---

“Hello? I’m God.”

“…What?”

“Since you didn’t say anything, I thought I’d try speaking for you. The surroundings are all white after all.”

“???”

The Goddess of Love tilted her head with a naive expression. Unfortunately, it seemed she had no knowledge of the deep-rooted traditional aesthetics.

But then again, it’s a bit strange for her to know.

How could a goddess of the continent be aware of Earth’s—let alone the clichés of the ancient parody era?

Knowing well that she couldn’t possibly know, I couldn’t help but feel restless.

An empty white space where nothing exists. And there she stood, the goddess, alone.

How do I endure this?

Covering my mouth while stifling a chuckle, I let my gaze slip down to check the situation, and there was my current body, not my past life’s Jonah.

To be precise, this is my original body, while the previous life’s form is merely a temporary appearance utilizing the incarnation of love, so it’s only natural.

One peculiar detail is that the body, which was clearly in a dying state just a moment ago, had completely recovered.

“Nothing remains, but is this a sanctuary? Heaven? Something like that? Now that I can feel my body, it feels like I can live. Thank you.”

“Ah… It’s true that this place is a sanctuary, but as you just mentioned, there is nothing here. Not even healing effects.”

“What? Then why do I feel so lively?”

“To be honest, it took a long time for you to come here, so I think you naturally healed during that time.”

“…How long has it been?”

“Don’t worry. No matter how many years have passed, it’s just a meaningless number in the gaps of time and space.”

“So, I can enter the time I want?”

“Rather, it feels like the time you return to is fixed. Once you leave this place, you will absolutely reach the time you desire.”

Thus, with a reassuring smile, the Goddess of Love urged calm.

Even though it’s clearly an empty space, her one smile filled the surroundings with all things beautiful.

Staring at the Goddess of Love blankly, I felt like I had been hit with an unexpected jab.

Long, flowing pink hair. Impeccable features that make her look both like a girl and a woman.

The overall silhouette is slender, but certain parts are sufficiently ample, as if they harmoniously sculpted various kinds of femininity into one.

I always feel this way, but the appearance of the Goddess of Love is breathtaking each time I see her.

However, I couldn’t just leisurely admire her, so I shook my head and awkwardly sat down.

Since the Goddess of Love was kneeling with one knee and praying, we were finally at eye level.

“Isn’t it uncomfortable to sit like that? You can relax. Unless you have another reason?”

“Yes. To illuminate the path for your return, I needed to use whatever little power I had left to gently hold you back, lest you get lost.”

In simpler terms, it means she strained herself to prevent me from heading back to Earth and instead summoned me back to the continent.

Looking closely, it was clear that despite her beautiful appearance, her face was weary beyond hiding.

Knowing well how much the Goddess of Love had sacrificed in the monochrome passage, I felt a wave of concern and asked.

“Are you really okay?”

“Fortunately, my divine followers are praying for me even at this moment, so I should recover soon.”

“Just like you did for me?”

With a quiet smile, the Goddess of Love nodded and loosened her legs to sit comfortably.

I scooted closer by dragging my bottom.

“By the way.”

“Feel free to speak.”

“Don’t gods usually catch on to my identity? Is it even possible for this to happen?”

The God of Madness had deeply resonated with me and realized I was a creator-like being trying to rewrite this world…

Thus arose the title of ‘Father of Fathers’.

Since the God of Madness knew, it was unlikely that the Goddess of Love—who had watched over me for thousands of years when combining the time I lost through my rebirth—would not know this.

That’s why I had been continuously curious but could never bring myself to ask anyone.

The Goddess of Love slowly nodded at my words.

“That’s correct. While I might not recognize it immediately, if one observes closely, it can’t be missed… The fates of the world. Even the gods who’ve drifted somewhat from inevitability could not but understand what it means to be bound to a single person.”

“Ah?”

While other aspects could change due to personal will and environmental shifts, the settings I specified must not change at all.

Rather, it feels like everything with fluidity exists solely to make the settings I’ve fixed appear plausible.

After living on the continent for several years and experiencing various events, this rule has never once been broken.

To the gods, it must have seemed like all fates were tied to me.

