Chapter 160: Fallen So Far

Cassian ended the call with a broad, triumphant smile.

Things had gone considerably better than he had anticipated. Not only had he managed to establish contact with the highest governing body of the Astral Dominion without exposing his identity, but he had also secured a staggering mountain of resources in the process.

To put it simply, the High Council had agreed to offer him compensation worth ten times what Louis Ferdinand owed him.

Of course, that was not precisely how the councilors understood the arrangement. They believed they were securing the favor of an overwhelmingly powerful, ancient Lord who might one day become an invaluable asset to the Dominion, even if it’s only by name.

Cassian, on the other hand, had merely taken advantage of their excessive paranoia and generosity.

‘Everyone gets what they want. What’s wrong with that?’

To call the entire affair smooth would be a gross understatement. He had essentially convinced an entire Council of veteran Lords to shower him with wealth while making them believe they were the ones benefiting from the transaction.

Cassian was rather pleased with himself.

Unfortunately, not everyone shared his enthusiasm.

Seraphina sat across from him on the sofa, staring at her son with a deeply troubled expression.

As a devout follower of the Celestial Faith, she had been taught to revere honesty, integrity, and humility.

A true believer was expected to conduct themselves with absolute sincerity, treat others with kindness, and refrain from exploiting another person’s trust.

Yet here she was, having actively helped her son deceive the ruling council of an entire interstellar civilization.

‘Have I truly fallen so far?’

The existential guilt weighed on her.

She had always considered herself an upright, moral believer. Naturally, she understood that the cosmos was complex and that minor discretion was occasionally necessary.

However, deliberately manipulating a room full of high councilors into giving her son ten times his due seemed to stretch the definition of “necessary” to its absolute limit.

And the worst part was how utterly delighted Cassian looked while doing it.

”What’s wrong, Mom?”

Cassian tilted his head, finally noticing her strange expression. He had expected a bit of praise, perhaps even a compliment on his sharp negotiating tactics.

Instead, his mother was looking at him as though he had personally dragged her into moral depravity.

Seraphina slowly set her teacup down onto the glass table. “Cassian, sweetheart… do you know what the Celestial Faith teaches us about honesty?”

Cassian’s smile stiffened.

‘Oh, no.’

”The first fundamental principle,” Seraphina began softly, “is that honesty is the bedrock of all trust. Without trust, bonds between people cannot flourish. And without integrity, even the grandest civilization will eventually crumble under the weight of its own corruption.”

”Mom—”

”Of course, this does not mean we must be naively transparent in every circumstance. Wisdom is required to distinguish between safeguarding a private secret and deliberately misleading others. However, when we knowingly cultivate a false illusion for personal gain…”

Seraphina paused, her blue eyes locking directly onto his.

”…we must ask ourselves if the outcome truly justifies the means.”

Cassian remained dead silent.

He could already see where this was heading.

What had begun as a simple question about his mother’s expression had somehow derailed into a full-length sermon on morality, personal responsibility, and the spiritual hazards of manipulation.

And judging by the resolute look on Seraphina’s face, she was only warming up.

For the next twenty minutes, Cassian endured a thorough, unyielding breakdown of the Celestial Faith’s teachings on honesty, compassion, humility, and the rot of greed.

He attempted to defend himself.

He pointed out that the Council had voluntarily offered the resources, that nobody had been harmed, and that the arrangement could ultimately benefit the Dominion by establishing goodwill with a powerful entity.

Besides, technically speaking, he hadn’t lied, he was the mysterious Lord who saved Roca.

Seraphina listened patiently, then proceeded to dismantle every single argument with the practiced efficiency of a mother who had raised a particularly slippery child.

By the time she concluded, Cassian was beginning to wonder if neutralizing a Worldbreaker Core was easier than surviving this lecture.

Eventually, he managed to execute a retreat under the pretense of exhaustion.

Seraphina let him go with a sweet, gentle smile, though not before reminding him to reflect deeply on the virtues they had discussed.

Cassian promised he would.

Whether he actually intended to keep that promise was a completely different matter.

Back in his bedroom, Cassian collapsed onto the edge of his bed and released a long, heavy breath.

‘I almost forgot how exhausting her lectures could be.’

In his previous life, he had spent five brutal years operating as a Lord. Between managing his domain, conquering territories, upgrading his summons, and searching for ways to protect his civilization, he had barely possessed a moment to breathe.

His mother’s frequent moral sermons had gradually faded into distant memories.

Now that he had regressed to the past, he was beginning to realize just how much peace his former responsibilities had inadvertently granted him.

‘Five years without a sermon… I should have cherished those years more.’

The thought made him chuckle quietly, but his amusement gradually ebbed away as another, heavier subject occupied his mind.

His mother.

More specifically, the absurd capabilities she had demonstrated throughout the evening.

Cassian leaned back against the headboard, his eyes darkening with contemplative focus.

There were several glaring anomalies about his past life that had never made sense. At the time, he had been far too consumed with survival to analyze them properly.

Now, with his new understanding of Seraphina’s powers, certain past events demanded re-examination.

First, there was the money he had regularly remitted home after awakening as a Lord.

He had earned a fortune for a normal family during those five years, yet his mother had repeatedly mentioned tight finances.

He had always assumed the living costs of raising Ruby, maintaining their home, and residing on a core Dominion world were simply higher than he realized; he later found out that it had been a rival lord who had been extorting them.

But how could that be the case?

With Seraphina’s reality-bending capabilities, securing a comfortable life for herself and Ruby should have been trivial, even without his funds.

Even if she preferred a modest existence, there was zero reason for her to struggle to the extent he remembered.

Then, there was the matter of their deaths.

In his previous life, a Tier VII Sovereign Lord had obliterated the Astral Dominion simply to clear space for a galactic highway.

Cassian had been utterly helpless to stop it.

His civilization had been turned to ash, and everyone he loved had perished in the collateral destruction, including his mother and daughter.