Philip knocked on Celine's door three times
"Celine? Can I come in?"
"..."
There was no reply, instead Philip heard some rumbling noises inside, like Celine was surprised from the sudden visit of Philip, as she heard his voice
"Wait a minute!"
Celine shouted and it was followed by more rumbling noises. Philip already realized what was happening inside, without using his [X-ray Vision] and [Clairvoyance] abilities
A few minutes has passed and Philip kept waiting for Celine. It was then that Celine opened the door and met Philip
She has a quite revealing outfit as she didn't have enough time to change. She's wearing a maroon sando with sports bra and black sweat short with slippers. Her hair is tied in a messy ponytail
"Come on in"
Celine smiled and invited Philip in. He stepped inside and looked around inside the room. As expected, knowing Celine and her discipline as a martial artist, her room would be clean and spotless, but as soon as he looked at the corner of her room, he could see a mountain of mysterious objects clumped together in one spot that's covered by a large blanket. It almost looked like a giant bean bag, but Philip's sure it should be Celine's unkempt clothing
He didn't expect for Celine to be that kind of messy person, considering her personality. Even then, he doesn't care enough and he accepts her for the way she is. He won't tell her what to do in life, she can do whatever she wants
Celine walked over to the her bed and sat down on the side. The mattress bounced the moment she sat on it. Philip looked at her and smiled
"Can I sit down?"
"Sure..."
Celine gestured her left hand and tapped on the bed to her left to let Philip sit down
At this point, little did everyone know, the [Love Shard] flew away from Philip and started to spin and rotate quite rapidly in the middle of the room
Philip finally sat down next to Celine and an awkward silence ensued
"So, what made you visit?"
Celine broke the silence and asked
"All this time today, I've been going around visiting everyone... I just happen to come by your room and I decided to visit you"
"I see... So, you've been controlling everyone's fates?"
"That's sounded like it was a bad thing, but yeah! I'm just trying to help..."
"I know... Some fates are needed to be changed because they are cruel to them. As long as they want their fates to be changed, I guess it's fine"
"Thank you..."
"I also know that you changed my fate somehow, when we were talking at the Roof Garden..."
"Yeah, you requested it after all"
Celine's heart started to beat after she remembered that night. Before she met Philip, she was indifferent to men. She was confused at first, but it changed when she met Philip
"..."
"Is there something wrong?"
Philip asked Celine after he read her body language that she's worried about something
"Ah, nothing at all!"
Celine shrugged off her worries and gave Philip a wry smile
"..."
Philip just looked at her at the corner of his eye and started a conversation
"Since you were a part of a military squadron before the catastrophe... Did you have any mission before you were deployed for the secret mission? I'm interested..."
"Ah! Yes... Before the secret mission, we had to have a sudden rescue mission, or Counter Ambush Plan, because Tenshi was being attacked by unknown assailants while going to the military base"
"Hm? Did they know who they were attacking?"
"Yes. They were attacking Tenshi's Heaven's Truck and it's a well-known vehicle in the world. Everyone knows who's inside the truck since Tenshi uses that as her gaming center"
"I see, but why though?"
"I don't know... We never got any information since killed them all and the secret mission briefing was urgent. We didn't hold back because they were using extremely heavy machinery-like giants tanks and bulldozers that can level an entire town. They even had a Rhino Tank to try to disable the truck, but Tenshi took care of it"
"Interesting..."
"Before that, I had a special mission to make a certain boy fall in love with me in Seoul, South Korea. The boy has a certain calculative ability that can rival the strongest supercomputers. The military wants him"
"..."
Philip was silent. If that boy has a powerful calculative ability, he wondered if he would match his ⟨⟨ Supreme Sense of Calculation ⟩⟩ ability. He also wondered what would happen if the military knew that he has that kind of ability and send Celine to make him fall in love with her
"So, how'd that go?"
"It was very hard... I don't think I even had any progress at all"
"Ah, is it because you don't have enough common sense?"
"..."
Philip remembered the time Celine opened to her that she has no common sense because she grew up in the military where she constantly trained everyday without any interactions from the outside world
"It's because I don't know anything about love..."
"...!"
Philip was surprised that Celine would open up about love. He also remembered when he used ⟨⟨ Origin Seeker ⟩⟩ on her and saw that she loved her master, Young-Jin Tae, with her whole heart when she was a child
But, she can't blame her since her heart might've locked itself away after Young-Jin Tae disappeared without a trace after he ascended to the next world as a Martial Monarch
He then thought that someday, he would find him again and let him meet Celine again. That might be a condition that will be unlocked towards Celine and might give her power
"If only I learned anything about love, maybe I'll be more normal..."
"Look, in my eyes, you're more than normal..."
Celine's eyes widened
"R-really?"
"Yes... You're unique in your own way and you don't have to be something special to love. Someday, you'll find someone that could love you for who you are. No need to force yourself on someone you don't even have any interest to, it'll come to you"
"..."
Celine was silent and her cheeks began to flush
"Then, can I look at your eyes?"
Celine turned her head towards Philip and gazed at him. Philip turned his head towards her in surprise
"My eyes?"
"Your golden eyes"
"Uh, sure..."
Philip closed his eyes and talked to Emily
'Emily, can you make my eyes shine gold?'
「 Yes 」
Philip have no control to when he can change the colors of his eyes. It only depends in certain situations or conditions. Since Emily is like the avatar of the Omega System, she could change Philip's eyes
"..."
