Free Web NovelWith Helcat’s departure, breakfast this morning was one less thing to worry about.
Vieya sank lazily into the sofa, stretching with satisfaction. The once-Hero-turned-monster girl was ready to enjoy a perfectly peaceful morning.
The soft sofa seemed to merge with her slime-girl body. She half-closed her green eyes, feeling that familiar laziness creeping back in again...
Lately, life had been far too comfortable.
Aside from bonding time with her daughter, most of her days were spent in the kitchen.
How had the once-glorious Hero ended up as a housewife stuck cooking three meals a day?
She would never have believed this could happen to her. A kitchen idiot once upon a time, yet for her daughter’s sake she’d somehow become a master of pots and pans.
Still, she didn’t mind. Jasmine really was a sensible child—throughout this whole past month, she hadn’t caused a single bit of trouble.
Vieya only wished she could make up to her daughter a little more.
The only problem was that the girl was too clingy.
Not the kind who demanded constant attention, no—more like... well, she didn’t insist that every moment be spent with her.
She seemed rational, able to restrain her own desires... but if you were away for too long, if you stayed out of sight, the longer the separation lasted, the stranger her behavior became.
Back then, when Vieya had returned from a commission and just finished collecting her bounty, Lilian had come looking for her.
Vieya could still remember Lilian’s complaints clearly:
“Finally! You’re back! Let me say first, I’ve been taking good care of your daughter—no bullying, no punishment, no neglect... I might as well have treated her as my own!”
“Thanks. Has Jasmine been behaving herself?”
“Behaving? She’s too well-behaved! Whatever we tell her to do, she does it...”
Lilian sighed. “That’s the problem! Your daughter’s so obedient it’s eerie. Tell her to eat and she doesn’t take an extra sip of water; tell her to sleep and she’s in bed on the second; ask if there’s anything she wants to play, she shakes her head; ask if there’s anything she wants to eat, she shakes again. It’s like... aside from maintaining the bare minimum to stay alive, nothing matters to her.”
“Isn’t that good? She eats and sleeps.”
“...Oh, Light God above. I swear, you are the most careless mother I’ve ever met. I want to tie you before a statue and make you pray for five hours straight—then scrub that brain of yours with holy water.”
“Eh... how am I careless?”
“...Incredible. Anyway, you—right now—are coming with me to see your daughter!”
“I still have some paperwork to finish—hey, don’t pull my clothes!”
Like hauling a cabbage, Lilian dragged Vieya straight to the convent gates, forcing her to peer through the vine-covered iron fence.
Inside the convent courtyard—
Jasmine was sitting on the steps, staring toward the gate. A few children around her age stood nearby.
Was this bullying?!
Vieya rolled up her sleeves, ready to charge in, but Lilian grabbed her arm.
“Wait! This is a convent. I promise she’s fine... just watch for a bit.”
“You’d better be right.” Vieya pried Lilian’s hand away.
On the other side of the fence—
“Wow, you’re the quiet angel my dad mentioned from the convent... your hair’s so pretty! Can I touch it?”
The speaker was a brown-haired girl in a puffy dress, maybe five years old—slightly older than Jasmine.
But Jasmine merely lifted her eyes to look, then looked away, saying nothing.
A living example of what it meant to be a silent angel. ƒreewebɳovel.com
The little girl fidgeted awkwardly, but another gray-haired girl spoke up, biting her finger, her tone slow and hesitant.
“Uh... your eyes are weird... not like ours. One’s... red, and the other... gold? Pretty though...”
“Wanna come play with us? It’s boring here,” said a boy this time.
“......”
Then—
As if the chatter itself offended her, Jasmine quietly stood up, turned away with a cold expression, and walked off without saying a word.
Wait, what?
Vieya blinked. Her daughter had always been polite—shy, yes, but she knew her manners.
What’s with this...?
“...That’s rude!” a boy muttered, stepping forward, trying to scare her a bit.
Thud!
Jasmine, startled and flustered, tripped over her own feet—left tangled with right—and fell flat on the ground with a smack. The children froze.
Finally the puffy-dress girl darted forward and helped her up.
Seeing her daughter fall, Vieya could hold back no longer. She glared at Lilian and stormed over.
“Hey, hey, don’t be rash—”
But since Vieya was already running, talking was pointless.
Worried the overprotective monster-mother might lash out, Lilian rushed after her.
...
“Mom?”
“Wake up... Mom...”
A weak voice echoed beside her ear.
Vieya jolted awake on the sofa, blinking at the worried Jasmine watching her.
“Mom, are you tired? Maybe... take the day off? I can handle the chores and meals with Cat-sis.” Jasmine’s voice was gentle.
“It’s fine...”
Vieya reached out, pulled her daughter into her arms, and sighed softly.
That day—after she had carried Jasmine, knees scraped and bleeding, back to the infirmary and wrapped the wounds—
Lilian had told her that Jasmine’s hand and foot issues were serious. Even in all of the Church’s medical archives, she had never found a single case similar to Jasmine’s condition.
Congenital defects like hers were hundreds of times harder to treat than acquired injuries.
