Chapter 645: The Weight of a Fallen Prayer

Chapter 644: The Weight of a Fallen Prayer

Sophia stayed quiet for a while.

Not because she had nothing to say.

But because there were questions that didn’t come out neatly. Questions that sat heavy on the tongue, refusing to be shaped into anything simple.

Selene did not rush her.

She simply stood there, still as drifting snowfall, watching Sophia the way the night watches a burning candle—patient, unreadable, almost reverent.

Finally, Sophia spoke.

Her voice was soft, careful, like she was afraid the words might fracture the air between them.

"What made you choose the things you chose?"

The question didn’t come with anger, but rather curiosity and a need to understand.

Selene’s gaze lowered slightly, as though the question had landed somewhere deep rather than surface-level.

For a moment, she didn’t answer.

Then she exhaled.

It wasn’t a sigh in the human sense. It was quieter than that, like the air itself had remembered something it didn’t want to hold.

"I was foolish," Selene said at last.

The words were simple.

But they didn’t feel simple.

"I was the only one left in my domain," she continued softly. "And even gods..." her lips curved faintly, almost bitterly, "even gods can become greedy in loneliness."

Sophia didn’t interrupt.

Selene turned slightly, her gaze drifting toward the snow outside the window as if she could see further than what the world allowed.

"I watched humans," she said. "I watched them belong to each other. I watched them laugh, build, suffer, survive... together."

She paused.

"And I wanted that."

Her voice dropped lower.

"I wanted to be part of it."

Her gaze flicked back to Sophia.

"And I made the mistake of not staying where I belonged."

The air in the room felt heavier, as though the words themselves were pulling something down with them.

Selene continued.

"I didn’t hide what I was," she said. "That was the worst part. I didn’t conceal my presence. I didn’t conceal my power."

A faint, almost self-mocking smile touched her lips.

"They knew. All of them. They knew I was the goddess they prayed to. They knew what I was."

Sophia’s fingers tightened slightly against the blanket.

Selene’s expression dimmed.

"And I still walked among them like I was one of them."

Her eyes softened—but not with peace.

With regret.

"I should have known better."

A pause stretched between them.

"Dolion," she said quietly, and something sharp flickered behind her tone, "was perfect. Or so I thought."

Sophia’s brow tightened slightly at the name.

Selene didn’t notice—or perhaps she did and chose to continue anyway.

"I should have seen it," she said. "I should have understood what he was before I ever allowed myself to believe otherwise."

Her hand lifted slightly, then fell again, as though even the memory was too heavy to hold.

"But I was... blind."

The word felt strange coming from her.

"I didn’t want to remain a goddess bound only to watching," she admitted. "I didn’t want worship. I didn’t want distance. I wanted experience."

Her gaze softened further.

"And that is why everything became what it is now."

Silence followed.

Even the fire seemed quieter.

Selene turned fully back to Sophia.

"I am sorry," she said simply. "But I do not have a better explanation than that. Only foolishness. Only decisions I made out of greed, without a second thought to how much it would affect everyone else."

Sophia’s throat moved as she swallowed.

"Why didn’t you fix it?" she asked quietly.

Selene’s expression changed at that; she looked tired.

"There are limits even to what I can do," she said.

Her voice lowered further.

"I broke the first rule when I allowed myself to fall for a mortal," she continued. "And that alone changed the balance."

Sophia frowned slightly.

"And my people suffered because of that foolishness. I should have considered them, but I was willfully blind and focused on myself alone."

There was a small pause.

"It should be noted that the more people believe in me, the more strength I gain. That is how divinity works; faith is power."

Her eyes drifted away for a moment.

"But faith is fragile."

Another pause.

"After Dolion began killing them... that faith thinned."

Her voice tightened slightly at the name.

"And when belief fades, so does influence."

Sophia’s breath slowed.

"So you couldn’t interfere," she said.

Selene nodded faintly.

"Not directly."

Her lips pressed together.

"So I used another path."

A shadow passed through her expression.

"But even that..." she said quietly, "was another mistake."

Sophia studied her carefully. "The path you speak of... is it the prophecy? Me?"

Selene didn’t answer the question directly; instead, she spoke of something else.

"Victoria was not meant to become what she is now," she said. "She was never meant to be a villain."

Her gaze softened again, but it held a different kind of sorrow now.

"She was one of my most devoted followers," Selene said. "Even when she had nothing. Even when she was starving, she came to my shrines. She prayed. She offered blessings to children who were not hers, even when she had no food for herself."

A faint sadness crept into her tone. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

"I thought... she would be perfect."

Sophia didn’t speak.

Selene’s eyes flickered briefly.

"I thought she would be the vessel for the child foretold," she continued. "The one tied to prophecy. The one meant to carry what was coming... you."

Her expression tightened slightly.

"Especially after she discovered she was carrying a child from an abuser too late to stop it."

Silence dropped instantly into the room.

Heavier than before.

Sophia’s chest tightened.

Selene’s gaze lowered.

"I thought I was choosing correctly," she said softly. "I thought I was correcting the course of things."

A bitter exhale left her lips.

"But even that..." she whispered, "became something else entirely."

The fire cracked softly in the hearth.

Outside, snow continued to fall.

Sophia just stared at her hands.

"Did you not pause to think that Victoria would come to hate the child?" she asked quietly. "That she would come to hate me?"