Chapter 373: Unspoken Feelings

"Wasn’t it the same with us? We didn’t fully understand how deeply we loved each other back then, did we? Yet we accepted those feelings as our own, didn’t we, Atlas?"

For a brief moment, Atlas couldn’t find anything to say. He looked at Seraphiel with widened eyes, her words touching upon something he had never considered from that perspective. Back then, he hadn’t understood the depth of his feelings for her either, yet that hadn’t stopped him from accepting them once he realized what they meant.

He had never needed to understand every aspect of those emotions before acknowledging that they belonged to him.

His gaze gradually lowered as he reflected on the voice within his soul. He still didn’t know whether it truly belonged to his mother, nor could he explain why the desire to meet her had affected him so deeply. Those questions remained unanswered, and he couldn’t simply dismiss them when they concerned something so important to him.

However, perhaps before searching for those answers, he needed to acknowledge the desire itself instead of questioning whether it was genuinely his.

"I see..." Atlas finally broke the silence, his voice quieter than before. "I... was trying to find answers regarding emotions once again, but I shouldn’t have done that to begin with." His pupils trembled slightly as he continued, recalling the decision he had made after realizing his feelings for Seraphiel.

"When I realized... that I loved you, I decided that I needed to feel my emotions, not think about them. But it seems... I neglected that decision afterward." Seraphiel nodded, a gentle smile appearing on her face as she kept her forehead against his. "Yes, that’s it. You should feel your emotions and accept them. After all, they’re yours, not someone else’s."

Her words were simple, yet Atlas found himself reflecting on them once again. He had spent so much time trying to understand the reasons behind his feelings that he had forgotten the importance of simply accepting them.

Atlas eventually nodded, and the pained expression on his face began to ease. He looked into Seraphiel’s eyes for a long moment, taking in her presence before allowing his own expression to soften. Then, he closed his eyes briefly and spoke in a quieter voice, "Thank you, Sera. You... are always helping me, yet you once said that you’re the one who only receives help from me."

Seraphiel’s face immediately turned red at his words, especially when she saw the calm smile he wore while saying them. "Umm, th-that’s..." She struggled to find a response, caught off guard by the unexpected gratitude.

For a moment, she could only look at him, unsure of what to say, while Atlas continued smiling at her.

However, before she could gather herself, Atlas began to sit up. "I understand now. I’ll need to meet her in my soul again later and become clear about what I truly want." Seraphiel drew her forehead away from his and listened as he continued, her attention returning to the matter he had been struggling with.

Although Atlas hadn’t found all the answers he wanted, he no longer intended to force himself to understand everything immediately.

"For now, I think it’s time for you to train and awaken that Phoenix soul with the help of the Conclave. I’ll go to the Primartia Library and train myself as well. While doing so, I’ll resolve this matter once and for all." Atlas spoke with a more composed expression, having settled on what he needed to do next.

Seraphiel remained silent for a brief moment before nodding in agreement, understanding that he needed time to explore the questions within himself. Still, before she could stand up, her expression gradually turned serious.

"Now that you’ve clarified things for yourself, explain what happened. I expect a serious reason behind your sudden collapse. Otherwise..." She wore a smile, but to Atlas, it seemed rather dangerous. A chill ran down his spine as he looked at her expression, unable to understand why he had suddenly begun feeling uneasy.

’What? Why am I suddenly feeling chills?’ He stared at her for another moment before calming himself and beginning to explain what had happened during the tests. He told her about the empty space he had appeared in and the massive spherical structures he had witnessed, along with the unbearable pain he had experienced after looking at them.

Seraphiel frowned as she listened to his somewhat vague explanation. Although she could tell that something had happened beyond his current understanding, she didn’t press him for further details. "I see. Still, that doesn’t excuse the fact that you were in danger once again. You’ll ’compensate’ me later for worrying me again, hmph!"

Her words carried a hint of dissatisfaction, but Atlas couldn’t help feeling relieved at her response. At least, she wasn’t going to question him any further for now.

As Atlas looked at her more closely, he noticed the dark circles beneath her eyes and the faint tear marks still staining her cheeks. His expression softened as he remembered that she had remained beside him throughout the ten days he had been unconscious, worrying over him until exhaustion finally caught up with her.

He raised his hand and snapped his fingers, altering the logic that defined her current physical state. The exhaustion around her eyes returned to its previous state, while the traces left by her tears disappeared without a mark, restoring her face to how it had looked before those ten difficult days.

Atlas applied the same alteration to himself, restoring his own physical appearance as well. However, the pain caused by the information he had received inside that strange space remained, something he found unusual despite the rest of his condition returning to normal.

He recalled his second self’s warning not to dwell on what he had witnessed and decided to leave the matter alone for the time being. There was no point in forcing himself to investigate something he couldn’t yet understand.

With that settled, Seraphiel finally stood up.

Atlas followed by pulling out the several wire-like mechanisms connected to his chest and hands from the floating machines around the bed, carefully removing the equipment that had been monitoring his condition.

Once he was free of them, he snapped his fingers again, bringing a new set of clothes into existence by altering the logic that defined them. Within moments, both of them were ready to leave the infirmary, their gazes turning toward the exit.

As they prepared to step outside, their thoughts drifted toward the goals they had set for themselves, ’From now on, I need to become clearer about myself... and that voice.’ Atlas knew that he still had questions to answer, but he had finally stopped treating his own feelings as something he needed to solve before he could accept them.

Meanwhile, Seraphiel’s eyes brightened as she looked at him, a quiet sense of happiness filling her heart. ’Finally, I could be of help to him, I want to help Atlas even more now, hehe.’ Her smile lingered for a moment before her expression sharpened with renewed determination.

’Now, all that remains to do is to get stronger so that I can stay by his side all the time...’