Chapter 144: My Beloved Mother

Not long after facing a girl who looked exactly like Tina, Artasha realized that she was not her real daughter.

“I want to stay with you, Mother.”

Since the death of the former head of the Blanc family, the girl had never once called Artasha “Mother.”

Her eyes always carried a cold contempt, as if she were looking at a repulsive monster.

That gaze, each night, became sharp thorns that trapped Artasha in regret and solitude.

The girl before her was clearly not her real daughter. And yet, the words she spoke were memories only her true daughter could possibly recall.

‘A demon.’

After learning that a demon resided within Tina’s body, Artasha had studied demons as diligently as Lillian had.

They were beings that preyed upon human weakness and led them to corruption.

Indeed, the being before her had pierced through Artasha’s deepest wound.

Artasha thought—perhaps if she followed this existence, she could truly regain her real daughter.

If Tina’s soul left her body, perhaps her original daughter would return.

And yet, why?

Even though this should be the hope of reclaiming her true daughter, the only emotion Artasha felt was fear.

Her newly beloved daughter, Tina Blanc.

The thought of her leaving her arms and falling into a cold, dark hell.

That fear crushed her chest far more than the desire to get her real daughter back.

And soon, Artasha realized why.

“Mother… please… please call me Tina…”

A small child, drenched in tears, desperately begging to be called by name.

A poor child, longing for affection, as if her love was utterly essential.

Staring at Tina before her, Artasha could no longer deny it, no matter how much she wanted to.

“I… I may not deserve to be called ‘Mother’…”

The daughter she had given birth to in blood and agony.

The child who had once been her everything, her very world…

Yet now, the child before her, the one who was crying for her, was the one she had come to love more.

***

How long had I cried?

The reflection in the mirror showed my eyes, swollen and red beyond recognition.

But I guess swollen eyes weren’t considered a wound. The sacred stone hanging around my neck didn’t react in the slightest.

It would be nice if it could heal something like this too.

“Now, blow your nose, Tina.”

Mother held a handkerchief up to my nose.

It was a little embarrassing, but I obediently blew into it.

“Sniff.“

“Tina.”

“Yes, Mo—Mother.”

“Don’t leave. Stay here, and live happily for a long, long time.”

Mother’s blue eyes held a deep, solemn glow, so captivating that I couldn’t look away.

“What…?”

“I mean, don’t go anywhere. I can’t be without you.”

Her eyes, filled with indescribable love. The tender gaze melted the anxious trembling in my heart in an instant.

“Yes. Y-yes… I won’t go… I can’t be without you either, Mother….”

I smiled in relief and reached for Mother’s hand.

It was at that moment—

[Don’t you dare say such nonsense!]

A grotesque voice echoed through the space.

At the same time, a fierce wind swirled in one place.

Mother immediately stepped in front of me, shielding me behind her back.

At the heart of the turbulent air, a monstrous arm stretched forth.

An arm twice my height pressed against the ground. Then, as the other arm emerged, its form slowly forced its way out of space itself.

It was, without a doubt, not human.

A body shrouded in utter darkness, devoid of even a single glimmer of light. Eerily long and slender limbs. And a grotesque form covered in sharp spikes.

“A demon…”

Mother spoke its name. Yes, the black figure before me was undoubtedly the very embodiment of what one would call a ‘demon.’

[Are you out of your mind? You’re going to abandon your own daughter in hell?]

The demon shouted at Mother. However, she did not flinch. She met its gaze with unwavering eyes.

“I cannot abandon my daughter in hell just to bring that child back.”

[You fool. That fox has bewitched you so completely that you’d even throw away your own child!]

The demon twisted its lips into a grotesque smile. Its form was so terrifying it sent chills down my spine, but Mother remained unfazed.

“…Don’t try to deceive me.”

Instead, she took a step forward.

“I’ve studied you thoroughly. You can only exert your power when your contractor accepts you, isn’t that right?”

The demon remained silent. But that alone was enough of an answer for Mother.

“…My daughter left of her own free will.”

Her voice trembled with pent-up sorrow. Her clenched fists shook, and her eyes reddened as if tears would spill at any moment.

I had never seen Mother in such anguish before. It tore me apart to see her so close to breaking.

There was no way I could ever truly understand the pain of a mother who had lost her child. And as the root cause of all this, I had no right to offer her any comfort.

But… even so, I couldn’t just stand by and watch her suffer like this.

With all my heart, I grasped her hand tightly.

