Volume 8, Chapter 30 – Teasing and Temptation

“Ah, you’re right.”

At Fia’s reminder, Lucitine’s pink eyes lit up. She first confirmed that there was indeed no wound on Fia’s left arm, then took Fia’s hand and led her over to Ruth, whose face was ashen.

“A proper introduction is still necessary. This is my daughter. She was born five hundred years ago, a being created by my past self to alleviate loneliness and experience the feeling of raising a daughter. In name, she is my daughter, but in reality, she is a part separated from my soul. Also, although I myself have only had self-awareness for less than three years, she remains my daughter.”

“Wh-what do you mean, ‘to experience the feeling of raising a daughter’? Wasn’t it to share the burden of the numerous governmental affairs back then?”

Ruth’s eyes and mouth flew open as if she had heard something shocking, so much so that Fia could clearly see Ruth’s neat, beautiful teeth. Despite their vastly different personalities, Ruth and Lucitine bore a strong resemblance in appearance—both with pink hair and pink eyes, both quite beautiful. The difference lay only in height and temperament. Lucitine was quite maturely developed; from her long, slender legs to her ample bosom that seemed about to escape her gown, one knew at a glance she was an older sister figure.

In comparison, Ruth was quite pitiful. Although her height was only slightly shorter than Nola’s teenage physique, her chest was on par with herself—no, it should be said on par with Liti’s—unremarkably flat to the point of evoking pity. Unlike her mother’s queenly aura that enveloped her entire being, Ruth appeared from every angle as a domineering young miss. Of course, this also meant she had more of the characteristic youthful energy of a young girl.

Lucitine was momentarily startled, then replied.

“Ah, that too.”

Hey hey, don’t avert your eyes when lying, isn’t that obviously a guilty conscience?

Poor Ruth, deceived for five hundred years.

Fia couldn’t help but sympathize inwardly.

Lucitine quickly changed the subject.

“Ahem, now that Ruth has been introduced, it’s time to introduce Fia. Ruth, this is Dofilia Alexia Yushir, whom I just mentioned. She is the Eldest Princess of the northern elf kingdom. Don’t let her smaller stature fool you—her strength is only greater than mine. She can withstand more than ten of Chaos’s golden beams head-on. Strictly speaking, I am the one reaching above my station ¹ The sentence means: “I am the one acting beyond my proper rank or role.” .”

Because Ruth remained motionless, Lucitine frowned like a mother. She took Ruth’s wrist and forcibly brought her before Fia.

“Come here. This is your future mother. I don’t care how you know Fia, but from today onward, you will properly address her as mother. You cannot be as rude as before.”

“Are… are you kidding? How could I possibly call that jerk ‘mother’?”

Whether it was fury or humiliation turning to anger, Ruth’s face flushed crimson. Fia could clearly see her eyelids and facial muscles twitching wildly. The sight of her forced smile nearly made Fia lose her composure.

Suppressing the urge to punch Fia in the face, Ruth explained as politely as possible.

“Mother, don’t be deceived by her. She only covets your body and status. You are the Queen of Death. If she tricks you into marriage, she’ll become a hero throughout the living world, admired by all. She’s just using you. No, ultimately, this woman already has three fiancées, with several more girls waiting to grow up and marry her. She doesn’t need you at all. There must be a misunderstanding here—”

At this point, Ruth’s eyes lit up.

“Oh, right, I heard from Ness that this woman kept insisting she came for negotiations, not to become your queen. Ness must have taken matters into her own hands and blown things out of proportion again. She probably never intended to become your queen either, right, you elf over there?”

As she finished speaking, Ruth turned her gaze to Fia. Although Ruth’s tone carried anger, her pink eyes held something like anticipation when they looked at Fia.

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Then, swiftly, it transformed into indignation.

Fia tilted her head. Like a mother, she spread her arms wide to welcome Ruth, her face innocent and magnanimous as she said.

“No, that’s not the case, dear Ruth. Come now, call me ‘mother’ once. Even if I’m a stepmother, propriety must still be observed—”

“Don’t push it, you jerk!”

Even the best upbringing couldn’t endure this. Veins bulging on her forehead, Ruth’s fist flew straight toward Fia’s face. But before Ruth’s punch could reach Fia, Lucitine grabbed her head from behind with one hand.

“Ruth!”

Her voice carried even stronger indignation than Ruth’s. Lucitine’s queenly, elegant face now showed only anger at her daughter’s unruliness.

“Fia not only helped us repel the Chaos, she is now your mother. How many more times must I emphasize this? If you are rude again, you won’t be allowed to go to the Weeping Mountain anymore. If you leave, don’t come back.”

“Urk…”

Like a kitten scruffed by its mother, the mention of being forbidden to go out instantly extinguished Ruth’s flame. She dared not reach up to brush away Lucitine’s hand on her head, instead holding in her breath, gnashing her teeth in hatred.

Seeing her daughter calm down, Lucitine’s anger subsided. She pushed Ruth gently, signaling her to step before Fia.

“Aren’t you going to do what you need to do?”

