The Daughter Born of My Heart, the Hidden Truth

I left behind the old count’s workshop, where the stench of decay still lingered, and walked down the dark underground corridor with leisurely steps. Having given the old man—who would soon either die from a heart attack during sex or have his head lopped off—the permission and notice to head to the Forest Villa, all that remained was time. Time to escape the Blake County Estate’s suffocating surveillance network and thoroughly cook my personal dolls to my exact taste.

Karin is probably still passed out.

Recalling the pathetic sight of her fainting like a dead frog, swept away by the tidal wave of pleasure that came when her hymen tore, I gripped the doorknob leading to the secret room. I had ordered Camilla to comfort Karin when she woke, to strengthen the bond of their first night together and erase any lingering shame. Yet considering the exhaustion from that fierce coupling, I had assumed she wouldn’t regain consciousness until morning.

But.

The moment I silently cracked the door open just a sliver, two women’s hushed voices drifted out from beyond the room that should have been tightly sealed. Instead of opening the door fully, I stopped where I was and quietly listened to the conversation leaking through the gap.

“Mom… haa, is… is this what a first night is usually like?”

It was Karin’s voice, hoarse and heavy with the lingering afterglow of pleasure. The girl I thought had fainted had already regained consciousness and was now cradled in her mother Camilla’s arms. There was no fear or shame in Karin’s tone—only a bizarre mixture of awe, bewilderment, and excitement at the overwhelming sensation she had experienced for the first time in her life.

“My body… it didn’t feel like my own. I tried to fight the hypnosis through the pain of my flesh tearing, but instead of hurting, it felt like flames were exploding from deep inside me… My mind just went completely white, and all I could do was scream Edric’s name. Is sex… is it really supposed to feel this good? Good enough to drive a person insane?”

At her daughter’s innocent yet obscenely vulgar question, Camilla’s hand, which had been gently stroking Karin’s sweat-dampened hair, paused for a moment. The woman who had been devouring her older sister’s body in the observation room like a bitch in heat now wore the infinitely gentle and warm mask of a ‘mother’ once more in front of her daughter.

“…Yes, Karin. The pleasure of becoming one with the man you love is so sweet and terrifying that it can melt away a woman’s reason in a single instant.”

Camilla wore a bitter yet somehow dreamy smile as she stared into empty space, beginning to recall her own past.

“Mother didn’t believe it at first either. For over thirty years, I had lived only as the Empire’s sword, as the knight commander, grasping nothing but my blade and my pride. I was convinced my body was nothing more than a sturdy blade meant to protect the Empire, that it could never crumble to such vulgar pleasure.”

Yet the memories of her ‘first night’ that flowed from Camilla’s lips were not the romantic love Karin had shared with Edric. They were the history of a thirty-year-old virgin, kept untouched by the President’s hypnosis, being thoroughly violated through brutal violence and humiliation.

Even so, Camilla’s eyes sank deeply into those horrific yet undeniably ecstatic memories.

“Hehe. Now he is no longer the man I love, merely an administrator who tunes me… but when that President tied me to a chair and roughly dug into my most sacred place, he whispered this into my ear.”

Even from outside the door, the famous line from the original novel’s first chapter flashed vividly through my mind. Camilla took a trembling breath and recited it, imitating that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠devilish President’s voice.

“At those words, reason leaked from Mother’s eyes like a thin stream and shattered. My thighs, gripped by a man’s strong hands, trembled convulsively, and from ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠between my tightly closed lips flowed a vulgar moan that no one would believe belonged to a knight commander. The pride and resolve I had built up over thirty years… all of it crumbled in an instant from a single, insignificant act of intercourse.”

Camilla kissed her daughter’s forehead and swallowed a bitter, self-mocking laugh.

“Only after my instinct as a ‘bitch’ that craved nothing but pleasure devoured my reason could I admit that I was nothing more than a frail, lewd woman. So Karin, losing your reason in Edric’s arms and indulging in pleasure is nothing to be ashamed of.”

At Camilla’s sincere and devastating confession, a heavy silence fell over the secret room for a moment. Then Karin’s two fists began to tremble violently.

“Ah… aah…”

Instead of bewilderment at the pleasure she had experienced, a fierce blue rage filled Karin’s crimson eyes. Unlike herself, who had confirmed her love with the gentle savior(?) named Edric, she felt maddening disgust and sorrow that her noble mother—who had lived in chastity and devotion for her adopted daughter—had her first time stolen by that horrific President’s violence and been forcibly reduced to a bitch.

“I can’t forgive him…! That filthy bastard trampled on Mother’s noble pride… on Mother’s first time like that!”

