Chapter 358: Utmost Respect

"Are… you serious?"

"I am, King Evans."

Feeling the warmth of Athena's hand riding on his cheek, Van could not help but take in a sneaky but large gulp. Van would not argue that Athena was one of the most beautiful women he has ever met in his life, but he would lie if he said he was romantically attracted to her.

"But… I do not have feelings for you, Athena."

Van could feel Athena's hand slightly tremble, there was even a small whisper of a gasp that escaped from her mouth. But still, she did not let go of Van's cheek and only let out a smile.

"It doesn't matter, King Evans," Athena said as she shook her head, "I will only be doing one of my duties-- to ensure the Olympians would live on. Love… is only a fleeting and secondary matter."

"That's--"

"You do not need to give an answer now," Athena did not let Van say a word; taking off her hand and proceeding to walk away, "It will be a few hours before we reach the Academy and I will be waiting in my cabin until then. Your presence… or absence shall be a sufficient enough answer."

"..." Van could only stare as Athena disappeared into the ship. For Athena, it had already been tens of thousands of years since he and Artemis last saw each other. It wouldn't be far-fetched to even say that Artemis had most probably moved on from him.

But for Van… Artemis was someone special. He doesn't know why, or how… but something between them was just right. Her skin touching his, the warmth of her sweat, her breath that smelled like lavender… with all of those embracing him, he felt as if nothing in the world could take it away.

Love. Van doesn't know if it was truly love they had… but it was probably the closest thing to it. Of course, he was a growing man. He may not have feelings for Athena, but he would lie if he said he wasn't attracted to her. But that was it… the feelings he had for Artemis were completely different.

It felt like he was betraying her if he slept with another woman.

"..." However, Van could not help but remember the slight shift in Athena's expression when he told her that he didn't have feelings for her. That was probably the most vulnerable he has ever seen Athena.

No, he has seen her like that before-- when he kissed her in order to win their duel back when they just met. How could he forget? Even if he did it for an entirely different reason, he was the one who made the first move on her.

Was that it? Was that the point when Athena had begun harboring feelings for him? How would he even know something like that, when Athena barely showed any signs of what she was feeling? It was always 'duty this, plan that' for her… never once did she give out what she was feeling.

Or maybe perhaps he was overthinking again? Maybe it really is just some sort of duty for her?

"..." Either way, Van had already reached his answer. Artemis… was still too important for him. Maybe someday, his feelings for Athena would grow-- but right now, it just didn't seem right.

A second.

A minute.

An hour.

Van remained to stare at the vast and almost endless ocean on his horizon. If only he didn't run away, if only he remained holding Artemis's hand during the Explosion; then it was more than possible that they would be holding hands right now.

Maybe both his children would have lived. Maybe Ymir would have not gone down the path he took.

But he didn't. Every mistake he made led him here… to his child, to old friends… and now to Athena.

Van then turned his head towards the door to the inside of the ship, his eyes clearly hesitating. He already had an answer, but he should at least respect Athena and tell it to her directly; she deserved at least that.

And so, with a nod, he slowly walked back inside the ship. All of his steps were sluggish until he reached Athena's cabin.

"It's open."

And before he could even knock, he heard Athena's voice seeping from the edges of the door.

"...Right, I'm coming in," Van said before opening the door and letting out a long and deep sigh, "Athena. I have the utmost respect for you… but I think it is wrong for us to… to…"

And before he could finish his sentence, Van could not help but slightly stutter as soon as he saw Athena standing in front of her bed. Athena usually had her hair tied up to a ponytail, and now, seeing her brown caramel-like hair flowing seamlessly on the surface of her bare skin… Van could only stare.

"Please… wear some clothes, Athena," Van then said before quickly closing the door behind him, afraid that one of the crew members would see Athena completely naked. He then looked to the side, doing his best to avoid Athena's silhouette.

"Is that an order?"

"W… what?"

"I don't think I would need it, King Evans."

Each of Athena's steps felt like a loud drum ringing in Van's ears as she slowly approached him, "I am sorry for using this kind of tactic, but it is the most suitable one I found for someone of your age. You always try to appear calm and collected, but we both know something inside of you is raging to release itself."

"Why… are you doing this to yourself, Athena?" Van continued to look to the side even as he felt Athena's fingers slowly slithering their way across his torso.

Athena then leaned closer towards Van, embracing his whole body with her toned, but still soft skin, "...Because what I feel for you is something that I can not ignore. It is… unhealthy for my mind if I do not act on my feelings. And besides, you…

...are my King."

"!!!" Van's eyes could not help but widen as the warmth of Athena's hand slowly crawled its way between his legs.

"Enough!" But before she could do anything else, Van pushed Athena to the other side of the room, this time pinning her on the wall as her butt fell to the floor.

"Enough… Athena," Van then said as he looked Athena straight in the eyes, "I don't deserve someone like you... I didn't even deserve Artemis. Please, let's just… don't."

"I want to, King Evans."

Athena, however, still did not waver as she once again gently held Van's cheek, "All my life, I have ignored and endured the calls of my body… and now that I am ready to break it, I want it to be you, King Evans."

"...No."

"Then I shall do it with Dionysus."

"...No."

"Then are you punishing me? For you to not allow me to finally indulge in-- !!!"

And before Athena could finish her words, her vision completely blurred out as she once again, after tens of thousands of years, felt Van's tongue inside of her mouth. A loud gasp then escaped her mouth as Van pulled his head away, his eyes, looking her directly in the eyes.

"Is this what you wanted?" Van's voice, however, was colder than ever before, "I would never let you go with Dionysus. So is this what you wanted? This isn't fair, Athena… stop disrespecting yourself just because of something like this."

And with that, Van then stood up and turned around, "Please, let's not talk about this again for now."

In truth, although his words were cold, his body was anything but. Even stepping away from Athena was taking all of Van's strength as his body had already made its decision for him-- if he was to stay any more second in this room, then Van was afraid that he could no longer contain himself.

But alas, before he could even take 3 steps, he once again felt Athena's warmth as she suddenly embraced him from behind.

"Then…

...I want you to disrespect me."

"...Fuck."

***IMPORTANT NOTICE***

First of all, thank you for still reading, since a lot of people has already dropped the story-- with most of them initially really liking the book, but now are telling people to stay away from my it, I truly have failed somewhere along the story. And for those of you that are still enduring the story, I truly apologize.

I suppose I had all of these ideas I thought that were great, but turned out either too deep, too sudden, or too stupid. I didn't want to admit it, but the book has been dying and is dying. I could have went with the Academy even longer, I could have allowed his friends to rescue Van in the Pit, I could have allowed Van to secure Hermes's body... there were so many things that I should have done.

There are so many What Ifs, and I probably went with the worst one. I still had so many plans for the book, but I would have to skip some so that I can provide a proper ending while I still have the motivation to do so.

I wish I could reset the story, but we're already here. I am committed in finishing this story no matter what, for me, and most importantly for those who are still reading. So once again, if you're still out there... thank you for sticking with me for this long.

Also, kinda awkward that the next chapter is r-18.