The relationship between Maximus and Ria was a strange one, but also somewhat inevitable. Ever since young, they and the Hubo and Verxis Clan Heads had been good friends who studied under the same teacher.
The reality of the Prominence War drove them apart years later, causing the Hubo and Verxis Clan Heads to become distant and hostile. Maximus and Ria, however, didn't follow the stereotype.
Their closeness transcended the bounds of their circumstances, and through each other, they were able to find some solace in the dreary atmosphere of Aquazyl that only these Clan Heads knew.
Still, this kind of peace couldn't last forever.
In the vast and chaotic river of life, there would be just as many partings as there were meetings. All people had their own paths to take, their own goals to chase. In this environment, it was completely natural for people with extremely close bonds to become distant simply due to circumstance.
Maximus and Ria's case wasn't too special. Stories of lovers who transcended the hostility of their clans to be together, of couples who survived the chaos of war by holding each other tight, were exceedingly popular. Humans, no, sentient lifeforms tended to seek comfort in each other when times became too rough to handle alone.
Damien had seen plenty of examples of this with his own eyes. Hell, he'd even been a part of this example.
This was exactly how his relationship with Rose began. The two of them were struggling through their own circumstances without help, but found each other to seek refuge in.
Even these fairytales of perfect couples could end in tragedy. And even if they didn't end in tragedy, they'd certainly end in parting.
Those who could stay together forever were only those who didn't have any goals to accomplish. People who could remain sedentary while enjoying quiet lives were those who either had nothing or wanted nothing.
Damien wasn't one of these people, thus he was forced to continuously part from his wives. And neither Ria nor Maximus was this type of person, so they were inevitably forced to do the same.
It was just…that inevitability came far faster than they'd expected.
"Parting is inevitable, yes, but what matters is how one behaves once it's happened," Damien muttered to himself.
"What?" Zara asked, confused.
Damien smiled and shook his head. "Nothing, just thinking about this and that."
His awareness still covered the two Clan Heads. His curiosity about their decision was still as high as ever, and he didn't want to miss this conversation.
Still, he wasn't going to blatantly barge into their personal space. He only wanted to understand how people reacted to situations like this one.
After all, Damien had undergone this sort of parting many many times, far more times than he wanted to admit.
Every single time, he was forced to accept reality and move forward. He didn't spend too much time on missing his loved ones, because if he did, he knew his progress would be slowed.
Damien was always curious about emotions. The way they functioned was so strange, and when he was younger, he even contemplated getting rid of them entirely. The Mind Prison that still resided on his spiritual continent was proof of this.
Nowadays, Damien's emotions were quite muted. His general demeanor was indifference, he wasn't able to joke and tease like he would when he was younger, and it felt like any action that didn't guide him closer to his end goals was completely useless, even if this action was something like entertaining his friends and companions.
He didn't like this change much. It felt like the burden on his shoulders was forcing him to change into a different person.
When he realized this, he got into the habit of becoming curious about the emotions of others. He wondered how others would react if they were put in similar situations as he'd been in the past, to see just how strange his own reactions were.
So far, he could only see that his rationality outstripped his emotional reactions considerably. When he was to make a choice whether to leave for a greater purpose and come back later or stay back and ignore that opportunity, he'd choose the former in a heartbeat.
It wasn't that he didn't love his wives or his friends, it was just that his love didn't translate in the way others' love did.
He was still trying to figure out how to show his love properly, in a way where everyone could understand the depth of his feelings without him having to completely change his person.
His wives were people who understood this side of him. They'd spent prolonged periods of time with him and each of them had seen him at a different low point. Even through all his bullshit, they'd stuck with him. Even with him leaving so often, they'd stuck with him.
Because they were people who understood his complicated heart and the emotions he couldn't showcase the way he wanted to.
If it wasn't for that, would any sane woman want to stay with a man who barely spent any time with them? A man who continued to leave them and come back with new wives?
That was simply a joke.
There was a reason why despite Damien's constant flirting with woman after woman, the only ones that truly stuck and fostered a relationship of mutual love with him were three.
Even Elena, who'd left to find her own path, was the same. Years ago when their separation took place, Damien was despairing and didn't realize much of the truth of her actions.
Their twisted relationship couldn't be fixed by mere time together, and neither of them were the type to sit still and try to fix said relationship.
They both knew of each other's feelings.
They both knew they would never betray each other for another.
With that kind of assurance, they didn't need to worry about how they acted. They both went to complete their own goals, using the best means they knew to help the other party cope while they did so.
And in the end, did their love fade? Damien was sure his didn't, and even though he couldn't see Elena, he knew she was waiting for him somewhere across the universe.
Maximus and Ria's love story was cute, it was a story of rivals who fell in love and decided to fight fate. But when Damien looked at it, he didn't think it could compare to his own.
He had three beautiful and understanding wives, three women who didn't just sit around and wait for him or act as his yes-men at all times. He had the three best women in the universe as his partners, women who would work as hard as they needed to in order to grow at their fastest speeds and develop.
Watching Maximus and Ria, Damien's thoughts switched away from his own emotions and focused on the emotions of these three instead.
He ended up thinking about them for a long long time, slowly coming to appreciate every facet of their personalities, ingraining every tiny detail of their faces into his mind once again.
And he wondered…what were they up to now?
