Dragon's Awakening: The Duke's Son Is Changing The Plot-Chapter 177 - 176 - A bet with a crazy goddess.

Arietta’s playful smile lingered like starlight in the dark, but Raven’s serious expression dulled its glow.

"You’re right," he said slowly. "It’s about... my mortal love life."

Arietta’s brow rose, but she didn’t seem surprised. She merely sipped her tea and rested her cheek on her palm, her voice casual.

"So, you are in love with someone, huh?" She murmured, eyes narrowed—but not cold.

Raven nodded, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah. I just... I thought I should tell you because, uh, I didn’t want to—"

"Lie?" She interrupted softly. "Raven, I’ve always known."

He blinked. "...What?"

Arietta set her cup down with a gentle clink. Her voice remained calm, but her eyes were glittering now—not with magic, but with something dangerously fond.

She was still sitting on his lap sideways, so their faces were mere inches apart.

"I always knew you were a mortal," she spoke, her breath trickling against Raven’s skin.

The world stilled.

"Wait. You what?"

"I knew from the beginning. You were never a god. My trade channel’s special function enabled me to see the details of the person I’m talking to. Seeing a mortal in a place no mortal should be was what got me interested in you in the first place."

Raven’s jaw slackened slightly, and Arietta leaned closer, amused.

"You thought you tricked me? That you were just some clever mortal playing god?" She asked, giggling softly, closing his mouth with her finger. "Sweetheart, I was playing too."

He stared. "You... were role-playing?"

"It was entertaining," she admitted, grinning now. "You acting like a divine troll with zero tact and bad naming sense... me acting like a senile cosmic being who only talks in riddles and curse words. Honestly, it was refreshing."

Raven slumped back in his chair, covering his face with one hand. "I’ve spent so long thinking about what would happen if there was a god with a function like that. It turns out that it was something you had all along."

"It’s a good function. It helps me judge if the person I’m talking to is worthy enough," she shrugged.

"So, you thought I was worthy enough?"

"No, you were interesting enough."

Raven let out a long sigh. "Good thing I was entertaining enough, or I wonder what you would’ve done."

Arietta just smiled fondly, sipping her tea again. "I enjoyed talking to you. You were fun, chaotic, and weird. Most importantly—you weren’t pretending to be perfect. That’s why I kept coming back."

"...So, uh," Raven began, his eyes narrowing suspiciously. "If you could see info about me this whole time, what exactly do you know?"

She tilted her head and began counting on her fingers.

"Let’s see... your real name, age, power level, bloodline status—dragon-related, interesting stuff there—your friends, your enemies, your daily mana flow rate... oh, and your relationship status, of course."

Raven visibly froze.

"...You know about that?"

"Mhm," she said with a smug grin. "You’ve got a few girls around you. One’s perfectly dating you, and two girls’ statuses show as dating but with a question mark, and are the ones with high chances of getting into this harem."

"...Right. You’re not wrong." Raven took a slow, deep breath, bracing himself.

He closed his eyes, and although he felt like he would die if she breathed too hard with how close she was, he spoke. "Arietta. I can’t leave them. They were there before I even knew the real you. I can let you kill me, but I can’t leave them."

His expression remained as serious as it could be.

But Arietta’s expression didn’t change.

For a while there, the tension in the room seemed to spike as Raven waited for Arietta’s eyes to run crazy again, but—

She raised an eyebrow and said, "I don’t care."

Raven blinked.

"...You what?"

"I don’t care about your mortal relationships, Raven."

"...Wait. That’s not how this works. You’re a Yandere goddess. You’re supposed to care."

"I care about other goddesses," she said plainly, her smile returning. "Not mortals."

Raven opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again. "Explain. Slowly."

"Mortal relationships," she said with eerie calm, "don’t last. You’ll outgrow them. Or they’ll die. Or you’ll die first, but I doubt it with your talent. Either way—eventually, only I will be left."

Then, tracing his jawline, she continued. "Above all, when you compare me with mortals, I’m way hotter and more beautiful. If you keep meeting me, you’ll eventually forget about them."

The way she said it.

So casual. So certain.

So cold.

Raven blinked, unnerved.

’Did she just say that they would die?’

He inadvertently started imagining the scene where that would happen, and his expression changed.

He didn’t push Arietta away, but his fists and his jaw clenched.

The moment his expression changed, Arietta’s expression also changed.

His reaction had bothered her.

"...You think that’s scary, don’t you?" She said, her voice suddenly softer. Her fingers curled around the edge of his collar.

Raven stayed quiet.

"You didn’t like that," she continued, her eyes darting away. "You think I’m crazy."

"I know you’re crazy," Raven replied bluntly, "but I’m talking to you, aren’t I?"

That startled her.

Her lips twitched. "Why?"

"Because you deserve someone who tells you the truth. Even if that someone is a confused mortal with a squirrel army and relationship problems."

Raven’s expression, however, didn’t change.

He wouldn’t want anyone speaking badly about his women, even if it were a Yandere goddess.

He was angry, despite knowing that he had no power to make Arietta take back her words.

Arietta’s eyes, however, widened as she saw that expression; the blush that was rising up faded as this expression reminded her of a friend who had left her.

It was a friend who had said that she would take on all of her craziness but wasn’t able to handle it, so she left her.

’N-No...’

She whispered inwardly, her gaze quivering.

’Not him...’ Her breathing grew faster. ’I—I don’t want him to run away!’

