Chapter 6: What Is Love?

Two months had passed since my encounter with Aria.

In that time, we had shared all kinds of experiences, and somewhere along the way, we had built a rather unusual friendship. We worked at the same place, lived under the same roof, and ate the same meals. In fact, without even noticing it, we had become deeply dependent on each other.

I didn’t know whether that was a good thing or not.

At the moment, though, I didn’t mind it at all.

“There’s a couple!” the waitresses shouted.

Their cry snapped my senses back to reality. One of this restaurant’s strange traditions was loudly congratulating young couples who came in on dates.

“They seem more excited than usual today, don’t they?”

The boss called out to me from behind while I was filing some reports. I turned my head at once and nodded politely.

“Yes. The girls like that sort of thing.”

“That’s true, but I noticed Aria doesn’t look very happy when everyone starts cheering for the couples. Did you two have a fight or something?”

Oh.

So this was the first misunderstanding anyone had gotten from the two of us. Up until now, no one had suggested anything about my relationship with Aria.

“No, we’re not dating. We’re just friends,” I replied, without the slightest trace of nervousness or heat rising to my cheeks.

“I see. Since you’re always together, I thought you might be involved. My mistake. Sorry, Lucio.”

“It’s fine, boss. No problem. I’ll get back to my notes so they’re ready by the end of the day.”

Once the conversation was over, I returned to my work with a little more energy than before.

Still, the fact that Aria didn’t seem happy during the congratulations did catch my attention.

She loved making a scene. Normally, she was the first one to rush over and take customers’ orders, and every now and then she even let visitors take pictures with her, since her unusual white hair still drew plenty of attention.

Well, I’d ask her about it after work.

“Busy day today, huh?”

To break the ice, I decided to start with casual conversation. Aria nodded, then turned her attention back to the street ahead.

“Yeah, it was. But at least we’ll have fun in fencing class today, right?”

Those lessons had become our favorite pastime. We trained for two straight hours, then watched shows online afterward. It was the perfect routine. For now, I wanted to keep living like this, free of worries and far away from the problems of the supernatural world.

“Of course. It’ll be a good session.”

As we walked, I finally gave in to my curiosity. I really wanted to know why the songs and cheers for the couples didn’t seem to excite her.

“Hey, Aria. Why don’t you look very happy when the other girls are greeting couples?”

“I don’t know. To be honest, I still don’t really understand the way humans see love. I’ve only been living in this world for two months. It’s hard for me to understand a concept that’s existed since long before civilization.”

Aria’s argument didn’t sound unreasonable.

She had no memories of her life as a goddess, and she still didn’t fully understand human society. She had said before that she loved all humans, but the love of a god couldn’t possibly be the same as human love.

They existed on completely different planes.

Comparing them as if they were the same thing was a mistake no one should make.

“So you’re not excited because you don’t understand love?” I asked.

“Exactly. My perception of love is very different from yours, Lucio. Even if you and I have watched romantic shows online, it’s not the same to watch an emotion on a screen as it is to feel it in your own flesh. Remember, even though I have a human body, my consciousness still retains certain traces of divinity.”

Wow.

This conversation had turned philosophical in a hurry.

I had never imagined in my life that I’d be discussing love with a goddess. Actually, I hadn’t even talked about it with anyone else before.

To me, love had always been easy to understand, because I had been surrounded by it throughout my childhood.

Many people in the world never felt it. Others did all kinds of crazy things just to experience it once. Every situation created different stories that never truly overlapped.

That was human love.

Unpredictable. Ever-changing.

I loved my parents. I loved my brother. And even though I had never experienced romance, I didn’t feel deprived because of it. I had known the warmth of being cherished by the people I loved.

Leaving them had been my choice.

Even so, deep in my heart, I still loved them.

“What is love to a god?” I asked, finally voicing the million-dollar question.

Aria tilted her head slightly, then gave me a smile full of uncertainty.

“A god’s love is very easy to explain, but maybe that’s exactly why it feels so unreal to humans. Listen, I no longer have memories of my past. The only thing I still possess are the sensations that came from being a goddess, and out of all of them, the one I like most is love. A goddess’s love is unconditional. I love all humans equally, no matter their flaws or mistakes. In me, they can find salvation. There is no greater pleasure for me than seeing a person smile. Pretty simple, right?”

It was.

And at the same time, I couldn’t accept it at all.

Human beings couldn’t do that. We were selective with our feelings. We chose a small circle to love, and the rest of the world meant very little to us.

Aria was right.

The love of a god felt unreal to mortals like me. No one would be so generous as to offer salvation to genocidal tyrants or monstrous criminals.

That was why people said, Only God can forgive you.

“I see. Gods really are astonishing beings. They can carry enormous amounts of love in their hearts and watch over humanity’s fate. I don’t know whether to envy you... or feel sorry for you.”

“Humans have placed too much importance on love. They’ve complicated something simple to the point that divine beings can barely understand it anymore. And yet—this is only an inference—but I think the lack of mutual understanding between humans and gods may be what caused our fall more than two thousand years ago. I don’t know if I’m right. It’s just a theory I’d rather never prove. Lucio... what is love to you? I’m not asking for your opinion as a human being. I want the answer you discovered yourself. The ideal concept of Lucio Atenas Gonzáles.”

Once again, Aria’s words were filled with philosophy.

Before answering, I took a quick look back at my past.

I really did know love firsthand. I had experienced it and enjoyed it for many years, especially during childhood. But I had never given it a definition. I had never explained those feelings that made me so happy.

It had always felt so natural to me that giving it a reason seemed unnecessary.

What is love?

Why do we love?

Having to answer questions like that for a goddess was surreal.

After all, she truly wanted to know my opinion. Not a dictionary definition. My own words.

“Love is the source of human pleasure. I’d describe it as the feeling of wanting to make the people around you happy—and yourself too. But it’s more than that. Love brings out the best and the worst in us. Anyone can push themselves to the limit to protect the person they love, but there’s also the risk that their love will spiral out of control and lead them to commit atrocities. It isn’t a perfect concept, and everyone has their own interpretation of it. That’s where humans differ from gods. You only have one definition of love and apply it in different ways, but humanity can’t interpret everything through the same lens.”

I paused to catch my breath after that speech, then continued.

“Romantic love is even more complicated. Whether it’s between a man and a woman or two people of the same sex, romance goes beyond ordinary love. It’s a strange and mysterious connection—one I haven’t experienced myself, so I can’t really describe it to you. That kind of love is what they were celebrating back at the restaurant.”

“Huh? Sorry, Lucio, but I didn’t understand a single word you just said. Could you explain it more simply?”

I sighed.

“I’ll keep it simple, then. Love is complicated, exhausting, frightening... but above all, beautiful. No two people define it the same way, and that’s why love is chaos.”

I didn’t want to go in circles any longer. Aria still didn’t fully understand the concept, and she probably wouldn’t for a long time.

“Well, I’ll understand it sooner or later. Even if I’m a goddess, I can also think of myself as human now. I’m not in a hurry to understand every idea or talk about complicated things.”

And just like that, our conversation came to an end.

Five minutes later, we arrived home and started our fencing lesson.

Could a goddess ever understand humanity’s idea of love?

I was sure she could.

Aria was becoming more human every day. She didn’t notice the changes yet, but eventually, she would feel them herself and truly become part of our society.

All it would take was time.