Chapter 29
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 29
Chapter Title: Just Mom and Me
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In this world, Mom and I will live happily, just the two of us.
I had clearly left the child with the Commander and stepped away.
I trusted that the original protagonist would take good care of her on his own.
But the moment I returned, Esira came running to me, sniffling and crying out, "Mom!"
Half of me wanted to kill the Commander right then and there.
Protagonist or not, I was ready to snap his neck on the spot.
"You know the Commander?"
The more I heard, the dizzier my head felt.
It was true that I thought well of the Commander.
But not enough to share love with him.
I knew what choices this original protagonist had made.
The fact that I'd entered the game world was amusing. That was all—just a spark of interest.
"Marigold."
"Yeah?"
"What do you think about all this?"
Marigold's eyebrows shot up, and she cut straight to it.
"The Commander's a total piece of trash."
"......"
The Commander made a wronged face, his mouth flapping open and shut.
"Is that so......"
A sigh escaped me naturally.
At first, I was convinced that guy was 100% the perpetrator.
A scumbag who made the child cry with his dog-like words.
But when I dug into it? Just some bizarre misunderstanding?
A so-called Commander.
I had no idea what he kept that mouth of his for.
Couldn't even defend himself properly and let things spiral this far?
Ended up making Esira burst into tears and run off?
Did he wear his mouth as mere decoration?
It felt like I'd swallowed a hundred sweet potatoes whole.
I had the sudden urge to charge over, grab him by the collar, and shake him down.
The moment I narrowed my eyes, Reina dropped into a low stance. Tension rippled through her entire body. She was poised to lunge if I made even the slightest wrong move.
......Forget it.
The Commander wasn't the type to stay silent because he lacked a mouth.
He must have his own lengthy explanations. Probably some seriously frustrating circumstances.
If I didn't know the original story, I would've drawn my sword and turned the place upside down by now.
But knowing is a curse, so I'll let this one slide.
I clicked my tongue and sheathed my sword.
"Let me say this from the start."
I looked at Esira.
"The place I met Esira was the mine. I rescued her there."
"I know that?"
"What?"
Marigold answered with an expression like it was the most obvious thing.
"So why'd you think I gave birth to her?"
I couldn't understand.
How could someone who knew I'd brought Esira along assume I'd birthed her?
Marigold shrugged.
"I got some intel. The moment I heard you were traveling with a kid who looks just like you, I dug right in."
"So you thought I— with Esira—"
"But would Axiom #4 bring home some random kid she'd never seen before, for no reason?"
"......Huh."
It hit right on the mark.
Thinking back to Asrania's original personality, it made even less sense.
That's why Marigold called me the "new Asrania."
Back in the "old Asrania" days, she would've killed a few people by then, let alone kept a child around.
The reason I'd brought Esira.
Because she was my favorite character from the original.
I couldn't say that.
"Here's my conclusion!"
Marigold tapped the table with her finger.
"Either blood-related, known each other forever, or bonded so deeply it's unbreakable. Nothing else explains it."
Unfortunately, it was persuasive.
Even to outsiders, Esira and I looked too close.
And now, I'd become Esira's mom.
Beyond guardian—family.
By Marigold's logic alone, it was the most natural explanation.
The problem was, it was completely wrong.
I pressed my lips tight.
'Brought her because she's my favorite character.'
Say that, and it wouldn't turn into a soap opera—it'd flip to horror. I'd end up in a psych ward.
Of course, no one could drag me there.
The Commander spoke in a crawling voice.
"Is something like a DNA test possible here? Or a blood relation spell?"
"Commander. Is that really necessary? Do we have to go that far to clear up the misunderstanding?"
"I, I don't... know."
He'd been gaslit so hard he'd started doubting himself.
This was driving me insane. For real.
I said I didn't do it.
Making me want to curse. Aaaah.
"DNA? Blood ties? Nothing like that exists......"
Marigold trailed off with a troubled look.
"Enough, drop it."
I cut her off sharply.
The Commander had some pervert tendencies normally, but turning him into a child-abandoning scum was going too far.
"No need to verify anything."
"Right? It wasn't, was it?"
The Commander looked at me like he was grasping at straws.
"I've never met this man in my past. Never tangled with him. End of story."
"H-ha, but...!"
Black Purple shook her head, her voice trembling.
"That's too much. Forgetting the man while the woman remembers—such a tragic tale...!"
I said we never met.
"Stop writing your novel. That guy's not my type."
"But...!"
I whipped out my sword in a flash. The tip hovered just shy of Black Purple's nose.
Her face drained of color, limbs shaking violently. She'd remembered who I was.
"Enough."
If she'd just stopped spouting nonsense from the start.
I sheathed my sword again.
Black Purple collapsed on the spot, trembling nonstop.
"S-sword... scary..."
My insides were boiling over.
For starters, the Commander was someone from another dimension. He lost his memories as a side effect.
That's the original protagonist I knew.
How could I have met a man from another worldline?
What, like some interdimensional romance? Is this sci-fi now?
Why were these people drumming up their own drama?
Crying, raging, disappointed, jumping to conclusions on their own.
Frustrating as hell.
Now I got why Esira had come running in tears.
She must've believed I'd been abandoned by the Commander.
This mess was ultimately my fault.
Because I couldn't spit out the plain truth.
Talk about my favorite character?
I'd sooner bite my tongue.
"......Haa."
I let out a deep sigh.
I turned to Esira, who was looking at me with pitying eyes.
"Esira, don't overthink it. No need to get swept up in adults' delusions."
