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Midnight.

Mia stroked Sayah’s hair as she was sleeping.

Saya seemed to think that Mia had never slept with her like this before.

So I asked my mother, who had to be away from home for a long time, to do this for me.

Actually, this happened quite often.

I just did it secretly because I was afraid of getting caught.

I was glad that at least now I could do it openly.

“Ugh… .”

Saya mumbled and opened her eyes blankly.

Mia had already taken her hands out of Saya’s hair and was acting like a fool, but Saya grabbed her hands and placed them back on her head.

Judging from her sleepy gaze, she didn’t seem to be awake, and it seemed like she was just continuing to demand what she felt while asleep… But it was something she wasn’t used to. She stopped without realizing it.

And Saya’s sleep seemed to have completely awakened at that rejection.

“Oh, I… I didn’t sleep… ?”

“Ugh… .”

A conversation too awkward for a mother and daughter to have.

Mia forced herself to be brave.

“Hey… Can I pat your head?”

“Yes… ? Yes… .”

As Mia began to stroke her hair, this time Saya froze.

When I see this, I can’t help but smile at the thought that she really is my daughter.

“Why are you like that…?”

“Just… . I thought at the same time that my daughter was still a child, but now she was all grown up.”

The expression ‘my daughter’ also felt a bit ticklish.

When calling Saya, it was either ‘you’ or ‘Saya’.

Saya also hasn’t called Mia ‘Mom’ in a very long time. She probably started calling her ‘Mother’ and being respectful by the time she entered elementary school.

“I’ve been taller than my mother for quite some time now… .”

“That’s a small thing for me, but… I’m bringing a lover too.”

“Lover… .”

Saya’s face turned bright red.

Mia almost did that too. What a lover. I’ve never had one before.

“Can I ask how you met, how you came to like each other… and how you ended up doing dirty things?”

I asked briefly about the part that was bothering me.

Saya couldn’t stand the last part of the question any longer and pulled the blanket over her face to hide it. However, she began to grope and tell the truth from under the blanket.

I had a slightly complicated feeling that it reminded me of a mother and daughter I had seen on TV somewhere.

I’m glad to see that kind of appearance.

I felt sorry that I could only see that now. If I had been a little more shameless, I could have had this conversation much sooner.

But as I listened to Saya’s story, those thoughts completely disappeared.

“Has it really only been a week since you met? Neither you nor he felt that way at all… .”

You can tell just by looking at him that he likes Se-ha. There’s no way you wouldn’t know.

Although she is pretty, she has a cold, unrealistic vibe that makes her seem inhuman, but when you look at her, that feeling completely disappears.

A dog looking at its owner with drool dripping from its mouth and its tail wagging… .

If you laugh at Saya on that topic, the destructive power will be so great that I think I will lose my mind too.

Even though I know that when the two of them were enemies, he would fight back straight and coldly even if I pressed him with overwhelming superiority.

On the other hand, in Saya’s case, she didn’t express her affection as easily as Seha. At first glance, it seems like she’s having trouble with Seha’s one-sided affection.

But Mia, as a mother, knows.

Saya’s gaze always follows Seha without being revealed.

Although he doesn’t smile openly, his eyes are filled with deep emotion, and the shyness that appears in each of Se-ha’s actions hides a joy that is even greater.

An attitude that seems to affirm everything about you, as if it will allow everything.

It’s natural to fall in love.

It was because of that very sight that she wanted to become Saya’s mother.

Mia corrected her words.

“No. Time isn’t important, right… . Yeah. I guess you and he both have good taste.”

Suddenly, Saya laughed brightly.

“I think this is the second time my mother has spoken well of my junior.”

What was the first one? Was it when we were talking about pig hate?

“Well, what if I say something anyway? You two did a lot of dirty things together… . ”

“… .”

But apart from that, it was also shocking that I hugged her on the day I met her.

Come to think of it, Saya was kissing Seha while gently pressing her down on the bed earlier. Could it be that Saya is the one leading between the two? Day and night?

Although I thought it was strange to imagine such things with my daughter… my curiosity, once ignited, would not go out.

But isn’t it natural to be curious?

Sex between women? I can’t even imagine it.

Even the sex between men and women is something I only know through knowledge… .

“Mother?”

My body froze as the thought reached a part of me that had been buried as a taboo for a long time.

Saya noticed the sudden change and lifted her head from the blanket, sounding worried.

