"Why?"
I watched her carefully, letting the silence stretch for just a moment longer.
Then, I smirked.
"There could be a lot of reasons why you were watching," I admitted, tilting my head slightly. "But there's one I'd
bet
on."
Selene arched a delicate brow, waiting.
I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees. "Tell me," I said, my voice smooth, deliberate. "Have you ever heard the term
supply and demand
?"
Her golden eyes flickered with something—interest, perhaps.
Then, she chuckled. "Of course I have."
I grinned. "I figured. But let's go over it anyway, just for fun."
Selene didn't interrupt. She simply watched, curious.
I gestured lazily with my hand. "When something is in
low supply
but
high demand
, what happens?"
She smirked. "It becomes valuable."
"Exactly," I said, snapping my fingers. "The rarer it is, the more people want it. Simple economics."
I let my smirk widen, locking eyes with her. "Now let's apply that to
your
situation."
Selene's expression didn't change, but I could tell she was
listening.
"The guy you left Righteous_One for—he must have been in
high demand.
A god of something people
wanted.
Power, beauty, charisma—something that made him
desirable.
"
Selene exhaled through her nose, amused. "Go on."
"But the problem," I continued, "is that when something is
too
desirable—when
everyone
wants it—suddenly,
your
ability to claim it
isn't so certain anymore.
"
I tilted my head, watching for a reaction.
"You thought it would be easy, didn't you?" I mused. "That you could have him the same way you had Righteous_One—effortlessly. But it
wasn't
that easy, was it?"
I clicked my tongue. "Considering that gods like
Righteous_One
exist—gods with pathetic qualities, self-pitying tendencies,
weak
attributes—" I gestured vaguely. "I imagine the
supply and demand ratio
for someone actually
worth
something is
completely fucked.
"
Selene's fingers, which had been idly drumming against the armrest, stilled for just a fraction of a second.
A pause.
Small. Almost unnoticeable.
But it was
there.
I grinned.
Gotcha.
I leaned back, the grin never leaving my face.
"At the end of it all... you were discarded, weren't you?" I mused. "After everything, after leaving Righteous_One for something
better
, you found out that
you weren't the only one who thought like that.
"
Selene's golden eyes darkened slightly, but she said nothing.
I chuckled. "Such a tragedy," I said mockingly. "And yet, it's so
simple
when you break it down. A perfect equation. One's own
ego
—that refusal to change, that stubborn insistence on seeking the same
qualities
in a partner, never once considering the
competition
for them."
I tilted my head, my voice laced with amusement. "And in the end, when you realized that you were just another
option
rather than
the
choice... you came crawling back to your own roots."
The room turned
cold.
Selene's fingers stopped their idle movements, her golden eyes narrowing as the very air
shifted.
The weight of her presence pressed down like an unseen force, an unmistakable
warning.
And then—
"Are you implying that I am some sort of whore who doesn't know her value?"
Her voice was no longer playful.
It was sharp. Icy.
A blade hidden beneath silk.
I met her gaze, unfazed.
If she thought intimidation would work on me, she was
dead wrong.
I let out a small chuckle, tilting my head as I met her cold, piercing gaze.
"I didn't say you were a
whore
who didn't know her value," I said smoothly. "But you sure look like a
bitch
who didn't know one."
Selene's golden eyes
narrowed.
Then—
Pressure.
A weight unlike anything I had ever felt before
crashed
down on me.
My lungs
seized
. My bones
screamed
. It was as if the entire world had decided to
crush
me beneath its heel.
The pain—
It wasn't just pressure. It was
pure agony
. Like invisible hands were
grinding
me into dust, twisting my very being into something
unbearable
.
I dropped to my knees, my arms trembling as I barely kept myself from
collapsing
outright.
But even as the suffocating force pressed me down—
I
grinned.
Because
so what?
I had
died
before.
That pain? That terror? It had been far worse than this.
I had spent
years
bedridden, my body a prison of weakness, my every moment overshadowed by an illness that gnawed at me piece by piece. And that sure as hell hadn't been
painless
, either.
So what if she was trying to
break
me?
Did she really think I'd bend over just because of a little
pain
?
I clenched my jaw, forcing my body to
move
, to resist, even as every inch of me screamed in protest.
Then, through gritted teeth—
I
laughed.
"Hah... hah..." My voice was hoarse, breathless, but the amusement in it was undeniable.
I lifted my head, my smirk never fading despite the crushing force weighing me down.
"That... all you got?"
I let out a ragged breath, my body screaming from the pressure bearing down on me. But even through the pain, through the weight trying to grind me into the floor, I
grinned.
"You're angry," I rasped, my voice strained but steady. "And you know why?"
Selene didn't respond, but I could
feel
it—the way the air around her crackled with restrained emotion.
"It's because I hit the truth," I continued, my smirk widening despite the pain lacing my every word. "Or at least, something
damn close
to it."
I tilted my head slightly, ignoring the way my muscles protested. "I mean, think about it—why else would you care about the words of a mere
mortal
?"
Silence.
But that silence told me
everything.
A soft chuckle left my lips. "By reacting like this, you're basically
admitting
it. And that?" I exhaled sharply. "
That
is what makes this so fucking funny."
Selene remained still, golden eyes locked onto me, expression unreadable.
The crushing force lingered for another agonizing moment.
And then—
It vanished.
I sucked in a deep breath as the weight lifted, my body still aching but no longer trapped under that suffocating force.
Selene let out a quiet sigh, shaking her head. "I knew something like this was bound to happen the moment I looked through your life," she murmured. Then, with a soft chuckle, she added, "
But you really are quite something.
"
She stood gracefully, the movement fluid, effortless.
And then—
She walked.
Her long legs swayed with every step, the slit in her dress parting just enough to reveal glimpses of flawless skin. Every motion, every gesture, radiated confidence. Control.
And as she moved, her voice carried through the air, smooth and deliberate.
"You were
partially
right," she admitted.
I arched a brow. "Oh?"
She glanced at me over her shoulder, a small smirk on her lips.
"I did indeed leave him for something," she said, her voice carrying a knowing amusement.
Then, she stopped, turning slightly—golden eyes gleaming with something unreadable.
"But it wasn't for a
man.
"