“Do what…”

“Call her mother.”

“Guh.”

A groan of agony escaped her throat. Ruth clenched her fists, stepped forward with an expression of extreme reluctance. Fia had a feeling that if looks could kill, she might have been struck by a Tenth-Tier spell by now. But unfortunately, looks were just looks. When Ruth unwillingly stood before Fia, she finally deflated like a punctured ball, her shoulders and head drooping, reminiscent of a little kitten curled up in a corner after being caught in the rain.

“I’m sorry… mo… mother…”

“Mm-hmm, good girl, good girl. I forgive you.”

Imitating an elder, Fia contentedly patted Ruth’s head, then was surprised to find that although Ruth was an undead, her long pink hair felt quite silky. It was just that lacking a living person’s body temperature gave it an eerie sense of wrongness.

“Uuu…”

Suddenly, Fia heard a pitiful sob.

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This girl wasn’t crying, was she?

Thinking this, Fia subtly tilted her head, trying to observe Ruth’s expression, and happened to catch a glimpse of Ruth’s tear-filled eyes, her unwilling expression with tears swirling in their sockets. But when Ruth noticed her looking, she quickly lowered her head further, and the tears in her eyes rapidly disappeared as well.

Undead don’t have the ability to secrete tears; it must be water magic.

But being able to use magic in coordination with her mood like this showed Ruth was indeed a powerhouse of the Eighth Tier, approaching Ninth Tier.

Speaking of which, that wasn’t the point.

Making the princess of the kingdom of the dead cry—what an achievement.

Fia mused inwardly. Although making Ruth cry carried some guilt, it wasn’t overwhelmingly strong. Fia thought it might be because of Ruth’s unceremonious and supercilious attitude—especially her exceptionally harsh treatment of her, which was infuriating—so teasing her carried no psychological burden. If it were Tilulu crying, she would definitely be panicking and making wild promises to cheer her up.

Lucitine, standing behind Ruth, didn’t notice. Seeing Ruth properly apologize and Fia patting Ruth’s head in forgiveness, she showed a relieved smile.

“I’m glad you two can get along. But Fia, your willingness to accept being called ‘mother’—could it be, could it be that you’ve agreed to me? Even though before you said I should see more living people before deciding.”

“Ah, about that…”

I was just taking the opportunity to tease Ruth. It’s become a bit hard to say now. Fia also worried that if she teased Ruth too much, she might disregard her dignity and burst into tears, which would be harder to deal with than an actual physical fight. She should probably find an opportunity later to explain to Lucitine that she and Ruth had previous conflicts, so her actions just now were just putting on an act.

She laughed dryly.

“Ahaha, it was just a preview, a preview. It doesn’t mean I’m agreeing now. Let’s get back to the main topic. It should be almost evening up on the surface now. If I don’t go back, my family and friends will worry, so I can’t stay the night here.”

“You’re leaving already…”

Both in voice and expression, Lucitine was filled with melancholy. One of her hands rested on her chest, appearing quite delicate and vulnerable. More than a queen, she resembled a wife worried about her husband going on a long journey.

“Before I go, there are some things I need to discuss. Didn’t I say I came to discuss dealing with the Chaos, not to become queen? Now that I know Lucitine has been troubled by Chaos all along, even setting aside personal feelings, we have a basis for cooperation. Honestly, we’ve also seen some anomalies on the elf side.”

“First, the Darkborn are using the power of Chaos to strengthen themselves. Second, the recent earthquake in Silvar created some new abysses. I went down to inspect these newly appeared abysses—they aren’t protected by the World Tree’s barrier. This means Chaos could crawl up from below at any time. I’m not sure how much Lucitine knows about the Chaos on the Primordial Continent, but I can tell you now: the Chaos down there are so numerous that even I find them troublesome. They are an enemy no single race or nation can contend with. We must unite. I think you should come with me to the abyss.”

Without seeing the abyss with one’s own eyes, one wouldn’t understand its horror. If she could make Lucitine realize that the Chaos under the abyss were the truly troublesome enemy, there would be some foundation for reconciliation between the Eye and the undead.

“Are you insane? In that environment under the abyss with no magical elements or elemental power, even I would have difficulty using magic consecutively. You want to put my mother in danger?”

“I can guarantee Lucitine’s safety,” Fia shrugged in response to Ruth’s frowning questioning. “Logically, since you’ve seen me eliminate the Chaos that climbed up the Weeping Mountain, you should know my strength and not question me.”

“But that’s the abyss. The Chaos that climb up can’t be on the same level as the ones below. What if they’re all as troublesome as the ones under the anthill?”

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“Your concerns are reasonable. But I’ve been to the abyss. I won’t say I know the situation like the back of my hand, but I could say I know it inside and out. You can trust me. That said, the choice is entirely Lucitine’s. If Lucitine wants to come, I can guarantee the Chaos won’t harm a single hair on her head. If she doesn’t want to, I won’t force her. We’ll have to face the Chaos under the abyss sooner or later anyway.”

Fia paused, then turned her gaze to seek Lucitine’s opinion.

