Chapter 141: It’s me.

“Fine, I’ll give you my body. This wretched family is hell for me anyway.”

The girl with snow-white hair silently nodded. Her deep blue eyes shimmered like an endless ocean.

“In return, you promised to grant my request, right?”

[Just say the word.]

A voice, splitting through the thick fog, echoed.

“The one who led my father into gambling, drove him to his death, and took the family head’s position. Punish that person for me.”

[Your mother, you mean? Are you sure?]

“I can never forgive her, even in death.”

The girl loved her father. He had always greeted her with a warm smile, indulging her with kindness—like the comforting rays of the sun.

In contrast, her mother had always scolded her with harsh words she never wanted to hear.

The girl had never been able to understand her mother.

The only source of comfort in her family had been her father.

Yet, the moment he died, her mother had ascended to the head position without the slightest hesitation.

What a ruthless woman.

Even when her father’s health deteriorated from excessive drinking, she had done nothing but stand by and watch.

Even when he passed away in a tragic accident, she hadn’t uttered a single word of remorse.

The girl had no choice but to be certain.

Her father’s death had been orchestrated by a woman desperate to seize power.

“Make that woman suffer. And take me to where my father is.”

She firmly believed that the father who had always embraced her with a kind and radiant smile must have gone to heaven.

But the demon knew the truth.

It was actually her mother who had truly worried for her, who had genuinely cared.

Yet, the demon said nothing.

Ignorance, too, was one of humanity’s sins.

And the demon felt no sympathy for the girl—certainly not enough to enlighten her.

[Alright, the contract is sealed.]

With the demon’s words,

The girl was sent to where her father was.

By the time she realized that place was hell, it was far too late to turn back.

***

“Artasha must live the rest of her life in misery and die a pitiful death. That’s Tina Blanc’s second contract condition.”

“What?”

For a moment, I doubted my ears. What I had just heard was beyond absurd.

“I will make Artasha Blanc suffer. That is the contract I must uphold.”

My childhood friend smiled ominously.

She knew what Artasha meant to me.

Anger surged within me, my fists clenching on their own.

But who was this anger truly directed at?

Was it at my childhood friend, who was so determined to harm my mother?

No, perhaps it was Tina Blanc, who had imposed such conditions in the first place, that I resented the most.

“What happens if you don’t uphold the contract?”

“A demon must always fulfill a pact made with a contractor. It’s an unbreakable law.”

Her smile deepened.

“If I fail to keep the contract, I will cease to exist… and you will be expelled from this body, forced to return to your original corpse.”

“……My body is already—”

“Yes, already dead. Without a physical vessel, your soul will be lost, doomed to wander endlessly.”

“If it means my mother won’t suffer, then that’s a price I’m willing to pay.”

“No, I won’t allow that.”

Her voice was unwavering.

“Tina, don’t take the difficult route. The situation is already perfect as it is.”

“Perfect?”

“Kill Artasha Blanc with your own hands. That way, you won’t have to worry about the contract anymore. And your soul will be tainted enough… to be sent straight to hell.”

“……She is my mother.”

“No, your real mother is waiting desperately for you in hell, isn’t she?”

Her irrefutable words made my fists clench even tighter.

The only reason I needed to go to hell—the only thing that had once been my entire world—was there.

But now, I wasn’t so sure.

Did I really want to see her again?

Right now, I wasn’t ready.

“Artasha is my mother.”

“What?”

Until now, I had followed my childhood friend’s words without resistance.

But this time, I was determined to stand my ground.

“She may not have given birth to me, but the only person I truly consider my mother is her.”

“…Ha, Tina.”

The cross in my childhood friend’s eyes burned with rage.

“That person is merely someone I became connected with because I possessed you as Tina. It’s a fleeting, insignificant bond that can change at any time.

Are you really going to abandon your real mother just because of that?”

“No, it’s fate.”

“…?”

“Out of all the people in this world, you chose to possess me in Tina. I would never call that a coincidence.”

Yeah, maybe my childhood friend was right.

Maybe this was nothing more than a meaningless and fragile connection.

But I refused to believe that.

I grew up abused by my mother.

Artasha lived a life of solitude, resented and hated by her own daughter.

For someone like me to meet someone like Artasha—it wasn’t something that could be dismissed as a mere coincidence.

It was fate.

“Stop being stubborn, Tina. This is just a bond I created through my own choices. If I want to, I can sever it at any time.”

“It’s a connection.”

“Fate.”

“A connection!”

“Fate.”

“A connection, I said!!”

“Fate.”

A sharp glare clashed between my childhood friend and me.

“Tsk!”

Caught in a tense standoff, my childhood friend gritted her teeth and stomped her foot hard.

