Vol 3. Chapter 71: The Most ’Honest’ Child
One day, more than a hundred years after Lady Yumo arrived on the Anqieka Continent,
inside the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons,
Lady Yumo's consciousness gazed at the two figures in the hall with extremely complicated feelings. After a moment of silence, Yumo transmitted her words directly into their minds through the Shadow of Silence Power:
"Tell me the truth. What exactly did you two go out and do?"
Upon hearing this,
a handsome man inside the hall, dressed in tattered animal-hide clothing and sporting short deep-purple hair with milky-white tips, immediately trembled. Although the man was quite handsome, his face was currently covered in blood and grime, as though he had just gone through some kind of brutal battle...
And upon hearing Yumo's words, this very man first shuddered all over, then immediately patted his chest and declared in an extremely 'confident' tone:
"Don't worry, Mom! I went out to do a good deed! I helped the people in a nearby village drive off some bandits!"
"..."
Yumo ignored the man's words entirely. Completely unmoved by his enthusiastic assurances, she instead focused her attention on the petite and adorable red-haired girl standing beside him:
"Xiao Na, you tell me. What exactly did your brother take you out to do?"
Hearing this, the purple-haired man immediately broke out in a cold sweat and couldn't help taking a small step backward before frantically signaling the red-haired girl beside him with his eyes.
Unfortunately,
faced with the man's frantic hints, the little girl unhesitatingly chose to ignore them. With her little eyes gleaming with 'sincerity,' she looked toward the swarm of blood-red butterflies floating in midair:
"Mother, Brother Piere took me to the Ethereal Spirit Tower, and then he demolished the Ethereal Spirit Tower."
The moment those words came out,
the expression of the purple-haired man—Piere—changed dramatically. He stared at Karina in utter panic:
"Xiao Na! Y-you... don't talk nonsense!"
As he spoke, he desperately continued signaling her with his eyes, hinting for Karina to cooperate.
However, the girl still shook her head without the slightest hesitation.
"As a qualified knight, I can't lie to Mother."
"N-no... but didn't you before—"
Unfortunately, before Piere could finish speaking, chains of energy formed from crimson Shadow of Silence Power suddenly shot out and hoisted him straight into the air.
At that moment, Piere stared tremblingly at the blood-red butterflies surrounding him:
"M-Mom?"
"You little brat. So you really went out causing trouble, huh? Looks like your wings have hardened~ And after coming back, you even dared to lie to me?"
Hearing the obvious trace of anger in Yumo's voice, Piere swallowed several times and attempted to keep arguing:
"Mom! Don't believe Xiao Na! She's still a child! What she—"
"If I don't believe Xiao Na, am I supposed to believe you, you little brat?! Can't you learn from your little sister and behave yourself?..."
As she spoke,
under Piere's 'horrified' gaze, the crimson Shadow of Silence Power instantly condensed into a long, blood-red whip.
The next instant,
"Smack~"
Under Karina's innocent and pure gaze, accompanied by a crisp sound, the whip mercilessly made intimate contact with Piere's butt~
Immediately afterward,
Piere's miserable screams resounded throughout the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons...
"Waaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!!"
——
Karina, Lady Yumo's third child, was also the child Yumo trusted the most.
Karina's true form was a type of flame demon. Back when Piere first returned from one of his troublemaking excursions, he had brought Karina, who was still an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes, back to the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons. Karina had been on the verge of death because of a curse, but after accepting Yumo's power, she became the third terrifying Demon King-class existence.
Despite being Demon King-class, Karina had never behaved much like a villain, even as a child.
She became fascinated with chivalry and had always conducted herself according to the knightly code.
According to that knightly code, she, Karina, could never lie to her family. In order to uphold those principles, Karina had even gone so far as to sell out her own older brother, Piere, directly or indirectly causing his butt to be whipped raw on numerous occasions...
Although she was straightforward and somewhat rigid, this was precisely why Karina had earned Yumo's absolute trust.
Compared to the somewhat roguish Piere, Liyu, who had once been a little troublemaker, Limo, who had basically never been reliable in the first place, or the excessively 'innocent' Shuoyue, Karina had always been a good child in Lady Yumo's eyes.
She was steady, calm, honest, and reliable.
She was the most trustworthy child of them all.
And because of that foundation, Yumo would believe almost anything Karina told her.
--
"Uwaaah... Mother, that's what happened... waaah..."
Inside the imperial prison, Karina curled herself up against Yumo's thigh, tearfully recounting her ordeal while continuously wiping her tears with a tissue.
