Episode 73 – Revenge

*

The figure of a woman appeared from the darkness.

It was difficult to make out her appearance in detail due to the lack of light, but Jennifer, upon hearing my words, could guess who it was.

,Rose… is that you?

I crossed my arms and took a step back, not wanting to interrupt the emotional reunion of mother and daughter.

Rose, in Vanata’s form, silently glared at Jennifer with her mouth shut. Jennifer, unable to see Rose’s expression, wore an awkward smile and said,

,Oh, my God. My daughter. I knew you were successful, but it seems you’ve truly awakened properly. It’s me. Your mother.

,…Mother.

,Yes, it’s me. Oh my God, thank you. Goddess-nim.

,…

A week ago, on the day I brought Rose, who was possessed by Vanata’s body,

I told Rose about what Jennifer and Robin had done to me, and how she and Daniel had been caught up in my revenge.

Of course, I didn’t forget to make her fully aware that the direct reason they were involved was because her plan to poison Vanata went wrong, causing Lily to collapse after ingesting the poison.

Even so, she trembled with rage and tried to kill me, but as a succubus, she had no choice but to kneel before the Demon King’s authority, unable to harm me.

I cleverly persuaded her to direct her anger towards Jennifer.

In fact, there was no need to be clever at all.

From the beginning, it was Jennifer who ordered Vanata to be killed, and it was Jennifer who didn’t pay Rose’s bail, leaving Daniel to board my ship.

Fundamentally, it was Jennifer who created the monster of revenge called Edward.

Seeing her own body obediently following my commands, she fully realized that Salvie-eo, the Baron and rogue of the Hero Party, was a Demon King, or something close to it.

In the end, she was a monster created by her own parents, and she herself was a demon and trapped in the body of Vanata, whom she hated so much. After hearing all the stories, Rose came to hate her mother, who had only used and abandoned her until the very end.

No, in fact, it might have been like that from the beginning.

Rose’s anger, who had been ignored her whole life just for not having talent, was only hidden by her admiration for her mother.

It might be a more accurate interpretation that her admiration for Jennifer faded and the anger she had suppressed until now turned into hatred when my testimony revealed that Jennifer was nothing more than a traitor.

And that mother was now clinging to Rose.

,Rose, my daughter.

I hid in the darkness and watched Jennifer crawl on her knees towards Rose, clinging to her legs.

It was hard to imagine how Rose must be feeling right now.

The sight of her mother, who had ignored her all her life, suddenly welcoming her warmly.

That might be the scene Rose had longed for her whole life.

Of course, Rose knew very well that the underlying emotion was fear and terror, not affection for her, but still, it must be very touching for Rose to see her mother, the great archmage she had admired all her life, calling out to her so desperately.

I thought back to when I broke into Rose’s room at Aureo Academy.

Letters sent to Jennifer were piled up in the corner of the room, returned and unopened, and the desk was full of incredibly difficult books and densely written notes.

A room that clearly revealed the pitiful appearance of a daughter trying so hard to reach even the tip of her mother’s expectations.

Remembering the appearance of that room, I thought that Rose might not harm Jennifer.

Because what Rose wanted most was to be recognized by her mother, the great magician.

However, Rose’s anger, which had been built up over a long time of being ignored, was no less than mine, who had been betrayed and had my entire life stolen.

,You’re not using honorifics.

,What?

,The last time we talked, you spoke to me in jondaetmal (honorifics). As if we’re strangers now.

,Ah… Ah,

Unlike how she treated me, Jennifer couldn’t even make any excuses.

It was only natural, as she knew better than anyone how unkindly she had treated Rose.

Rose continued in a chillingly emotionless, indifferent voice.

,After all, reviving me was just an experiment. Because it would be a big problem if something went wrong while trying to save Daniel oppa.

,…No. It’s not like that,

,You told me to kill Vanata, so what did you mean by putting me in that body? Did you just decide to use two people who could die anyway for experiments?

,Rose, listen to me, Mom.

,Mom?

,…

A chilling voice, as if a sharply ground piece of something was wrong in her heart, stabbing her chest, burst from Rose’s lips.

Jennifer, as well as I, could only stare at Rose without saying anything, unable to bear the chilling murderous intent emanating from that voice.

Rose gritted her teeth as if feeling the pain of her intestines being cut off, and laboriously uttered each syllable.

,You never once let me call you Mom.

