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

situation. I'm sure you also have an idea

"Yeah..."

from the

evidence to believe that Ren and the

and in the contract, there was most likely a clause

her lips outwardly. She then crossed her arms together and tapped onto the right side of her arm with her

moment I ate the fruit and the curse broke, 'she', the demoness, suffered from the backlash of the curse and as a result broke the boy broke the contract with 'her' and

and staring at his sickly figure, Natasha placed her finger

why his soul is in the state that it

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

she could even explain the situation, the two of them had already figured everything

queen while the other was the wife of one of the top executives in the

their jobs because of luck. They were quite

hand over Ren's forehead,

alive, we can already assume

glimpsed in Angelica's direction. The pause was brief, as she

[III]. Since Amanda previously told me that he's made it past the round of sixteen of the tournament we can exclude rank [I] and [II] contracts, leaving me with no choice but to believe that he signed

analysis reached this point, her brows

would be ranked around in order

more, Natasha's head snapped in Ren's direction. This time her face had a little shock

up with a proper analysis of the situation, she suddenly realized something. And that was that the only possible way for Ren to have survived the situation was for him to have reached a

how was that possible? She was already shocked by the fact that her daughter had reached rank, but

became even more prominent from the fact that she knew that he was around the same age

look at Maylin, hoping that perhaps her analysis was wrong, but

exactly like you thought, he indeed

Didn't he get eliminated from the tournament

her head to the side, she

I say

...Why would

smile,

that he was

Ren's elimination, Amanda who had been listening

that happened

were currently a mess as she felt many different things at the

by what Ren did. After all, he did just try to sacrifice his

at the same time, she was also

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 others

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

the situation from

never taken

exactly sure, she could tell that Ren most likely didn't know about the

a feeling that the demon Ren contracted with was in fact the same demon that had contracted

how he

wondered why that demon had not targeted her again, but it was only now that

Amanda bit

became clear to her that Ren still did

since they

"Oy!"

Amanda out of her thoughts was her

her head to look in the direction of where her mother was, she saw her with her back bent and her face a few inches away

"M...mom!"

sight as she stood up from her seat. However, her mother's following words caused her to freeze on the

tell that you're awake.

"Eh?"

hand, Natasha

"Ouch!"

***

having my forehead flicked,

a familiar-looking face a couple of inches away from mine. Caught off guard by the sudden situation, I felt my cheeks warm up a little as a bitter

before me. She may have looked like Amanda at a first glance, but there was definitely

"Looks like you're fine."

me. It was then that I was able to see the current situation in the room,