CHAPTER 111: NOT A GODDESS, BUT A MORTAL

Yelena’s lips pressed into a thin line as her fingers lingered at the hem of her nightgown. She was the elder here, the one who should have been setting the rules, commanding respect.

In any other situation, it would have been her voice that carried weight, her hand that dictated when things began and when they ended.

Yet under Mika’s gaze, unyielding, steady, and heavy with authority, her chest tightened. It was as though the very air pressed down on her, demanding obedience.

Her pride screamed at her to resist, to tell him "no."

But her hands betrayed her.

Almost of their own accord, her fingers curled into the fabric and slowly tugged it upward. She hated how natural the motion felt, how powerless she suddenly seemed.

Still, even as the fabric rose and the curve of her legs came into view, she caught onto the last threads of her pride.

"Don’t misunderstand, Mika. I’m not doing this because you ordered me to." Her voice, though tinged with nervousness, carried its usual haughty edge. "I’m doing it because it’s necessary to prove the conditions. Don’t go thinking you’re the one with authority here."

She even forced a small smirk, as if she still held the upper hand. But the trembling in her hands betrayed her.

Her thighs came into view first, pale and smooth, the kind of legs that had once carried her proudly into every room, now exposed with nothing to shield them.

The rise of her nightgown unveiled the full length of her legs, and the black panties hugging her swollen curves drew Mika’s eyes instantly.

Intricate designs patterned the fabric, delicate and almost regal, yet they clung tightly to her massive buttocks, which no cloth could truly hide.

Even from the front, he could see the overwhelming swell of her ass pressing against the thin garment, so thick and round it forced his gaze to linger.

Higher still, her waist revealed itself, slender but not without a softness that made her body all the more intoxicating, her navel a small, sensual hollow on smooth skin.

The nightgown then paused at her plump chest, fabric gathered just below her breasts as her breath caught, shame flashing across her face.

She hesitated, trembling at the thought of baring herself further, but Mika’s eyes burned into her with silent expectation.

His gaze offered no room for retreat, and though every fiber of her pride resisted, her hands moved again, pulling the garment higher until at last it slipped past her breasts and fell away entirely.

Swoosh!

Now, clad only in her underwear, her beauty was laid bare before him.

Her bra, straining to contain her chest, seemed almost fragile, her breasts pressing forward in heavy, soft swells that threatened to spill free at any moment.

They looked like living mountains, full and enchanting, a vision so erotic it struck Mika silent.

He could do nothing but stare, dazed, completely ensnared by her form, by the contrast of her authority and her vulnerability.

But Yelena, standing there with her heart racing, didn’t see admiration.

To her, that gaze was sharp, almost mocking.

It felt like he was looking down on her, as if ridiculing the very body she once carried with so much pride.

Her face heated, her chest tightened, and before she realized it, one arm snapped over her breasts, the other shielding her stomach.

Mika blinked in surprise.

"What in the world...Why are you covering yourself, Yelena? That doesn’t make any sense." His tone was half-incredulous, half-confused. "I mean, usually when we go to the beach, you’re the first one running into a bikini. And not just that, you strut around like a peacock, proud, waiting for me to say how good you look."

"...You’d even even parade yourself in front of me when I was trying to relax. And now, now you’re covering yourself? Are you... possibly embarrassed to show yourself to me?"

Her face flushed crimson.

"W-What? Embarrassed? Me?" She laughed nervously, though it was forced. "No, Mika, not at all. Even now, if we went to the beach, I’d wear the skimpiest bikini there without hesitation. I’d hold my head high and walk proudly, because I know how beautiful I am."

"...I’ve never been afraid of showing off and would proudly show myself to anyone else." She straightened her back as if to convince herself, her pride flaring.

But then, her voice faltered, growing quieter, timid, almost fragile. She looked at him, her gaze uncertain.

"But...with you, it’s different." Her lips pressed together, then parted with a whisper. "Especially after what you said, I don’t know if I can show myself to you with the same confidence anymore

"Huh? Different? What do you mean, different?" Mika frowned, tilting his head. "And what did I do to make you feel that way? I don’t understand."

He looked bewildered and seeing how he genuinely seemed to not know what she was talking about, Yelena’s expression tightened, eyes flashing with a mix of hurt and irritation.

"What do you mean, ’What did I do?’ Mika. Did you forget already? Just a moment ago, you were tugging at me, calling me chubby, fat, a pig...all those awful things. You laughed while doing it, Mika."

She bit her lip, glaring at him through the haze of nerves.

"You think I forgot? You think I don’t remember? Do you know what that did?"

The realization hit him, and his expression softened. "Wait...you really got hurt by that? But that doesn’t make sense.

"I mean, Yelena, I’ve always teased you like that. You tease me back, we fight, we laugh, it’s always been like that between us. That’s how it’s always been and I also said all of those things with that in mind.

"...But I never would’ve thought you’d actually take it to heart."

Looking at the genuine confusion in his eyes, her eyes softened for a brief moment, a small, wry smile tugging at her lips as if she owed him a explanation

"Well, that’s true, Mika. What you said if most definitely true...That’s how it’s always been."

