Dragon's Awakening: The Duke's Son Is Changing The Plot-Chapter 176 - 175 - “…Did you just flirt with me?”

Raven had fought monsters with faces made of teeth and demons that screamed in broken languages.

He had trained under a dying madman, dodged assassination attempts, and survived Siris’s hugs.

He had even talked back to a squirrel wearing a general’s helmet once.

But none of that had prepared him for this.

He was sitting across from a goddess.

Not just any goddess, but someone who had been pretending to be Grandpa_Hot_Pot.

The Grandpa_Hot_Pot.

The cosmic meme, the fashion nightmare, the divine entity who once offered him a legendary item called the "Sock of Limitless Laundry" and claimed it was made from phoenix fur.

The same entity that had killed another major god because they damaged his sanctuary.

Now she was sitting before him, legs crossed elegantly, her divine aura restrained but still shimmering around her like a veil of starless night.

She was beautiful.

But not in the conventional "I’m a perfect sculpture of godhood" kind of way.

No—her beauty was something more... painful.

There was weight in her eyes. Something vast and ancient. The kind of beauty that didn’t sparkle—it burned.

If he could perceive things well, she had just confessed to him.

Kind of.

Sort of.

Maybe?

He still wasn’t sure.

What he was sure of was that he had nearly died from the pressure she exuded three seconds ago and was now sipping tea from a porcelain cup shaped like a cat curled around a frog. ƒгeewёbnovel.com

"Drink. It helps," she said softly, pushing a second plate of snacks toward him.

He blinked down at the tea. "This isn’t poisoned, right?"

She tilted her head. "If I wanted to kill you, Raven, I’d have done it with a pun."

"That’s... honestly fair."

He took a sip.

It tasted like melancholy and roasted rice. Which somehow suited her.

The silence that followed wasn’t uncomfortable. Not anymore. Just... weird.

She watched him quietly, her chin resting on the back of her hand.

Her expression was unreadable. Her cloak, once gloom incarnate, had shifted into something softer—still dark, but now more like midnight silk.

It shimmered with faint constellations that moved as if alive.

"So..." he began, "when you said you were mad because I sold your artifact to another goddess..."

"Yes?"

"You weren’t mad because of the trade?"

"No."

"Not even a little?"

"Well." She took a sip of her tea. "A little. I made that napkin personally with some care."

Raven flinched. "You said it was useless."

She narrowed her eyes with a smirk. "Only because I didn’t want you to feel burdened."

He sighed. "I didn’t know, okay? I thought you were just... some ancient cryptid with godhood and bad taste in names. I mean, Grandpa_Hot_Pot?!"

"It’s a brilliant name," she said primly.

"It’s emotionally scarring," Raven replied.

"...Really?" Her expression turned awkward, making Raven realize that she was still the same Yandere goddess who was in dire need of someone who would tell her that she wasn’t a mistake.

"...Well, it was funny. So, it’s not all that bad."

Arietta smiled slightly, and her legs stopped fidgeting.

They sat in silence again, but this time, something had changed.

Raven cleared his throat awkwardly. "So, uh... You like me?"

Arietta paused. Her fingers tapped the side of her teacup, trying to act calm, which she couldn’t as her lips twitched slightly. "W-Well, you make me laugh. You talk to me despite knowing that it won’t bring you anything. Even now, you aren’t looking at me with fear or reverence but pity and care."

She paused, her gaze rising to look at him, the crazy and scary light inside them almost breaking out, but she kept them under control as she continued.

"I don’t think I can imagine laughing or living a normal life without you, so yes, I like you, I adore you, and I love you."

There was a long silence before Raven sighed. "I thought you were a dude, to be honest."

Raven didn’t answer her proposal, but Arietta didn’t say anything.

’He can’t go anywhere but me. So, if he wants some time, I can give him.’

While she was behaving like a crazy and confident Yandere on the inside, on the outside, she merely chuckled. "And yet you still talked to me."

"Well, yeah. You were entertaining. Like watching a powerful, eldritch grandpa set the world on fire with sass."

She burst out laughing.

Really laughing.

The sound was clear and melodic, filled with something old and aching and new all at once.

It made the stars on her cloak shimmer brighter for a moment.

"I’m serious," Raven said, smiling despite himself. "You were the weirdest and most consistent part of my god-chat life. Even your ramblings helped. Sometimes, especially your ramblings."

"I once spent four days debating whether pickles should be used as divine currency."

"I remember you saying that you had turned one of the world’s currencies into Pickcoin," he said, raising his cup in salute. "Hats off to you."

She looked at him, her expression softening again. "Raven. I won’t ask for an answer right now. After all, no one can love anyone in one day. But I want you to know that you can’t talk to any other goddess without telling me."

"Alright. I won’t," Raven nodded. Then, with a hesitant expression, he asked. "But... What happened to Windy?"

The air stilled again, Arietta’s eyes turning stormy, but Raven didn’t look away.

He had come here to ensure Windy’s safety. His goal had never changed.

"She is my... friend."

Raven broke the silence, his expression serious. "I don’t care if you kill me, but I can’t tolerate one of my friends dying because of me."

Arietta stared at Raven, her breathing turning faster.

’He cared about her, doesn’t he?’ She asked herself. ’He cares about her more than me, right?’

Raven, taking a deep breath in the tense silence, didn’t know where he got the courage, but he still asked.

"What are you thinking right now?"

