By evening, the doorbell rang just as Anathasia and I were finishing setting the table.
"Must be Carthanalenia and Egrathiel," Anathasia said, glancing at me.
I nodded as I placed the last plate down before walking toward the door.
"I'll get it."
"Thanks~"
The moment I reached for the handle, the door suddenly burst open.
"Dad—!"
Carthanalenia pounced straight at me, nearly knocking me onto my back as she wrapped her arms around me and buried her face against my chest.
Despite her height, she still clung to me like she used to.
"Welcome back, Lena," I chuckled softly, patting her head.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Egrathiel step in behind her. She quietly closed the door before lowering her head slightly, standing near the entrance.
"Right," I said. "How was the visit?"
Lena paused, then gently pulled away. In an instant, her playful demeanor faded as her composure returned.
"The visit, yes…" she said, glancing at Egrathiel.
"I was successful in installing Egrathiel as their planet's true God."
Then she turned back to me with a small smile.
"Meaning… I now have one less planet to manage."
I folded my arms and nodded before stepping aside.
"Your mom's in the kitchen finishing dinner. Come on in."
Lena nodded, though her gaze shifted toward Egrathiel again.
"Ethy, you should join us," she said. "We're family after all."
Egrathiel froze for a moment before slowly pointing at herself with a confused tilt of her head.
"Me?"
"Lena's right, you know," I added with a small smile. "You're her friend, aren't you?"
But even then, she still looked hesitant.
Lena and I exchanged a glance before nodding in unison. She turned back to Egrathiel with a warm smile and offered her hand.
"It's really fine, you know," she said gently. "We'll be seeing each other more often from now on anyway."
At Lena's words, Egrathiel slowly reached out to take her hand.
Only to stop midway, her fingers hovering awkwardly.
"But… Miss Carthanalenia—"
"Lena," she interrupted with a small sigh. "I've been telling you that for ages."
"L-Lena…" she repeated hesitantly.
Her gaze flickered to me, then toward the kitchen.
"Every individual here except for myself is…"
"Outer Gods?" I finished softly.
I gently shook my head.
"This household doesn't really care about labels or titles. Let alone positions of power."
I waved my hand dismissively, an awkward smile forming on my face.
"I don't even see myself as an Outer God."
Her eyes widened.
"But… aren't you one of the Five Fragments?"
"I am," I replied calmly. "I'm still the Fragment of Stillness. What others call The Fifth Outer God."
I shrugged lightly.
"But at the end of the day, I'm still human."
For a moment, her jaw slackened slightly.
And in that brief pause, Lena finally managed to pull her into the kitchen.
By the time we got there, Anathasia had already finished setting everything up. Her apron floated gently toward the wall where we usually hung them.
She glanced at us before flashing a bright smile.
"Come on, you three. It's dinner time already."
Naturally, Lena and I went ahead and took our seats at the table.
But Egrathiel was still standing near the doorway.
"Is this truly proper…?" she murmured. "Joining the rulers of existence for a meal—"
"…Um, what?" Anathasia cut in, tilting her head slightly as she looked at her.
"Rulers of existence?"
She glanced at Lena, then at me.
"Did we ever establish a hierarchy here?"
"If I remember correctly…" I folded my hands and stared down at the food on my plate.
"We only really have numbers based on which Fragment we have."
I paused for a moment.
"And it's not exactly surprising that your position as the Godhead is uncontested."
Lena casually started eating while we continued talking.
"Anyway," I added, shifting my gaze back at Egrathiel, who was still hovering near the threshold.
"You should just join us."
"Like I said, this household doesn't care about titles or positions."
"Mhm." Anathasia nodded, smiling at Egrathiel.
"As Kylie says."
My expression immediately flattened as I shot her a look.
"Stop butchering my name already…"
"My husband, rather," she corrected casually, raising her fork as she gestured for Egrathiel to join.
Under Anathasia's expectant gaze, Egrathiel reluctantly took a seat beside Lena.
As we began eating, Anathasia glanced at our daughter and spoke up.
"By the way, Lena."
"Mhm?"
"How many planets are you managing exactly?"