Watching Karin seethe with rage, Camilla smiled softly and patted her daughter’s back. Once the anger subsided, Karin’s eyes filled with deep guilt and tender affection.

“Mom… there’s something I’ve wanted to ask you for a very long time.”

Still in her mother’s arms, Karin carefully parted her lips.

“What could make our daughter hesitate like this?”

“I… I’m not your real child, am I? We’re not even related by a single drop of blood. So why did you take me in when you were still a teenager… and endure all those horrible insults and pointing fingers in noble society—being called ‘a filthy whore who gave birth to a bastard’—just to raise me?”

It was the fundamental sense of debt Karin had buried deep in her heart while following in her mother’s footsteps to become the Empire’s female knight. The thorny path that Camilla, a prestigious noble daughter, had been forced to walk after taking in a baby of unknown origin and claiming her as her own blood.

Camilla wiped the tears welling in her daughter’s eyes with her thumb and pulled Karin’s head deep into her soft bosom.

“Hehe… what a foolish thing to say. Not related by blood? …This is a secret of our family that I’ve never told anyone, but… you are my real niece, Karin. The same blood flows through us.”

“Huh…? W-what do you mean?”

“In truth, you are the only bloodline born between my older brother—who passed away early—and his fiancée, an academy senior I admired greatly.”

Karin’s eyes widened dramatically. Even I, eavesdropping from outside the door, wore an intrigued smile. This was the moment the ‘true secret of Karin’s birth,’ only vaguely hinted at in the original work, was being revealed.

“Don’t your uncles still live in the family…?”

“Besides them, there was one half-brother my father brought in from outside… a bastard child. The main family’s siblings treated him like a beast and called him the family’s shame, but I adored that brother very much. He had the greatest talent for the sword in the world, and he was the kindest person too.”

A faint longing colored Camilla’s voice.

“And during our academy days, the senior I followed like an older sister fell in love with him. The two promised to marry even if it meant defying the family. But… the night before they were to leave the territory, my brother was attacked by unidentified bandits and brutally murdered.”

“Ah…”

“And the senior, who was carrying my brother’s child, was immediately forced into an engagement with an old noble from another powerful family the moment he died. In despair, she fled the family while clutching her slowly swelling belly… and I couldn’t bear to let her go alone, so I ran away with her before I had even properly walked the path of a knight.”

Cradled in Camilla’s arms, Karin held her breath and listened to the tragic story of her biological parents.

“I was convinced the one who killed my brother wasn’t just some bandits. Given his swordsmanship, there was no way he would have fallen to mere thieves. Someone must have sent assassins to kill him. So I tried to track down the mastermind with the senior, but… she stopped me, saying that the child growing in her belly was more important than avenging the dead.”

The memories of that harsh life on the run flashed before Camilla’s eyes.

“We hid from our pursuers in a shabby shelter at the foot of the cold snow mountains in the northern continent and lived together for over ten months. Then, on a night when a fierce winter blizzard raged… the senior gave birth to you but couldn’t receive proper postpartum care… and eventually passed away.”

Thick tears rolled down Camilla’s cheeks and wet Karin’s forehead.

“When I cut the umbilical cord and held your blood-soaked body… I made a vow. No matter how the world pointed fingers, I would raise this child as ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠my own daughter, born from my own heart, and make her the finest and most noble knight in the world. Your name, ‘Karin,’ was also something I gave you myself in front of the senior as she died, clutching my brother’s memento.”

“Mom… sob, Mom…!”

Having learned the entire truth, Karin finally burst into childlike sobs and clung to Camilla’s neck. She had realized that her mother’s sacrifice toward her was not mere pity, but a desperate devotion tied by blood and love.

“So Karin. You are not a stranger. You are my one and only real daughter, the one I would give my life to protect—the daughter I gave birth to with my own heart.”

The sight of the mother and daughter embracing each other and shedding tears was like a tear-jerking human ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠drama all on its own.

After crying for a long time, Karin’s wet eyes sparkled as she tightly grasped both of Camilla’s hands.

“Mom. I’ve made up my mind.”

“About what?”

“Once Edric soon inherits the count’s title… then you should put down all your burdens and live with us. I’ll manage the count’s household as his legal wife, so you can receive compensation for all your lifelong suffering and live happily together with me and Edric… as a real family. Okay?”

At her daughter’s admirable and heartfelt proposal, Camilla wiped her tears and smiled brightly.

“Oh my, how could our daughter think that? Did you really plan to leave Mother alone in the back room like some lonely old woman? Of course we should. When you have a child, this mother will carry and raise it for you, so don’t worry.”

