Free Web Novel“Wh... where am I?”
On a boundless white surface of water.
Vieya slowly awoke, blinking in confusion. Beneath her lay a vast blue lake, its surface like a mirror reflecting the sky.
“Right... I was supposed to take the ship back to find my daughter!”
All at once, forgotten memories returned to her mind.
Vieya propped her hands against the lake beneath her, her whole body jolting as she sat upright, eyes fixed ahead, chest heaving violently.
She remembered now!
The ship she was on had been attacked by some unknown monster!
She and that elf girl she’d met at the docks had been entrusted by the blue-haired Hero leading the voyage to continue searching for a way out of their predicament—to find or slay the monster pulling the strings behind it all!
But why had she ended up here? Where was Aislin? Shouldn’t they have still been fighting that monster?
What on earth had just happened?
Vieya stared blankly at her own outstretched hands. Her memory was frozen at that exact instant when she had used [Appraise] on the unknown creature.
“‘Empress of Time,’ huh. I’ve never even heard of such a monster before...”
Vieya forced her breathing into rhythm, readying her body for another sudden battle, even as she probed at the true nature of this mirrored lake.
As the saying goes, first impressions are important. Vieya had hoped to conserve her energy, to avoid facing her daughter in a weakened state that would cost her the dignity of being a father...
But now it looked like the small reserve she had painstakingly restored through eating and sleeping would soon be drained away again—perhaps even leaving her in debt. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ
She really hated this!
“No matter what you are, for daring to cause me so much trouble—I’ll kill you!” Vieya put her hands on her hips, emerald eyes flashing with ferocity.
At that very moment, the lake surface seemed to hear her threat.
Though there was no wind, ripples spread out across the still water, and from the milky waves emerged a hazy, indistinct figure.
That was—!
Vieya’s jewel-green eyes widened in shock. Before her, out of the water, appeared someone who looked exactly like herself!
Such a scene, cliché beyond belief!
Vieya brimmed with confidence.
“Hmph! Trying to play me with such an old, tired trick—you think I’ll go soft?”
With a snort, Vieya raised her right hand, pointing straight at that fake version of herself.
“Impostor, you’re blocking my path! Authority, Number Five—!”
“?”
Her voice stopped abruptly. She felt an icy-soft hand gently rest on her raised arm... and close around it.
Who?!
The little slime girl’s heart skipped a beat in fright.
“There are times when calming down to think about who is truly friend or foe is far more important than blindly attacking whatever target happens to stand before you.”
The voice was gentle and melodious, unhurried, carrying a strange soothing power.
But the moment Vieya recognized it, her heart was thrown into turmoil. She turned her head in disbelief—only for a pair of smiling golden eyes to meet her gaze.
“This is [Mirror Flower, Water Moon]—the thing we once spoke about. Everything you see, hear, smell, and sense right now is only what you yourself wish to perceive. None of it is real.
So, if you ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ really had struck just now... that elf girl traveling with you would have been in grave danger.”
Flaviel pressed down her arm, then looked forward with calm eyes.
“Think carefully. When exactly did you fall into... its perfect hypnosis?”
Not a mere illusion, but deception of all five senses?
“Th-that...”
Cold sweat beaded on Vieya’s forehead. Her thoughts tangled into knots.
A terrifying realization gripped her chest—she had almost made an irreversible mistake again.
Killed, with her own hands, someone she had no desire to kill?
The old nightmare resurfaced: she remembered plunging the [Holy Sword of Slaying Evil] into the heart of the one she loved, watching as that warmth drained away, leaving only the chill of death.
Fragmented memories, stained with dust and blood, crushed her chest like a spiked hammer, suffocating her, nausea rising violently in her throat.
“I... I didn’t swing my hand... No, I did in the past! Wait... in the past? Strange... who did I strike back then?”
“Flaviel? No... no, she betrayed me first...” Vieya clutched her face, only to find tears streaming down without her knowing. “I wasn’t wrong...”
“You disgust me. Flaviel never raised her hand against you.”
Suddenly.
Her stomach lurched. Vieya collapsed forward, barely catching herself on both hands before falling flat.
But then—her pale hands were slick with sticky blood. The stench was so thick it made her gut convulse.
“Calm yourself. The very air here harbors malice toward any intruder. Do not dwell on the past—it will only drag you deeper down!”
Flaviel quickly knelt, one arm supporting Vieya’s trembling body, the other pressing down on her hand. Her golden eyes glimmered with sorrow.
She was already dead, long ago bereft of any means to interfere with reality. All she was now was a remnant spirit, clinging to Vieya’s memories.
If ever the day came when Vieya forgot her completely, then she would finally vanish from this world.
Yet through all these years, Flaviel had remained in her memories, watching over her, quietly wishing that one day she would truly let go of the past—to embrace the world, and the future.
Instead of lying among wine jars, drowning herself in alcohol’s numbness, shouting that she wanted to forget and drive Flaviel away—while, in truth, holding on tighter than anyone.
That guilt and agony never vanished. Like two invisible blades—one suspended in front, the other pressing against her back.
So, Vieya had learned to forget, forcing herself not to recall. Convincing herself: You’ve been reborn! Time to walk forward, light and unburdened, into a brighter future!
But pain never truly disappears—it only sinks deeper.
And when she faced a monster like this, tearing open wounds that had never healed, all her defenses crumbled. freewebnσvel.cøm
Flaviel sighed. She had not spent her final moments forging this new body for Vieya just to torment her.
“If you don’t want to keep running away, then think of your daughter.”
Flaviel pulled the trembling slime girl close, her voice tender.
“Did you know? Our daughter is very brave. She lives all alone in the Demon King’s castle, yet she isn’t afraid.
Everyone calls her ‘Princess Demon King,’ but no one ever gave her a name. I didn’t... and you didn’t either.”
As she whispered softly, the little slime girl in her arms gradually calmed. Flaviel smiled and hugged her tighter.
“But you know... it’s already too late if you want to give her one now.
She didn’t like everyone calling her ‘Princess Demon King.’ So she picked one herself from a human flower catalog.”
“Her name is Jasmine. You must remember it. Don’t you forget.” Flaviel gave a gentle laugh, squeezing Vieya’s shoulder.
“All right, rest time is over. You need to move forward again.”
“This time—don’t you dare lose our daughter.”