The latter’s pink eyes showed not a trace of hesitation; her attitude was exceptionally resolute.

“I’ll go with you. Chaos is the enemy—whether it’s the Chaos under the World Tree Continent or the Chaos under the anthill, all must be annihilated. When do we depart?”

“How about tentatively tomorrow during the day? Visibility is better during the day. Ah, and I need to make one thing clear: the Chaos under the anthill have been repelled by me. They shouldn’t have the energy to organize another attack for a while. But that underground cavity is blocked by me; I don’t know when the Chaos might attack again. Just in case, Lucitine should ideally order people to excavate that area, lest the Chaos attack from other directions.”

“No need to worry about that. Chaos have low intelligence; they never take detours. Even if we leave it alone, they’ll dig their own tunnels.”

Lucitine’s answer made Fia pause. She couldn’t say that the reason the Chaos didn’t take detours was that they were specifically targeting the undead led by Lucitine.

She chose to respond with a smile.

“Then I’ll go back. I’ll come get you tomorrow to go to the abyss.” Saying this, Fia prepared to turn, but seemed to remember something and stopped, asking hesitantly, “This won’t cause you any trouble, will it? I mean with your subordinates. In their eyes, as their queen, if I return to my own country on the first day, it might lower your standing.”

“No one will say anything. If I had doubts at the very beginning, now that Fia has shown strength not inferior to mine, who could complain? We are equals. I’ll explain to those below that ‘queen’ was just a misunderstanding.”

Though her words were quite open-minded, Fia caught a deep sense of melancholy and loss in Lucitine’s eyes.

Was she sad about being rejected? Like realizing that the one in her heart ultimately didn’t belong to her and would return to her homeland—a fantasy shattered.

Having been given a body by her, she became interested in her. Now, having been greatly helped by her. If one imagined Lucitine as a young girl in the early stages of love, this moment would indeed bring reluctance to part and melancholy.

Ruth was one thing, but making Lucitine sad carried quite a bit of guilt. Thinking of her plan, Fia put one hand on her hip and suggested with a helpless expression.

“If you really can’t bear to part with me, how about coming back to Silvar with me? The palace there isn’t as grand as yours, but it’s much livelier. You’re now a liv—you can now control your death energy. Going occasionally shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Hey, what nonsense are you spouting? Mother isn’t like me. She’s a genuine Ninth-Tier undead. If you bring her to your capital, and she accidentally loses control of her death energy, half the capital’s population could be turned into undead. Don’t come blaming us then.”

“It’s fine. I trust Lucitine.”

Fia revealed a smile radiant enough to break through clouds and sunshine.

Lucitine was now a living person. The reason the surrounding undead hadn’t noticed she was alive was because she shrouded herself in dense death energy. Once she went to Blossom, she would naturally have no need to shroud herself in death energy anymore. She now had a body that could walk freely among people without constraints.

“Something is off…”

Not buying Fia’s infectious smile, Ruth pouted, leaning forward slightly. Her eyes, scrutinizing Fia, held only suspicion.

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“I don’t believe you. You definitely have ulterior motives. Mother, don’t trust this frivolous elf. She already has several wives. Now she definitely wants to trick you into going to the elf kingdom to cook the rice and make you one of her wives too. My daughter… my believer was deceived by this woman and is now completely lovestruck.”

“Hah, you don’t trust my character? Then just come along with your mother.”

As if she’d heard something terrifying, Ruth’s eyes flew wide and she quickly stepped back, her hands instinctively guarding her chest.

“I’m your target too? Don’t dream about it!”

“You’re the one dreaming. I’m not interested in people with underdeveloped child-like bodies.”

“You!”

Ignoring Ruth, now furious again, Fia turned to Lucitine, curving her lips in a charming smile.

“Do you want to come to Silvar with me?”

“Can I really?”

More than seeking Fia’s opinion, Lucitine seemed to be asking herself. She longed for the world of the living but had never been there. Now, with the opportunity before her, she was both expectant and fearful. She leaned forward, her palms sweating with nervousness, yet she hesitated, unable to take that first step.

“If I say you can, you can.”

Fia reached out her hand to Lucitine, then thought for a moment, and ultimately took the initiative to grasp Lucitine’s hand, pulling her a step forward toward the hall.

“Starting now. Let’s go to the world of the living.”

“O… okay…”

“Hey, what about me? And you’re kidnapping my mom right in front of me?”

“You’re the one who didn’t want to come. Besides, I’m worried you might lose control of your magic and turn everyone in the capital into undead. You stay here and watch the house properly. We’ll come back when we’re done playing. Good luck, dear Ruth. And don’t forget to walk on your hands.”

“Go to hell!”

Accompanied by Ruth’s gnashing roar, a rapidly spinning black spear hurtled straight toward Fia. But Fia’s departure was faster than the spear. By the time the spear spun through the space where Fia had stood, tearing it apart, Fia had already disappeared through the teleportation gate with Lucitine.

Only Ruth’s panting, out-of-breath gasps remained in the air.