Chapter 412: Confrontation
"Isn’t it a little too much of a big house to live in alone?" Nathan asked, glancing around the place.
He was seated comfortably in one of the living room couches while Bernadette walked over with two glasses of wine already poured. She laughed lightly at his question as she handed one to him before settling into the seat beside him.
"It was difficult at first," Bernadette admitted. "In first few days I moved in here, the place felt too big for just me. But eventually, I got used to the space."
"I see." Nathan nodded.
Bernadette took a sip from her glass before adding, "And by the way, tell Eduardo and Ethan I’m mad at both of them for deciding not to tell me you’ve been back all this while."
Nathan lowered his glass slightly. "Actually, that was my fault."
Bernadette turned towards him. "How so?"
Nathan hesitated.
"Tell me everything." She said.
He sighed and leaned back into his seat. "Where do I even start?"
Bernadette smiled and raised her glass. "I have all the time today."
The conversation between them continued for quite some time. By the time Nathan had finished recounting everything that had transpired over the past several months, three more bottles of wine had already been emptied between them.
Under ordinary circumstances, either of them should have been thoroughly intoxicated from the sheer amount of alcohol they had consumed. Each of these bottles had their alcohol levels reaching 99%.
Miss Bernadette, however, possessed a rather convenient solution to that problem. She used and continuously maintained a Space Element spell known as Ars Vacuavius.
The spell created countless microscopic spatial pockets throughout her bloodstream. As alcohol entered her body, it was immediately diverted into those isolated pockets rather than mixing with the blood flowing towards her brain.
The alcohol was within her body, but occupied a separate spatial region that no longer interacted with her body.
The spell also allowed her to regulate that separation. She could gradually release tiny amounts back into her bloodstream if she wished to enjoy the effects of drinking at a controlled pace, instantly release everything at once if she ever desired to become drunk, or simply eject the alcohol into another location altogether.
As a result, despite the amount she had consumed that evening, only minute quantities were being allowed to interact with her body at any given moment.
Nathan, on the other hand, required no such spell. Human levels of intoxication simply weren’t potent enough to weigh down a Demon Lord.
At some point, Nathan finally finished recounting everything.
Bernadette was quiet for a few moments, just staring into her wine glass before softly saying, "Wow."
Nathan smiled a little. "Yeah...’wow’ seems about right."
She appeared disturbed by several parts of the story and spent the next few minutes asking questions about a few things that weren’t entirely clear. Nathan answered each one honestly.
When she was finally done, Bernadette let out a sigh. "I understand."
She looked at him. "Before you showed up tonight, if I’d known where you were to look...I would’ve done everything I could to get you across to you."
Nathan turned towards her and smiled faintly.
"But," Bernadette continued, "that doesn’t mean I approve of you experimenting on that girl."
Nathan winced slightly before nodding. "Yeah...I know."
A brief silence settled between them before Bernadette asked, "So...what now?"
Nathan leaned back into the seat. "To be honest, I’m still trying to reach an agreement with my son on how we’re going to move forward."
He took another sip from his glass before continuing. "The plan I originally had...Ethan’s changed it. Actually...I’m trying to do things his way now."
A smile appeared on Bernadette’s face. "I’ve had little encounters with your boy...He seems a little stubborn, isn’t he?"
Nathan shook his head with a chuckle. "He is the one obstacle I just can’t seem to get past."
Bernadette looked at him with obvious amusement. "I wonder where he got that from."
Nathan smiled, watching her stand from her seat and walking towards the wine cabinet.
"I think we’ve earned another bottle." Bernadette said.
Nathan watched her for a moment before shaking his head subtly.
———
Later that evening...
Ethan and Isabella stood facing one another inside their bedroom. After everything that had happened earlier that day with Bettie, they had both reached a decision.
There were too many things they still didn’t understand about the Mistress, and continuously acting with only fragments of the truth was no more conducive.
So Ethan decided it was finally time to seek answers from the only person capable of providing them.
He gave his wife a nod. She understood immediately and returned it.
Right then, darkness slowly spread outward from beneath her feet, flowing across the floor until it reached Ethan. It climbed over his boots and gradually engulfed his legs before steadily pulling him into the shadows.
Ethan remained still as he slowly submerged into the Endless Dark. Tonight, he intended to have a conversation with the Mistress.
Darkness surrounded him from every direction; there was no ground beneath his feet nor sky above his head. Every direction was consumed by the same black.
Then, he felt a hand gently cup his jaw.
Ethan’s eyes immediately shifted towards the touch. He couldn’t properly make out the figure before him as the darkness concealed almost everything about her, leaving only a pair of deep bluish eyes glowing within the void.
For a brief moment, the two simply looked at one another. Then the darkness began to change.
Dark-blue lights gradually ignited throughout the surroundings, illuminating the darkness one after another until Ethan realized they weren’t floating aimlessly.
They were torches. And as more of them came to life, the world around him slowly revealed itself.
There were stone pillars and ancient looking walls all around him. Then, an enormous throne room gradually emerged from the darkness, its architecture resembling that of an old castle forgotten by time.
The Mistress smiled before releasing his jaw. An armour of shadows gradually formed around her body as she calmly walked towards the throne standing at the far end of the hall.
She ascended the short steps before elegantly lowering herself onto the seat.
Ethan quietly looked around the throne room.
The atmosphere was unlike anything he had ever experienced. He could feel the air pressing gently against his skin with an icy coolness, yet that same sensation somehow carried an indescribable warmth.
His attention returned towards the woman seated upon the throne.
Dark Bella rested her cheek on one hand as an amused smile played across her lips. "Why are you here, husband?"
Ethan met her gaze. "You already know why."
Her smile widened ever so slightly before she sighed, giving a dismissive wave of her hand. "I have nothing to say to you, husband."
Ethan shook his head and said, "You don’t have to be so obstinate about this."
She raised an eyebrow but stayed silent.
"It makes no sense." Ethan continued. "We’re not your enemies. If anything, we’re trying to understand what exactly we’ve become involved in if we’re going to protect ourselves...and protect you too."
He paused briefly before adding, "Or at least...the wife you’re a part of."