Chapter 148: Because I only have You

I was able to hear the whole story by catching up with my childhood friend.

Grandmother Miranda moved my collapsed mother into the bedroom, and Lillian and Viviana gave us some space to talk for a while.

“Uh, um…”

I scratched my cheek awkwardly. My childhood friend seemed just as shy as I was.

Normally, it wouldn’t have been this awkward, but talking face-to-face with my previous life’s face felt like a very unfamiliar experience.

It was almost like talking to myself in a mirror.

“So, uh, are you okay with staying like this?”

Breaking the awkward silence, I carefully asked.

“Uh, yeah! Of course!… Actually, I feel like we’ve become even closer. And, well, you’re actually my ideal type…”

“I was your ideal type?”

It was surprising to hear that a demon could have an ideal type in the first place.

“Uh, yeah… I never really cared much about human appearances, but I always thought you were really pretty.”

“…But what happened to that woman’s body? I was originally a man, right?”

“Ugh.”

My childhood friend looked very flustered. Her face, turning redder by the second, was giving away her true feelings.

“But…! Honestly, it’s weirder for me to claim I was a man with this face!”

“Eh…?”

“I just made things normal! Honestly, if I said I was a man in my past life with this face, no one would believe me, right?”

I was left speechless by her bold statement. It wasn’t about believing or not; the fact was, I was a man in my past life, so what on earth was she talking about?

“Honestly, Tina, with your personality, don’t pretend you were a man.”

“What do you mean?”

“You charm people so naturally and make them fall for you with that innocent smile, pretending like you don’t know anything! How is that manly? You’re just a bitch!”

“A bitch… No, even if you say that, I… I had… that too…”

She got embarrassed after bringing it up herself, her face turning red. She squeezed her hands and looked at me, clearly flustered.

“I… don’t have it now… Ah, anyway! That’s not important right now.”

There was no point in lingering on such a meaningless topic. I quickly decided to change the subject.

“Are you okay with me having your face…?”

“Yeah. Because I’m Tina now.”

Along with my past life, I had let go of my original face. From the moment my mother accepted me as her daughter, my life became solely about being Tina Blanc.

“If anyone had to have my face, I would want it to be you.”

“R-really?”

My childhood friend’s face slowly turned red. A faint flush spread across her pale skin, as if she had never been exposed to sunlight.

Looking at her like that, I had to admit that, as she said, her face was indeed quite pretty.

“Let’s live here together.”

I took my childhood friend’s hand. Her red eyes shook violently.

“What…?! No, Tina. This place is dangerous.”

“I’m sure there must be a way. Lillian, the saint, is here, and there are many places to ask for help.”

“The Great Demon is on a whole different level compared to a low-level demon like me, Tina. If we underestimate him…”

“I want to stay here with you.”

I tightly held her hand and interlaced our fingers. Her delicate fingers, as slender as mine, trembled slightly.

“Here… with me…?”

“Yeah. You also asked me to have your child, right? That can only happen here.”

My childhood friend’s face immediately turned red. After blinking for a while, she muttered softly.

“So… don’t claim you were a man while saying stuff like that…”

Of course, I had no intention of actually having a child. It was impossible for two women to have a child in the first place.

I felt sorry for deceiving my innocent childhood friend, who believed that holding hands would result in a child, but someday, she would come to understand this cruel truth.

My childhood friend looked at me with a slightly stiff expression before quietly nodding her head.

“…Alright. There must be a way.”

She spoke clearly, her face still faintly flushed, as she looked at me.

“I just need you, Tina.”

“Huh?”

“I… there’s no one but you.”

“Uh, uh, yeah…”

At her unexpected and straightforward confession, this time, I turned bright red.

“……”

“……”

An awkward, somewhat ticklish silence lingered between us.

For quite a while.

***

After finishing the conversation with my childhood friend, I sat next to Viviana and Lillian, drawing a circle.

“We need to give it a name. We can’t keep calling it ‘the demon,’ can we?”

The demon has no name. There are no parents to give it a name, and it doesn’t really need one.

“Ms. Demon. Just say any name. I’ll call you by that.”

Lillian casually said, and my childhood friend naturally looked at me.

“Tina… can’t you name it?”

“Huh? Me?”

“Yeah… If it’s going to have a name, I want it to be one you gave it.”

Well, I didn’t mind. In fact, I had always found it a bit uncomfortable calling it ‘childhood friend.’

