I’Ll Protect My Tyrant Dad! [EN]: Chapter 119

119. Your Mother Was Actually Alive

Acid and I were standing in the thicket near a secluded path, quietly observing the village’s atmosphere.

As soon as night fell, the festive mood vanished, and the village became eerie, dark, and even frightening.

We hid behind a large zelkova [a type of deciduous tree] that decorated the central square.

But in reality, we didn’t need to hide as if we were lurking in the shadows. The villagers weren’t interested in us.

Dressed in black robes pulled low over their heads, they carried torches and grimly followed those ahead, walking endlessly.

“Acid.”

“……Yes.”

“Where do you think all those masked people are going?”

Acid whispered softly into my ear.

“I think it’s to Melodia’s cabin. They’re obviously telling us to follow them. It’s very suspicious.”

The sight of gloomy people walking in one direction at different speeds resembled a scene from a horror movie.

I nodded and looked at Acid.

“……It seems Melodia is there. Shall we go together then?”

If they were heading to Melodia’s cabin, we had to go too.

I grabbed Acid’s hand and stared intently at him.

“Let’s go now. Is the bet…… starting?”

Acid gripped my hand tighter.

There was no verbal response, but his gesture was answer enough.

The bet between Moira, the goddess of time, and Acid had begun.

The victor would control destiny.

The innocent game of make-believe was over; it was finally time to confront Melodia.

***

We followed the people in black robes. As expected, they were heading to the cabin presumed to be Melodia’s residence.

‘I didn’t expect them to just leave us here without interference, as if they were guiding us.’

I looked around.

The cabin, with its thatched roof and cozy stone walls, neither too big nor too small, had a single window.

A faint light leaked through the slightly open window, and I froze at the sight of the face visible through it.

That person wasn’t Melodia.

That person was, well……

‘Yuela Mirmod.’

It was my mother.

It was the first time I’d seen her face, having only seen caricatures or portraits drawn for her apprehension, but I knew instinctively.

‘Because she looks so much like me.’

But something was strange.

If Yuela had been alive all this time, she should have looked like a middle-aged woman in her forties.

But perhaps it was because I saw her through the window, Yuela looked like she was in her mid-twenties. She didn’t seem much older than me.

‘There are many strange things, but let’s just go for it for now.’

I swept back my hair and looked at Acid.

“Shall we go, Acid?”

“Yes…… Let’s go.”

We both stepped inside the stone wall surrounding the cabin at the same time.

It was quite a brave step, entering enemy territory.

The rustling of the grass was deceptively peaceful, and I could smell the warm scent of soup and a subtle tea fragrance.

If I didn’t know Melodia was in that cabin, I would have thought the owner was welcoming unfamiliar guests.

Acid and I kept our guard up, looking at the empty air as we walked.

And……

The moment finally came.

The front door of the cabin swung open.

Inside, Melodia, whom I hadn’t seen in five years, gestured to us.

“You’ve finally come? I’ve been waiting. For a very long time.”

Melodia was smiling gently.

She looked like someone who had achieved everything. And next to her……

“Ah, have you seen her before? Say hello, this is Yuela.”

Yuela Mirmod was there.

I stared intently at Yuela and bit my lip.

“You may not know, but your mother, Yuela, was alive.”

I quickly composed myself and looked back at Melodia.

I couldn’t afford to worry about trivial relationships when I was here to achieve a great cause.

“Nice to meet you. So, I assume today isn’t about introducing Yuela?”

“Oh, Sien. Don’t be so sharp. Shall we catch up after a long time?”

***

Melodia, Yuela, Acid, and I sat around a round table in the cabin’s living room.

I pretended to put my lips to the teacup and then set it down.

Yuela sat next to Melodia, just smiling without a word. She didn’t look like she was looking at her daughter.

She was just blankly contemplating, her pupils like glass beads.

As if she liked that, Melodia tapped her shoulder several times and smiled.

Acid was quiet. He seemed to be worrying about something, which even made me worried.

“Shall I tell you something interesting?”

“I’m not curious.”

But Melodia kept talking. She picked up the teapot, poured tea into the teacups, and smiled.

“This Yuela here, you know, this woman who holds my hand tightly and regards me as her benefactor… Aren’t you curious why she can’t say anything?”

“I told you, I’m not curious.”

But my gaze had already turned to Yuela.

Melodia seemed to have noticed that, and she showed a subtly satisfied smile.

“Sien, look at Yuela’s eyes.”

At first, I thought Yuela’s pupils looked empty, like glass beads.

But I had been quietly watching her because Acid hadn’t stepped in.

I stared at Yuela’s waxy, pale skin.

And, Yuela’s eyes that Melodia mentioned were……

‘Her pupils are empty.’

However, what happened next was so shocking that her empty pupils and her silence felt normal.

Before I knew it, her cheeks were slowly melting.