“Really? It’s a promise, Mom!”

The conversation between the mother and daughter, pressing their foreheads together and blooming with laughter, was filled with the ordinary and beautiful familial affection found in any family—more so than any other noble house.

Kuk… kuk kuk kuk.

Yet I, who had eavesdropped on that heartwarming third-rate melodrama from beginning to end from outside the firmly closed door, couldn’t hold back the sneer leaking out and bit my lip.

What a truly tear-jerking maternal love and tragic secret of birth… The problem is that the ending happens to be repeating history.

Having read the entire original novel, the real underside of the ‘tragic past’ Camilla had just described—the spine-chilling truth—remained vividly in my mind.

The one who killed Camilla’s biological older brother was not mere bandits or family assassins. It was the work of the ‘hypnotist group’ led by the President, the original novel’s protagonist. To kidnap the academy senior—Karin’s biological mother, who possessed a rare mana constitution—and remodel her into a top-grade doll, one of the President’s disciples had brutally sliced apart the interfering older brother and abducted her.

Karin’s biological mother had miraculously broken the hypnotic shackles with the power of love just before being delivered as a doll, awakened her ego, and escaped the workshop while still in the early stages of pregnancy. She had then met Camilla dramatically in the blizzard-swept snow mountains, given birth to Karin, and breathed her last.

It was hinted that her husband was one of Camilla’s brothers, but… honestly, anyone looking at their appearances would say they’re the perfect mother-daughter pair.

Even that monstrous President had pounced on her thinking she was an ordinary married woman… only to cheer wildly at the miraculous attribute of a thirty-something virgin widow with a fully grown adult daughter.

Well, honestly, it is a shame. Handing over Camilla’s supreme treasure to that gloomy President bastard.

But it was a price I absolutely had to pay to survive.

…I don’t even know how many times I’ve repeated this excuse-filled monologue to myself. Tsk.

The more I thought about it, the more regrettable it became. Not being able to fully savor Camilla’s noble attribute as a thirty-something virgin widow as my own was something I would shed bloody tears over for a long time.

But there was no helping it. Camilla, who possessed superhuman mental strength and could awaken her ego at any moment to slit my throat, had to be taken over in a ‘finished product’ state with her ego perfectly castrated by the President’s hand.

At least I was able to survive safely and enjoy pleasure, but…

My gaze reached Karin, who was smiling innocently while held in Camilla’s arms beyond the door crack. As if to perfectly compensate for my deep regret at missing Camilla’s virginity, that pitiful Empire’s female knight had very willingly—and with perfect ‘voluntary will’—offered me her fresh first time.

She wasn’t a shell taken by force. Looking at that admirable and lovable wife who had willingly gasped and opened her wet body beneath me, a deep heat naturally rose within me.

Kuk kuk kuk… As expected, requesting that Karin’s ego be left completely intact was my best move.

In the original work, the mother and daughter had eventually awakened their egos. When the original protagonist forcibly subdued and retrained them, he had grumbled about it.

I should have conducted the hypnosis differently…

I silently twisted the corner of my mouth upward. Yes. For them, the coercive method of forcibly breaking their minds and brainwashing them didn’t work. Violent suppression would only trigger the ‘maternal love’ and ‘family love’ latent in their blood and cause an explosion.

Therefore, I must leave that trivial ego completely intact and make them willingly put the collar on themselves.

That was the ‘best’ choice I had made in order to survive—no, to make these charming toys completely mine.

I had planted the sweet illusion of a ‘savior’ in Karin and handed Camilla the deceptive rationalization of ‘sacrifice for her daughter.’ The result was perfect.

Look at those pitiful Empire’s swords inside that room right now, affectionately promising each other a future. Karin is drenched in happiness, firmly believing she has overcome her tragedy and will become a proactive countess who supports me, while Camilla cheers for such a daughter yet hides the truth and deceives her according to her master’s orders.

Far from realizing something was wrong and struggling, they believed with blind faith that gasping for pleasure beneath me was their own ‘free will.’

Therefore, Karin. The day you vomit blood and scream for your mother to save you like in the original will never come.

Because you will go mad inside my cradle of pleasure with your own eyes covered. Even if, in the very distant future, you regain your reason and belatedly ask your mother for help… Camilla will already have been assembled into a perfect bitch who serves only me as her master. She will instead grab your collar and drag you down to my feet.

“Huu… It’s about time to decide the ending for this route.”

I took a deep breath and replaced the bitter smile on my lips with the face of the most affectionate husband.