Ch.251Epilogue – This Woman Has No XX!!

It had been well over half a year since I abandoned the name Mephisto Rage.

Enough time to sort out all my feelings, including my loyalty to my former lord.

Now, as the human Merilyn Sutherland, all that remained was to spend the rest of my life with the one I loved.

Yes, that should have been the case, and yet…

‘This isn’t right.’

The life I’d been living for the past half year hadn’t given Merilyn the satisfaction she’d expected.

No, I hadn’t even had the chance to feel satisfaction in the first place.

He was always busy as a leader guiding his group, and consequently, the personal time we could spend together was quite limited.

‘This isn’t the life I wanted.’

Of course, I wouldn’t have been this dissatisfied if he had spent even that limited time with me, but the problem was that there was someone else who took priority for him.

“Come on, Iris. Time for your food~”

“Nyaaa~”

Feeling her anger rise, Merilyn glared at the woman crouched in the corner of the room feeding the baby.

An incredibly lovable child who carried the blood of the man she loved. And the cursed rival who had become that child’s birth mother.

Yes, they were the ones he wanted to care for during his scarce free time.

The baby who had only recently been weaned and the mother caring for her were the most important beings to a father.

‘I don’t like this.’

Of course, she understood intellectually that she should be considerate of his circumstances because she loved him, and that having a rival was necessary to fulfill her desires.

But no matter how much she was awakening to human emotions, she was still a demon by nature.

Merilyn always wanted to be in the superior position in their relationship, which is why she couldn’t help feeling intense thirst in the current situation.

‘That place should have been mine…’

She thought she could endure it, but watching her rival standing above her in real time made her feel sick to her stomach.

Her anger boiled over at the sight of this detestable woman who monopolized all his time simply because she had a child, while others could barely spend any time with him, struggling through each day.

“…Why are you staring at me like that?”

Feeling that gaze, Airie held the baby who had finished eating in her arms and began patting her back.

It was impossible not to feel uncomfortable when someone was glaring at you throughout a meal.

Worried that Merilyn might cause trouble again, she stared back with half-vigilance, causing Merilyn to shrug and look away.

“Oh, nothing. I was just thinking how well the child is growing.”

“Well, Tashian told me babies grow quickly at this age. Apparently, we’ll see them growing rapidly for at least 10 years…”

“H-hmm. I see. Growing for 10 years…”

“Yes, I need to stay by her side and take care of her until she can manage on her own.”

Airie looked down at her child with affectionate eyes.

What could be felt in that gaze was clearly maternal love, but what Merilyn was actually concerned about was the growth of the child in her arms.

‘She needs to be cared for constantly for 10 years… That means she’ll monopolize Hyoseong’s time for 10 years?’

Ten years.

For a demon who could live forever if desire permitted, it wasn’t such a long time.

But for a being born to be faithful to immediate desires, it was an unbearably long time.

“H-hmm. I see. Then I should also help out in various ways during that time~”

Feeling urgent, Merilyn prepared to implement the plan she had been considering for some time.

Namely, to steal the position of mother from the rival before her.

If she could capture the affection of the child in those arms and make her recognize Merilyn as her mother, then she could monopolize his affection as well.

“Come on~ Iris. Look over here~ Shall we play together?”

Merilyn clapped her hands and showed off one of her specialties, magic, to achieve this.

Cards appeared all over her hands, capturing the attention of Iris in Airie’s arms, but even that didn’t last long.

“Uu, uuu…”

“Oh, our Iris seems to have an upset tummy. Come on, let’s burp. One, two~”

“Burp.”

“That’s right, well done, my baby~”

Airie stroked Iris’s head admiringly after she burped.

Iris, who had been giggling happily at the pleasant touch, suddenly stiffened and began to tremble.

“Oh my, our baby seems to have soiled her diaper. I’ll change it right away~”

“Um, excuse me…”

Ignoring Merilyn who was performing tricks beside her, Airie changed the diaper.

Once the mess was cleaned and a new diaper covered her lower half, Iris began to smile, apparently enjoying the fresh, soft sensation.

“Hehe, I’m glad you like it.”

“Wait. Over here…”

“Ah, it’s almost time for a nap. Iris, would you like Mommy to read you a storybook?”

“Nyaaa~”

Once again ignoring Merilyn, Airie picked up a storybook.

Seeing this, Iris’s eyes sparkled as she crawled over, and Airie chuckled as she opened the book and began to read.

“Now, let me read to you. Once upon a time, a very long time ago…”

“Aaaah! Stop ignoring me so blatantly!”

*Slap!*

Merilyn interrupted by slapping down the cards in her hand.

Airie sighed softly, putting down the storybook and glaring at her.

“Merilyn. I understand you’re bored, but do I really need to explain that being excessive becomes a nuisance?”

“That’s what I should be saying! Using the baby as an excuse to monopolize time with Hyoseong every day!”

Merilyn exploded, feeling frustrated that things weren’t going her way.

She then collapsed on the floor, flailing her arms and legs wildly as she wailed.

“What is this! When Hyoseong comes, he only looks at the baby and I’m left out in the cold! I want to be lovey-dovey with Hyoseong too! I want to do all sorts of things with Hyoseong, ack! Ack!!!”

“…Haah.”

Airie finally put down the storybook completely and patted Iris’s back to keep her from being startled as she held her.

Her half-lidded eyes clearly showed her exasperation.

“Come to think of it, you’ve been trying hard to win Iris’s favor lately. I’m asking just in case, but you’re not thinking of stealing Iris’s mother position from me, are you?”

Merilyn’s body stiffened with a jolt.

“…It’s obvious what you’re thinking.”

Airie shook her head and briefly glanced at the child in her arms.

Iris Haven. Her precious treasure and a child born with the harsh fate of living in this ruined world in the future.