Mia laughed.

I forced a smile.

Saya, who is sensitive to the pain of others, often has moments like this where she is more perceptive than necessary. In the past, she would not be able to suppress her feelings at such moments and would either quickly run away or physically slap them away.

The price was the various wounds inflicted on Saya and the long period of separation.

“Nothing. I just thought my daughter was too precocious.”

“… My mother gave birth to me at my age.”

The desperate effort seemed to have succeeded, but Saya’s relieved reaction became another attack.

Mia endured this desperately.

“What… That’s right. When you find a good person, it’s very important to hold on to them. The daughter is smarter than her mother.”

This time, Saya flinched.

As I was wondering why, I realized that it was a taboo between the two.

‘father’.

A word that is rarely mentioned between two single-parent families.

I don’t know what Saya thinks about her father.

I guess I’ve been imagining things, but I’ve never once said anything out loud since I was very young.

Given her reaction to the idea that she should hold on to a good man, isn’t it possible that she’s imagining that she met a bad man and gave birth to him?

The possibility seemed high.

because….

“Yes… Mom… .”

Because Saya confessed cautiously.

“I never once thought that I needed anyone else in this house besides my mom… . And of course I will continue to do so… .”

It seemed like it had been a long time since Saya had said the word “Mom” in her right mind, even if she had been surprised or flustered.

Mia couldn’t help but laugh at Saya’s words.

He answered with a smile.

“What about him? You don’t mind him coming into this house, do you?”

“That, that’s a different issue… .”

He hugged Sayah tightly, who was embarrassed and didn’t know what to do.

Saya’s body temperature is quite low compared to most people, but she is quite warm right now. While hugging her and humming a lullaby, Saya fell into a deep sleep before I knew it.

Mia sighed.

I can finally hold you and put you to sleep like this without any worries, but I feel so unlucky that I have to leave you for a while.

But on the other hand, I’m so glad that I was able to hold her and put her to sleep like this before I left. I’m so glad that I can say that I love my daughter.

I never imagined this day would come.

About 20 years ago,

I came to my senses on the delivery table,

When I realized that I had no memories of nine months… .

†

Mia was abandoned in front of an orphanage when she was very young.

Since it was an orphanage run by a church, I took it for granted that we would attend mass at the church on weekends.

Although Mia didn’t have any special talents, she had an incredibly pretty voice, so she joined the choir and received a lot of attention there.

When I entered high school, I released a CCM album under my baptismal name, and it was a great success for a CCM album. I didn’t know much about the complicated stuff, but I still had hopes of continuing to sing and live my life.

And nine months were gone from my life.

When I came to, I was on the delivery table in the obstetrics and gynecology department, about to give birth. Unable to understand the situation, I was just trying to survive, and as a result, I held in my arms an incomprehensible being that said it was my daughter.

Something I found out too late.

That she had been missing for nine months. That she had been found asleep in front of an orphanage the day before. That she had been taken to the hospital because labor had begun.

It’s an absurd scandal for a girl who sings hymns with a heavenly voice. The life she dreamed of is completely blocked.

But more than that… it hurt that I had become a troublemaker who told unbelievable lies to the people who trusted and followed me.

Because she insisted so strongly, investigators from the Inspector General’s Office came to examine her. However, the results of the investigation were ‘no traces of awakening ability related to memory.’

Either the memory loss is purely psychological, or she’s lying.

Everyone thought she was lying.

When I was discharged from the hospital, the baby’s problems were brought up.

There was no way to deny that this was Mia’s baby. Mia accepted the baby with dead eyes and held it in her arms.

This annoying baby would cry and whine when held in someone else’s arms, but would laugh and laugh in Saya’s arms. Even if you pinched him, he would just stop laughing at that moment.

The only place she could go right now was the orphanage where she grew up, but that was the place in the world that tormented her the most.

In every other place Mia is just a dumb single mother, but there she is a dumb single mother who lies to everyone.

However, people tried to be lenient and accept it, saying that there must have been some reason, so Mia’s suffering only grew.

The night I died.

The child was named like that.

It’s the worst name a mother can give her child. But the child seems to like the name, and no matter how she feels, she laughs when she’s called Mia.

It’s not that there was no way to give up the baby.

There were several times when the orphanage talked about putting her up for adoption, but Mia refused each time.