Trying to stay calm, she quickly explained herself. "I—I was just saying that mortals die... I-I didn’t mean to upset you, Raven..."

"Everyone dies, Arietta." Raven, for the first time, glared at her. "But that doesn’t give you the right to say such things about my people."

Arietta’s body jerked in fear.

She wasn’t scared of being beaten by him. She was terrified of the thought of him leaving her.

That expression he made wasn’t the Raven she knew, and she was horrified to realize that she was the one who changed Raven from the emotionally constipated boy to this.

"I—I didn’t mean to upset you! I swear!" She said quickly, her calm breaking. "I just—I meant—I meant I’m not scared of them. That’s all. I wanted you to know that no matter how much you search, you can never find someone who would love you as much as I could!"

She was now fidgeting, her expression cracked as she trembled.

Looking at her like that, Raven closed his eyes and then spoke. "You think my ’mortal’ girlfriends won’t stay by my side for long, right?"

Arietta, now scared that whatever she said would hurt Raven, merely nodded.

"What if they stayed?" He asked, staring right into her eyes with an intensity she had never seen before.

"Huh?" Arietta was stunned, tongue-tied for a second before she shook her head. "They won’t stay."

"I’m saying, what if they did?" Raven asked again, and this time, Arietta’s expression changed. ƒreewebɳovel.com

"They won’t stay. They shouldn’t stay. I don’t want them to stay."

She started muttering things like that, and Raven felt like he had a world-destroying atomic bomb on his lap.

He quickly placed a palm on her head, making her turn to him.

"How about we make a bet?" Raven asked, and some focus returned to her eyes.

But only a little. Most of her expression still showed that she was a crazy goddess.

"A bet?" She asked, her voice softer than usual.

"Yes, a bet." Raven nodded. "Since you are confident that my ’mortal’ girlfriends won’t stay for long, and I’m confident that they will, why don’t we make a bet and see who wins?"

Arietta’s gaze sharpened. "What is the reward of the winner?"

Raven leaned closer, their foreheads touching, making Arietta’s eyes widen as she didn’t expect this sudden skinship.

Raven’s eyes flashed, and seizing the moment, he quickly spoke. "You will let them stay in the harem if I win."

Arietta’s eyes turned cold as soon as she heard the word harem, but before she could understand everything, Raven continued. "If you win, then I’ll start living with you in the same house. I’ll cook for you and have a family with you. There will be only us."

Arietta froze, her eyes widened to the limit as she stared into Raven’s serious and calm eyes.

’Living with me... cook for me... have a family... only us.’

All of those words echoed into her like a bell in a church.

For a while, she said nothing, then, with a deep breath, she asked. "...You mean it?"

It was as if she had forgotten what would happen if Raven won, or perhaps her confidence made her ignore that, but she was now more focused on what would happen if she won.

"Yes," Raven nodded, and the moment he did, she jumped on him and hugged him.

Bam!

The chair fell back as both of them were now on the ground.

Or, more like, Raven was on the ground, and Arietta was above him, breathing hard with her face flushed and eyes shining like crazy.

"No takebacks," she whispered, leaning closer, their noses touching.

"No takebacks," Raven nodded, grinning inwardly.

Hearing those words, she leaned closer, her lips touching his, sending a jolt across her body.

She took a deep breath, looking into Raven’s eyes.

"I’m doing it," she said.

Raven opened his lips to speak, but before he could—

Kiss.

Yes, she kissed him.

Not the light and soft one but the crazy kiss as she sucked on his lips again and again.

For a while, she went on, as this was the best feeling she had ever had.

This was her first lip kiss. Her first smooch.

She wanted to savor it.

...............................

A while later.

Arietta was lying above Raven, their breathing now calm.

"...Arietta," Raven said. "You look cute when you panic."

"I wasn’t panicking," she muttered while sneakily breathing in his scent.

"You were doing that thing," he chuckled, reaching out and patting her head. "The ’you’re smiling on the outside while spiraling internally’ thing."

She huffed. "Was not."

"You totally were." Raven didn’t budge.

Then, another silence before Arietta’s voice was heard, now low and muffled. "...I was scared."

He sighed. "I know."

"I was scared that I’d say the wrong thing and you’d leave," she whispered, her eyes shimmering now—not with magic, but emotion. "I’ve always been too much. Too intense. Too weird. Even among the gods, I wasn’t wanted. That’s why I disguised myself as Grandpa, because one couldn’t mess up if nothing were real. But then you... You were real."

Raven closed his eyes.

Then he opened them again and gently took her hand.

"You’re weird, intense, and unstable. But you’re also gentle, charming, smarter than most of the people I know, and—somehow—really good at making tea."

Arietta blinked. "So... you’re saying I’m a good tea-wife candidate?"

"I’m saying..." He paused, then chuckled. "You’re you. That’s not a bad thing."

Her lips trembled.

Then, like the night sky splitting open for a comet, she smiled.

Bright, beautiful, dangerous.

"...I’ll try not to be scary about the death stuff."

"That’s a start."

"But I want to know everything about you."

"I assumed as much."

"...I also want to meet that squirrel army you have."

"They’ll bite you."

"I’m okay with that."

Without looking up, she shifted in his embrace.

"I’ll be here, Raven," she whispered. "Even if you have no one, even when everyone leaves you, I will stay."

"...Kinda morbid way to say ’I like you.’"

"I do like you. I love you."

"I know."

They sat like that for a while.

No gods.

No games.

Just a mortal and a goddess who had found something real in a chat room that was never meant to exist.

For now, that was enough.

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