Ch.291Chapter 291: Blackmail (5)

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Among the prestigious families of the Central Continent,

Among all the mistresses of House Lanos—known as the first family to share history with the Solarium, called the Thousand-Year Empire—

There is likely no one whose origins and background are as obscure as my mother, who gave birth to my sister and me before passing away early from illness.

One might question how this could be possible for the mistress of such a distinguished family.

But even if someone were to ask me such a question, I could only answer this way.

What can I do? That’s simply the truth.

Knowing almost nothing about my mother, all I have are the stories I heard through my father.

She came from one of the most prestigious families in the Western Continent.

Tired of her tedious life, she chose to live as an adventurer, traveling across various continents. A man fell in love with her at first sight, forgetting his dignity as the heir of a noble house.

He followed her wherever she went—west, east, or even to this frigid land—courting her persistently until he finally made her his wife.

When disputes arose regarding his wife’s origins, he suppressed them with power and authority, controlling the situation to the point where no one dared speak of it.

Despite this, discontent gradually subsided as my mother displayed behavior befitting the mistress of a noble house, and they lived happily—or so the story goes.

This was all my father told me when I longed for and wondered about my mother.

Since most of it was a love story about how my father met, fell in love with, and married my mother, I heard little else about her origins.

While my sister, who remembers our mother more clearly, is one thing,

In my case, I have almost no memories of my mother.

From the Western Continent. The bright red hair that was fairly common among those from the Western Continent, which she passed down to me despite the Lanos bloodline.

A face that comes to mind faintly, always looking at me with tenderness.

A face I still clearly remember, showing sadness as she apologized for leaving me too early…

Honestly, these are almost the only things I remember about my mother.

Even the fact that she came from a prestigious family in the Western Continent—the only detail my father ever mentioned—I only heard through him, and having never seen any evidence to prove it, I had no way of knowing for sure.

Whatever my mother’s origins might have been, I don’t think it would make me dislike her anyway.

In any case, before my regression and in countless timelines that exist only as memories in my head,

I tried quite hard to learn who my mother was, but invariably failed and could only long for her as a figure from my memories.

And now, sitting on the throne in this palace filled with nothing but pitch-black obsidian, the Demon God says she will tell me about it.

I should be so grateful that tears come to my eyes… as if.

Looking at Desire, who displayed a triumphant expression as soon as she brought up the topic, one phrase came to mind:

“Serpent’s tongue.”

That’s the expression I used before my regression to describe Desire’s way with words—how she seductively manipulates her tongue to tempt and corrupt people.

Before my regression, I had already died and become her servant without free will, so I wasn’t swayed by her eloquent speech.

‘…It’s not like I’ve only seen it once or twice.’

Having witnessed multiple times how she turned others into her servants without even fighting, I couldn’t help but use such an expression.

Look at her now. Against me, who wouldn’t bat an eye at ordinary talk thanks to my experiences before regression,

She brings up this topic without even considering how to make me listen to her, immediately taking control of the atmosphere.

This Demon God named Desire, true to her name, has an innate ability to stimulate the “desires” that all beings with intelligence harbor to varying degrees,

And then cultivate those she has shaken as her servants. I’m simply reminded of this once again.

Anyway, seeing me frown without saying anything in response to her sudden topic, did she think she had hit the mark?

“What should I tell you about first? The Wish Stone? Or perhaps about how my appearance resembles your mother? I’ll tell you in whatever order you request.”

Hoo-hoot—

Desire’s smug attitude and empty laughter embodied pure annoyance.

“I don’t know what you think you know, but I have to give you credit for bringing that up as a topic.”

It was enough to make me unable to hold back such words.

But, annoying as it was,

I needed to hear what Desire had to say.

“Tell me about the appearance first.”

Without hesitation, I had to ask about what had been my greatest curiosity throughout my life, from among the options Desire had offered.

It was a transparently predictable answer, but I couldn’t help it.

How could I not listen when someone offers to tell me something I’ve tried countless times to discover, and even promises to reveal their own secrets on top of that?

Besides…, while Desire’s offer sounded sweet enough to tempt me, there was one crucial thing she mentioned when making that offer.

She mentioned that her appearance resembled my mother’s.

I had never told Desire about my personal history regarding my family,

Nor had I given her any reason to infer such things.

Family, relatives, and lovers…

In the case of lovers and relatives, since they were all people I had encountered countless times after becoming an agent before my regression, it was entirely plausible that she would know about them even without me saying anything.

But regarding my family, except for my sister, she had no means of knowing more deeply.

Yet she acted as if she knew this fact I had never revealed—that her appearance resembled my mother’s—so I instinctively felt she must know something.

That’s why I asked, even though I knew I might be falling for her trap.

Even as I acknowledged that I had no choice but to ask, there was one thing I clearly recognized in my mind:

…If you’re spouting nonsense, one of us is really going to die today.

I mean it.

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But my acceptance of her offer, delivered in a highly agitated tone, seemed to tickle her funny bone.

“Kuk-kuk-kuk-kuk…”

As soon as Desire heard my question about her appearance, she couldn’t help but let out a somewhat deflated laugh.

It seems she found my answer too predictable, which dampened her spirits.

Perhaps it’s because she’s an immortal being who has lived for an incalculable amount of time, even before her long slumber.

This unpredictable Demon God had a tendency to burst into laughter at things I wouldn’t find funny at all.

Even now, when I would have just laughed it off lightly and moved on to what I wanted to say,

“Kuk… kuk-kuk-kuk…”

She was gritting her teeth, forcibly holding back laughter that was about to burst out.

She was truly a difficult being to get used to, even though I’d known her for quite some time.

And I wasn’t alone in this impression.

[Why on earth is she acting like that?]

Even Fafnir, who had lived for an unimaginably long time by human standards (though shorter than Desire’s), broke his usual silence to express his bewilderment.

…In situations like this, it’s best to wait until she stops laughing on her own.

I had just decided to cross my arms and wait for Desire’s laughter to subside when,

“Haa… haa… kuk… khuhuhu… haa… haa…”

As she finally managed to control her laughter and regulate her rough breathing,

“…First, just in case, let me tell you this.”

A surprisingly calm statement emerged from her lips, so I listened carefully.

“No matter how similar we may look, I want to make it clear that I am a different being from your mother.”

Her words straddled the strange boundary between something I should laugh at or be angry about.

….

A momentary silence tried to fill the hall where Desire and I stood.

“Not funny.”

Before the silence could fully settle, my sarcastic response, provoked by Desire’s unfunny joke, broke it.

“Hmm. You’re not very surprised. When I mentioned your mother earlier, you seemed a bit shocked, so I thought it might be fun to tease you.”

Far from being discouraged by my sarcasm, Desire displayed even more composure as she levitated the jewel she had placed on her hand and used her left hand to roll up the sleeve of her right arm.

I was about to narrow my eyes, thinking she was just wasting time by showing off her unremarkable arm instead of getting to the point, but,

After briefly seeing Desire’s smooth arm with no marks on it,

“But I should clarify that your mother was of my kind.”

At the sight revealed as Desire concentrated divine power on her arm after making this unexpected statement,

“…”

Though I didn’t speak, my mouth opened slightly in surprise.

“Ah, for reference, she was of the same kind as me ‘before’ I took my current form.”

After finishing her explanation to prevent misunderstanding, what appeared on Desire’s bare right arm were scales.

They had the exact same form as those covering dragons—beings considered the most powerful after transcendent entities with divine nature.

Their color was the same red as her hair,

And the same as my hair color as well.