Chapter 530: So, It’s Just Me That Fell In Love?!

Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!

The barriers around them shattered—not once, not twice, but over and over again, with an intensity that far surpassed even the moment when he had fingered her earlier.

Mika had to keep reinforcing them, strengthening them, pouring more and more of his energy into containing the storm of her emotions.

This reaction from Nadia came from the realization of everything Mika had done for her.

The truth was that despite the calm, composed face she always wore as if nothing in the world could faze her...

...Nadia was actually quite fragile inside.

Before her blessing fully awakened, she had been lively and expressive.

She would laugh when others joked, her whole face lighting up with joy.

She would cry when others cried, her tears flowing freely without shame.

She would feel devastated over the smallest things—a broken vase, a lost trinket, a friend moving away

And get excited over something as simple as a plane flying overhead, dragging her sisters to the window to watch.

She had been emotionally all over the place. A whirlwind. A storm. But a beautiful one.

Then her blessing manifested, and everything changed.

The power that surged through her was too great, too volatile.

Her emotions and her blessing were inextricably linked—every spike of feeling threatened to trigger earthquakes, tsunamis, devastation on a continental scale.

So she had to suppress it all.

The laughter, the tears, the excitement, the devastation—all of it had to be locked away behind a mask of perfect, unfeeling calm.

The lively Nadia who used to live so freely disappeared. Banished for the sake of the world’s safety.

She had accepted it. What else could she do?

It was the natural consequence of her power, the price she had to pay for being who she was.

For years she endured it for everyone else’s sake—for her sisters, for her daughter, for the millions of people who would suffer if she ever lost control.

But it had left her heartbroken.

Because she could no longer show emotion, her sisters struggled to read her.

They would look at her blank face and wonder if she was angry, or sad, or happy—and she could never tell them.

She couldn’t even smile at her daughter, couldn’t make jokes with her, couldn’t tell her how much she loved her without the same empty expression.

No matter how hard she tried, no one could truly feel what she felt.

It was devastating. Like someone had reached into her chest and ripped out the only joy in her life.

She had been hurting inside for so many years and the only reason she had been able to keep going was because of her loving family—her sisters, her nieces and her daughter.

And especially...because of Mika.

Mika always seemed to understand her. Even when her face was blank, even when her voice was flat, he could read her.

He knew when she was sad, when she was happy, when she needed someone to just sit with her in silence.

He was the only one who never looked at her like she was a puzzle to be solved, a problem to be fixed.

So, it was easy to say that her family was the reason she had survived this long.

But even so, even with all their love, she had quietly hoped that one day she might be able to show her emotions again.

Just once. Just for a moment. To laugh without restraint, to cry without fear, to tell her daughter "I love you" with a smile on her face.

But deep down, she had believed it was a dream that would never come true.

Until now.

Just after Mika revealed everything, Nadia finally understood why she had been able to show emotions so freely.

Moments ago she had wondered how she was suddenly smiling, showing sadness, and expressing all sorts of feelings, but now it all made sense.

It was because of her son!

Her beloved son, sitting right before her!

Tears welled in her eyes.

All this time he had been working for her sake.

Trying to make his mother happy.

While even she herself had given up and resigned herself to a lifetime of emotional numbness—Mika had never stopped trying!

Even though it must have hurt him deeply. Even though he must have felt overwhelming guilt for doing such things to his own mother.

Even though every touch, every kiss, every taboo act had probably made him question his own morality.

He had persevered through all of it!

And he had succeeded!

He had found a way to allow her to show emotions without triggering her blessing. Without causing earthquakes. Without endangering the world.

Just thinking about how much her son had sacrificed for her—completely broke Nadia on the spot.

"MIKAAAA!"

She threw herself into his arms and hugged him tightly, her fingers clutching at his shirt like he might disappear if she let go.

"Mika! Mika! Mika!"

Her voice cracked, raw with emotion.

"I love you! I-I love you so much! I love you, my baby boy!"

"I love you more than anyone else in the world!"

She sobbed uncontrollably, tears streaming down her face—not the restrained, dignified tears she had shed before, but ugly, messy, beautiful tears.

Her whole body shook with the force of her crying.

The last time Nadia had truly cried like this was over two decades ago.

But right now she could not stop herself. The tears flowed freely, and she let them.

"Mika! I love you! I love you!!!"

She kissed him all over his face—his cheeks, his forehead, his nose, his chin.

She clung to him, grinding against his lap as she tried to show how much she loved him, how grateful she was, how completely and utterly devoted to him she had become in this moment.

Boom! Boom! Boom! 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

The barriers around them continued to shatter, one after another, the shields cracking under the weight of her emotions.

But Mika didn’t care.

Even though maintaining them over and over was exhausting—he simply smiled and hugged her back.

His arms wrapped around her, strong and warm, and he gently caressed her back.

"It’s alright, Nadia. It’s alright."

His voice was soft, soothing.

"It won’t be long now. Soon, you’ll be able to return to the same Nadia you once were. The one who laughed freely. The one who cried without shame."