"That's how... I... I never wanted to fight in the first place... but those humans kept trying to subjugate me. I wanted to run away, but those humans—especially the Child of Destiny—just kept chasing me and attacking me, waaah... He used all kinds of skills that specifically countered me, along with a whole bunch of magic cannons. They hurt me so badly, waaah... But because of Mother's teachings, I didn't dare hurt the Child of Destiny... so... so all I could do was run away... A-and then that bastard even set up a trap and ambushed me. O-only then did I finally run out of strength, and he pierced me with this sword..."
As she spoke, Karina looked aggrievedly at the golden longsword still embedded in her chest and said with immense guilt:
"I'm sorry, Mother. It was all because I was careless. And now... I've even made Mother worry about me..."
Hearing her daughter's tearful account, the already softhearted Lady Yumo felt her heart ache even more. She couldn't help biting her lip as she raised her hand and gently stroked Karina's forehead:
"You don't need to apologize. You didn't do anything wrong... The one who's wrong is that bastard Child of Destiny..."
While comforting her crying daughter, Yumo took the towel Saiboke-Baniya handed her and carefully wiped the tears from the corners of Karina's eyes.
At the same time,
the question that had puzzled Yumo for so long finally received an 'explanation'...
I knew it! With Xue Tianao's current strength, how could he possibly defeat Karina? So he used that many despicable, shameless tricks! And on top of that, Karina was too obedient and didn't dare fight back, which was the only reason he won! That bastard won through completely dishonorable means!
Yumo's crimson eyes filled with murderous light, and the girl couldn't help furiously cursing all eighteen generations of Xue Tianao's ancestors in her heart.
Seeing Lady Yumo's expression growing darker and darker, Karina secretly buried her head between Yumo's thighs.
On the surface, she seemed to be crying pitifully.
In reality, she was hiding the smile that she could no longer suppress.
Only after finally calming herself down and restoring her previous pitiful expression did Karina poke her head back out from between Yumo's thighs and continue sobbing with 'snot and tears' streaming down her face:
"And, Mother... that bastard Xue Tianao even tried to make a move on me, waaah..."
"Hm? Y-you... what did you say? He tried to make a move on you?"
"Mm-hmm! He saw that I was beautiful, and while he had me locked up, he tried to put his hands all over me. If I couldn't heat up my own body, I'm afraid he would've defiled me, waaahhhh!"
As though recalling some unbearably traumatic memory,
Karina 'lost control' of her emotions and burst into loud sobs.
Seeing this, however, Saiboke-Baniya couldn't help but feel his eyebrows twitch.
To be honest,
he had always thought he was already quite skilled at putting on an act.
He never expected Lady Karina to be just as good?!
No, she even seemed to be showing signs of surpassing the master!
And besides, Lady Karina, Xue Tianao hasn't even seen you looking like this before! Isn't blaming him like this just a little too unfair?!
Saiboke-Baniya, who had remained silent at the side for quite some time, couldn't help grumbling internally.
However,
after thinking about it again, Saiboke-Baniya suddenly looked relieved.
'Hmm... whatever...'
After all, they were targeting the Child of Destiny.
There was absolutely no need to feel guilty about it~
With that thought, Saiboke-Baniya's gaze toward Karina became rather playful, as though he were saying, 'Come on! Keep going! Add more fuel to the fire! Make it burn even hotter!'
Karina immediately understood his meaning and continued her outstanding, flawless performance.
And as Karina became increasingly immersed in her acting, Lady Yumo's expression darkened to an unprecedented degree.
Throughout Karina's entire account of what had happened, even though there were a few details that didn't quite add up, Lady Yumo didn't notice them at all, much less show even the slightest trace of suspicion.
That was simply how much Yumo trusted Karina.
And that was precisely why Xiao had deliberately sought out Karina to cooperate in this performance and help push the plan forward.
The image Karina had painstakingly cultivated in Lady Yumo's heart over several hundred years was extremely useful.
If they had chosen someone else,
Piere, for example, they probably would've been exposed instantly.
The Child of Destiny would be perfectly fine, while all of them would collectively GG...
...
Of course,
there was another reason Karina was putting so much effort into playing the victim.
Besides helping Xiao ensure that the plan proceeded smoothly, Karina also had her own little ulterior motive...
After another bout of pitiful sobbing, Karina, with the sharp sword still embedded in her chest, raised her hand with apparent 'difficulty' and gently tugged at Lady Yumo's sleeve. Then, in a pleading voice, she whispered:
"Mother... will you stay with me tonight?"
"Hm?"