Meaning... Jasmine would likely live with it her whole life.
Lilian had also, rather cautiously, asked who Jasmine’s father was.
Vieya hadn’t answered. She simply left in silence with her daughter.
She didn’t know how to answer—and she was terrified that if anyone learned Jasmine was the next Demon King, assassins would soon come for her.
On the sofa—
Jasmine stiffened ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) in surprise at being suddenly hugged, her face brightening shyly as she nestled closer.
“Mom, are you worried about something?” she whispered.
“No...”
Wait!
Did I forget something?!
Vieya frowned, glancing at the clock. Why hadn’t Helcat returned yet?
It had been almost half an hour.
“I’m just wondering if something happened to Helcat. She’s been gone too long buying breakfast...”
Vieya tried to focus on the immediate issue.
“She went out to buy breakfast, but still isn’t back. I’m worried someone tricked her.”
“Don’t worry, Mom! Cat-sis is really strong!”
Jasmine tilted her head back against the slime’s chest.
“Cat-sis was the Demon King Castle’s best summoner—she keeps tons of dragons!”
“Dragons...”
Of course I know she’s strong.
What worried Vieya was that Helcat might fall for some human scheme—or worse, start a rampage in the streets.
And speaking of dragons... did demon-realm dragons also like hoarding treasure? Did they have gold-filled caves?
Judging by Helcat’s attitude...
Vieya sighed, a little regretful. “I just hope she doesn’t spend all the money at once. That’s our breakfast budget for the month.”
...
Out on the street—
Helcat carried an oversized sack stuffed with breakfast. Satisfied after counting everything, she was ready to head back when she caught a faint scent of blood.
“How strange... this smell of blood... isn’t it that purple-haired Hero’s?”
Back during their battle, Helcat had smelled that exact same scent from the girl’s old wounds.
And now...
“What’s going on? She’s hurt?”
Her brow furrowed. Once, she wouldn’t have cared if the purple-haired Hero lived or died.
But after last night’s talk, she could tell how much Vieya still cared about that Hero.
If the purple one died, Vieya would be sad, wouldn’t she?
“Should I check it out...? But the breakfast...” Helcat hesitated, then slipped into an empty alley.
A flash of red light—she summoned a giant white-feathered eagle from the void. Tying the bag to its claws, she instructed,
“Take this to where I’m staying. Don’t alert anyone.”
The eagle screeched, beating its wings and soaring away.
A white blur crossed the sky.
...
Moments later—
Duang!
A sudden knock against the window!
Vieya flinched, set Jasmine on the sofa, and turned sharply toward the sound.
Her eyes narrowed in caution.
Duang! A white bird perched outside, wings flapping.
That magic signature... Helcat’s?
One of her summoned beasts.
Now she’s playing messenger tricks?
Vieya caught on quickly and opened the window. The white bird flapped inside, hovering before her and cocking its head.
Breakfast.
She untied the food from its claws and looked at the bird still hovering there.
It cawed insistently, clearly trying to convey something.
But Vieya didn’t understand bird language, so the two simply stood before the open window—one slime, one bird—staring each other down.
“Caw, caw!”
“Can you speak human?”
“Cah?”
“......”
Vieya’s lovely eyes narrowed. Her instincts told her—the bird was trying to deliver an important message.
Something unrelated to breakfast.
“But... did something happen to the cat?” she guessed aloud.
“Cah!”
Vieya: “...”
From the sofa, Jasmine peeked her head out and explained,
“Mom, Big White says Cat-sis smelled the blood scent from yesterday’s Hero-sis while eating buns. She thinks something might’ve happened, so she’s following the scent now.”
The bird nodded approvingly.
“What...”
The Hero got injured after leaving last night?
Vieya’s face changed. She suddenly recalled the scene she’d witnessed at the marketplace—
Several humans, completely drained of blood, being carried away by knights on stretchers. The corpses had no wounds at all, yet the metallic smell of blood still clung thickly to the air.
That could only mean one thing: there was a vampire lurking in Fengxiang Town—one turning humans into blood thralls—and it had become so rampant that Rania must’ve stumbled right into it. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
By all logic, with Rania’s strength, nothing should’ve gone wrong.
But...
Vieya thought deeply for a long moment, then made up her mind.
“Jasmine, I have to go out. Stay home, no matter what—don’t leave until I’m back.”
“...Okay, Mom.” Jasmine smiled faintly. “I’ll wait for you.”
Vieya nodded, then jumped out the window together with the white eagle.
Flap!
The eagle spread its wings wide, a slime dangling from its claws as they soared into the sky.
“...You can fly like that?” Jasmine murmured, watching the sky. After a moment, she closed the window and door tightly.
...
“You’re called Big White, right?”
Up in the sky, Vieya remembered her daughter’s name for the bird—Big White.
“Can you locate your master now?” she asked.
The eagle cried sharply, diving downward. The fierce wind whipped against Vieya’s face, blowing strands of hair into her mouth. She spat them out with a scowl.
Below them lay the alley where Helcat had summoned the eagle.
