Volume 4, Chapter 2-2 – I Told You We’d Meet Again, Didn’t I?

So Lavinia had been so desperate to capture Aetlana because she wanted to earn enough merit to escape her sea of suffering?

Then what did that make Stella, who had eaten Lavinia’s essence?

Stella vigorously shook her head, trying to fling those strange images out of her mind.

Whatever kind of toy it was, that wasn’t the important part.

The important part was, why had no one told her?

Oh.

Gehenna had told her now.

Stella lowered her eyes and looked herself over.

But she’d already swallowed the woman and started digesting her. She’d even begun growing dragon horns, dragon scales, and a dragon tail.

‘…What am I supposed to do now?’

Samael represented Wrath and Conquest. If they found out Lavinia’s essence was currently inside her Blood Shadow…

Stella shuddered.

‘Calm down.’

‘The most important thing right now is to pretend nothing has happened.’

‘Right, pretend nothing has happened.’

She had only digested one dragon demon, hadn’t she? She had only grown a few dragon scales, hadn’t she? She had only sprouted a few dragon horns, hadn’t she?

As long as she didn’t run into Veronica, the Samael heir, during the Abyss Supremacy Tournament, there probably wouldn’t be much of a problem.

The Abyss was enormous. It wasn’t like she was guaranteed to run straight into her.

‘…Right?’

Stella silently drew a cross over herself in her heart.

‘Praise the Lord.’

‘Please bless Your servant, and whatever You do, don’t let me run into Veronica.’

“Mm…”

Gehenna studied the silent Stella.

For some reason, Stella in her dragon-succubus form gave her a faint sense of déjà vu.

But Gehenna couldn’t quite place it. Because of Vilpana, Stella already gave her far too many feelings of déjà vu.

Maybe… her scent had changed?

Gehenna thought about it.

It probably wasn’t anything important.

“Katerina, I’ll leave her to you for a while,” Gehenna reminded her before leaving.

“No, I can’t do it today. I’m a little mentally exhausted.” Katerina pressed her fingers to her brow and let out a long sigh. “I want to rest first. We can talk about instruction later.”

“My Vice Principal isn’t very good at handling pressure, huh?” Gehenna smiled teasingly.

“Stop. Seriously.” Katerina covered her face.

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Once Gehenna had laughed enough, she became serious.

“But seriously, if I don’t have time and you’re mentally exhausted, then who’s going to help Stella master these new abilities as quickly as possible? There are only a few days left before the Abyss Supremacy Tournament. We can’t exactly send her into battle while she’s still half-baked, can we?”

Katerina let out a long breath.

“Fine, I’ll force myself through it. You go ahead and…”

“Why not leave her to me from here?”

An elegant woman’s voice rang out, directly interrupting Katerina.

All three people present turned their heads at the same time.

Vivian Valentine stood at the entrance to the training ground, her wine-red hair lifting slightly in the night breeze. Today, she wore a deep purple gown with intricate thorn patterns embroidered along its hem, her entire bearing filled with a languid aristocratic elegance.

She walked gracefully into the training ground, her gaze settling on Stella.

“She is my biological daughter, after all. There’s no need for outsiders to trouble themselves over the Valentine family’s domestic affairs.”

Gehenna: “…”

Katerina: “…”

The two exchanged a glance, then simultaneously looked away.

The truth they had just gossiped their way into instantly flashed through their minds.

Vivian and Vilpana.

Vivian and Aetlana.

The three of them had a daughter together.

And now one of the central parties involved was standing right in front of them, looking as though nothing had happened. It was truly impossible to stop their imaginations from running wild.

Gehenna tried hard to maintain the dignity of a Principal, but the corner of her mouth still couldn’t help twitching.

Katerina’s expression, meanwhile, was indescribable.

She looked at Vivian, and what surfaced in her mind was Vilpana standing in front of her decades ago, speaking about Vivian in that casual, unconcerned tone. At the time, Katerina had assumed it was nothing more than ordinary social interaction. But now that she thought about it…

Katerina pinched her palm hard.

‘Don’t think about it.’

‘I shouldn’t think about it anymore.’

If she kept going, she was afraid she might question Vivian on the spot about exactly how many people she’d slept with.

Stella’s gaze was even more direct.

She simply stared straight at Vivian without saying a word.

Her bargain-bin mother had appeared.

The moment Stella remembered how Vivian had casually tossed her into the Abyss Supremacy Tournament, her fingers began to itch.

She really wanted to slap someone.

For example, Vivian’s face with that carefree smile on it.

Vivian blinked and looked between the three of them. She finally noticed that the atmosphere seemed a little off.

“Eh?” She tilted her head. “Why are all of you looking at me so strangely?”

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She genuinely didn’t understand.

She had merely volunteered to personally guide her daughter.

Was there something wrong with that?

Vivian blinked in confusion.

So…

As Stella’s mother, what was wrong with volunteering to personally instruct her daughter?

Otherwise, why were all three of them looking at her so strangely?

Could it be because she’d specifically put on makeup before leaving today in preparation for the banquet later?

Vivian checked herself in a mirror.

Her foundation was fine.

Her eye makeup was fine.

She had even chosen the safest possible wine-red shade for her lips.

Her makeup skills might be among the very best in the Abyss, but surely they weren’t enough to cause this kind of reaction.

“May I ask…” Vivian finally couldn’t resist speaking. “Did something happen just now?”

Gehenna shook her head without saying anything.

“It happened in the past.” Katerina picked up the conversation beside her, her tone eerie. “The question is what happened in the past.”

