Chapter 918: A Mysterious Goddess (What If)
"Ugh..."
Nolan lay on his bed, staring at the unfamiliar ceiling.
"This empty feeling is really getting to me."
He didn’t know why, but he could definitely feel it. This was nothing like what he had imagined before.
Perhaps after meeting Seira, his longing had slowly faded, replaced by a desire to see Elina, Rafine, Isabella, and everyone else he loved again.
As he tried to figure out what was really going on, a voice suddenly came from beside him.
"No. You already know the answer, but you’re just refusing to admit it."
Nolan was startled by the voice. He quickly sat up and turned around.
A woman was sitting with her back to him. Long white hair cascaded down her back.
Her slender, beautiful figure was covered by a pale white sleeveless dress, leaving her smooth, fair shoulders exposed.
Nolan immediately became wary.
"Who are you? How did you get into my room?"
The woman didn’t answer right away. She didn’t even bother to turn around.
A few moments later, her voice sounded again.
"You don’t need to know who I am. All you need to know is that I’m the one who brought you back to this world."
Nolan’s tension instantly disappeared, replaced by utter astonishment.
Earlier, he had wondered who had taken him on that journey across the universe.
He had even guessed that one of the gods might have been behind it, though he had no idea which one.
But it turned out that the person responsible was the woman sitting right in front of him.
Nolan hesitated for a moment before asking, "Are you a goddess?"
"A goddess, huh?" The woman chuckled softly. "You could say that. Anyway..."
She paused for a moment before continuing, "Did you know you’ve broken one of the gods’ rules?"
Nolan’s eyes widened.
"Broken the gods’ rules?"
"That’s right." The woman nodded slightly. "Didn’t the Sun God tell you? Once a soul has been reincarnated into another world, they’re not allowed to return to their old one. Anyone who breaks this rule will face a severe punishment. One so severe that..."
She chuckled softly again.
"Death and complete annihilation would probably be the best outcome."
Gulp!
Nolan unconsciously swallowed. Fear crept up his spine, making his body tremble slightly.
He had never been afraid of anything before. Yet the woman’s words sent chills down his spine.
What exactly were gods?
They were beings far superior to him or any other mortal.
Their power surpassed anything in this universe. Nolan had realized this during his journey through the universe.
Even a black hole—incredibly powerful and capable of destroying an entire star system—couldn’t harm him in the slightest.
By all logic, that should have been impossible. The immense gravity of a black hole could bend anything, even light itself.
But that wasn’t the case. Nolan had survived and returned to his world completely unharmed.
As if sensing his fear, the woman suddenly laughed.
"Pfft! Are you scared?"
Nolan steadied his racing heartbeat and cleared his throat.
"Scared? Of course. But what can I do? It’s already happened, and I’ll face the consequences."
His longing for Seira overcame his fear. As long as he could see her... as long as he could hold her... and as long as the woman he loved was safe, that was more than enough reason for him to do anything—even if it meant defying the gods.
The woman fell silent for a few seconds before laughing again.
"Nolan Lorian, you really are a strange one. I’ve never met anyone quite like you before. Now I can see why the Supreme Goddess likes you so much."
"The Supreme Goddess?" Nolan blinked in surprise. "Who is she?"
He remembered the Goddess of Life mentioning her once, but she had never explained who she was.
And now, this mysterious goddess was saying the same thing.
Nolan couldn’t help but wonder if everything that had happened to him was somehow connected to her.
The woman simply smiled, clearly having no intention of giving him an answer.
"Even though the Supreme Goddess intervened to keep you from being severely punished, you still have to face some punishment. But not now. You’ll find out later."
After saying that, her body transformed into a shimmering white crystal before finally disappearing from sight.
From beginning to end, Nolan had never seen her face. Still, he was certain that the woman must have been incredibly beautiful.
"Huh..." Nolan let out a long sigh. "My journey home turned out to be much riskier than I expected."
He lay back down on his bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.
No. Actually, he already knew that. He had simply been pretending not to know what was going on.
Nolan closed his eyes, and his breathing slowly became steady.
...
The next morning...
The Frey family had breakfast together. Since it was Nolan’s first morning back home, Arden naturally made time to join them.
"Eat up, but don’t rush. You might choke," Nolan said as he gently wiped Alice’s lips.
"Hehehe..." Alice smiled brightly, enjoying her brother’s gentle attention.
She looked at Nolan with so much affection, as if she wanted to remember every little detail about him.
Watching the two of them together, Arden chuckled softly. He was happy to see his children getting along so well.
After all, there was quite a big age gap between them.
He had been a little worried that they might feel awkward around each other, especially Nolan. Fortunately, his worries turned out to be unfounded.
"By the way, Nolan, how are you feeling?"
"I’m feeling better, but I still need a few more days of rest to fully recover."
"Great!" Arden nodded with satisfaction. "Once you’re feeling better, you can go back to work at the company."
Mey’s expression darkened. She glared at Arden and snapped, "Are you crazy? Nolan just recovered, and you’re already asking him to go back to work?"
As if he had expected her reaction, Arden gave her a helpless smile.
"It’s not like that. I’ve been pretty overwhelmed handling everything at the company. Besides, Nolan was the one who set up the whole system. It’s been difficult for me to adjust over the past two years."
He massaged his throbbing temples. A large company could only have one leader. That was an absolute rule that couldn’t be broken.
Before Nolan’s accident, Arden had already handed the entire Frey family business over to him. In other words, Nolan had become the true head of the Frey family.
But after the accident, Arden was forced to return to the president’s chair and take over the company again.
What gave him the biggest headache was that Nolan had established a new foundation and introduced new methods that Arden didn’t fully understand.
Fortunately, the company’s employees were highly competent, so Arden didn’t have to deal with too many problems.
The company practically ran on autopilot, following the plans Nolan had laid out before his accident.
Nolan smiled slightly and said calmly, "Don’t be angry, Mother. Father isn’t at fault."
He finished his milk, placed the glass back on the table, and looked deeply into Arden’s eyes.
"And Father, I need your help. Give me all the blueprints for the Frey family’s projects."