"For years, we’ve gone back and forth, fighting, teasing, like it was nothing. And most of the time, I did brush it off."

But then her smile faded, her voice lowering into something raw, vulnerable.

"But I don’t think I can anymore."

Mika blinked, his chest tightening at the confession. "W-What do you mean?"

She exhaled shakily, glancing down at her body, still shielded by her hands.

"The other comments you tell to tease me, whether it’s you calling me a slowpoke when we race around the sky or you calling me a crybaby when we watch a tragic drama, I don’t care. I can fight back, I can laugh."

"But when it comes to my body...I don’t know if I can brush it off like before."

She said with a look of vulnerability in her eyes before taking a breath and going on to say,

"Back then, when I was in my prime, I was confident. Untouchable. Even if you called me a hippopotamus, I’d smack your head and think you were just a dumb brat. But now..."

She hesitated, her eyes dimming with something almost painful.

"Now it’s different."

Her fingers tightened around her arm, her voice trembling.

"The truth is...I’m getting older, Mika." She whispered, her voice carrying a weight that made the room feel quieter. "I’ve aged. Just like any woman does. And because of that..." Her throat tightened, forcing her to pause as she swallowed down the knot that threatened to choke her. "...I feel more insecure than I ever have in my life."

Her hand then moved unconsciously to her stomach, brushing against the curve of her side as though acknowledging the changes she spoke of.

"I’m plumper than before. My body isn’t what it used to be. Every morning when I stand before the mirror, I can’t help but notice the differences...The lines at the corners of my eyes, the softness that wasn’t there years ago. I see myself fading... fading from the woman I once was."

"The beauty I once had, the youth that made me feel untouchable...it’s slipping away piece by piece."

Her gaze flicked up to his, full of quiet shame.

"So when you say those things...it doesn’t feel like harmless teasing anymore. It feels like you’re confirming what I fear. Like you’re telling me that I’ve lost what I once had."

"...And it hurts, Mika. More than I thought it would."

Mika stared at her, dumbfounded by what he was hearing.

"B-But...Yelena. Weren’t you just so prideful a moment ago? When I teased you, you fought back like always. You were outraged but you vented your anger and acted like you didn’t care."

"Well, of course I did, Mika." She let out a short, bitter laugh. "Do you think I’d just crumble in front of you? Do you think I’d admit something like that so easily?...I had to put on a brave front, Mika. I had to protect my flimsy pride that I just love to hold dear."

Her eyes softened, glistening faintly.

"But here, half-naked, standing before you...I can’t hide it. I can’t hide behind my words anymore. You can see everything. And I...I feel exposed. Vulnerable. Too sensitive to pretend."

Her voice cracked slightly, though she forced it steady at the end.

"That’s why I covered myself just now. Not because I’m ashamed of my body in general, not because I can’t walk out in front of the whole world in a bikini."

"...But because it’s you. You, Mika."

"If it had been anyone else..." She went on, her voice quieter but surer now. "If some other fool had dared to call me fat, or chubby, or a pig...I would’ve had my swords at their throat before they even finished their sentence."

"I’d have poked holes through their arrogance until they cried and begged for forgiveness."

"And tell me you, even if the entire world stood against me, if everyone shouted that I wasn’t what I once was, that my beauty had faded, I wouldn’t care."

"...Not one bit. I don’t live for them, I don’t care about them. That’s just who I am."

For a heartbeat her tone carried that same lofty, imperious strength she always wielded, but then it faltered, softened, and the look she gave him shifted.

A fond gaze, one overflowing with love she usually kept hidden under pride and banter, lingered on him.

"But you..." She whispered, almost in disbelief. "You’re different, Mika. You always have been."

"Your opinion isn’t like anyone else’s. To me, Mika, your words matter more than all the others combined. They cut deeper. They weigh heavier. They’re the only ones that can reach me here."

She tapped lightly against her own heart, before her eyes glistened faintly, though her smile wavered.

"So when you said those things, when you called me fat, when you teased me about my body while I was already doubting myself, it wasn’t just teasing anymore."

"It hurt. It made me believe, even for a moment, that the fears I’ve been carrying were true. That maybe I really wasn’t...what I used to be. And that you saw me that way."

Her arms tightened around herself, though not out of anger, out of shame.

"That’s why I covered up. Because I didn’t want to look ugly to you. I didn’t want you to see me and think less of me."

Then, as though catching herself in the absurdity of her own confession, Yelena let out a small, breathless laugh. It wasn’t mocking, but bitter at herself.

"Hah...Listen to me. I thought I was invulnerable. That no matter what anyone said, I’d stand tall and proud, unshakable. But here I am, trembling like some insecure girl."

She shook her head, strands of scarlet hair slipping loose as her smile curved wryly.

"Turns out I’m just like any other woman after all, weak, foolish, vulnerable...What a joke."

She exhaled shakily, her gaze slipping from him to the floor, as though ashamed of baring so much of her heart.

And Mika himself...

Well, he was in utter shock at how much she had been holding deep in her heart, realising that beneath that haughty and bossy face of hers was someone who was really struggling with her own insecurities.

He never expected it but he realised that the women who was treated as a god and immortal for what she has done for humanity was simply a mortal women after all...