“But how is this even possible? You know, I was just an ordinary person back on Earth… my world.”

“…I don’t know the details either. But one thing I do know is that an enormous event can stem from something very trivial.”

My return, which the Goddess of Love had watched with infinite patience, was a perfect example of that.

A small thing could significantly alter the future, and that’s why it took countless trials and errors to reach where I am now.

If a trivial cause does not result in trivial outcomes…

Then it’s entirely possible that a person’s thoughts could be the trigger for a world just like this one to arise somewhere in the universe.

At least it seemed the Goddess of Love thought so.

“You may not have created everything yourself, but as for the catalyst for everything… Thus, you have more than enough qualification to be called the Father of Fathers.”

“Hmmm. If you say that… But I think you might prefer to call me something a little different, right?”

Chuckling, I drew closer, shoulder to shoulder, the reflection of myself visible in her eyes, our soft breaths grazing each other’s skin.

The face of the Goddess of Love turned red. Her lips flickering is a fine indicator that she seems rather pleased.

It’s no wonder I feel that the Goddess of Love embodies the ideal beauty for me given that she has set that as her standard.

Beauty is subjective. So then, who sets the standards?

Usually, it’s the public and the era that determine it, but I’ve established that the goddess comes first… and that goddess will be greatly influenced by me.

In other words, my ideal type is also the beauty of the Goddess of Love, and it becomes the standard for the continent.

A sort of amazing automatic beauty creation system.

In contrast, as the Goddess of Love underwent countless reincarnations, she painstakingly carved out my appearance little by little.

While there’s the inconvenience of being manual, fundamentally speaking, it means I’m also her ideal type.

There’s an existence before me that realistically cannot exist—truly an ideal entity, making it difficult to remain composed.

If both were critical to each other, then it’s a loss to avert our gazes first, I thought as I spoke.

“Father of Fathers is too long and doesn’t feel familiar. There must be something more intuitive.”

“That, is…”

“Ah. By the way, while we’re on the subject, I’ve heard that primordial gods are called by their divine name without a specific name. But the name Goddess of Love is, like I said, too long and vague, right? How about we decide on a way to call each other?”

“Pet name exchange…!”

In an instant, a glimmering light shone in the eyes of the Goddess of Love. This is no metaphor, it was truly there.

Not just a metaphor, she nodded vigorously, as if agreeing to my proposal.

“Yes. Yes, I really like this!”

“Glad to hear that! Now then, what should I call you…?”

After all, it will be a name that might only be called by me or very few others, no need for it to be grand.

Just something fitting and goddess-like would suffice.

A multitude of names crossed my mind. Aphrodite, Freyja, Venus, Aglaea, Ishtar…

All those goddesses from various mythologies, yet none resonated with me.

Perhaps I might not have liked the idea of using a name directly from Earth’s mythology.

After a brief contemplation, I opened my mouth.

“Celestina. You can also call me Tina for short. How’s that?”

“Tina… Yes! Please call me that from now on!”

Tina smiled shyly, as if pleased with the name. I opened my arms wide toward her.

“Then it’s your turn. How do you want to call me, Tina?”

“…”

Tina, who had been chewing on her lips, opened her mouth with a voice tangled with complex emotions.

“My love. I have always wanted to call you that, Jonah.”

“Now that you mention it, I feel like I heard something similar a thousand years ago…”

“For the Goddess of Love, it holds quite a significant meaning as a pet name.”

“Well, if you like it, then that settles it.”

I shrugged and adjusted my sitting posture. Then, with a slightly serious voice, I asked.

“Then Tina, I want to talk about the most important thing now. Is that all right?”

“Of course! What’s on your mind?”

“First, my past. And what’s to come.”

“…”

Tina paused for a moment. With a melancholic smile, she took my hand gently.

“Now that you’ve reached this point, I must tell you everything.”

She took my hand and gently brought it to her cheek, slowly rubbing her face against it.

“My light. My salvation. And my love… I will return the story of you that remains untold.”

At those words, memories I had been unable to see in the world of black and white began to unfold before my eyes from Tina’s point of view.

First, the world had been destroyed.

 

---