The Author's POV

"Mhm."

Hearing her mother's words, Amanda nodded her head.

Staring at Ren who was lying down on the bed, Amanda turned her head to look at Angelica. A complicated look flashed across her face.

She still couldn't quite come to terms with the fact that the cat that had been following Ren all the time was in fact the same demon that had cursed her mother, but she felt that there was more to the story than it was let out.

"Are you sure about this Natasha?"

Maylin asked while turning to look at Natasha. The icicles in the air trembled slightly.

"This is the same demon that stopped you from seeing your daughter for fifteen years. Are you sure that you want to let her go just like that?"

With her eyes locked on her daughter, Natasha sighed.

"What other choice do I have. Just take a look at my daughter..."

Waving her hand, all of the icicles that were aiming at Angelica vanished out of thin air.

"...Okay."

Giving a cold glance to Angelica, Maylin added.

"Just because I'm not killing you right now doesn't mean that I won't be doing it later. I'm only doing this for her sake."

"..."

Under Maylin's pressure, Angelica kept her cool.

She wasn't a count-ranked demon for nothing. Despite the fact that she had been subjected to the power of one of the strongest people in the human domain, she was able to remain unfazed.

"Let her be Maylin."

Natasha's voice rang throughout the room as she stepped in front of Maylin. Then, turning her attention towards Angelica, she took a deep breath.

Memories of her past surfaced inside of her mind.

She could still remember getting chased and threatened by her, and it honestly frightened her. But, for the sake of looking strong for her daughter, she remained composed.

"...C.can you explain the situation?"

There was a faint tremble in her voice as she asked Angelica her question, but following that, her words became more concise and the tremble vanished.

Turning her head, she looked at Ren.

"What happened for him to turn this way?"

There was an awkward silence following her words.

"You don't have to hide anything. I can tell that it is somehow connected with my awakening."

A complicated look appeared on Angelica's face as she heard her words. It wasn't long before she eventually opened her mouth.

"You're correct."

Lowering her head, Angelica lightly glanced in Ren's direction.

"The reason why he's in that state is indeed due to the fruit that he gave you."

"I see."

Rather than being shocked, a look of understanding appeared on Natasha's face. She then turned to look at Kevin.

"If I don't remember wrongly, you previously said that if something happens to her, the boy over here will die, correct?"

"...Yes."

Kevin nodded his head as his brows furrowed.

Natasha pursed her lips

think I get the gist of the situation. I'm sure you also

"Yeah..."

nodded from the

enough evidence to believe that Ren and the demoness

most likely a clause that stated that neither party could

plucked her lips outwardly. She then crossed her arms together and tapped onto

ate the fruit and the curse broke, 'she', the demoness, suffered from the backlash of the

Ren and staring at his sickly figure, Natasha placed her finger underneath her

soul is in the state that it

from Maylin and Natasha, Angelica's eyes opened up a

she could even explain the situation, the two of them had

however. One was the elven queen while the other was the wife of

didn't get their jobs because of luck. They were quite competent in their own

her hand over Ren's forehead,

still alive, we can already assume that the contract

glimpsed in Angelica's direction. The pause

Since Amanda previously told me that he's made it past the round of sixteen of the tournament we can exclude rank

reached this point, her brows proceeded to knit

mean that he would be ranked around in order to survive the

This time her face

proper analysis of the situation, she suddenly realized something. And that was that the only possible way for Ren to

had reached rank,

from the fact that she knew that he was around the same age

her head to look at Maylin, hoping that perhaps her

like you thought, he indeed rank

How is that possible? Didn't he get

head to the side,

I

...Why would he

a smile, Maylin

said that

elimination, Amanda who had been listening throughout their whole time, powerlessly

happened

were currently a mess as she felt many different

Ren did. After all, he did

time,

putting it into words, but she really hated the way Ren did things. She hated the way that he just did things without caring about himself or what the

way he did, and it was exactly because she understood this that she felt

told her the situation from

never taken part in her mother's

didn't know about

in fact

he met her

but it

her eyes, Amanda

to her that Ren still did not

they hadn't known each other long enough to develop a full sense of trust between

"Oy!"

her

her mother was, she saw her with her back

"M...mom!"

became flustered at the sight as she stood up from her seat. However, her mother's following words caused

tell that you're

"Eh?"

her hand, Natasha

"Ouch!"

***

having my forehead flicked,

away from mine. Caught off guard by the sudden situation, I felt my cheeks warm up a little as a bitter smile appeared on

because I was able to instantly recognize the woman before me. She may

"Looks like you're fine."

before finally moving her head away from me. It was then that I was able to