episode_0019

As the ominous shadow approached the lodging, it couldn’t help but reveal a puzzled expression. The door was securely closed, despite having clearly damaged the latch.

Knock, knock, knock.

A disgruntled knocking sound harshly pounded against the door. Dallin had strategically placed most of the furniture from the room at the entrance, so that he wouldn’t be easily taken advantage of. By doing this, he made it clear that he hadn’t invited the man in. If he wasn’t insane, he wouldn’t force his way in.

“Thud, creak!”

However, was it all just wishful thinking? The curtain-tied latch began to open. The force was so immense that it tore through the linen in an instant.

“Thud!”

A slender girl threw herself with all her might towards the opening door. Yes, she was the companion of a man and the mother of two children, determined to protect her home. Unlike the noble ladies who did nothing, she was a commoner who had rolled in the dirt. Even in unavoidable despair, she couldn’t do nothing and give up.

“No, no, Kael!”

The tone of the mother calling out to the child trying to rob beyond the door was truly desperate. She pleaded earnestly while pushing the door away.

“Please, listen to your mother. If things go this way, won’t we lose more than we gain…?”

She was right. How would her husband view the mad woman who had lost her own children and sense of reason? He seemed to genuinely love her, so he wouldn’t abandon her, but he was likely to treat her like tainted goods. And how should she handle the conflict between her husband and son? What about Piel, who would be caught in the middle? No matter how much she thought about the future that would result from this, it was filled with despair. It didn’t matter if she became a commoner, but her treasure’s future had to truly shine. It would be a mistake to ruin her life with such curiosity and misguided judgment.

“Clang!”

Despite her resistance, the relentless man did not stop pushing the door.

“Please, please! Listen to what I say, Mother!”

In profound despair, the mother shouted desperately. The agony was intensified by the fact that she had achieved so much as a writer over the thirty years, including a happy family.

The sincerity of the departed was one of them. What would they say if they saw me? No matter how long we’ve been together, as a self-respecting wife, there was a minimum ethical standard to uphold. An affair with my own son? If I were a person capable of rational thought, I would never have allowed such a thing.

“This can’t be happening, our good son couldn’t possibly…”

As the most desperate moments flashed through her mind, the happiest moments made it difficult for her to control her tears.

The little child who used to peek out from my chest and innocently raise his head, barely half my height at the time, always whining. He was so lovable that I would often kiss his forehead and soft cheeks countless times.

This was the same when my second child, Pierre, was born, no matter how much he grew taller than me. Even if he no longer shed tears over trivial matters. My love, my pride. Even if he hadn’t achieved anything, he was the most precious being in this world. His name was Akarel Bayoren, now, the name of the demon knocking on this door.

– Knock knock!

“Eek!?”

Ignoring the pitiful plea, the man could hardly suppress his desire. Soon, not only the latch but even the door frame was torn off. In the gap, the excited beast’s anticipation filled the blue wall. Confronted with this, Darien could only turn her head in terror.

– Step step.

With a small frame, her steps were short. After a few seconds, she reached the bed at the far end of the spacious room. As if fleeing, she rushed into the bedroom and began pretending to sleep under the covers, knowing it was a futile act.

“Oh, please…”

As if refusing to say anything, she covered her mouth with both hands.

As if refusing everything, she closed her eyes tightly.

– Snicker.

In the quiet room, only the eerie sound of the door opening echoed. With just the two of them, the beast seemed to have no intention of hiding its true identity. The only one who would feel ashamed and bow her head at the moment of conceiving sin was the mother with a tender heart. The white-haired beast had long distorted the natural order.

“…?”

However, it was truly strange. Besides the sound of the door opening, there were no footsteps. Could it be that now, at this late hour, he wanted to heed his mother’s plea? If so, it was truly fortunate.

One minute, two minutes, three minutes, with an anxious heart, she counted the seconds on her brief biological clock. Darien was convinced that there was no sound near the bedroom and slowly pushed aside the blanket, but…

“Gasp!?”

