Fate To Fake: Loved by the Fallen; Fated to Kill the Divine
Chapter 83: A Slice of Life: Part-2

Chapter 83: A Slice of Life: Part-2

After the meal, the mood around the table shifted into something far quieter. They sat silently for a few minutes, the clinking of forks and the ambient restaurant chatter filling the space around them.

But Ophis... was seething.

She sat stiffly, shoulders rigid, cheeks puffed with frustration. Her tiny fingers gripped the plastic syrup bear like she was deciding whether to strangle it.

She barely touched the fruit slices and didn’t even bother with the juice box—because to her, this wasn’t food.

This was an insult.

A public execution of her dignity.

Because she wasn’t a child.

She was Ophis Dracula... Fuckers!!!

The only reason she hadn’t flipped the table or set something on fire was because Raphael—calm, graceful, warm Raphael—sat across from her with a gentle smile and eyes that glowed like some Angel.

Ophis didn’t want to ruin that smile. So she swallowed her pride... and unfortunately, the pancake too.

Leo, meanwhile, was trying not to choke on his laughter. Watching Ophis sit there, pouting like a cornered animal, puffed up and furious but still trying to chew through a pancake shaped like a duck—it was honestly one of the most entertaining things he’d ever seen.

She looked like an angry squirrel forced to eat vegetables at knife-point.

So dangerous... So adorable.

After finishing up and washing their hands at the sink outside the restroom, Leo wiped his palms on a paper towel and glanced toward Raphael.

"So, what was that surprise you were hyping up?" he asked, still grinning from earlier.

His mood slowly lifting that’s what Raphael hoped for.

Raphael, drying her hands with a flick of flair, turned with a bright smile.

"Tada~"

She held out two colorful tickets like they were golden treasure. Her eyes sparkled with mischief.

Leo squinted, reaching out to take one. "Wait... amusement park?"

Ophis tilted her head curiously.

"Yup!" Raphael grinned proudly. "The new amusement park that just opened outside the city. I got tickets for the three of us."

She turned to Leo and winked with a teasing smile.

"Aren’t I the best aunt ever? You’ve been wanting to go since forever, right?

And now I’ve made it happen!

Behold my auntly power! You happy?"

"...Yeah."

The awkward, delayed response made her eyebrow twitch.

She sighed and muttered to herself, "Slow progress... slow steps... I’ll take it."

Then she looked over at Ophis, beaming again. "And don’t worry, children under seven get in for free if they’re with family. So no ticket needed for you!"

She turned and began walking off, feeling quite victorious.

Ophis stood still, her eye twitching. She watched Raphael’s retreating back with a deadpan stare.

"Little boy," she muttered, voice dangerously calm, "Do you have any spare aunts? My fingers were itching for blood!"

Leo blinked. "Ophis, don’t you dare. I need her alive."

But Ophis was already walking with that deadly quiet aura around her.

Leo let out a tired sigh and muttered, "God, give me a peace bro!" He chased after them with dragging feet.

Before heading to the amusement park, they made a detour to a clothing store—mainly because Leo’s current attire. Clothes that barely held together.

Raphael dragged him toward a sleek boutique, the kind with soft jazz playing and mannequins that looked better dressed than politicians.

She picked out a few outfits with casual precision—nothing too flashy, but stylish enough to pass for modern charm—and shoved them at him.

"Go. Change. No arguments."

Leo didn’t protest. He just took the stack, walked into the fitting room, and began changing.

A few minutes passed. Then—

"...Damn."

He stood in front of the mirror, blinking at his own reflection. He almost didn’t recognize himself.

His dark red hair looked richer under the overhead lights, slightly tousled but with just enough shape to make it look intentional. His jawline was sharper now, refined. His shoulders looked broader in the fitted shirt Raphael picked out. His eyes—deep reddish black and oddly clear—reflected a strange new clarity.

He looked tall, composed... confident. Not muscular, but lean and balanced.

Almost like he’d walked off a runway.

"Damn, I look... hot."

He muttered under his breath, turning slightly to check his profile. Then, with a lopsided grin, he chuckled, "I already have two girlfriends. And now this look? This is almost unfair..."

"Leo? You done there?" Raphael’s voice called out from behind the curtain.

Leo flinched, quickly standing straight and opening the curtain before she barged in.

He stepped out, arms spread. "So... how do I look?"

Raphael froze.

She tilted her head up—he was taller now, and something about the way he stood, the calm in his posture, made her heart stutter. He had changed. And it wasn’t just the clothes.

Leo smirked, catching her expression immediately. Then he looked at Ophis, who stood with her arms folded and... a tiny red flush rising in her cheeks. Her eyes, however, were focused intensely on his neck, like she was analyzing something that shouldn’t exist.

He cleared his throat and asked again, "So? How do I look?"

Raphael blinked herself out of the daze and gave a bright, supportive smile. "Of course you look good! My nephew is insanely good-looking!"

She reached up to pat his shoulder, though her fingers lingered for just a second longer than they should’ve.

Her heart gave a small, awkward skip, and she hoped neither of them noticed.

Ophis snorted and looked away. "I’ll give you four points."

Leo stared at her. "Out of...?"

"Ten," she replied flatly, before mumbling under her breath, "...also minus ten for making my... chest feel weird."

"What?"

Leo grinned, totally satisfied, and walked toward the checkout while Raphael paid the bill. Still, she found her eyes drifting toward him again—toward the way he moved, the way he smiled like he hadn’t in a long time.

He was toying with Ophis again, making her fume and blush at the same time as they walked toward the exit. She kept slapping his arm and calling him an idiot, but the corners of her mouth kept twitching upward.

’Did he... really grow this much in a single night?’ Raphael wondered.

Her fingers paused above her wallet for a second.

Something had shifted in him.

Then came a whistle from nearby.

A woman, probably in her late twenties, passed by and gave Leo a once-over. "Well, hello, handsome. Someone’s got charm today."

Leo blinked, a bit awkwardly, but offered a polite smile.

Ophis, however, was not amused.

She stepped between Leo and the woman like a bodyguard, her eyes narrowing. "Back off. He’s... taken."

The woman chuckled, clearly amused by the sight of the petite, glaring girl. "Alright, alright. Calm down, little girlfriend."

Ophis didn’t even blink. "I’m not little, YOU BITC---mffff"

Leo caught her mouth instantly, moved away nodding his head at the woman who looked at them with amused expression.

Leo leaned toward Ophis, teasing. "Wow, you got jealous?"

"I didn’t," she muttered as she bite his hand, he let her go.

"Ouch... maybe I should teach you some manners, brat!"

"Shut up or.... I’ll rip yours off."

The day was just beginning.