Chapter 588 - 582. Reflection
It took another tea-brewing process for Zein to tell the old man about himself; about Lucretia, his ancestor, the one who carried the seed of Setnath--and the brief history of House Ishtera. He also told the old man about the first time he ’spoke’ with the core fragment and found out that he was a fragment.
Zein answered Tian Yu’s inquiries about many things, including more details about House Ishtera. But when he told the old man about what becoming the fragment of Setnath initially meant, the old man fell silent, looking at him with shaken eyes. Even after Zein finished explaining the ’agreement’ he had with Setnath, the old man did not say anything for a long time.
"...huh," was the only thing coming out of the bewildered old man.
Zein sipped the newly brewed tea while Tian Yu processed the information. He knew it was too much to hear about everything all at once, unlike the others who discovered things gradually along with him. Even Zein, when laying it down, felt it was unbelievable.
His life, so unchanging for twenty-seven years that he became numb, suddenly flipped upside down. And because of it, in just a year, he got out of the lower zone, experienced love, and earned a family. Of course, there were hardships too, but...compared to what he gained, the hardships felt like nothing. Just a bit of a spice in a hearty curry Bassena often made him.
It was funny to think that despite the misery he experienced because of this seed of Setnath inside of him, he also received a lot of blessings because of it. Talking about the whole situation from start to finish made him realize how unbelievable it was if it wasn’t his own story, but also...
How nice.
The most important thing he gained out of this, aside from meeting Bassena, was finding his own purpose. To feel proud of doing something as a guide, as a human. To be able to think about tomorrow and the far future. To be able to do what he wanted to do.
And when he met his little twin brothers sometime in the future, among the many stars in the sky, he would be able to hold his head and tell them he was grateful to be alive a bit longer. And when he said he was sorry, it was because he would have liked it if he could experience those blissful things with the twins, not regretting it because he experienced them instead of the twins.
Ironically, by becoming the fragment of this Celestial Being, Zein was able to become a human.
He let out a small smile before drinking more of the fragrant tea.