Eurivin's POV
Minerva and my brother first went to see their daughter, Marcy, to say their goodbyes before they were escorted by the death angels summoned by Carl. Marcy was crying, watching her parents being dragged into hell, Carl as her big brother consoled her until she calmed down a bit, then Carl brought her sister back to her room to get some rest. He was handling the situation calmly more than I thought. Minerva raised his son very well.
"I'm sorry for what my parents have done to you, I don't know what to say, I know that my words are not enough but if you want the throne—"
I cut him off. "You don't have to apologize, Carl. There's no need. Right now, I must say that I can't forgive them yet, it's hard on my side. I'm sure you understand that. But thanks for doing the right thing. I know it wasn't easy to send both of your parents to hell. But you did well as a king, Carl. You deserve the throne."
Though a part of me wanted to sympathize with what happened to Minerva when she was still a human, I still couldn't get myself to forgive her after ruining my family.
A tear fell to Carl's cheek as he nodded. "Thank you."
Vanessa came my way and pulled me into a hug. "I'm sorry that I accused you, Euri. Mom is so sorry. Please forgive me for trying to kill you twice."
"What?" the three men said in unison.
"You tried to kill my daughter twice?" said my father.
Keelan who was trying to get himself out of place earlier was now engaging in the conversation. "You promised me that you won't harm her again!"
While Carl said, "so that was the thing you were hiding from me?"
Their reactions were priceless, I couldn't help but laugh. I pulled away from the hug and reached for my mom's hands. "I have already forgiven you, mom. You don't even have to apologize to me. I should be the one, I was still the cupid who matched you to. . . him."
She shook her head as her eyes began to water. "Oh, my precious daughter, you're still my Euri even though we're only five years apart."
She gave me quick hug and then she gasped. "I almost forgot, happy birthday!"
"It's her birthday today?" Keelan and Carl said in unison.
Mom and I laughed at their faces, but we were wondering why my father seemed to know it. We gave him a stare as if asking him to say something.
He raised his brows and chuckled. "Are you asking me why I know it's her birthday?"
We all nodded at him and he laughed again before he answered, "in order for the chosen one to become her true form, she needs to be at the age of 25."
"Why 25, father?" I asked.
"Because the angel number 25 means a change is coming. Once the chosen one reached this age, he or she will experience a major transition in his or her life, this includes appearance, abilities, and a new sense of oneself. This means you also need to adapt to these quick changes. At the same time, you will accumulate wisdom, elegance, and beauty, and as we all can see, that's what you are right now."
I blushed a little on the last sentence and then instead changed the topic. "Father, can I ask what happened? Why did you two appear instead of the death angels when Carl opened the gate of hell?"
"Oh, about that. Your brother had already passed on to the Cloud Palace, but you see, once a king dies or leaves the kingdom, he will have one wish to be granted by God of all. So his wish was to save me from hell," father answered. "The same goes for me, my wish was to save you from hell."
A tear fell to my cheek. "So Minerva was right after all. You sacrificed yourself to save me."
Father chuckled. "Come on, that wasn't a big deal, my daughter. I'm sure you'll do the same if you were me, won't you?"
I nodded at him as I wiped away the tears that now had streamed down my face. I gave him a quick hug and then I headed to Keelan's way. Without giving him a warning, I stood on tiptoe to kiss him on the lips, and then I whispered to his ear, "I love you, too, Keelan," making him stunned. His eyes were wide and his face flushed as well as his ears. A chuckle left my mouth as I watched him in awe.
When he finally came back to his senses, he said, "that's unfair, that was so sudden."
"You didn't like it?" I asked with my poker face.
"No, I loved it. Can you do that again?" he said and then he pursed his lips inviting me to kiss him.
"Don't forget that you're in the presence of your father," Father said after he cleared his throat to interrupt us.
"And don't forget that you're also in the presence of your human mother, Euri," Mother added, making me giggle.
"You're also in the presence of the King, get a room please," Carl joined in.
We all laughed and enjoyed the moment.
"Father, I want you to meet my Sweetcake—" I teased as I glanced at Keelan who was blushing again as he covered his face with his hand. I couldn't help but chuckle, and then I continued right away, "I mean, I want you to meet my lover, Keelan Cupid."
"Yes, it was so obvious that you didn't need to introduce him to me anymore," Father joked. "But I find this awkward, based on Minerva's memories when she read Keelan's, your lover was an ex of your human mother. Aren't you uncomfortable with that, Heart? How about you Keelan, your lover was the daughter of your ex, isn't that uncomfortable also?"
Keelan and I glanced at each other and then at the ex that my father was talking about.
