Free Web Novel“Borrow money? You haven’t even paid back the last time you borrowed from me, have you?”
Vieya turned her head and quietly stared at the girl before her. “Go on, tell me. What did you use the money for?”
“I’m sorry...”
Anna lowered her head, her confidence instantly deflated. “When I was helping that group of fox spirits integrate into human society, I didn’t calculate the accounts properly, and the funds got stuck.”
“Even though I’ve been working part-time at the Magic Academy, taking requests from the Adventurers’ Guild, and going to the magic scroll factory at night to improve the production process after supervising Jasmine’s spell practice... the gold coins I earn are still not enough.”
“You...” Vieya suddenly didn’t know what to say.
“I really didn’t want to borrow from you...” Anna twisted her fingers in embarrassment. “It was my mistake. I didn’t plan my budget properly. So when I arranged for those fox girls to enter human society, a problem came up. I just need a little more to cover the gap.”
“That group of foxes? Why did you bring them to the human side?” Vieya frowned.
“I didn’t bring them all over. Only the ones good at disguises and quick-witted enough—I sent those to the human side to develop...” Anna explained softly. “In Monster Forest, a small tribe like that develops too slowly, so I brought a few clever ones over...”
“Fine.”
Vieya pulled out a gold card and held it between two fingers. Anna’s eyes were instantly drawn to it.
When Vieya raised the card slightly, Anna’s blue eyes followed it upward like a cat chasing a toy.
“Here, take it. You don’t need to pay this one back,” Vieya said generously.
“No, I will pay it back!”
Anna accepted the gold card and promised solemnly.
Vieya didn’t mind. Ever since her identity as the Holy Sword’s Master was revealed, gold coins practically blew in like the wind.
Merchants, adventurer groups, nobles—all sorts of people came to her wanting to cooperate.
They all said that as long as they could use her name, they would give her an endless share of the profits.
Vieya agreed, but with conditions: they could not use any of her photos, nor her real name—only the title “Holy Sword’s Master.”
At first, she thought that the Empress of the Royal Capital might come to find her, but clearly she had thought too much.
Over the years, there had been no news of that Empress at all; she had gradually faded from public sight.
Instead, Lilian had begun to rise in fame, officially appearing before the masses as the Church’s Saint.
After borrowing the money and saying thank you, Anna quickly left, leaving Vieya alone in the corridor, letting the cold wind blow over her.
The night wind was sharp. Vieya hunched her shoulders, pulled her blue-and-white windproof coat tighter, and stood before the railing, gazing up at the moon hanging in the night sky.
...
That night, it was already very late when Vieya came home.
But the light in the bedroom was still on. The warm orange glow spread softly across the room. Jasmine, in her pajamas, was bent over the desk, writing something intently. Every now and then, she frowned and bit her pen, as if stuck on a difficult problem. ƒrēewebnovel.com
Click.
Vieya opened the door quietly, and when she saw Jasmine still awake, she froze.
“It’s so late. What are you still writing? Go to bed... or you won’t grow tall.”
“Uu...”
Every time her height was mentioned, Jasmine felt like a dagger had been driven into her tender heart. She wanted to grow, she wanted to get taller—but her body refused to listen. What could she do?
“Mom, I don’t want to be like this either...” Jasmine blinked, her cute face full of helplessness.
Their eyes met.
For the first time, mother and daughter both fell silent.
Vieya had always been worried about Jasmine’s development. At this rate, she really didn’t know how she would face Flaviel next time.
<We let you raise our daughter, and you turned her into this scrawny little bean sprout.>
Oh heavens, she could already imagine Flaviel’s exasperated, half-laughing face.
“Mom, can I sleep holding you tonight?” Jasmine asked, her lively eyes blinking rapidly. “Consider it a reward for my successful graduation!”
“What kind of reward is that?” Vieya chuckled. If Jasmine weren’t her own daughter, she would have suspected ulterior motives.
All day long—it was always hugs, kisses, clinging like a little rice cake.
“How about something else? I could take you on a boat, fly a kite, catch rabbits?”
“No, I just want to sleep with Mom. Otherwise I’ll have nightmares. I’m scared...”
“Nightmares?”
Vieya sat down beside Jasmine, brushed aside her bangs, and touched her forehead with the back of her hand. “Your temperature’s normal, so it’s not physical.”
After a pause, she asked softly, “Do you remember what kind of nightmare it was?”
Jasmine shook her head. “I don’t remember.”
“All right. I’ll go take a bath first—I had some wine earlier, so I smell.”
“Mm-hm.”
Jasmine nodded obediently, stood up from the desk, and quietly sat down on the soft bed.
After her mother stepped out and closed the door, those beautiful heterochromatic eyes dimmed again.
She didn’t know why, but lately she kept having terrifying dreams, over and over again.
In the dream, so many people stood opposite her, wanting to kill her.
But what frightened her most was that she saw her mother’s figure standing among those people too.
“Did Jasmine do something wrong?”
“Mom...”
Hugging a white pillow, Jasmine whispered softly.
Clack!
A noise came from the doorway.
A black cat sneaked in, meowed once, and leapt onto the bed, rolling around. As she rolled, she curiously asked,
“Little Demon King, where’s your mom? I just saw her come home, meow!”
“...Mom went to take a bath.” Jasmine picked up the pillow and lightly smacked the rowdy cat. “Cat-sister, stop rolling around. If Mom sees you again, she’ll pull your ears.”
“I’m not afraid of her!”
“Not afraid of who?”
“Not afraid of that white-hair! She’s the only white-hair in our house! Meow—wait, who was I just talking to?”
Helcat suddenly froze, turned toward the door, and her pupils shrank sharply.
Vieya stood there, wrapped in a bath towel, wiping her damp moon-white hair as she asked curiously,
“Were you talking behind my back again?”
“No, meow!”
The black cat stiffened all over, standing upright on the bed, her furry ears drooping—obedient and meek as could be.
Jasmine: ...
Cat-sister’s face-changing skills are getting more and more perfect.
Vieya flicked the black cat lightly on the forehead, then smiled at her ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ dazed daughter.
“I forgot to grab a change of clothes just now. I’ll tell you a bedtime story when I come back.”
“Mm, I’ll wait for you... Mom.”