“Hmm… Then… Lara?”

“…Lara?”

My childhood friend’s eyes narrowed slightly, a bit dissatisfied.

“…Puppy?”

“Pfft.”

At my second suggestion, Viviana burst out laughing. Meanwhile, my childhood friend’s eyes narrowed even further.

“Puppy is a bit…”

“Then… Younghee?”

“That… seems strange.”

None of the names I suggested seemed to be liked. But what could I do? I had never named anything before.

“If Tina has a child later, we’ll have to do the naming.”

Lillian gently patted my head. I looked up at her, puzzled.

“…A child?”

“Ah.”

Lillian quickly covered her mouth, seeming a bit flustered, and then gave a calm smile.

“It was a slip of the tongue. Pretend you didn’t hear it.”

“……”

Her attitude seemed like she was hiding something, which made me feel uneasy.

But for now, the priority was to decide my childhood friend’s name. I began brainstorming again.

“Shia…? Pippi? Sarang…?”

“……”

“Nia…?”

“Nia!”

At the name I carelessly uttered, my childhood friend’s eyes sparkled.

“I’ll go with Nia.”

My childhood friend, no, Nia smiled happily and tightly held my hand.

“Thank you, Tina. For giving me such a pretty name.”

“Ah, it’s nothing…”

“But, what does ‘Nia’ mean?”

“Huh?”

“You didn’t just make it up, right? There must be some origin or meaning behind it.”

“I don’t think so…?”

Nia gave a faint smile, looking somewhat downcast.

“Well, still, since it’s the name you gave me, I like it. From now on, I’ll be called Nia—”

“Alright, now that we’ve decided on a name, let’s move on to the next topic,” Lillian interrupted, clapping her hands lightly.

Nia glared at Lillian’s back with eyes full of resentment, but Lillian didn’t care and continued speaking.

“The most important issue, for now, is the existence of the Great Demon.”

Viviana looked at me with a serious gaze before shifting her attention to Lillian.

“Is there a way?”

“Of course. Even though it’s a Great Demon, it’s still a demon, right?”

Lillian smiled and slowly extended her finger to point at me.

“Become a follower of the Goddess, Tina.”

“…Pardon?”

“I’m sure that, with you, you’d receive the Goddess’s care. If you become a devout follower, even demons wouldn’t dare to harm you.”

So, in the end, she’s suggesting I receive the Goddess’s protection.

Well, if it’s her, she might be able to stop the Great Demon.

If Lillian, chosen by the Goddess, is capable of overpowering demons, then the Goddess’s power must at least be on par with, if not surpassing, the Great Demon.

But, as far as I know, receiving the Goddess’s grace is never an easy task.

Since Lillian is a saint, she can make such a statement, but in reality, even after praying for years, it’s hard to get even a drop of holy water.

“Tina, I can see what you’re thinking. Don’t worry. I’m sure you can become a follower.”

Lillian said with a bright smile.

“How can I become a follower…?”

At my question, Lillian flashed a cheerful smile at me.

Maybe it was just me, but that smile seemed to have an oddly sinister feel to it.

“First, starting tomorrow, you’ll pray with me at the temple every day.”

“Every day? But my shop…”

“Are you still planning to continue working in that shop in this situation?”

“Well…”

Honestly, there was no need to work anymore.

I had fully understood the reason Viviana left me in the shop, and above all, with the revelation of the Great Demon, it was no time to be leisurely cooking.

‘…But it was fun.’

Being able to cook for others.

Seeing them happy as they enjoyed my food.

That was my happiness. So I didn’t want to let it go.

‘No, it was an excessive happiness for me.’

If I were to be captured by the Great Demon again, it would just repeat the past.

And if anything went wrong, people I loved, like my mother, could be affected too.

“Alright. I’ll go with you every day, Lillian.”

Lillian smiled with satisfaction at my response.

“Good, Tina. Then, move your things back to my mansion.”

“Pardon?”

“My mansion is close to the temple. It’ll be more convenient if you go with me.”

Just as Lillian was about to approach me, Viviana suddenly grabbed her wrist roughly.

“Wait a minute.”

“Why, Princess?”

“Your intentions are good, but…”

Viviana’s violet eyes gleamed sharply as she pierced through Lillian.

“Why does it seem like you’re hiding some sinister motives?”

At Viviana’s sharp question, Lillian briefly looked away and mumbled under her breath, almost as if talking to herself.

“…Tch.”