"Somewhere in the thirty to forty-digit range, if I'm not mistaken," Lena replied, bringing another bite toward her lips.
"Almost forty percent of them don't even have civilizations though… and I don't plan on kickstarting a primordial soup in any of them."
Anathasia nodded, then smiled softly.
"If you want…" she trailed off. "I can recycle sixty percent of those planets and turn them into useful material—"
"Mom, no." Lena deadpanned.
At that, Anathasia slumped slightly, but continued eating her food anyway.
—
After dinner, Lena and Egrathiel plopped onto the couch. On the other hand, Anathasia and I stayed behind in the kitchen. The sound of running water and plates clinking against each other filled the room as we finished the dishes.
"Oh yeah," Anathasia shot me a glance. "I'm pregnant."
Hearing her words, I immediately froze.
My hand hovered over the plate rack as I slowly turned toward her. But the moment I did, she had a small grin on her lips.
"Be serious…"
"Okay, okay," she raised both hands. "Arianne and the others actually contacted me."
"She did? Why?" I wiped my hands on a towel she casually materialized.
"Catching up… I think. I heard she and Noah are together."
I almost choked on my own saliva, my eyes widening as I stared at her.
"What?"
She just nodded, arms folding over her chest.
"How the— that Noah?"
"That Noah."
I rubbed the bridge of my nose before reaching out to turn the faucet off.
"How is that even… him and Arianne only talked once, didn't they? I would've believed it if Robert ended up with Arianne."
A stifled laugh escaped Anathasia's lips.
"Okay, kidding, kidding. Arianne's still single."
I immediately shot her a glare.
"You—"
"Hinami and Noah are hitting it off well though. That's what Arianne told me."
I froze again.
Things just kept getting weirder.
With a sigh, I ran my hands down my face.
"Okay… how exactly did they meet?"
"Through Arianne, apparently," she casually tossed her phone my way, letting it float slowly into my hand.
On her screen was her conversation with Arianne so far, along with a new group chat they had apparently made that I hadn't checked.
Must've gotten buried in my spam.
"Well, specifically," Anathasia continued, "he crossed paths with Hinami during one of her visits here. That's what Hinami told Arianne."
She paused, then locked eyes with me.
"It was love at first sight, apparently."
My expression flattened even further.
"It's already 2029… love at first sight? Really?"
She just shrugged.
Then a notification suddenly popped up on her phone.
I glanced at the screen for a moment.
"Oh, my favorite series updated."
"Seriously?? My favorite series hasn't updated in over two years…" she clicked her tongue in annoyance. "Lucky…"
I looked back at her.
"Girl… Ending Inducer, more like Indefinite Hiatus Maker—"
She covered her ears, then stepped closer and tugged on my cheek.
"The artist is just… taking a break. Yeah, the author's just taking a break!"
"Sure, whatever you say…" I handed her phone back, then casually pulled out mine while she continued tugging on my cheek.
The moment my screen lit up, a message request notification appeared on the lock screen.
"So this is the group chat you mentioned… who's in here?"
She stopped, letting go of my cheek as she crossed her arms and began counting on her fingers.
"There's you and me… Arianne, Noah, Robert, Joseph."
A beat passed.
"Hinami and Mei are also in there," she added.
"That's quite the lineup…"
"Noah and the others also think we're secretly millionaires for some reason." She shrugged while leaning against the sink.
My eyes narrowed.
"Millionaire, where?"
"Exactly my point. But they're not buying it…"
After a pause, I crossed my arms and leaned beside her.
"What made them think that anyway?"
Anathasia tapped her cheek twice.
"Well, we bought a house…"
"So Mom told him?" I replied flatly.
"Probably."
Silence followed as we both sighed.
After a moment, I spoke again.
"So… when are they planning on meeting up?"
She stared blankly at the countertop.
"Depends… we haven't actually discussed it properly yet."
I gave a slight nod.
"Mhm. Alright then."
I glanced at her.
"Need a new knife set? I noticed our knives are getting… a bit dull. It was weirdly hard to cut meat earlier."
"I think a whetstone can do the job." She leaned against my shoulder. "We could save up a bit more that way."
A smile tugged at my lips as I patted her head.
"Alright then."