It wasn’t because I wanted it. When that moment came… my memories were cut off and I rejected the offer.

It was around that time that he realized that he had become an Awakened One.

I don’t know for sure, but I realized that it was an incredibly powerful ability. As far as tearing and destroying things, it was in no way inferior to the famous Awakened people that you see on TV.

And then a certain suspicion attacked Mia. It must have been the influence of the movies that were popular at the time.

Could it be because of this child?

Am I being manipulated into giving birth to, raising, and protecting this child?

It was a suspicion that could be called a delusion of persecution, but that suspicion held Mia tightly in its grip and never let her go.

Mia was gripped by the fear that she was the host and being controlled by the parasitic Sayah.

At the same time, I couldn’t trust anyone around me.

Even people who said the obvious, that children should be treated with care because they are your own, seemed like ‘enemies’ who were plotting something.

Mia, who ran away from the orphanage, wandered the streets with Saya, whom she could not separate from.

There was nothing dangerous. Her powers were too powerful, and if she could turn back time, even if it wasn’t for a long time, she could fix most mistakes.

In the process, I clashed with the Office of the Inspector General and various government organizations, and somehow received an offer to pardon all my past actions if I only cooperated occasionally.

Tired of the exhaustion, she accepted the offer, rented a modest apartment, and began living alone with her daughter.

The fact that Sayah was a very untalented child, without any extraordinary qualities, helped a lot in calming Mia’s delusions.

If Saya had been good at anything, Mia would have been afraid again. She would not have been able to escape the fear that her life was being played with by something transcendent.

But Saya was a surprisingly untalented child.

The only talent she had was to love for a long time.

Even though she was a mother who suffered from delusions of persecution and abused herself, she just looked at her with loving eyes, as if she would affirm all of her and allow everything.

After realizing that fact, a long period of regret followed. Because of that, I couldn’t be honest about my feelings.

Right today,

Until Se-ha barged in.

It’s not smart to think that Mia’s story of abuse was just something she did because she was young and immature. The abuse Mia inflicted on Saya wasn’t at that level.

However, it is difficult to say that this illusion was completely wrong.

Saya really won’t think of anything more than that.

Instead of keeping an ambiguous distance out of guilt over the irreversible hurt, just be honest.

Surely, this child will smile happily as if all his wounds were healed with just one word.

“I love you, my daughter… .”

Mia muttered like that.

In the end, I could only say it indirectly today, but I decided to really tell you directly when I got back from the meeting.

I don’t know the reason for the summons, but the fact that I was summoned in the first place means that something incredibly big has happened, but I still have a burning desire to resolve it as quickly as possible and return.

She didn’t know.

While she was burning with such passion, something that was trying to dig into her heart melted and disappeared.

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《[The fragment of the Mirror of Shadows] has been removed.》

《The operation against the Crystal Knights ended in failure.》

“… Tsk.”

Someone who checked the system message grumbled quietly.

The Joma-gyeong is a mirror that reflects demons, which appears in Eastern folklore. It is said that if you shine this mirror on a demon, its true form will be revealed.

However, the mirror that he talks about in his unique skill [Fragment of the Joma-gyeong] is a ‘mirror that makes the reflected object appear as a monster.’ A human with a fragment of that mirror embedded in them will naturally be possessed by a demonic spirit of suspicion and destroy both themselves and others.

I had forgotten that I had put it in so long ago, but it seemed that the fragment had been destroyed without being able to penetrate the target’s heart.

Among the three knights, the one in charge of destruction, the knight in charge of destruction, must have put in quite a bit of effort…

“This is boring. Is someone interrupting?”

He searched the area around the pavilion just in case.

There is a bio-reaction right next to it. It is ordinary, except for the fact that it is surprisingly untalented. No, isn’t this extraordinary?

The only unique skill is [Incompetent] ‘one’.

When I read the explanation, it was so absurd that I couldn’t help but chuckle.

At least I’m pretty sure this guy won’t be a nuisance.

“Well, what can I do even if it naturally disappeared? I’ve neglected this for a while. Should I start paying attention to it from now on?”

He turned on the switch on his dedicated console and began searching for something with his twenty fingers.

Among the place names that came up in the search results with several conditions, there was also the name ‘Wolmyeong Military School.’

He, the [Apostle of the Goddess of Madness], was licking his lips as he thought about who he should touch in order to make his goddess the happiest.

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