“…Merilyn.”

Airie wanted Iris to grow up properly.

That’s why she put effort into childcare every day, and her partner, who empathized with her, also devoted his limited time to raising their child.

“This child is the most precious treasure to both Hyoseong and me. Because she’s more precious than anything, we want to protect her and give her a better future.”

For that, he too risked his life fighting outside and boldly took on the heavy responsibility of leading everyone.

The reason he could accomplish all of this was none other than the child in her arms.

Airie felt to her bones, even in this moment, that the child in her arms was the driving force behind everything they would achieve in their lives.

“I know you love Hyoseong, but… please try to understand for now.”

She hoped that the greedy demon before her would exercise patience and help care for this child with a mother’s gaze.

“…I don’t care about that.”

Contrary to her hopes, Merilyn buried her tearful face in the floor, focused only on expressing her resentment.

For a demon who had endured for nearly an eternity, being asked to be patient when an opportunity to fulfill an immediate desire was right in front of her was too cruel.

“Everyone is so mean. You said you loved me. You said we would love together, but when you came back alive, I’m treated like leftover food while you all get along…”

“…Sigh.”

Airie sighed as she watched Merilyn pour out her grievances.

Though her behavior was frustrating, it wasn’t completely incomprehensible, so she couldn’t simply hate her.

If she had been in Merilyn’s position, she would surely have felt disappointed with the current relationship too.

After all, they had sworn to respect each other’s love and be together in the fight against the Demon Lord, but being excluded from that relationship would naturally make anyone angry.

“…If you have something to say, I’ll listen.”

While childcare would inevitably remain a priority, she couldn’t just leave Merilyn like this.

With that firm resolve, she spoke, and Merilyn stopped crying and turned to look at her.

“Something to say?”

“Yes, you can curse if you want, or express your resentment toward me or Hyoseong. As long as you don’t resort to violence or harm Iris, I’ll accept whatever you say.”

What Merilyn saw was an expression that radiated benevolence.

Although Merilyn had caused many problems and put her in difficult situations, Airie now had the heart to forgive all of it generously.

“If I took his first time and monopolized his time… then listening to your resentment could be considered my duty.”

“…”

Merilyn blinked silently as she stared at Airie.

Then, rising to her feet, she tilted her head while looking at Airie.

“Can I really say anything?”

“Yes, say whatever you want.”

They had agreed to respect each other, and since the situation was difficult, she would at least listen to Merilyn’s grievances.

If someone were watching from the side, they might imagine a ‘Holy Mother’ who had awakened compassion through maternal love.

“You…”

But Airie had overlooked something.

Telling a demon—who has no concept of moral or ethical boundaries—that they can say anything is something one should never do.

“You, you…!!”

The moment she realized this opportunity had been given to her.

The demon finally lost her reason and shouted the first insult that came to mind.

“You woman with no uterus!!!!”

A single phrase, sufficient to break down the heart of the prophet who had prided herself on being able to withstand anything.

*****

“Waaaaaaah!”

“…”

“No, I mean, you said I could say anything, so I just said what came to mind.”

At the scene where Airie was still wailing.

Merilyn, sweating profusely, began to ramble in front of me.

“So, at that time… when the witnesses said the baby was extracted from her womb, they mentioned her organs were removed too, right? So I thought her womb must be empty now… I-I didn’t mean any harm. It was just an observation, like ‘oh, so that’s the kind of person she is’…”

“…”

“…Did I really mess up?”

It seems odd that she’s asking, but with her, it’s entirely possible.

Demons have a dim sense of moral boundaries, so she might not realize how much impact her words had on the other person.

Even thinking “Did I do something wrong?” makes her something of a mutant among demons.

“I’m sorry, it’s all my fault!!”

But regardless of her demonic nature, the damage was done, and Airie, with her heart shattered, had fallen into a state of extreme distress.

“I shouldn’t have even thought about summoning the God of Destruction to this world in the first place. If I hadn’t had that thought, the Demon Lord wouldn’t have opened the dimensional rift, and if that hadn’t happened, the world wouldn’t have been turned upside down like this…!”

…Come to think of it, Airie has been feeling responsible for the world ending up like this.

No matter how messed up the world was, if she hadn’t called the God of Destruction to this world, even that chaotic world wouldn’t have collapsed.

Of course, if we trace the cause, the world was already heading toward destruction, and sooner or later, the Demon Lord would have destroyed this world and moved on to another.

In a battle between non-standard beings, it would be arrogant for humans like us to claim we could predict the future.

“If I had made better choices, the world wouldn’t have ended up like this…”

But even after more than half a year, Airie still couldn’t shake the thought that she had provided the catalyst.

She was trying to forget by focusing on childcare, and then she happened to be insulted in a way that triggered the act of sending me back, so it’s natural that she would break down.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry for claiming I could take responsibility for everything and then ruining it all. Waaaaaaah!!!”

“…Haah.”

It’s not your fault; rather, it was the best choice at the time…

Such inadequate comfort would clearly be insufficient to fix her current breakdown.

“Airie. Come here.”

Realizing this, I decided to take a somewhat risky approach and beckoned to the crying Airie.

Fortunately, she approached obediently following my words.

But her face was still contorted with tears, and her knees were trembling as if they might buckle and hit the ground at any moment.

“I’m sorry, Hyoseong. It’s all my fault. The world ending up like this is all…”

*Tap!*

“…Hyoseong?”

Her eyes widened as I placed my hands on both her shoulders.

Once I had her full attention, I spoke to her directly.

“Airie, let’s do it.”

“…What?”

“Let’s do it for the first time in a while. You and me.”

Trying to comfort her with words wouldn’t easily calm her down.

Perhaps physical comfort would be more effective?