What Jacob had not expected was that Juliet and Helena would present a united front against him.

“Men are pigs,” Juliet declared.

“They truly are,” Helena replied with a smile.

“Well, happy that you are bonding over this universal law, at least,” Jacob rubbed his head. “It will take three hours if we don’t meet any obstacle. Be prepared to jump out of the car in case any huge Demonic Beasts suddenly appeared in front of us.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Juliet said and shushed him.

“So, what’s the deal with Epagogia?”

Jacob found incredible how much two teenagers could ruminate over something like this.

“We have history, and I’ll leave it at that,” Jacob smiled stiffly.

“Well, Jacob, Juliet has a point. She shares the Ancestral Bond with you, and we shared a bond of love in your past life. So, I would start spilling some tea if you don’t want this trip to become very unpleasant.”

These two little…

Jacob had let Juliet drive the car since he was the one with the better reaction speed among the trio. Now, he was considering whether jumping from the speeding car would be a better fate than having to undergo a tough interrogation.

“What was your relationship with her?” Juliet contributed.

“We knew each other before we engaged romantically. We weren’t always on best terms, but we fought together. After humanity had gone extinct, we got together. We shared around fifty years or more. I can’t honestly recall how long exactly since few people really counted the years. But yes, among fifty to sixty years together. Then, I went and fought the Black Dragon. I perished and I got back. That’s pretty much it.”

Helena sniggered.

“And you think that’s enough? How intimate were you two?”

Jacob grimaced.

“You two are not even eighteen, Helena. Can we postpone this discussion for when you will both be old enough to legally drive a car?”

(Author’s note: driving age in Italy is 18)

“It’s the apocalypse. There’s no legal anymore, Jake,” Juliet said.

“What she said,” Helena chirped.

Jacob looked outside the car window and once again pondered just jumping. If he died, it wouldn’t even be that bad, would it?

“She wanted something that I wasn’t sure I was ready to give her. I loved Epagogia. Really, really loved her. We shared a lot of our life and we spent most of the time together. We even have many interests in common, especially Inscription Patterns. She is one of the most skilled people I have ever met. She’s good at Alchemy too. I really admired her drive and how she was able to steer her kins. Devils are not an easy kind to maneuver.”

“You loved her, but you went and killed yourself against the Black Dragon,” Helena said.

This conversation was really déjà-vu-ey.

“Yes. I discussed this matter with Epagogia, in fact.”

“You love a person and you go kill yourself,” Juliet mumbled.

“I—don’t know. When you live as long as I did, your life become weird. A year is not much. But every moment can be agony if you have a very long lifespan. And I guarantee you, I know almost no one who died of old age in the apocalypse.”

…

Helena stayed silent this time, thinking.

His love for Epagogia was strong, but not as strong as how much he missed other humans. Potentially, how much he missed me.

It was a shocking revelation to her.

It hit her like a truck.

For some reason, she had not evaluated the meaning behind the fact that Jacob had perished almost of his own volition. He knew he wasn’t as strong as the Black Dragon, that was clear; and he wasn’t even hiding it at this point.

“Can Devils and Humans have babies?” Juliet asked.

“Yes,” Jacob winced.

“Did you ever consider having babies with Epagogia?”

“You did, and you refused,” Juliet widened her eyes while trying to keep her attention on the road. There were many wooden branches around, and dirt. A month of no maintenance was clearly affecting the roads.

“I didn’t think I would be a good father, Juliet. I’m getting really uncomfortable answering these questions,” Jacob said.

He is shy. He doesn’t want to say what Epagogia has probably already told him.

Helena mind was reeling.

And if he doesn’t want to say anything…

“Yeah, let’s stop here,” Helena said before Juliet could ask some questions that would make the mood in this car really weird.

Everyone fell silent, while Helena pondered in the backseat.

I bet my hair Epagogia told him that he would have had children with me if we had been the last humans on Earth, that he would have enjoyed that. That’s why she’s so threatened by me, isn’t she? Jacob didn’t feel like she would be the ultimate companion, but the bond he shared with me…

Helena wondered how real their love had been. Was Jacob just idealizing what they had had? Or was there something more that she was missing?

Jacob’s interest toward her made her much more sensitive to the issue. Her heart, in fact, started beating faster.