Creis kept observing Isa the entire time.
Unlike her, Isa stayed close to Gabriella, occasionally reaching out to gently stroke the girl’s head, as if deliberately showing off the bond between them.
Creis, on the other hand, remained completely silent.
Isa’s earlier words kept echoing inside her head.
She truly hadn’t known what Gabriella had gone through during those dangerous years.
Because she hadn’t realized that Gabriella’s holy body had not activated immediately.
Instead, she had lived for a long time in a human body, as a human.
Her human form carried traces of the holy body, but it wasn’t strong.
She had been sent to the inner palace by the Demon King, brainwashed into becoming a maid, and only rescued later through the successive sacrifices of many knights.
The ones lost were the Grand Commander young miss and the Ice Saint young miss.
Not only had they become sacrifices, but they now stood on the opposite side of humanity as enemies.
In short, she had known nothing about the traps Gabriella had fallen into.
Her experiences might have been even worse than imagined, and the fact that her holy body had never been tainted by shadow was already a miracle.
Creis couldn’t understand at all why the Evil God hadn’t acted against Gabriella.
Whether it was mere restraint or outright imprisonment.
Even if Gabriella couldn’t be killed and had avoided demonification and corruption, the Demon King should have devoured her power or turned her into a killing machine for the demon race.
The current Gabriella didn’t look like someone who had experienced despair at all.
There had to be some other hidden reason.
“What exactly did Gabriella go through in those years?”
The two looked at each other again.
“Miss Creis, are you referring to what happened eight years ago?”
“Yes. Please tell me. For some reason, I’m not very familiar with this matter.”
Isa’s eyes dimmed.
“She was taken captive by the Demon King and sent to the black tower for brainwashing and remodeling.”
“Then what?” Creis already knew everything up to this point.
At this point, Isabella seemed to struggle greatly before continuing:
“She didn’t.”
The Demon King erased her memories and turned her into a loyal follower.
Only later did she recover her memories. Now she must hate the Demon King to death.
There were too many suspicious points about her. The topic wasn’t over yet, so she continued probing:
“Gabriella never mentioned to me that the Demon King held a wedding.”
She and the Demon King had indeed spent several pleasant nights together. She had obtained [love] that she had never received before.
Creis remained silent.
She became even more convinced that Isabella was someone sent by the Evil God.
After all, only someone like Philina—who had actually been to the inner palace—could know these details.
But if she really was the Evil God’s subordinate, saying these things would be like trapping herself.
Or perhaps she simply wanted Creis to focus on the topic itself.
Love?
Creis knew this word. She even believed her understanding of it was better than most people’s.
But she had never had the time to experience it, nor did she need to.
Gabriella opened her eyes. She was awake.
Creis turned her head, sat down on the chair beside Gabriella’s bed, removed the magic protective barrier around her, and observed her carefully.
“Gabriella, are you okay now?”
“Hmm? Yeah, Creis.”
Gabriella’s gaze was hazy, as if she had just woken from a long dream.
“Mmm~ Thank you for worrying about me.”
Gabriella gave her a smile.
This smile slowly raised the temperature in the air. The tension between Creis and Isabella vanished without a trace.
Creis felt quite good.
There was no longer the initial cold detachment in Gabriella’s eyes.
Although she still maintained some wariness, to Creis this was already a huge improvement.
Daughter.
But Creis felt it wasn’t enough.
If the gentleness she showed Isa was like family, then the way she treated Creis was like a temporary warmth toward a stranger.
What was Isa’s relationship with her? And what about me?
I’m her mother.
Understanding and supporting each other between mother and daughter shouldn’t be difficult, even though she and Gabriella had once had an irreconcilable conflict long ago.
Now she had another chance to rebuild their relationship and make Gabriella understand her.
There were still many things she needed to ask Olivia about.
For example, how to be a good mom.
“Gabriella, you are humanity’s hope, and the strongest… You will guide everything in this world, surpass me, become the embodiment of order, and peace will soon follow.”
Creis made up her mind.
She strengthened the protective barrier around Gabriella so Isa couldn’t make any casual moves.
As agreed, she handed over the entire shift from now until seven in the morning to Miss Isa.
Although they were supposed to keep watch together, she didn’t want to just sit and wait any longer.
Before leaving, she met Isa’s eyes once more. It felt as if a deep chasm had opened between them.
“Don’t try anything.”
Isabella did not answer.
On the way, Creis fell into deep thought.
She had been observing both Isa and Olivia.
Since they could build such good relationships with Gabriella—and even become so close—she had been trying to learn and surpass these two maids, but she didn’t know where to start.
Olivia was right. She might be the real variable.
There was a slight error in her actions, but it was hard to pinpoint right now—something vague and elusive in the complex logic.
Creis returned to the kitchen. Sure enough, Olivia was still waiting for her.
She looked up with interest, observing the Celestial God who had just hurried down from upstairs.
She was a very patient girl.
Seeing Creis arrive, Olivia tilted her head and smiled.
“You really came back. Have you figured something out?”
Creis shook her head.
She still believed the onion soup hadn’t been wrong at all.
With just a few small improvements, it could surpass Olivia’s—at least enough to satisfy Gabriella.
“I need you to teach me, Olivia.”
“Oh?”
Creis clenched her fists. Gabriella’s smile appeared in her mind.
Not the one she gave Isa, but the one she had just given her. It was very important to her.
“After you left, Gabriella rarely smiled anymore. You are very important to her.”
“I’m her mom.”
Olivia tilted her head, the corners of her mouth lifting. “I was just doing my duty as a mother.”
“Then… teach me how to be a good mom.”
As if simply asking wasn’t enough to show her sincerity, Creis stepped in front of her, took Olivia’s hand, pressed it against her own fair cheek, and acted spoiled.
Olivia was startled. This was the first time she had ever seen Creis act spoiled toward her.