"B-but. The Commander as fa—Daddy..."
"Hm? Daddy?"
Esira clamped her mouth shut mid-sentence.
"No, it's nothing."
"......Yeah, Esira. Good girl."
I slowly stroked her hair.
Esira's expression darkened briefly. Then it cleared like a lie.
The child smiled in an instant. Truly in a flash.
"Yeah, Mom."
A warm fuzziness bloomed in my chest.
A smile crept onto my face unbidden.
Reina's eyes went wide.
The Commander couldn't close his mouth.
Black Purple covered hers, looking moved.
Marlboro set down her glass with an oily chuckle.
"Finally admitting it? That you're her mom."
"Family doesn't need blood ties."
I took a breath, then nailed it down firmly.
"What matters is who stays by your side until the end."
Only after saying it did I realize.
Those words didn't fit this situation.
Marigold and the recovered Black Purple's gazes snapped to the Commander.
His face twisted oddly.
First grievance and bewilderment. Then a swell of emotion from deep in his chest mixed in.
He looked back and forth between Esira and me, then blurted out on impulse.
"Hey, can't I just be Daddy?"
A chill silence descended instantly.
"......"
"......"
I slammed my sword down on the table.
Bam.
The table split in two in one go.
"H-heek!"
Black Purple yelped and stumbled back. One more move from me, and she'd bolt.
"......Commander."
"Y-yes, ma'am."
"My patience is hitting rock bottom."
"......"
"Watch yourself."
"Yes, ma'am."
The Commander might've tossed it out as a joke to lighten the mood.
Or maybe he meant it.
But with everyone pushing, he'd made a dangerous compromise.
Wouldn't it be better if he just accepted and joined the family?
I knew there was nothing between us and the Commander.
Past Asrania had no ties to him either.
This was all because of me.
Less shocking to me, as the one involved.
And the Commander—he was that kind of guy anyway.
Others would see it differently.
It was like pouring oil on a fire and then chucking dynamite.
"Commander."
Marlboro said.
"You'll die here for real. Not even bones left."
"Yes, Commander sir......"
Reina nodded too.
I glanced sideways.
Esira's eyes blazed fiercely.
Pure killing intent, ready to strike now.
Truly furious eyes.
The moment the Commander claimed to be Daddy, this place would turn into a bloodbath.
Esira's blade might pierce his throat before I could stop her.
If Blackjack stabbed him with her sword, would his power transfer to Esira?
"......Take it back. I take back what I said."
The Commander, sensing the killing intent late, hurriedly raised both hands and stepped back.
Spilled water can't be gathered.
Esira's glare didn't soften a bit.
I'll have to soothe her for a while.
To keep that poor man from meeting a gruesome end at my daughter's hands.
Mom denied it to the end.
Said he was just some passerby.
That this was only their second meeting.
She drew the line with a perfectly calm face.
I know.
That it's a heartbreaking lie.
The day I first faced the Commander, those words haven't faded.
"Hm, like a daddy figure for you?"
Daddy.
Asrania even now—
No, no.
She's Mom now.
Has Mom still not forgotten the Commander?
Acting like they were nothing, for that cruel man who doesn't even remember her.
So he wouldn't get in trouble.
Mom says she's changed from before.
If the reason for that change is that Commander...
'Even the reason she took me in might be...'
Did Mom want to become a real mom?
Abandoned by an irresponsible man, left alone—but she wanted to be a mom.
So she brought me, someone who looks just like her.
If that's the case, I have something to do.
'I don't need a daddy.'
I bit my lip hard.
I can cover up all the scars that trash left behind.
I'm fine with just Mom.
Mom's fine with just me.
So she can erase the Commander from her mind completely.
I'll shower her with love nonstop.
Including all the love he never gave.
A love so vast and warm he could never dream of touching it.
I want to give her tremendous love too.
Just as Mom was my one salvation, now I'll be her whole world.
If this is our fate, I'll gladly embrace it.
So let's be together forever.
No one can wedge between us.
In this world, Mom and I will live happily, just the two of us.
Sage hid in the shadows, leisurely taking in the scene inside the hall.
The building he'd designed was perfect.
Impenetrable marble from outside. Glass walls inside that showed everything transparently.
A structure where you could only see out one way from within.
Like a god observing a herd of humans.
One presence drew his gaze especially.
Asrania.
Rumors swirled even within Axiom.
The incarnation of greed, monopolizing Blood Cell.
The madwoman bathing in blood every night.
The psychopath who treated murder like play.
None of it was good.
If that woman were weak, she'd long since be preserved as one of his collectibles.
Asrania was too strong. Too cruel. Yet her body held perfect sculptural beauty.
He'd always imagined it. Shattering her, breaking her, ruining her with his own hands.
Simulated it countless times in his head.
And today.
The moment he faced her again after so long, Sage swallowed unconsciously.
"Ahh......"
Snow-white hair.
An unreal hue. Holding light yet even purer. Pure enough to think it.
Purity for the killer Asrania. A mismatched word.
Enchanted, Sage pressed his palm to the glass wall. His fingertips slid slowly across the surface. It felt like stroking her hair strands beyond the wall.
"A color so fragile it could shatter."
Temptation.
Begging to be soiled. To be utterly wrecked.
What masterpiece would bloom if he splattered red across that pristine white canvas as he pleased?
Blood bursting out, staining her hair, defiling that noble face.
"Ah, just imagining it......"
He couldn't contain his excitement. His breathing grew ragged.