Chapter 81 - 2.42

It was impossible for a mere human to fully turn into a deity, but possible for a deity to fully turn into a mortal.

The mortal deity would never be as powerful as the original because a mortal's soul is nowhere near as strong as a deity's. A born deity's soul was purposely primed to be strong enough to handle the divinity and thus, be the perfect container for it.

But once a deity decides to rescind their power, they would fall down to the mortal world and live on Eventually, time would be able to catch up with them and push them to their deaths.

It required her to sign a pact, a willing pact that she wanted to essentially pass on her divinity to another. However, in order to keep herself alive, she would need to separate just the slightest bit of that divinity and keep living in the mortal world as a human. Just like Ezra.

Unlike the young man, she was much more sensitive towards her own changing feelings and emotions and could detect the unnatural fondness she had for this human that she had watched grow up. At first, she naturally didn't have romantic feelings towards him, it was just pure curiosity because of how rare a child with this level of faith was.

With more time she spent beside the child, watching him silently, she became more invested. She knew every single nook and cranny of him because shamefully, she had encountered all sorts of different situations- some that she would gladly say out loud and the unmentionable others. Embarrassing sides of Ezra, the cool and amazing side, the peaceful and calm side, all types of Ezra Lancaster.

She wasn't the first deity to ever pay this much attention to a human, nor was she the first one to want to harbor romantic feelings. There were quite some deities that fell into the trap of love. They didn't end well, which was why Eula was unwilling to turn into this path, knowing that she would certainly be doomed.

Love was not as pretty as it seemed. Most of the deities who switched voiced that they were much happier when their divinity was still in their grasps, and regret was a constant thing inside their hearts every time their life did not work out. Because they were originally omnipotent beings, it would be severely hard for them to be the weakest of the weak.

Not only the harsh adaptation process, it was also common for strong deities to be consumed into the path of obsessive love. The deities were not primed to fall in love like a normal person should, so when they get introduced to humans' kind of love, they will become overwhelmed and wouldn't be able to restrain themselves correctly.

The following morning, Xu Jiaqi could instantly tell that there was something off when she 'visited' Ezra for the second time, going through the same path she crossed yesterday.

"...Is there something wrong?"    Xu Jiaqi couldn't ease her mind up seeing Ezra with such a gloomy expression, like he was about to throw up at any given moment. What had caused the man to turn this way after she had just left him for less than a day?

"No.. there is nothing. Why did you visit today?" Ezra spoke coldly.

"Well, I was just.. bored, I guess. But I don't think that there's nothing wrong with you.. I don't see the Goddess. Where is she?"

"..How would I know? You are the one she favors, so you should ask yourself instead." Ezra rebutted harshly.

Xu Jiaqi was puzzled, but then her mind started working and filling up the unsolved puzzle. Ezra was clearly burdened with the thoughts of the Goddess.

She wasn't sensitive to this kind of thing, but because she was placed in a position where she had to engage in romantic settings in the previous world, she studied a lot about psychology and the absolute tips and tricks for a budding love.

The symptom that Ezra was currently experiencing was diagnosed by Xu Jiaqi as.. nothing other than the legendary lovesickness!

Well, she wasn't sure, but she had a strong feeling that she had hit the mark.

"Ezra, are you mad at the Goddess?"

"I couldn't possibly- Such a thing, I wouldn't do that at all costs!"

"Then, do you love her?" A direct question, aimed straight at Ezra's heart without mercy.

"Love.. w-what are you saying?" Ezra began to stutter, not knowing how to respond.

"It's obvious, you know~" Xu Jiaqi spoke in a playful tone to bait the man out.

"It's- Is it really..?"

There!

The fish was caught on the hook.

"It really is~ Perhaps, if you want to tell me what your troubles are, I would be able to help you with it? I'm one of the Goddess' kin now, right? A bit of her divinity is within me. I should be trustable, right?"

'System, I heard that being a love doctor is pretty fun!'

[You were the one who didn't want anything to do with romance...? If karma gets you back in the future, I won't be there to protect you, alright?]

'Hm, hm. I'm just fooling around.'

Little did she know, karma really would chase her down and pin her fate.

"So, are you ready to speak now?" Xu Jiaqi asked.

Ezra's head was lowered down, and he was obviously reluctant to speak. He casted his glance upon Xu Jiaqi a few times before hurriedly turning his gaze away.

This kind of jittery gestures continued for a few more times before Ezra took a huge breath in, exhaled, and shut his eyes tightly.

"It's just as you said.. I think I love the Goddess. But it's so foolish. I must be the dumbest person to ever exist, right? It's clear that I'm just a human, while the Goddess is.. well, a Goddess." Ezra finally confessed.

Perhaps because Xu Jiaqi did mention that she was the Goddess' kin, Ezra found it easier to embody the deity's self inside Xu Jiaqi. Because the Goddess' eyes and choice couldn't be wrong, this eccentric girl should also not be a bad soul.

He brainwashed himself, making it seem like he was pouring his heart out to the real thing and not just counseling with this random girl he had just met.