“Just come to hell with me quietly, Tina Blanc!”

“…I can’t do that right now.”

“Ugh, seriously!!”

Seething with frustration, my childhood friend stomped the ground forcefully.

Then, with a voice that seemed ready to burst, she shouted,

“In this place, I can’t protect you!!”

Her voice echoed through the air.

For a moment, everything fell into suffocating silence.

“…Huh?”

The unexpected words made me blink blankly. My childhood friend widened her eyes in shock and quickly covered her mouth with her hand.

As if she had made a grave mistake.

“…What do you mean? Protect me?”

She remained silent, her gaze fixed on the ground.

“…Are you hiding something from me?”

I asked again, but the only response I got was a cold stare.

“Fine. If you won’t kill her, then I will. I’ll kill Artasha Blanc myself.”

“…What?”

“It’s all for you.”

The moment those words left her lips, the black mist around us began to stir violently, and a dark form slipped out from between Ruella’s lips.

It devoured the swirling black mist, growing into a massive shape.

[See you next time, Tina.]

The black mist stretched toward the window.

“W-Wait…!”

I reached out desperately, but she was already gone without a trace.

All that remained was a faint wisp of black mist and Ruella’s unconscious body.

‘She’s going after my mother…?’

My heart sank.

I had believed—at the very least—that my childhood friend wouldn’t do something she knew I would hate.

She knew what Artasha meant to me. And yet, she was trying to harm her?

She was definitely hiding something from me.

That phrase—’protect you’—I had never heard her say something like that before.

But right now, I couldn’t let things go her way. I had to stop her from harming my mother, no matter what.

However, despite my resolve, the black mist she had scattered around me bound my feet, preventing me from moving forward.

“Ugh…!”

I struggled to shake off the mist, but with my meager strength, it was impossible.

“Mi-Miranda, Grandma!”

I desperately called for help, but this cursed black mist swallowed even my voice.

Of course. If my voice had reached anyone, Miranda Grandma would have already come running.

“If you dare lay a hand on my mother… I won’t ever forgive you, even if it’s you!”

In the end, all I could do was suppress my rising panic and scream into the mist.

***

Artasha gazed at her reflection in the bathroom mirror.

Flawless, pale skin. Striking features. In high society, everyone praised her beauty.

But Artasha herself had never once thought of herself as beautiful.

She had never thought that a noblewoman racing toward forty could still be beautiful.

“The only beautiful one is my daughter.”

A lovely girl, so precious that even if she were held in her eyes, it wouldn’t hurt. Without a doubt, there was no one in this world as beautiful as her.

Artasha wiped the moisture off her face with a towel and changed into a silk nightgown.

Then—

For just a moment, she heard a faint rustling sound from behind.

She instinctively turned her head, but she was alone in the washroom.

“…The air feels eerie tonight.”

Swallowing the uneasy feeling, Artasha stepped out into her bedroom.

A familiar space, unchanged from usual. Yet tonight, it felt strangely unfamiliar—eerily silent.

Forcing herself to ignore the cold chill brushing against her skin, she lit the candelabra.

As the soft candlelight illuminated the room, she felt a small sense of relief.

Creak—

Then, the sound came again.

This time, it was no trick of the mind.

Slowly, Artasha turned around.

There, standing with her head bowed, was a girl.

Long, flowing white hair. A small frame, too petite to be an adult.

“Tina? Tina?”

Artasha called her name, her voice laced with confusion.

The girl slowly lifted her head.

Between the strands of white hair, pale skin was revealed—just as pale as her hair.

It was unmistakably Tina’s face. And yet… something about it felt strange. Unfamiliar.

“It’s been a long time, Artasha.”

The girl spoke in a quiet, low voice.

Artasha struggled to mask her confusion as she carefully approached her daughter.

“W-what brings you here? Without any notice…”

“It’s me, Artasha.”

A strange thing to say.

She already knew it was Tina.

And yet, why did she feel as if the girl was trying to confirm her own identity?

“Y-yes, of course. But why are you here, my daughter?”

“I said, it’s me, Artasha.”

Tina repeated the words, exactly the same.

At that moment, an ominous premonition gripped her heart.

Instinctively, Artasha took a step back.

“T-Tina?”

“Yes. Tina Blanc.”

The girl’s eyes darkened—

Like an empty abyss, void of any emotion.

“The daughter you abandoned.”

One single sentence.

At that moment, Artasha’s heart plummeted.

“W-what…?”

The girl tilted her head slightly, a faint smile on her lips.

“Not that fake. Your real daughter.”

“Who… who are you…?”

“It’s been a long time, Mother.”

The girl’s quiet words fell upon the room.

Artasha’s pupils trembled without reason.