Genetic Ascension

Chapter 2290: Attempt at Conversation

"You know, I'm not a fragile little dainty princess. I can go places and do things," Cassarae complained, placing her hands over her belly. "I'm not even showing yet. I can still punch things."

Sylas gave her a look.

She pouted in response. "I take that as a no."

"That's right," Sylas replied, leaning back into his chair and looking up at the skies.

Cassarae rolled her eyes and looked over at the Duchess who hadn't really spoken much since Sylas returned. It was a shame, because Cassarae actually felt like the Duchess was starting to warm up a bit before.

Was she being a bit of a hypocrite now? Maybe.

She was the one that wanted the dividing line between her status and the Duchess', but she still felt bad about how Sylas was treating her.

Well, Sylas had actually been treating her quite well before. The trouble was that Sylas wasn't someone who forgave slights easily. If the Duchess wasn't carrying his child, he probably would have killed her because of how she had lashed out before.

Truthfully, it wasn't the almost killing him part that Sylas was actually angry about. It was because of the implication.

The Duchess harboring that anger meant that all this time she had thought him to be someone who didn't honor his word. And that was simply something Sylas couldn't accept.

Someone who would be the mother of his child not trusting him when he already made it clear to her that he would do what he could for her brother… Cassarae sighed and took a seat. "OLIVIA!"

Rather than receiving a reply, Cassarae got a ping in her messages again.

—

[Olivia: even if you're the City Lady you can't just call me from across the city like this, you know. You'll annoy the citizens] —

Cassarae grinned.

—

[Cassarae: my husband will just smite them.]

[Olivia: are you trying to rub my lack of dick in my face? Fuck you, I'm hanging up.]

[Cassarae: if you're nice I might let you borrow it.]

[Olivia: kick rocks. I'm coming over, but not for dick. I need food. Since you're such a good wife all of a sudden, get in the kitchen.] —

Cassarae chuckled and stood up. "What do you want to eat?" she asked Sylas.

Sylas looked over. "Whatever you make is fine."

Cassarae caressed Sylas' chin a bit. "You know, your parents will be fine. You don't have to hang out around here. This time we'll be ready."

"I'm waiting for something else. I have a feeling it will probably happen soon," Sylas said slowly.

He was actually supposed to be clearing out more territory for Earth right now. But instead, he was here.

"You should talk to her while you're here, then," Cassarae said, darting a gaze over at the Duchess.

"Mm." Sylas nodded, looking out into the distance.

Cassarae smiled bitterly and shook her head. She pinched Sylas' chin between a finger and her thumb, then kissed him.

"I will not raise a child in a broken home."

Sylas raised an eyebrow. "Am I not here?"

"I'm not just talking about mine. Actually, no. Yes I am. As far as I'm concerned, everything that comes out of those balls is mine. In fact, I plan on emptying them later so you'd better put me in a good mood otherwise I'll kick them instead."

Sylas shook his head and smiled lightly, but he didn't say anything.

Cassarae left after saying this. She had already done her best at this point. But both of them were cold and stubborn.

She was sure that Sylas was smart enough to consider things from the Duchess' perspective, he just didn't care.

Sylas had always been like that, but the thing was that he was just as cruel to himself. He didn't care about the odds that were stacked against him, his standards always remained the same. He had never spared a single thought toward the unfairness of the Summoning Earth faced. His only intention was to clear it from the very beginning.

He cleared one challenge after another in the same way without fail.

No matter what the Duchess had gone through, she shouldn't have folded. A moment of weakness was fine. But to use that moment of weakness to assign fault and weakness to him?

Unacceptable.

In fact, right about now, Sylas wasn't thinking about how to talk to the Duchess. He was instead trying to figure out how to get his sister back home.

He wondered where she was and what she was doing. He didn't want her to suffer the same fate as their parents.

"You have grown powerful," the Duchess suddenly said.

Sylas looked over toward her.

"Your Will has grown again. You improve very rapidly. In the Demonic World, they say that this is a good sign for the baby. It responds very well to improvement of a parent's strength, even in the womb.

"Right now, gestating within the Real World will only make its Demonic Will stronger. When it is born, its Demonic Will will be an order of magnitude stronger than it would be otherwise. Though, being born to an S-tier will help greatly with this as well. S-tiers are very rarely with child."

Sylas looked at the Duchess. Was this her method of trying to make conversation?

The Duchess looked at him with a deadpan gaze. Nothing about her expression seemed remotely readable. It was almost adorable in its own odd way.

Despite the silence, she didn't break her gaze as though she thought she would lose something if she did.

Sylas only silently stared at her for a long while as though he was trying to see something.

After what felt like an eternity, his lips finally parted.

"Tell me what happened after you awoke."

The Duchess stiffened a bit and then looked off into the distance, breaking eye contact for the first time. She took a small breath, and then exhaled.

"… Alright."

She began to explain, starting from the beginning.