"The one who loved without restraint...I’m waiting for that day to come."

His words only made her cry harder. She buried her face in his shoulder, her tears soaking through his shirt.

"I love you, baby! You can’t possibly know how much your mother actually loves you!"

She poured out the deepest gratitude from her heart, every word trembling with emotion.

She realized just how much her son loved her. And how much she loved him in return.

And just like that, the scene that was supposed to be so awkward, so weird, so chaotic—turned out to be the most beautiful, wholesome moment.

A mother crying her heart out.

A son accepting it all.

Holding her. Loving her. Protecting her.

Just like he always had.

—

Nadia cried for a very long time.

Her tears flowed freely, unchecked, unstoppable—a lifetime of suppressed emotions pouring out all at once.

The relief was immense, like a dam finally breaking after decades of pressure.

But it wasn’t just the crying that brought her comfort.

It was being held in Mika’s arms.

His embrace was warm, steady, unwavering.

He also didn’t rush her. He didn’t tell her to calm down.

He simply held her, letting her release everything she had been holding inside for so many years.

Because of that soothing comfort, she calmed down much more quickly than she would have thought possible.

Her heart gradually settled, her breathing slowed, and her tears finally began to run dry.

And then—realization hit her like a punch to the gut that knocked all the air out of her lungs!

Her face turned crimson. Not a light blush, not a rosy tint—a deep, burning, tomato-red flush that spread from her cheeks to her neck to her ears.

If Mika had pulled back at that moment and looked at her, he would have seen the most flustered, embarrassed version of his mother that had ever existed.

Because she finally understood.

Mika had never looked at her as a woman.

He had never fallen in love with her.

He had always seen her as his mother. Someone he wanted to help. Someone he wanted to heal. Someone he wanted to make whole again.

It was she who had completely misunderstood!

It was she who had fallen for her own son as a man!

Her mind raced, replaying the events of the day through this new lens.

From the very beginning, Mika had been trying to help her. Genuinely help her.

And to do that, he had to do all those taboo things—kissing her, touching her, groping her, bringing her pleasure.

It wasn’t because he wanted to do those things to her.

It was because he needed to evoke those reactions.

It was necessary. It was part of his duty.

But Nadia, because of the confusion and the swirling storm of emotions inside her had misinterpreted everything.

She had seen his actions through the wrong lens, colored by her own growing feelings.

’But as strange as it is, it makes sense.’ She thought bitterly.

’My baby was already an extremely charming individual. I already loved him very much as a mother loves her son.’

’And after seeing how much he protected me today, how he always went out of his way to protect the family, how he seemed to always be by my side...any woman would fall for him.’

The only barrier that had been holding her back was the fact that she was his mother.

She had never allowed herself to have those thoughts before, because the boundary was clear, uncrossable, absolute.

But today, Mika had broken that barrier himself.

By doing all those taboo things to her, he had inadvertently made her think that he saw her as a woman.

And that belief had triggered a whole cascade of emotions that couldn’t be stopped, which led to her falling for her son.

’Oh, dumb, stupid Nadia.’

She berated herself, her face burning with shame even as she hugged him tighter.

’How could you think that? Of course your son isn’t going to fall for you. How could you even come to a conclusion like that?!’

’He must have had other thoughts and plans. You’re the one who was so eager to believe your own son had fallen for you.’

’Just who do you think you are?! How in the world would a son actually fall for his mother? How could you possibly think stuff like that?!’

She continued berating herself, feeling deeply ashamed and embarrassed. Her mind spun with self-recrimination.

But more than the shame, more than the embarrassment, there was something else—a quiet, terrifying realization.

She could no longer change the way she felt.

Despite the emotionless mask she wore on her face, Nadia understood her own emotions quite well.

And she knew that from here on forth, she could never look at Mika the same way.

Of course, she could hide her thoughts. She was an expert at that.

That had been the plan from the very beginning—to suppress her feelings, to lock them away, to pretend they didn’t exist.

But no matter what, she would still love her son as a man.

Every action he took would stir those feelings in her.

Every smile, every touch, every kind word would make her heart flutter.

This was fine before since, she had thought they were on the same side.

She had believed that they could figure something out together in the future.

But now she knew the truth—it was one-sided love. Unrequited. An ache that would never be returned and it completely changed the script.

She didn’t know what to do. She didn’t know how their relationship was going to go in the future.

’Would it be awkward? Would he notice? Would everything fall apart?’

Out of pure shame and concern for the future, she did something she didn’t even think about. She bit Mika’s neck.

"Nadia!" He jerked in surprise, but he didn’t push her away.

After a moment, he chuckled, "What’s wrong? Do you want my blood or something? Just like Anya does?"

That snapped her out of it.

"I-I’m sorry!" She pulled back immediately, her face a mask of horror. "I didn’t mean to do that. I was just thinking about something else—"

She pushed her face back into his chest, hiding from his gaze, feeling so ashamed that she wanted the ground to swallow her whole.

And Mika watching her reactions, felt a growing smile spread across his face.