Silence.
Gravis looked at the equipment he had carelessly thrown to the side with regret.
Gravis had assumed that Stella was creating the Formation Arrays, not the entire equipment.
Stella had put so much work into everything, but Gravis had thrown everything to the side.
"I'm sorry, Stella," Gravis said slowly. "I didn't know that you have forged all of this equipment."
"Does that change a thing?" Stella asked calmly.
"What do you mean?"
"It's not about you caring for my feelings or anything. It's about the truth, and the truth is that all my efforts have amounted to nothing."
"As always," Stella added with a regretful expression.
"Hey, your equipment is still very good! After all, I didn't lie when I said that I hadn't seen these Formation Arrays before. If you created them, that's wonderful!" Gravis said with a reassuring tone.
Stella sighed.
"That's not it, Gravis," she said as she looked at him with complex eyes.
"I know why you did what you did. You saw something that bothered me, and you took care of it. You care for me, and that's why you went out to spend a ridiculous number of God Stones just to get this huge chunk of ore. You thought that this entire thing was troubling me, but you thought incorrectly," Stella said with a sigh.
Gravis wasn't sure what he should think right now. "What do you mean?" he asked again.
"Gravis, put yourself in my shoes for a bit," Stella said. "I love you, and I want only the best for you, and I know you feel the same way towards me."
"You give me equipment. You give me safety. You give me Laws. You give me everything."
"Yet, what do I give you?" Stella asked.
Gravis raised an eyebrow.
"I can't help with your equipment," Stella said.
"I can't help with your Laws."
"I can't help with your tempering."
"I can't help you when you're in danger since you're much stronger than me."
"I want to help you with something, but there's absolutely nothing I can do," Stella said with a shaking voice.
"When you condensed your Sin Aura, I tried everything in my power to help you. I gave it my all! I taught so many disciples. I gathered so much money. I tempered myself so many times just for you," Stella said in a louder voice.
"Yet, what did that do?" Stella asked quietly again. "What was my help worth?"
"You told me that Orpheus dealt with 30% of your debt and that the Myriad Sect also dealt with something like 20%. You dealt with the remaining 50%."
"So, what was my help worth? Has my help even made a difference? You know that, even if I didn't help, you would have had no issues in surviving."
"Something was threatening my husband's life, and it's my duty and desire to help him. Yet, I'm just a small pebble on the mountain that helped you get through your Sin Aura."
Gravis remained silent.
"Even more," Stella continued. "All the power I have also comes from you. I'm only this powerful because I have an outstanding husband with the Law of Empathy."
"I know that the others don't think that way, but I feel like I'm only in the Star God Realm because of you. Nearly all of my Laws come from you. I see how hard everyone else is working, and I'm so impressed with their dedication and their growth in power."
"Meanwhile, I only have to wait for you."
"I could sit on the ground for a million years and not do anything, and you would eventually still give me several level eight Laws by then."
"I don't even have to temper myself since I don't need to fight to comprehend Laws. A Will-Aura isn't necessary when I learn all the relevant Laws regardless."
Stella looked to the side with absent eyes. At this point, she wasn't even sure if she was talking to Gravis or to herself.
"You also wouldn't need to worry about me anymore. I would safely reach the Divine God Realm eventually by doing nothing. I could spend time with you whenever you need me, which is literally the only thing I can do for you."
"I would only stay home and do nothing while waiting for you."
"That's the extent of everything I can contribute to this relationship."
"However, is such a thing still a relationship?"
"No, a relationship is between two relatively equal partners. One partner can be better at some things, but there are always things that the other partner can contribute."
"However, since I can't contribute anything, all of this wouldn't count as a relationship."
"I'm not a partner or wife."
"I'm a pet."
"You take care of me, and the only thing I'm good for is to be happy when you return."
"That's all I can do."
Silence.
Gravis looked with deep pain at Stella. He knew that these weren't some irrational thoughts created by impulsive emotions. No, the things Stella was telling Gravis had been on her mind for a long time, based on how she talked about them.
'So, this is what Stella truly thinks.'
Gravis got reminded of Liam.
Back then, Liam had tried to chase after Stella since he felt like he had to protect her. However, Stella's growth was so incredibly fast that she went further and further away from Liam.
It was impossible for Liam to catch up to Stella, no matter how hard he tried.
Stella was in the same predicament.
Stella tried to help Gravis with something, but Gravis was superior in literally everything that had to do with Cultivation.
Gravis was more powerful, comprehended Laws faster, and made better equipment.
Stella was essentially watching how Gravis tried to deal with dangers that threatened his life, but Stella could only watch.
She wanted to help, but she didn't have the ability to.
One could compare this to a relationship between mortals.
If both partners had a job, there wouldn't be an issue.
If one partner had a very lucrative job and the other had a far worse job, there might appear some friction between the two. In a sense, the perceived inferior partner would feel more useless, and they would want to prove that they weren't beneath their partner.
Because of that, the partner might try to reach the same heights as the other partner, but if they didn't reach a comparable height, resentment might be born.
One solution to this issue was to let one partner take care of the money while the other took care of everything else.
They cleaned the household, took care of the kids, did grocery shopping, and helped the partner relax when they came home.
In that sense, the other partner became a gigantic help again.
However, what if the first partner had so much money that they hired maids, butlers, cooks, nannies, guards, chauffeurs, and so on?
What would the other partner do then?
Nothing.
Even if they wanted to help, they couldn't.
There was simply nothing they could do because one partner had taken care of all the problems.
Stella was in exactly this situation.
She couldn't help Gravis with anything.
In her mind, she was contributing just as much as a house pet to the relationship.
As a proud Star God with immense power, such a reality was nearly unbearable to her.