“Wh… where am I?”
A white, boundless water surface.
Vyea slowly awoke, opening her eyes in confusion. Beneath her was a deep blue lake, its surface like a mirror reflecting the sky above.
“Right… I was about to take the boat back and find my daughter!”
Suddenly, forgotten memories surged back into her mind.
Vyea immediately propped herself up on the lake’s surface, shivering as she sat upright and stared ahead, her chest heaving violently.
She remembered!
The boat she was on had been attacked by some unknown monster!
She and that Elf girl she knew from the dock, entrusted by the blue-haired Hero leading the group on the boat, had continued searching for a way out—to find or defeat the mastermind monster behind it all!
But why was she here now? Where did Aiselyn go? Weren’t they supposed to be fighting the monster?
What just happened?
Vyea stared blankly at her outstretched hands, her memory still stuck at the instant she used Appraisal on that unknown monster.
“Time Empress… I’ve never even heard of a monster like that…”
Vyea regulated her breathing, preparing her body for whatever ambush might come at any moment, while examining the true nature of this Lake of Mirrored Heart.
As the saying goes, first impressions are important. Vyea had wanted to conserve her energy, to avoid appearing before her daughter in a terrible state and losing her dignity as a father…
But now, it seemed that the little energy she’d managed to recover by eating and sleeping was about to be drained again, maybe even put her in debt.
How annoying!
“No matter what you are, if you dare to cause me this much trouble, I’ll cut you down myself!” Vyea put her hands on her hips, her gaze turning fierce.
At the same time, it seemed the lake heard her threat.
The calm surface, despite the absence of wind, suddenly rippled with wave after wave. Amidst the milky white water, a hazy, indistinct figure appeared.
That’s…!
Vyea’s emerald eyes widened abruptly. She saw someone who looked exactly like herself emerge from the shimmering waters!
This scene—she’d seen it a thousand times!
Vyea was full of confidence!
“Hmph! You want to play this old trick on me? Do you think I’ll show any mercy?”
With a snort, Vyea raised her right hand, aiming it at her other self in the distance, and shouted angrily:
“Impostor, you’re in my way! Power: Fifth—!”
“?”
Suddenly, Vyea’s voice cut off. She felt an icy, delicate hand gently rest on her raised right hand—then grasp it.
Who is it!
The little Slime-girl was so startled her heart skipped a beat.
“Sometimes, taking a moment to think and figure out who your friends and enemies are is far more important than blindly attacking the target before you.”
A gentle, pleasant voice came from her side—not hurried, not slow, with a mysterious power that seemed to calm the heart.
Yet, as she heard that familiar voice, Vyea’s heart was thrown into turmoil. She looked up in disbelief, and immediately met a pair of smiling golden eyes.
“This is Mirrored Flowers, Water Moon, you know, the one you talked to me about before. Everything you see, smell, hear, and sense right now is what you want to see—not reality.
So, if you’d really attacked just now, that Elf girl traveling with you might not have made it out alive.”
Flavail gently pressed down Vyea’s hand, looked forward, and said softly:
“Why don’t you think carefully—when did you first fall under… its Perfect Hypnosis?”
Not just a simple illusion, but an illusion affecting all five senses?
“Th-that…”
Cold sweat broke out on Vyea’s forehead; her thoughts tangled like a ball of yarn.
A heart-stopping, bone-chilling fear surged through her mind.
She had almost… done something irreparable again?
Killed someone she didn’t want to kill, with her own hands?
Nightmares from years ago resurfaced. Vyea recalled the day she stabbed the Holy Sword engraved with “Eradicate Evil and Slay All” into the heart of her beloved, watching their warmth slowly fade away.
Fragmented memories, thick with dust and blood, clogged her chest like a barbed hammer, making it impossible to breathe. A fierce wave of nausea rose up in her.
“I… I didn’t do it yet… No, I did do it before! Huh… before? Strange, who did I attack?”
“Flavail? No, that’s wrong, she betrayed me first…” Vyea covered her face, only to realize she was already crying, “I didn’t do anything wrong…”
“You’re disgusting. Flavail never hurt you.”
Suddenly.
A dry heave wracked her body. Vyea collapsed toward the ground, but managed to catch herself with both hands just before falling completely.
Yet her pale hands suddenly became smeared with sticky, wet blood, the stench so strong her stomach spasmed.
“Calm down—the air here holds malice toward every intruder. Don’t dwell on the past, or you’ll only sink deeper!”
Flavail quickly bent down, one hand supporting Vyea’s trembling body, the other pressing down on her hand. Sadness shimmered in those golden eyes.
She had already died, long ago lost all means to affect the real world. Now, she existed only as a lingering soul clinging to Vyea’s memory.
If, one day, Vyea forgot her completely, then she would truly vanish from this world.
But all these years, Flavail had silently watched over Vyea’s memories, hoping she would one day forget the past for good, and embrace the world and future anew.
Not to spend every day passed out among bottles, numbing her body with drink, always shouting for Flavail to get lost, while thinking of her more deeply than anyone else.
The guilt and pain never went away. They were like two invisible swords—one hanging before her, one pressed against her back.
So, Vyea learned to forget, forcing herself not to remember, convincing herself: You’ve been reborn! Time to march toward a bright future!
But pain never truly disappeared; she just hid it deeper.
Whenever she faced such a special monster, when her never-healed wounds were laid bare, she would break down completely.
Flavail sighed. The last days before her death were spent helping Vyea craft this new body—not to punish her.
“Since you don’t want to run anymore, think of your daughter.”
Flavail hugged the trembling Vyea tightly, her voice gentle. “Did you know? Our daughter is so brave, living alone in Demon King City all this time, never afraid.
But everyone calls her Demon King Highness, because no one ever gave her a name. I didn’t… and neither did you.”
As Flavail spoke softly, the little Slime-girl in her arms slowly calmed down. Smiling, she squeezed the little Slime-girl closer.
“But now, if you wanted to name her, it’d be too late.”
“She didn’t like being called Demon King Highness, so she picked a flower’s name from a human flower guide to use as her own.”
“Her name is Jasmine. You must remember, don’t forget.” Flavail smiled, gently squeezing Vyea’s shoulder. “Alright, break time’s over. You should get going again.”
“This time, don’t lose our daughter ever again.”