"Well, for me it isn't uncomfortable, since I don't remember Vanessa being my ex. Besides, Euri and I aren't the only ones in a weird situation. The King's lover was the human mother of his Aunt Heart."
Keelan's comment made Carl and my human mother blush, but then he added, "then that means, Heart's human mother would be like her niece since the King is Heart's nephew."
My father cracked up. "That was hilarious! I like you already Keelan, you're amusing."
"Thank you, father," Keelan said as he bowed, making us surprised. He already claimed it, how daring he was to call him father, but I liked it anyway.
------------------------------------------
The next day, my father and I were in the Royal Garden to talk about being the chosen one.
"Are you ready for our lesson, my beautiful daughter?" father asked jokingly.
I giggled and nodded at him.
"First, let me tell you about the Cupid Kingdom," he began. "The Cupid Kingdom was once called The Blessed Kingdom, and we, cupids were called The Blessers."
I furrowed my brows but I didn't say anything. Father continued, "it was the third Queen, Farrah, who suggested to the third King, Gandolf, to replace the names. She said that we, blessers, were like the cupids that humans know. And so, for the better understanding of humans about us without the healers' thorough explanation, we were officially called Cupids."
"Okay, that makes sense, I think?"
"Now let's talk about the purpose of matchmakers. Obviously, they bridge two people to fall in love with each other, but sometimes this question may cross your mind. Do all humans have matches? The answer is no. There is called fate and free will. If humans have a match, that is called fate because whether they like it or not, they will end up with the person assigned to them. Whereas, free will, is when a human doesn't have a match, they are free to choose with whom to fall in love, although they would probably end up with another person who has free will. These people's matches are either dead or aren't born yet. In the Cupid Kingdom, we call the person assigned to them their matches, while humans call them their soulmates."
"Oh, I see. Now I wonder who is my soulmate," I mumbled.
Father chuckled. "We have no soulmate, my beautiful daughter. We make our own fate."
I smiled at him. "You mean we have free will and the one who we choose will be our fate?"
"That's right, now, let's talk about what will happen to failed targets of healers. A failed target means that the death angel has already reaped the human's soul, and this soul will either go straight to hell or heaven. They will not have the second chance to experience living in the human world like the cupids' privilege. Though the real purpose of being a cupid is—even if a human is supposed to go to hell—with our help, they could still get the chance to pass on to heaven if they complete the mission of either a matchmaker or a healer cupid."
"Oh, I see," I muttered.
Father smiled at me before he began again, "let's get to the next topic. I know you already know this but let me include it in our lesson, in case your memories were still joggled a bit."
I nodded and he continued, "as we all know, royal cupids are aging, unlike the ordinary cupids. We, royals, do age because we have flesh like humans, but unlike them, we age slowly, that was why even if I'm already in my 80s, I still looked like in my 60s. The same as when a queen is chosen from the matchmaker cupids, they began to age too, this is to compensate for the privilege of being next to the King. The queen will be granted the ability of a Royal Healer—they will have the possession of the healing arrow that can heal anything. The queen is also granted the ability to read memories. And lastly, the queen has the ability to use the arrow of pain and death."

Father also added, "whereas, the king, aside from having the ability to use these arrows, he will be also granted the Perceiver's ability, sensing ability, and of course, he will be the ruler of the Cupid Kingdom, and lastly, as I have mentioned yesterday, after the reign of a king, they have one wish to be granted. And do you know what? You possessed more than all of the abilities I have spoken of. You are not an ordinary cupid, you are already an angel. You have the ability to summon all types of abrows and also, you have clairvoyance, you could see a little bit of the future and also a major event that would happen in the future."
"Now I know why I could dodge all Minerva's attacks," I said. "Father, can I ask you something?"
"Sure, what is it, my beautiful daughter?"
I smiled at him and then I grew serious as I asked, "can you tell me the reason why mother died?"
He stared at me and for a brief moment, it was silent, until he answered, "to birth the chosen one, the Queen has to die in exchange."
I gasped. "But why would you choose me over the Queen? I know that a king could only have one queen for the rest of his life, so why?"
Father gave me a small smile. "Because the chosen one is only born once every 25 thousand years."
"And unfortunately I am. But can I ask why did my hair turn into silver and my eyes into gold?"
"Silver represents the moon, the feminine energy, the queen, whilst the gold represents the sun, the masculine energy, the king. Your hair and eyes symbolize the union of the moon and the sun. You have the attributes of both the queen and the king. That's why you are called the chosen one. You are expected to rule the Cupid Kingdom. You have to take the throne."
"No, father. I don't plan on taking over the kingdom. I don't want the throne. I only want one thing."
And that is him.