It was as if a candle couldn’t withstand the heat of the fire and was dripping wax.

Watching Yuela’s body slowly melt away, I closed my eyes and opened them again.

“That woman wasn’t human. What on earth did you do?”

Melodia was giggling and laughing, as if it was so much fun.

I glared at her.

“Oh my, you guessed it exactly? That’s right. She’s undead. I dug up her corpse and made her. It wasn’t elaborate enough, so she died so quickly.”

“……Is it fun to play with people? Are you proud of digging up corpses?”

I didn’t think that Yuela here would be my real mother.

Her eyes were suspicious from the start.

But I hadn’t even thought she would be undead.

At best, I thought it would be a disguise magic, or she brought someone who looked alike, or she disturbed the ancient fingerprint magic [likely a reference to a magical technique].

I gritted my teeth and glared at Melodia.

“You make an undead and think you have the qualifications of a saintess?”

“Yes. I do. I made the undead according to God’s will.”

“Does that damn prophecy even say to make my mother an undead?”

“Oh, how did you know?”

Near Yuela, who was slowly melting away, Melodia clapped her hands brightly and innocently.

I blankly watched Yuela’s traces disappear.

I had never talked to her, but a mother was a mother.

I squeezed my eyes shut as I watched her disappear.

My lungs ached with anger at the thought that even my mother’s corpse could not have a peaceful rest.

“By the way, shall I tell you something interesting?”

“Everything you say is not interesting, so shut up.”

Despite my sarcastic remark, Melodia smiled kindly.

She seemed to be trying to seduce me through divine power, but as in the past, her ability did not work on me.

“Oh dear, you are indeed a special child. Anyway, let me tell you something interesting.”

Even though things didn’t go her way, Melodia seemed cheerful. She looked like someone who had achieved everything.

She said softly, pretending to be kind.

“Actually, Yuela’s corpse was crow food in some part of the temple grounds, but I brought it? How about that.”

“……Why don’t you stop that disgusting noise.”

My stomach bubbled and boiled with anger.

Watching me like that, Melodia laughed cheerfully.

I clenched my fist tightly as I watched her happy smile.

My nails dug into my palm and hurt so much that blood came out, but I was so angry that I didn’t even care about the physical pain.

“Are you even bragging about making my mother an undead?”

I tried to regain my composure, but I failed.

Even if my affection for Yuela wasn’t deep, a mother was a mother.

No, even if it was someone I didn’t know, I would have been angry at this vile situation.

To make my mother an undead and then provoke me and make her decay in front of my eyes, I was so angry that the blood vessels in my eyes almost burst.

“Melodia. Can you still say that you serve God?”

“Of course. I serve God.”

She raised the corners of her mouth and sneered. It was a clear attempt to provoke me.

Melodia had thrown away her existing mask of elegance and kindness and was sending a vile gaze.

“Were you in despair?”

“……”

“Or, are you afraid of the sight of the mother who tried to save you dying?”

I was holding back, holding back, to avoid exploding.

In front of Melodia, who softened her eyes sarcastically, I hypnotized myself, and hypnotized myself again.

‘Sien, don’t get too angry. That woman is crazy now, and you have no reason to fall for that woman’s provocation. This is a shallow trick.’

While provoking me, who was quietly suppressing my anger, Melodia was filled with joy.

“Ah…… So happy.”

Now, she didn’t even seem to think about listening to my story.

She was just filled with joy, happily thinking about the future that would be fulfilled according to the prophecy.

Seeing that, I felt like someone had poured cold water on my head.

‘Why should I be angry at such a vile trick? It’s true that my mother’s body disappeared, but it’s right to focus on the present reality right now.’

Of course, I was going to make her pay the price for daring to touch our mother’s body.

But in other words, Melodia was just a manual-like existence that followed the prophecy.

To her, who was just waiting for me to die, I wasn’t even human. Just a quest to overcome.

So whether I was in pain or not, she just had to provoke me.

‘There’s no need to fall for a vulgar provocation, Sien Mirmod. Mom wouldn’t want that either.’

Realizing that, my head quickly cooled down.

Just in time, Acid also opened his mouth to me.

“Lady Sien.”

“……”

“Now, I’ll do it.”

Acid grabbed my arm as if to stop me. When he grabbed my arm, it felt like a small wave was forming in my heart.

He made me a little calmer with just a small touch.

I took a breath in and out, then thought of Yuela, who had disappeared from the table to the floor.

Staring at the chair where nothing was left, I gritted my teeth.

“Acid.”

“Yes?”

“……Is it now?”

I was asking if now was the time when Moira’s ‘bet’ would begin.

I was asking if I could change my destiny and be happy without dying as written in the prophecy and without the family being destroyed.

Even though there was no detailed explanation in my question, Acid smiled softly. But his eyes looked somehow sad.

“Yes. It’s right now.”