The demand cracked through the silence like a whip. Zion flinched, just a little.

He inhaled once. Then spoke, eyes still averted. "I confessed to her that I was in love with her for years."

There was a brief pause before he continued, "And she kissed me. That wasn't heat. That was her reply to my confession."

Leah's eyes flicked sideways. "So you liked her even though you've known for years she's your aunt?"

Zion turned his face away further, toward the corner of the window, voice barely audible now. "She's not my aunt."

Another pause. The words came out softer—almost vulnerable.

"At least… not legally."

Silence followed.

Leah's grip on the steering wheel tightened.

She took a slow breath. "You do know, Zion," she said, her voice level, "that in two years, you'll be ascending to the throne of Camelot."

Zion remained quiet.

"You'll inherit not just Camelot's legacy, but also Freyles after the Great Merge. The media will dissect you. Frame by frame. Every relationship. Every mistake. Every hesitation will be public record."

She glanced at him again.

"Do you plan to never be legally acknowledged by Azrael or something? Is that what you want?"

Zion slowly turned to her, eyes clouded but direct. "No."

Leah didn't flinch. "Then what do you want, Zion? You're standing in a halfway world. You want Fiona, but you also want to be acknowledged as the son of Azrael Garcia. You can't hold both without inciting trolls, the public's criticism."

Zion looked away again. His voice was low, but steady. "I want to grow old with the person I love, but not at the expense of my happiness. I don't want to follow the path you followed. A life without love. A life filled with only duty. A life where you don't want a life partner. And a desperate life where you will have to let an 18-year-old become the father of your child. Mother, I would love to be acknowledged by Father to the entire world, but at the same time, I don't want such a pathetic life for you either. I promise you that I will take care of Camelot's future. I want you to find love and be with the person you want. As a demigod, you will live for thousands of years more, and you are not even 70 years old. I want you to leave the duties you held on your head for so long and pursue a life of happiness. A life where you have someone you love, and…"

Zion's genuine words were interrupted by Leah, who slammed on the brakes.

The hover vehicle glided to a stop on the roadside on a fly over, letting the other vehicles continue to pass.

She didn't look at him.

Didn't blink.

Didn't even raise her voice.

She just said. "Get out."

Zion blinked. "What?"

Her voice cut sharper this time. "I said, get out."

Zion didn't know what part of his words angered his mother, but he could only quietly nod and open the car door, step onto the road, and close the door with a soft click.

VRRRRRMMMMM—!

The vehicle shot away in a blink, back into the traffic lanes, swallowed by the neon-bathed roads of the capital.

Zion remained there, standing by himself. His hands clenched at his sides. A cool breeze whispered through his shirt collar. "Was I too harsh, or did I hit a nerve or something?"

His jaw tensed for a moment.

"No," he whispered, fists tightening. "I was honest. If she wasn't ready to me being honest, then I can't do anything about it."

Meanwhile, inside the Car, the silence reigned for a few moments.

Leah's hands trembled as she gripped the wheel. Her eyes locked forward, blankly watching the blur of lights smear across the windshield.

And then, tears suddenly well up in her eyes. She blinked hard, trying to stop them, trying to fight the ache in her chest that had been buried for decades

"Do you think I wanted such a life?" Her voice trembled out of her lips, almost like a confession to no one. "Do you think I chose this, Zion? Do you think I didn't want to be with Azzy?"

The words spilled like rain from a cracked window.

"If not for the name of Pendragon… if not for the weight of a collapsing kingdom on my back… I wouldn't have let Claire have him."

She leaned forward, elbows on the steering wheel, eyes distant as her voice cracked into the empty space:

"But, I had the stake of Camelot's future on my back. I am the sole heir of Camelot. I can't afford to die under the Curse of Eros."

The vehicle halted at a red signal, bathed in crimson light that mirrored her conflicted heart. "Zion, I didn't just give birth to you for the sake of Camelot. I didn't give birth to you as some sort of weapon as you think it is."

Her hand slowly went to the steering wheel, gripping it harder. Her knuckles whitened.

"I gave birth to you because I thought… maybe, just maybe, you could be the bridge. A reason for us to come together again because I knew that Claire would die anyway. With you, I thought I could secure Camelot's future and have a person to grow old with me whom I love. I thought I could have both. But…"

Her throat tightened.

"But Claire died… and when Azzy returned, he returned with a new family… not just a wife, but also a son. And with them, he cut that last thread of hope between us."

She inhaled deeply. Long. Sharp. Measured.

And when she exhaled, her voice dropped into a command—first to herself, then to the world.

"So be it."

Her gaze narrowed with renewed steel, and she turned the hovercar sharply.

"The path of having a loving family has been severed, but I won't put the future of Camelot at risk. I won't put your life at risk."

Her voice no longer trembled. It resonated in firmness.

"Fiona's bloodline is strong, yes. But you both were the direct descendants of Azrael Garcia. The Curse of Eros will not affect you through her because you carry the most powerful bloodlines ever. You inherited the divinity of Jupiter. However, she only carries half the bloodline. And if you two become one, the curse will affect her for sure. And if she dies because of the curse…

Her fingers tightened the grip over the wheel.

"Then the future of Camelot will end in front of my very eyes… I won't let that happen. I need to talk to Azzy."