Surprisingly, Kael’s figure appeared right in front of her. He hadn’t climbed onto the bed. He was leaning in close to his mother’s head.

“I didn’t expect you to welcome me so warmly, Mother.”

The white-haired man growled as he looked at the girl. Although his words expressed joy, it was clear that he did not like being pushed away by his mother.

It was a faint, cave-penetrating low sound. It was a voice Darien had heard most after her husband. She was also an angel whom she had never stopped loving. In front of such a familiar presence, Darien strangely couldn’t utter a single word.

‘Why? How…?’

She tried to ignore as much as possible why her son’s intrusion had occurred. With dozens of questions, she turned her thoughts away from the fact that her own child did not want her. Surely, she believed there must be another reason.

-Thud.

“Ah!?”

However, with a cruel grip on her mother’s dullness, she could understand everything. She could no longer avoid the sad truth. Now Darien also knew. What this child was thinking, how foolishly hopeful she had been. This child intended to violate her own mother.

“…It’s the softest thing I’ve ever touched in my life. It feels even softer than a ripe peach.”

That was not the kind of language to be spoken to a mother-in-law. It was simply the behavior of a male, leisurely courting a female trapped within a fence to ravish her. Wasn’t the reason this child brought me to the improvement facility from the beginning for this purpose? It was with the intention of isolating me and finding the right opportunity to somehow overturn me.

But does such reasoning have any meaning anymore?

“Mother, why are you rolling your eyes like that?”

There was nowhere left to escape.

“…Huk!”

As soon as she realized this fact, and as soon as she recognized who the villain was grabbing her dullness, Darin burst into tears. The fact that all of this was not a dream but reality was terribly distressing.

– Thud.

The woman pushed her son away with all her might, flipped the blanket again, and sniffled. Whenever something scary or frightening happened, Darin hid her body like this. It had been a long-standing habit since she first established a relationship with her husband. When her hysteria became severe, she would even burrow into small crevices under the bed, not just the bed.

“What are you doing? Pretending to sleep now…”

How could a sharp-witted woman not know that she had been caught? Should she cry out loud, begging her son not to devour her? She didn’t want to face such a situation. Resisting and being forcibly raped would be even more dreadful.

‘Pretend to sleep, pretend to sleep…’

The discharged brain unfolded a ridiculous logic in her mind. Perhaps, if someone discovered it, she was asleep, and the child had only played a prank on his sleeping mother. Let’s consider this as a slight mistake due to excessive affection among family members, rather than calling it rape.

“Shouldn’t the precious son’s first experience happen with a sleeping woman?”

Darine didn’t want to hear the words of her son, which tormented her heart, so she blocked her ears. However, her shameless son had no intention of hiding his feelings towards his mother and only raised his voice. And that wasn’t the only problem.

“Why, why is my body getting hot all of a sudden?”

The sudden heat in her lower abdomen in this urgent situation was also an issue. Despite feeling disgusted by her son’s behavior earlier, Darine recalled a strange emotion sprouting within her.

“Oh? Please get up, Mother. Oh! Did you like the tangerines? I tried to select the ones with the highest sweetness.”

His cheerful tone made him seem like an affectionate eldest son. “But did you eat the tangerines?”

“I just checked the basket, and it seems you’ve eaten them all. Well, I’m truly relieved. I have no intention of forcing you to lie down like Father does.”

“……”

– Gulp, gulp…

The girl’s clenched eyelids twitched. Her breathing became rough, and her heart began to pound. She clearly wasn’t asleep, and her lower abdomen writhed to the point where she couldn’t sleep any longer. But she decided to pretend to sleep, even if by force. It was the best course of action she could take in this situation. It seemed there was no other way to avoid the situation.

“…I see.”

Did her mother know why she was behaving like this? The man watching her in the darkness chuckled.

Whether Darine’s choice was right or not, one thing was clear: it held no meaning.

Before she knew it, a rough hand had slipped beneath her waist.

“Ah…!”

A new scream burst from Darine’s lips.