Volume 4, Chapter 4-1 – Thank You, Lavinia!

Franleya stood there stunned for quite a while before finally coming back to her senses.

There had simply been far too much information to process.

The Samael heir had publicly tugged at the corner of Stella’s clothes and softly called her “Mom”, only for Stella to reject her on the spot and even give her a good-girl card at the end.

Franleya was speechless.

Although she had long known that following Stella around was bound to lead to some entertainment.

After all, no matter how she looked at it, Stella was definitely no harmless little lamb.

But Franleya had never expected the very first piece of entertainment to be big enough to turn the entire Abyssal gossip scene upside down.

“Stella.” Franleya looked Stella up and down. “Please tell me. How did you do it?”

“Do what?”

Stella looked utterly baffled.

“Make Veronica call you Mama.” Franleya gestured with her free hand. “She’s the heir of the Samael family. Her mind might not be entirely normal, but as a dragon demon, her instincts and intuition should be sharper than anyone else’s. Getting her to willingly say Mom isn’t something just anyone could manage.”

“Mm… as for the reason…”

Stella found herself unable to explain.

There was really no way she could tell the truth.

Because she’d just eaten Veronica’s mother, Veronica had smelled her scent on Stella, and mistaken Stella for some kind of substitute?

Who would believe that if she said it out loud?

“Maybe it’s… fate,” Stella said without changing her expression.

“…Fate?”

“Mm. Fate.”

Franleya narrowed her eyes.

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Stella was undoubtedly lying.

But she also knew that even if she pressed the matter now, Stella definitely wouldn’t tell her the truth.

‘Forget it. I have my own methods anyway.’

“But why did you reject her?” Franleya changed the subject. “If you’d really accepted her as your daughter, the later events in the tournament might’ve practically been guaranteed. She’s the heir of the Samael family. No matter how you look at it, she’d make a powerful fighter.”

Stella rolled her eyes.

“I’m not an idiot.”

“What do you mean?”

“Think about it.” Stella counted on her fingers. “Veronica is the heir of Samael, and I’m the heir of Valentine. If I really accepted her as my daughter, just imagine the look on the Samael Family Head’s face. He just lost Lavinia, and now even his daughter is about to get stolen away? Wouldn’t he want to swallow me alive?”

Franleya nodded thoughtfully.

“Besides.” Stella continued. “The fewer complications, the better. I already have a daughter. And anyway, I’m not at the age where my maternal instincts are overflowing.”

“Wait, you already…” Franleya interrupted her outright. “Have a daughter?”

Stella paused.

She thought about it.

There didn’t seem to be any harm in telling Franleya about Dorothy.

After all, her relationship with the Belphegor Young Miss was, at best, nothing more than a flimsy alliance. There was no chance of anything developing between them in the future, so she had absolutely no need to care about maintaining some sort of image.

“Yeah.” Stella nodded and gestured casually. “Her name is Dorothy. She’s probably about a head taller than me. She’s an especially good girl. She’s afraid of nothing, instinctively despises all hypocrisy, praises the light, and whenever everyone else is confused, she can effortlessly point out what’s right…”

“…”

Franleya had already stopped listening to Stella.

The matter with Veronica could still be dismissed as some absurd farce.

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After all, Veronica’s mind wasn’t normal. She could’ve called anyone that.

But now.

Stella had personally admitted in private that she already had a daughter?

One who was even a head taller than her?

Then she had to be at least in her teens.

But the problem was, how old was Stella?

Eighty at most, right?

For a succubus, eighty years old was only just reaching adulthood in their life cycle.

And Stella had only just reached adulthood, yet she already had a daughter a head taller than herself…

Franleya knew that Vivian was a notoriously promiscuous social butterfly throughout the Abyss, with a private life so chaotic that no one could even count how many affairs she’d had.

And as it turned out, Vivian’s daughter Stella was no less impressive.

She had barely reached adulthood and already had a daughter of her own, while even the Samael heir was chasing after her and calling her Mama.

All Franleya could say was that this truly was the Valentine bloodline.

Franleya bit her lower lip.

As a family of succubi, the Valentines’ usual games were clearly far wilder than even she, a Nightmare Young Miss, had ever imagined.

She looked young and innocent on the surface, yet behind everyone’s backs, her child was already all grown up.

‘I Absolutely couldn’t marry her!’

Franleya made up her mind. Her marriage alliance with Stella absolutely could not happen.

Who knew how many times she’d end up getting cuckolded if it really did?

“You Valentines…” Franleya spoke faintly. “The things you normally get up to… are they much wilder than I thought?”

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Stella blinked.

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing.”

Franleya shook her head and placed her wineglass on the small round table beside her.

Truthfully, after interacting with Stella for a while, she was only growing more and more curious about her.

The matter with Veronica.

The matter with her daughter.

And Lavinia’s disappearance.

Just how many secrets was this little succubus hiding?

Before Franleya could think any further, the chandeliers around the venue began going out one after another. Everything sank into darkness, while at the very center, a cluster of ghostly blue flame ignited.

“It’s starting, it’s starting.”

“I wonder which heirs will appear this year.”

“I heard the Faust heir is finally willing to show herself?”

“Seriously? That’s the Book Demon family that’s always kept everything hidden.”

The people around them began whispering.

“It’s already time,” Franleya murmured.

“What time?” Stella instinctively asked.

She saw that at some point, a massive stone platform had appeared in the center of the venue.

On top of it sat a pitch-black chalice, its surface engraved with intricate patterns. Ghostly blue flames were rising directly from within the cup.

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“That’s the Chalice of Sin,” Franleya said.

“Normally, today isn’t the official opening,” Franleya explained. “Today is the preparation stage before the official opening. The Chalice of Sin will display the true names of the heirs from each of the great Elector families in the form of flames. Every participant will have to go up and show themselves in a little while.”

“True names?”

“Mm.” Franleya nodded. “Of course it displays your true name. What else would it show? Don’t tell me you’ve had a whole bunch of former names?”

Stella didn’t speak.

What was her true name?

It wasn’t Stella Darkfallen.

It wasn’t Stella Valentine.

It was the name she had never told a single demon in the Abyss.

Stella von Einzbern, her true name as a human Saintess.

If…

If that name appeared above the Chalice of Sin…

She was screwed.

Translator Note

oof. It’s been a while since the last time she admitted that she was screwed xD

Also, Franleya must need to think thousand times more before agree to marry Stella hahahah xD