The Emperor's words cruelly doused the Goddess with cold water, making her plummet from the clouds in an instant.
Have a child?
He was not enamored with the Goddess, nor was he longing for her beauty.
Instead, he wanted her to bear a child endowed with divine power to replace the Goddess.
What he coveted was only the Goddess's divine power.
As for the Goddess, in his eyes, she was merely a vessel adorned with divine power.
What devotion, what faith, it all turned out to be false.
The Goddess was dumbfounded.
No wonder the incense burned more brightly, but the faith power she received diminished—so that was why.
She exhausted her mind for the common folk, for the Emperor, thinking they were her most devout followers...
The Emperor's words similarly shocked the Mermaids.
That was their most revered Goddess, whom they feared to look upon too often, lest they commit sacrilege.
And yet he dared to harbor desires for the Goddess, wanting to force her to bear his child!