Vivian turned her gaze toward the Vice Principal.

She was even more confused now.

“Can the two of you explain yourselves properly?” Vivian asked. “What happened in the past? Does it have something to do with me?”

Gehenna and Katerina exchanged another glance.

That single glance contained far too much information.

Gossip, shock, speechlessness, and hesitation.

In the end, Gehenna spoke.

“Vivian.” She asked, “do you… still remember how you ended up having Stella?”

Vivian tilted her head.

‘Why are they suddenly asking about that?’

Stella really was the daughter of her and the Pale Lord.

Although she had no specific memories of it, and she herself suspected the Pale Lord had used some underhanded method, she truly couldn’t remember any of the details. Who, where, or when.

But the result was very clear.

Stella carried her blood, possessed the traits of Valentine, and was unquestionably the heir.

“I don’t know the details,” Vivian answered truthfully after a moment of thought. “I have absolutely no memory related to it.”

Gehenna: “…”

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Katerina: “…”

The two exchanged another glance, their expressions becoming even more complicated.

Case solved. The facts were exactly as they had imagined.

Three families strung together.

Dragon, Pale, succubus.

No question about it.

‘There might even be more…’

The corner of Gehenna’s mouth twitched again.

Katerina simply closed her eyes.

“Ahem.” Gehenna cleared her throat. “Well… I suddenly remembered that I need to personally receive the guests at the banquet later. The Family Heads and heirs of the Seven Electors should be arriving soon, so I need to go prepare.”

She turned and immediately started walking away.

“Katerina, come with me.”

“…Alright.”

Katerina followed almost as though she were fleeing.

The two of them practically ran away in defeat, leaving Vivian and Stella standing where they were.

Mother and daughter stared at each other.

“What did they mean by that?” Vivian asked.

Stella shook her head.

“No idea. Those two have been acting strange from the beginning.”

Vivian frowned slightly.

‘Forget it. If I couldn’t figure it out, there is no point thinking about it.’

‘Gehenna and Katerina aren’t exactly normal to begin with.’

One spent all day thinking about how to siphon off school funding, while the other constantly wore a cold face as though everyone in the world owed her money.

It wasn’t like their strangeness had started today.

“Forget about them.” Vivian waved her hand and looked Stella up and down. “The way you look right now… Mm, we’ll need to dress you up properly.”

“Dress up?” Stella froze. “Why?”

“Because there’s a banquet we’re attending later.” Vivian smiled. “You’re going to meet several very important people. They’ll be your allies in the Abyss Supremacy Tournament. As the Valentine heir, you can’t let the family lose face over something like this.”

Vivian straightened the collar of Stella’s school uniform for her.

‘Allies?’

‘Since when had they formed an alliance?’

Stella distinctly remembered that the Electors didn’t exactly have particularly good relationships with one another.

‘Had they made some kind of deal with each other?’

Before Stella could figure it out, Vivian leaned closer with a mysterious expression.

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“By the way, Stella, do you know the Young Miss of the Belphegor family, Franleya?” Vivian said. “She’ll be coming later too. You could try getting along with her. I think the two of you would definitely have plenty to talk about.”

Stella’s expression gradually froze.

Franleya Belphegor.

Stella remembered her far too clearly.

Long pale-pink hair, pale-pink eyes, and soothing bells tied around her ankles.

The Belphegor Young Miss whose bed she’d crawled under, whose dream she’d countered with the Eye of the Black Mass, and whom she’d ultimately placed under a compulsory command.

“What’s wrong?” Vivian tilted her head. “Don’t tell me you know her?”

“No…” Stella answered stiffly. “I don’t know her. I absolutely… don’t know her.”

“Alright. For a moment, I almost thought there was some bad blood between the two of you.” Vivian nodded in satisfaction. “Anyway, she’s a very good girl. She’s the Young Miss of the Belphegor family, and the Belphegor clan holds authority over dreams. Their power will be very useful in the tournament. And Franleya… I’ve heard she has quite an interesting personality. She shouldn’t be difficult to get along with.”

Stella fell silent.

‘Is she really that easy to get along with?’

Stella couldn’t say, and she had some serious doubts.

She had thought that after last time, her ill-fated entanglement with the Belphegor Young Miss would finally end there.

‘And now Vivian is telling me we are going to meet again at the banquet later?’

‘She even wants me to build a good relationship with her?’

Stella glanced at Vivian’s enthusiastic expression.

Was she supposed to tell her bargain-bin mother outright that her bargain-bin daughter’s relationship with the Belphegor Young Miss was already so good that she’d crawled under her bed?

How could she possibly say something like that out loud!

“What’s wrong?”

Vivian noticed that something seemed off about Stella.

“It’s nothing.” Stella forced out a smile. “I just… remembered something unpleasant.”

“What happened?”

“Nothing serious.” Stella’s smile grew even stiffer. “Just… the consequences of my own sins.”

Vivian tilted her head.

Why was her daughter talking so strangely too?

Sure enough, Gehenna and the others had led her astray.

“Alright, stop spacing out.” Vivian patted Stella on the shoulder. “Come on, let’s get you changed. The banquet later is going to be a major social occasion.”

“…A major… occasion?”

Stella followed behind Vivian, raising her eyes toward the eternal night sky of the Abyss.

Lord…

Could You please tell Your faithful servant how she was supposed to face a Belphegor Young Miss whose bed she’d crawled under, whose illusion she’d turned against her, and whom she’d forcibly commanded into obedience?