,…Rose

,Just this, like this…

Rose let out a hollow sigh and looked up at the ceiling.

Was it this easy to get a mother who treated her warmly?

Because she was afraid of losing her life, she not only called her affectionately, but even referred to herself as ‘Mom’.

Not ‘Mother-nim’ or ‘Countess-nim’, but ‘Mom’.

As she obtained what she had longed for her whole life, Rose felt an overwhelming sadness wash over her.

Jennifer was now treating Rose like a mother and daughter who cherished and shared affection with each other, which Rose had longed for her whole life,

But rather, that sight only cruelly proved to Rose that she could never obtain all of this.

Rose wasn’t stupid.

She knew much better that Jennifer didn’t sincerely regard Rose as an affectionate daughter.

The reality that Jennifer would never become a loving mother filled Rose’s heart.

Tears rolled down Rose’s eyes.

,Why? How hard did I try?

,…Rose,

,What was it? Why did you hate me so much?

,…

Why did she hate Rose?

Jennifer couldn’t answer that question.

Because Jennifer had never hated Rose.

The only emotion Jennifer had for Rose was occasional disappointment, but she never really hated or liked her.

Born without talent, she was simply out of her interest.

However, Jennifer, well aware that her life was in the hands of her daughter, who was out of her interest, never uttered those words.

Rather, she carefully chose the words that Rose would want to hear the most and put them into her mouth.

,Mom, Mom was sorry. Really. Huh? I’ll do better from now on, if I can just live, I’ll try to be the mom I couldn’t be all this time. I promise… so,

,… Mom…

As Jennifer said, holding her daughter’s hand with tears in her eyes, Rose replied in a tearful voice.

Her hatred was slowly dissipating at Jennifer’s false oath, which had no evidence whatsoever.

Feeling the rough, musty, and bloody atmosphere inside the prison softening, Jennifer wore a faint smile.

Of course, I had no intention of allowing that disgusting lie.

,Jennifer, remember?

Jennifer’s face quickly hardened at my voice, which suddenly interrupted the conversation.

Jennifer stiffly turned her head towards the darkness where I was, searching for me, whom she couldn’t see, and said,

,… Huh?

,The oath I made.

,Ed…?

,That I wouldn’t harm you as long as you told the ‘truth’.

,…!

,Remember?

,…

At my laughter-filled voice, Jennifer lowered her head and her shoulders trembled.

Rose, not understanding the situation, looked at me with a questioning expression.

I chuckled and continued.

,So, is it really the truth? Do you really intend to treat Rose well? No, more than that, are you really sorry to Rose?

,…

Only then, as if understanding what I meant, Rose looked down at Jennifer with a cold expression.

Jennifer’s breathing became rough and she blurted out in a desperate voice.

,Of… of course. Of course, from now on, really…!

,If that’s a lie, I’ll be able to kill you. Are you okay with that?

,…Eut,

,…

A silence worthy of ridicule filled the prison.

Jennifer, crushed by fear and shame, lowered her head and prostrated herself on the floor, avoiding Rose’s gaze.

Rose shook her head in disbelief, looking at Jennifer.

With all escape routes blocked, Jennifer could only bury her forehead on the floor and beg.

,Rose… please save me.

,…

Rose turned to me.

Unlike Jennifer, she was a demon, so she could pinpoint where I was.

I shrugged and said,

,Why are you looking at me? I decided to leave it up to you, so choose as you see fit.

,…

Rose looked down at Jennifer and said,

Until now, Rose’s voice had been that of Vanata, the owner of the body, but somehow, at this moment, it sounded like Rose’s clear voice.

,Mother-nim, do you remember?

,… What?

,The last thing you said to me.

,…

Jennifer tried to recall, but couldn’t remember no matter how hard she tried.

Jennifer slowly shook her head and trembled, and Rose chuckled at the sight of Jennifer.

,When I asked you to pay my bail, you said you didn’t have money to spend on someone like me.

,…Rose, I’m really sorry,

,I don’t have it either. Mercy to give to someone like you.

In an instant, Rose’s tail moved back and forth, piercing Jennifer’s body as if sewing it, lifting her body into the air.

Jennifer screamed horribly, twisting her waist and struggling like a fish caught on a hook.

,Your stubbornness killed even oppa. Do you know that?

,Haaak! Save me! Forgive me just once!

,I never expected you to love me in the first place. But,

,Ah… No! No!