Mother looked at me, her tear-filled eyes filled with hesitation. But soon, she let out a faint smile and nodded.

“Listen well, demon.”

With a steadier gaze, she turned to face the shadowed figure.

“I will not let you take my daughter from me a second time. Never.”

[Ha, you lowly human. Do you actually think you have any power here? If you don’t want to die, you’d best step aside.]

“Try it, if you can.”

Holding me in her arms, Mother faced the demon head-on.

Perhaps it had decided that engaging with her any further was pointless, for its gaze eventually shifted toward me.

[Tina, wake up. You don’t belong here. Have you forgotten why you must go to hell?]

I gave no response.

[Don’t be fooled by human love. There is no one in this world who will love you forever.]

“Enough.”

At my resolute voice, the demon fell silent.

“I always thought of you as a friend. No matter what others called you, at least I tried to understand you.”

Though others called it a demon, in my past life, she was my only friend—my savior.

“You knew what my mother meant to me. And yet, you still tried to hurt her.”

[Ti,Tina…]

For the first time, my childhood friend looked shaken by my hostility.

“I don’t think I can trust you anymore.”

[What?]

The space around us trembled. The spikes protruding from the demon’s body grew even sharper.

[Don’t be ridiculous, Tina. If you fail to uphold our contract, you won’t be able to remain in that body any longer.]

But I was not the one to respond to those words.

“…What do you mean?”

Mother stepped forward. Her hands trembled more violently than before.

The demon’s lips curled into an unpleasant smirk.

[Ah, right. Since things have come to this, I might as well tell you everything.]

“W-wait.”

I tried to cover Mother’s ears, knowing that what was coming would only bring her pain.

But my hands alone could not block out the cruel truth.

[Artasha Blanc is destined to live in suffering for her entire life. That is the contract’s condition. Your daughter—she offered her body to me in exchange for your misfortune.]

Mother’s hand, which I had been holding, trembled violently.

[You claim to know about demons, right? Then you should also know what happens when a demon fails to uphold a contract.]

“……”

[Your fate is sealed, Artasha Blanche. Destruction awaits you.]

Mother staggered. If I hadn’t caught her, she would have collapsed to the ground.

“Mother!”

“…That child… did this to me.”

She muttered blankly, as if unable to comprehend the weight of the revelation.

Seeing her in such agony made rage surge within me.

“Why… Why are you tormenting my mother like this?!”

My cry was directed at my childhood friend.

[It’s all your fault, Tina.]

A voice laced with murderous intent scraped against my ears.

However, ignoring the eerie presence behind me, I cast a quick glance out the window.

In the darkness, thin, shimmering threads invisibly encased the mansion.

“What do I have to do… to make you stop this?”

I turned back to face the demon. In response to my question, it curled its lips into a grotesque smile.

[There’s only one thing I desire—your descent into hell with me.]

“…Why are you so desperate to drag me to hell?”

The demon closed its mouth.

A brief silence.

And then, it spoke again.

[…Because hell is the only place where you can be truly happy.]

“No, you’re wrong.”

I bit down hard on my lips. With trembling fingers, I gently laid my mother on the floor.

Then, I stood up straight and faced the demon.

“I’ve made up my mind.”

[What?]

“As much as my mother chose me, I will choose her too.”

Perhaps realizing the meaning of my words, the demon’s form twisted grotesquely.

[You… You’re not saying—]

“Yeah, that’s right.”

My mother loved me, even though I wasn’t her biological daughter. She embraced me with endless affection, always holding me close.

So, in return, I would treat her with sincerity.

“I will no longer search for my birth mother.”

Just as Artasha accepted me as her true daughter, I would also accept her as my true mother.

[You!!!!!!!!!!!!!!]

The demon’s scream shook the entire room.

Without hesitation, I dashed to the window and threw it open with all my strength.

“Now!”

Below the window, bathed in the soft moonlight, stood a woman with pink hair.

She looked up at me and gave a faint smile before slowly bringing her hands together.

In that instant—

The countless white threads encasing the mansion erupted into a blinding light.

[Kyaaahhh!!]

The demon’s agonized shriek filled the room.

At the same time, the bedroom door burst open violently.

Through the cascade of black hair, a pair of vivid violet eyes gleamed.

“Got you at last, you damn wench.”

The battlefield’s demon—Viviana Merdelia.

With a speed too fast for the eye to follow, she closed in on the demon.

And before the demon could even process what was happening—

Viviana’s blade, wrapped in pure white radiance, pierced straight through its body.