if you're standing there pretending this is enough."
Before she could respond, he pushed her back onto the picnic blanket and pinned her there with his hand pressing lightly against her shoulder. Greshina froze for a second, not out of fear but pure surprise. She could have easily moved him away but instead, she just stared up at him, completely caught off guard.
"I've tried ignoring you more times than I can count. You were my first love and even now… there's still something there. I still resent what you did and I'm not going to pretend I don't. I'm not forgiving you that easily either so here's what we're going to do. You're going to earn my trust back."
She blinked in surprise.
"And while you're doing that, I'm going to win you over again."
Greshina laughed.
"You're insane, Veneri! Are five women not enough for you? You're seriously going for a sixth now?"
Veneri scoffed.
"I have three reasons."
"Go on, I'm listening."
"First, you're a Deity of Death. Having you as a beloved is objectively the best advantage I could possibly get. I want you on our side, not just hovering in the background like some overpowered stalker."
She rolled her eyes slightly at that, but didn't interrupt.
"Second, this is for my own sanity. I'm the Love Pentarch. If I have unresolved feelings, I'm not going to ignore them. I'm going to figure them out. And third, I'm greedy. I've never pursued anyone here but this time? I'm not following this world's matriarchal nonsense. I'm going to chase you relentlessly until you give in. In return, all you have to do is win my trust back. Maybe then you'll have a chance. Oh, and don't expect me to go easy on you."
Greshina just looked at him and smiled.
"You've changed."
"Good."
He fully activated his Love Divinity on her.
"Even if you're a Deity, you're still affected by emotions. I can feel it, you know? The love. The happiness. Oh, are you shocked? What, you're going to kiss me now?"
Greshina immediately scoffed, though there was a faint flush to her expression.
"This isn't the Veneri I knew. My Veneri was calm, docile and way too accepting. This one is bold enough to threaten a Deity and make demands. And even if you use that ability on me, it won't work properly. Not unless you become a Deity yourself."
Veneri didn't hesitate.
"Then I'll become one."
That made her pause.
"In our past life, you controlled everything. But this time? I'm taking the reins."
Greshina's lips curved slowly.
"And you think I'll just fall for you again?"
"You won't have a choice. After all, I made the strongest Divine of the Third Generation to fall for me even harder than I fell for her. Believe me, a Deity of Death is just a hurdle for me to jump."
Greshina laughed softly.
"Fine. It's a deal."
Greshina didn't move even after agreeing,
"Oh and just so we're clear, I'm not going to make this easy for you either."
Veneri gave her a flat look and said, "I'd be disappointed if you did."
"Also, I forgot to mention something about my Codex."
That immediately made him narrow his eyes.
"I can control exactly when the seven minutes end. It doesn't just run out on its own. I decide the moment it stops. And of course, if I deactivate it now…"
The Codex collapsed and reality snapped back into place.
And in that exact instant, the seven minutes that had been stretched into seven hours happened instantaneously. Veneri's eyes widened slightly as the world resumed and right in front of them, Phaenora and Elyonari stood there, holding boxes of cake looking directly at him pinning Greshina down on the picnic blanket.
There was a very long, very loud silence. Veneri slowly turned his head and then stared at Greshina for a second.
"You sly bitch."
"Oh cry me a river. I told you I wouldn't make this easy."
Phaenora's eyes narrowed. "Edarea Avinaris?"
Greshina immediately corrected her, not even sparing a second of hesitation as she said;
"Wrong one. I'm the original Greshina Emberforge. Edarea is just my transmigrated version."
A few nearby people had already started noticing the situation. Nothing says public spectacle like a man pinning down a ridiculously beautiful woman in the middle of a park while two equally dangerous beautiful women stare him down like he just committed a crime.
Phaenora slowly looked back at Veneri and asked him.
"What exactly are you doing?"
Veneri sighed like his life choices had finally caught up to him.
"I'm… apparently pursuing Greshina Emberforge again. Also, Miss Marceline is Greshina Emberforge. She's not here to cause problems, she's actually—"
"Don't change the subject. Why are you pinning her down like that?"
Veneri opened his mouth to respond, clearly about to disengage and stand up when Greshina moved. Instead of letting him pull away, she grabbed him, pulled him closer and kissed him in front of everyone.
Veneri's eyes widened for a fraction of a second but resisting her was not exactly an option considering she was stronger than him by an absurd margin, so he just got dragged into it. The park went silent. The pigeons would've gasped if they could.
When she finally pulled away, she looked completely unfazed, like she hadn't just detonated a social bomb in the middle of a public space. She turned her gaze toward Phaenora and Elyonari and said, with absolute confidence;
"I'm taking him back. He was mine to begin with. You just happened to get him while I wasn't around."
She disappeared.
Elyonari grabbed Greshina mid-phase—somehow—and slammed her so hard into the distance that the impact echoed as Greshina crashed into the side of a skyscraper, causing a shockwave.
"I've been waiting to kill this bitch for ages."
"Ely, that's not Edarea Avinaris—"
"I know. But this isn't about that. Ever since I heard her name and what she did to you, I've wanted to beat her badly. Phae, you joining?"
Phaenora's lips curved into a sharp smile as she set the cake box down very carefully, because priorities and nodded.
"Obviously. It's about time I dealt with the woman who ruined our Darling's life."
Veneri immediately stepped back slightly, raising his hand as if to say something but Phaenora pointed at him without even looking.
"Don't think you're off the hook. Once we're done with her, we're coming back for you. And this time, no amount of flirting or sweet-talking is going to save you. I'm actually very annoyed right now."
Greshina burst out of the skyscraper debris, completely unharmed, brushing dust off her shoulder like she had just tripped over a pebble instead of being launched across a city. She looked down at the two of them approaching and cracked her neck.
"Alright, I might have overdone that entrance."
Elyonari shot forward. Her strike was aimed directly at Greshina, who casually tilted her head to the side to avoid it, though the air pressure alone shattered nearby glass. Phaenora followed immediately as she came in from the side, forcing Greshina to actually move this time.
"Okay, this is actually fun."