"I’m thinking that you care about that goddess more than you care about me," Arietta replied without delay, her eyes locked on Raven’s expression, waiting to see even a twitch, but Raven merely frowned.

"Well, isn’t that obvious?" He asked, making Arietta, who wasn’t expecting him to say that, pause.

But before she could explode, Raven continued. "Like, we met today. Before today, I didn’t even know you. But Windy helped me, and I had known her for some time."

Tilting his head, he asked, "Isn’t it obvious that I would care more about her?"

"But you should care more about me!" Arietta, now standing, growled, her aura turning dark again.

"You can’t force someone to love you." Raven didn’t look away from her eyes. "If you want to kill me for being truthful to you when I couldn’t easily lie, then I would rather you kill me."

Arietta froze, her craziness and sanity fighting a tough battle as she clearly understood what Raven was saying, but she didn’t like the fact that Raven cared for someone else.

Raven, however, wasn’t done yet.

’God bless me,’ he thought before he picked Omni.

"Bruh," Omni whispered. "Please keep me out of this, man. I don’t want to be associated with this goddess."

Raven didn’t listen to him and turned toward Arietta. Seeing her expression changing every millisecond, he spoke up.

"You know what?" Bringing Omni up to his throat, he continued. "Maybe I should help you with the killing part."

With those words, he pressed the sword against his neck.

But before Omni, who was unable to understand this sudden twist, could even yell—

Woosh!

Arietta was standing next to Raven, her palm placed between Omni’s blade and Raven’s neck.

"Stop..." She muttered, her eyes filled with fear. "Please stop."

"I—I’m sorry, alright?!" She stuttered, her chest heaving as her breath sped up. "I-I’m just scared of losing you as well! I don’t want to lose you to someone else!"

There were tears in her red eyes, the light in them dim, and Raven sighed, leaving Omni, who kept doing ’Eh? Eh? Eh?’ on the chair, and hugged the goddess, her curvaceous body fitting perfectly between his arms.

"I already promised that I won’t talk to any goddess other than you, so why are you still worried about such things?"

Arietta’s breath hitched. "B-But you said that you cared about that bitch—"

"I did," Raven cut her off, patting her head. "But only because I don’t want to end up being an indirect murderer of my first friend in the trade channel."

There was a long silence before Arietta finally muttered, "...I didn’t kill her. I even gave her one million divinity points in return."

Raven raised a brow. "That’s so generous of you."

He smiled, patting her head, and she giggled, squirming comfortably in his warm embrace.

Raven merely shook his head at this, wondering just how much she suffered for her to giggle at compliments like this.

Then, he sat on the chair again, Arietta now on his lap, staring at him without blinking, her face filled with a rosy blush.

"...You won’t stop talking to me, right?" She asked that question, but her smile didn’t waver as if she already knew the answer, and she merely wanted to hear it again.

"Nope," Raven replied with a chuckle.

"Hehe, good." She said with a toothy grin.

Then, there was another silence. This time, it was a comfortable silence.

However, Arietta repeated her question after a while.

"Raven, you really won’t, right?" This time, she wasn’t smiling. She was nervous. "After all, I’m not a good goddess. I’ve been called a monster by many."

He frowned. "You’re not a monster..."

But then he paused, realizing that he still didn’t know his name.

Scratching his head, smiling awkwardly, he turned toward her. "What’s your real name, again?"

Silence.

This time, it was a stunned silence.

Then, Arietta burst into a giggle. "Arietta. Arietta Primordius."

Her mood, however, was already better.

Raven didn’t even have to console her.

Raven being Raven was enough for her to be happy.

The guy, however, coughed, saying what he was going to say.

"You are not a monster, Arietta."

The goddess, despite already being in a good mood, still listened to what he had to say with utmost focus.

Looking into her eyes, Raven added, "And even if you are, then maybe I’m into monsters."

Then her face flushed faintly.

Like, visibly glowed.

"...Did you just flirt with me?"

"I think I did. Is that legal?"

"Only if you don’t stop."

They both chuckled, and the atmosphere turned merry.

As Arietta stared at Raven, smiling at her—not nervously, not because he had to, but because he wanted to—she finally realized what it felt like to be wanted for who she was.

Not her name.

Not her title.

Not her power.

Just her.

"More tea?" She offered, eyes glittering.

He leaned back and grinned.

"Only if you promise not to kill me if I flirt back."

She raised a brow. "I make no such promise."

For the first time in a long, long time...

She was this happy.

But then, Raven paused, his expression turning nervous as he suddenly recalled something crucial.

He turned to look up at Arietta, who was still smiling softly at him, and he knew that this might be the last time he saw her smiling if he were to go ahead and speak whatever he wanted to, but he knew he had to.

He couldn’t build whatever this was on a lie.

So, he coughed.

"Arietta," he called out to her, and Arietta, putting the cup down, tilted her head.

"What’s wrong, Raven? Want more tea?" She asked, giggling. "Or do you want to flirt?"

Raven wasn’t chuckling, though.

He took a deep breath. "I need to talk about something. It’s essential to talk about it."

His legs were tapping the floor continuously, clearly showing his nervousness, but he didn’t look like he was about to back down.

But before he could speak or even think about a good way to put it, Arietta raised her brow.

"Is this about your mortal love life?"

The moment he heard that, Raven paused, as that was exactly what he wanted to talk about.

Read lat𝙚st chapters at fre(𝒆)novelkiss.com Only