,You can be disappointed even by someone you don’t expect anything from.

Returning the words she had once heard from her, Rose approached Jennifer, who was hanging in the air, and cupped her face with both hands.

Then, with a twisted, artificial smile, as if she had been forcibly pulled up with a hook in her mouth, she shoved her thumbs into Jennifer’s eyes.

I whistled, turned my eyes away, and silently poured divine power into Jennifer.

,Eok, Aaaak! Hwaaa!

,Why? This isn’t hurting you. It’s just treatment, after all. Isn’t that right? Jennifer.

,Keoeok, Keuaaawoo,

Jennifer tasted the pain of vividly feeling the sensation of Vanata’s small, thin fingers piercing through her eye sockets and rummaging through her brain, without being able to die.

Of course, Rose’s tail was also moving non-stop, slicing off her flesh piece by piece, as if filleting it.

I silently gave Rose a thumbs up and poured divine power into Jennifer so that she wouldn’t die.

[…The horror of humans transcends imagination.]

[…That’s right. Really.]

,What, Rose is a demon.

[I’m talking about you, you.]

,You said I’m a monster too.

[Hmm, hey golden lump. Do you have any complaints about using divine power like that?]

[How could I not… Still, she was someone who deserved to be punished.]

[…Hmm. Ed, stop now. You have to think about your comrades who are having a hard time distracting the guards outside.]

[Y-yes, Ed. Stop now.]

I nodded at those words and thought I should stop any further treatment, and approached Jennifer.

Before I knew it, Rose had all ten fingers stuck in Jennifer’s eye sockets and was fondling her head, and Rose’s tail had pierced through Jennifer’s chin and cheeks, so Jennifer couldn’t even scream properly and was just making a gurgling sound with the blood filling her throat, twitching.

,It was fun, Jennifer. I mean it.

Returning the words she had left me as I was dying in the Demon King’s castle, I withdrew my divine power.

I was engraving the sight into my eyes, as if not to miss the moment when life faded from Jennifer’s body, just like when I killed Daniel.

Thanks to the brain being messed up, Jennifer immediately died as soon as the divine power disappeared.

Rose realized that she had killed her mother with the limp weight felt in her hands and tail.

Rose squeezed her hands out of Jennifer’s eye sockets.

Jennifer’s horribly gaping eyes had only large pupils pierced through them, and even if they were small, the bones around the eye sockets were broken as much as half of a person’s hand had entered, and the surrounding skin tissue collapsed without taking shape.

Rose, panting with excitement, swung her tail, which had pierced through Jennifer’s body here and there, to the side at once.

Jennifer’s body was cut off and scattered on the ground, as if cutting clay with thread.

I put my hand on Rose’s shoulder and asked.

,Were you satisfied?

,… Were you?

,To some extent.

,Then I am too, to that extent.

,Okay. That’s a relief.

Rose didn’t ask why I withdrew the divine power.

She just silently looked at Jennifer’s scattered pieces and slowly began to touch her body here and there.

Incited by the excitement caused by anger, she brutally murdered her mother, but Rose realized that nothing had changed.

Her dead oppa, Vanata’s body that had become a demon, and her own situation trapped in that body, nothing had changed.

It wasn’t refreshing or satisfying.

Rather, only a very unpleasant and dirty feeling and memory remained.

Rose slowly looked at me.

Salvie-eo, the Baron, who was humming and picking up Jennifer’s corpse and drawing pictures on the prison’s stone walls and floor with the blood that flowed out. Rose asked me.

,Are you feeling like this too?

,How are you feeling?

,Not really, it’s not as refreshing as I thought.

,Revenge is usually like that. If you try to return as much as the injury you received, it’s not enough, and if you return more than that, it becomes unpleasant.

Rose shook her head in disbelief at my answer and said,

,… Then why are you continuing to do this?

,Me? Well… Because the standard is different?

,… Standard?

,I don’t think about repaying ‘as much as I suffered’. Because what I suffered was just betrayal and a knife wound. The size of my revenge is only ‘as much as I lost’.

,… What did you lose?

,Life, future, honor, glory, love. If you add things, there are many things, but more than those…

,…

I closed my eyes.

They are seen without fail.

My and Mela’s son and daughter, whose faces and names I don’t even know.

,Family.

Rose silently looked at me and wrapped her arms around my shoulders.

For the first time in twenty years, I achieved my first revenge.

.