They lay together on the bed—one forged for them alone, shaped by shadow and flame.
Cecillia's fingers traced idle circles on Ren's chest, her eyes half-lidded but sharp.
"You sent Emperor Shadow back, didn't you?" she murmured. "I can tell. Why do you restrain him in your domain?"
Ren smiled faintly, his gaze fixed on the ceiling where constellations flickered and faded.
"That's such a silly question, mother-in-law," he said softly. "You know why. I can't let him out all the time. If I did, the world would unravel. He is me. We are one. When we merge, we become our true selves. But that truth is too wild. Too chaotic."
He paused, voice growing quieter.
"I thought about Liáng Xu and Fei Yan. They were once calm. Kind. But they changed. They became something no one recognised. And they didn't care to change back."
Cecillia turned her head, watching him closely.
"That's what my master, Fairy Jin, told me," Ren continued. "Lady Yueh doesn't speak of it much. She's ashamed. She had been connected to them since they were babies. She protected them as if they were her children. And she couldn't stop what they became."
Silence settled between them—not heavy, but sacred.
The kind of silence that only comes after truth is spoken aloud.
Cecillia's voice broke the quiet. Soft. Unassuming. But sharp enough to draw blood.
"Do you love your master… as a woman?"
Ren's voice was low, almost rough.
"I don't take every woman I see. You know that."
Cecillia's smile deepened—not mocking, just quietly amused.
"Sometimes," she said, teasing.
Her voice dropped to a whisper, but it carried the weight of centuries.
"Before… you didn't care about that stuff. You just did what you wanted. No hesitation. No guilt. You moved through the world like it owed you nothing—and you owed it even less."
Ren didn't speak. His eyes flickered, but he remained still.
"You didn't care about good or bad," she continued.
"Because in the end, it all becomes opinion. And opinion—Ren—is the strongest force in this world. Someone sees a thing and calls it evil. Another sees the same thing and calls it divine."
She turned toward him, gaze soft but unrelenting.
"So in your mind… what does it matter what you do? You can't be perfect, even though the mortals saw you as perfect. Even though the ones who truly knew you never saw perfection. But you never did, did you?"
Her hand brushed his cheek, reverent.
"My lovely Ren. You never saw yourself at all."
Ren's voice was low, almost distant.
"I remember talking to Sakura… about the time my restraint broke. I went wild. I attacked without hesitation. No holding back. Every enemy who came at me—I crushed them."
"They thought Venya was helping them. But she wasn't. She twisted them. Manipulated their fear, their hope… to entertain me. To make me hurry up. To push me toward conquering Earth."
He looked down at his hands, as if they still remembered the heat.
"I told Sakura—I didn't want to hold back anymore. I wanted to let loose. I'd forgotten how good it felt. To be wild. To let instinct take control."
His voice dropped, darker now.
"To be the Black Dragon Emperor. Just like Emperor Shadow said I was meant to be."
She kissed him again, slower this time.
"I love you, Ren. I don't care what choice you make. I'm always with you."
Her voice trembled, but her gaze was unwavering.
"People think I'm an evil bitch. That I killed my three ex-husbands. Let them think it. I never loved them. We used each other. It was survival. But with you… I can't do that. And you can't either."
She touched his chest, just above the heart.
"That's why I know you're my soulmate. Even if you're my best friend's son. Even if you're married to my three daughters."
She laughed softly, a mix of bitterness and warmth.
"I don't care. I can wait. After Yuki… after all of them…"
Her voice dropped to a whisper.
"You better marry me next, you greedy boy."
She smiled, wicked and tender.
"You're lucky. You have all the power in the world. So you get away with having so many women. Especially ones who only have eyes for you."
She leaned in, lips brushing his ear.
"Lucky man. Lucky we don't take other men too."
Ren chuckled—low, warm, unguarded.
"Stella said something almost exactly like that, you know. I'm a stupid lucky man to have you all. You put up with me… but then again, I've got to put up with all of you, too."
He smirked, eyes gleaming.
"It's a job I can handle. By myself."
Cecillia leaned in, her voice velvet and steel.
"You better."
Ren simply looked at her—his eyes unreadable, vast as the void before creation.
Then he smiled, soft and quiet, and kissed her again.
No words.
No declarations.
Just presence.
And in that silence, they curled into each other—
two immortals wrapped in warmth,
shadow,
and flame.
Not gods.
Not rulers.
Just lovers,
resting in the stillness between worlds.