Philip slowly opened his eyes and a golden glow illuminated from his eyes. Celine immediately placed her hands full of calluses on his cheeks and she leaned closer to his face as she gazed deeper in his eyes
Philip's vision is only filled with Celine's face and hair. She couldn't help but also gaze within her maroon eyes
Both of their eyes were twinkling and sparkling as they stayed in that position for a while
Without Celine's knowledge, she's inching closer and closer to Philip until their noses touched. Celine was startled since she fell into trance while looking at Philip's eyes, but she kept in position
Philip's also startled because Celine seemed to be daring by going this close. He then remembered the effects of the [Love Shard] and this might be causing Celine to be this way
Meanwhile, Celine's heart just kept beating faster and faster. All this time, after the catastrophe happened, she has been thinking about Philip
It's not because she's attracted to him, but she's interested in him and that she has a feeling of admiration for him
During the catastrophe, she saw that Philip chose to sacrifice a part of himself just to save the world and everyone important to him. This caused her to train harder during the six months that Philip was asleep as she kept thinking on how she can help Philip
The World Conference came and the invasion of Amare, Celine had her eyes on Philip this entire time and learned about [True Recoiless Technique]. She copied it and was able to perform the technique perfectly
She then saw how Philip treated Justine when she was about to disappear. He was incredibly furious as he tried to save Justine
She fantasized about it and place herself on Justine's shoes, regarding on how Philip would treat her
That is Philip would care for her wholeheartedly. This made her heart thump and get excited
'Is this what love feels like? I like it... But it's scary...'
She looked more intently at Philip's eyes and she thinking of something crazy
'But if it's Philip, it should be fine, right?'
She slowly pushed her head into Philip and their lips are just centimeters apart
Philip was stunned and couldn't move by Celine's actions. He didn't know what to do and there are only two choices to pick from here and out
『 Consequential Choices System! 』
At that point, the Consequential Choices System popped up and time stopped. Philip's eyes widened from surprise
『 What will you do regarding Celine Rhee's feelings? 』
[ A. Accept Celine Rhee's feelings ]
[ B. Reject Celine Rhee's feelings ]
[ C. Postpone your answer ]
Philip's eyes trembled from the choices. All choices seemed to be normal, but considering that it's the Consequential Choices System, he knows that all choices will have reality-breaking consequences
In this stopped time, he heavily considered all choice since this is about Celine. Though, he can't concentrate enough because his lips is so close to Celine's lips and he can't move at all
He first thought about the second choice, which to reject Celine completely. He knows that that's the worst choice because it may send his relationship with Celine into destruction. Celine is also important to him as an asset and her power is needed, especially since she has a hidden potential within her that she hasn't discovered yet
That leads to the third choice, which would be the easiest escape in this situation
'But do I really want to hold off her feelings and break away from this position?'
Philip's resolve of keeping people close to his non-existent heart is wavering. He's thinking if whether he should push Celine away like what he did for Natsume
'Am I going to keep doing this? When will I stop? They need answers and I don't want them to feel negative just by waiting for my answers'
Philip learned after he experienced true love from Tenshi and their marriage
The girls need his answer and making them wait for too long is not beneficial for anything
The only thing that's holding Philip back is Tenshi's feelings. He's worried about what she will feel about him loving another woman or having a harem
He thought harem was going to be easy after watching anime and reading manga, but in reality, it was incredibly hard because he has to consider everyone's feelings. It almost hurts his non-existent heart from the thought of one girl getting jealous from another. He thinks that if someone gets jealous, he isn't giving enough to that jealous one and it will become a cycle
"Ah...!"
Philip then remembered Tenshi's words that she keeps said during their confessions that turned into an engagement and wedding
[I dedicated to my life that I will stay with you forever, no matter what happens, until you reach you ultimate goal...]
Those words were enough to give Philip the courage to answer these girls. As long as Tenshi is with Philip until the end of everything, then that's enough for him, as he will keep loving Tenshi more and more
"A... I'll accept Celine's feelings"
『 You have chosen choice A... 』
Time then resumed and Philip could feel that everything went back to normal. In no time at all, both of the tips of their lips touched and this initiated the deed
'Fuck it!'
Philip shouted in his mind and he finally pushed his head and their lips touched. This gave Celine the meaning that Philip also wanted this, so she accepted it
In just a few seconds, they shared an intimate kiss and love is in the air
The reason that Celine, who has no experience in love was able to feel love all of the sudden is because of three reason
The first reason is that her love was planted from when she was still with her master, the second is her admiration for Philip, and the third is the influence of the [Love Shard]
Her change in behavior didn't come out of nowhere, but everything has been planted and set
The [Love Shard] is already spinning rapidly in the middle of the room and it's feeding off of the love that Philip and Celine are making
~~~
Meanwhile, Tenshi has been waiting outside of Celine's room while leaning next to the door
"Heh~"
Rather than being jealous or melancholic, Tenshi was smiling with her eyes closed. She read and heard everything that Philip thought in his head since [Soul Link] is stll established
She just found it cute that Philip was worried that she'll get jealous with him loving Celine and the other girls, in fact, she wanted him to answer and love the other girls because not only it will make Philip more powerful, but also make the girls very happy
That's what Tenshi wants, for Philip to be able to achieve his ultimate goal and for everyone to be happy
Also, she knows that Philip intended to leave the established [Soul Link] on. The fact the he didn't turn it off during Celine's daring actions means that there's trust in between them and Philip is not afraid and loyal
Tenshi continued to wait until Philip's done. He's going to change her fate again after all