In the early morning, Haylene woke up with a slight headache.
"Ugh!"
Her heart pounded as memories of the past came to mind.
Thinking that she must have killed her father, Haylene ran frantically to her parents' bedroom.
Her memories of the past were hazy. She'd been hit head-on by the impact of the jewel shattering. Time had passed. So, Haylene thought she must have had a vivid nightmare. She wanted to believe it.
The bedroom was quiet. As if nothing had happened, as if everything they had experienced had been nothing more than a nightmare.
'Yeah, it'll all be my nightmare.'
If something so horrific had really happened, it's absurd that she would have woken up in her cozy bed, seemingly unharmed. The house would have been turned upside down in a loud commotion.
She knocked on her parents' bedroom door, and she heard her mother's voice from inside.
"Come in, Haylene."
The bedroom door opened.
The scene that unfolded was bizarre. Dad was lying in bed, his eyes quietly closed, and Mom was sitting on the windowsill, smiling.
Her mother's warm smile sent a shock through Haylene's mind. Yes, if that really happened, there's no way her mother would be smiling so calmly.
Haylene asked in a more relaxed voice.
“Mom, Dad, are you okay?”
“Why do you ask that?”
"I think I had a bad dream."
"So?"
A sense of unease hung in the bedroom. Feeling an inexplicable pressure, Haylene approached her father and took his hand.
"Daddy, wake up and hug me, yes?"
Her father's hands were so cold. His face was pale as he slept soundly.
The witch laughed eerily and spread her wings. As her massive wings unfurled, the dawn light streaming through the window was instantly obscured.
"I ate your father's soul."
"...Yes?"
"You know, right? I'm a witch."
In the darkness, her mother's eyes glowed red.
"I didn't come here to make love to your father. I came here to play with your father's soul until I had enough and then eat it. Your stupid father just gave me his soul."
Haylene was so shocked, she just stood there dumbfounded. Her wonderful mother, a witch, a mysterious being who lived among people with extraordinary powers. She was simply thinking that her mother was just that: she was talking nonsense.
Her mother's shocking confession shattered the memories of the nightmarish night before.
"Oh. Are you kidding me, Mom? I've been a picky eater lately, so you're doing this to help me correct my bad habits, right?"
"Baby. Do you really think so?"
A terrified Haylene shook her father awake. He just lay there, motionless. The child was so terrified that not even a tear fell from his eyes.
And then, the witch's seductive voice came into the cold room.
"Should I save your father?"
"..."
"Give me your wish, Haylene, and give me your left eye in exchange, and I will bring your father back to life."
Haylene trembled, wondering if this was all a lie. Could the enclosed memories be real, and her mother acting to cover up her mistakes?
And if Mom were a witch, wouldn't she be able to save Dad somehow? If she needed materials to save Dad, she could easily give up her eyes.
A hopeful Haylene reached out to her mother.
"Oh, please, save Dad, Mom."
The corners of the smiling witch's eyes curved.
"Yes, I'll take the price first."
The vision in her left eye gradually blurred. And when she closed her eyes for a moment and opened them again, the witch had vanished without a trace.
"Dad."
Haylene crawled onto the bed and shook her father.
It was still cold.
“Dad...!"
An hour passed, a day passed, and Dad was still the same.
Now that the witch had taken the price, any hope of her wish being granted, even if it was late, gradually faded.
Her father's body was fading into black dust. His human body, sustained by the witch's power, was rapidly decaying.
"Daddy! Please! Wake up, I'm scared!"
Haylene was convinced only when her father was completely gone. There was no way Mom would have left them in this misery without telling her that the witch had come to ruin their family.
Her mom is a really bad witch.
For three days, the witch, hiding behind a tree in the yard, suffered terribly from the sound of her daughter's cries beside her father. Unable to hear her daughter's cries any longer, she retreated to the underworld.
***
Haylene cried as she remembered the night she had buried her in her dreams.
"I'm sorry, Dad! I fell over there like an idiot...!"
"No, Haylene, it's my fault for not even noticing a thief in the house. I was supposed to protect our family, and it's all my fault. Was it scary and difficult to stop the thief all by yourself?"
Haylene cried for a long time in her father's arms, as if pouring out all the sorrow she had accumulated.
And Sith, perched on the windowsill, rested her chin on her hand and smiled contentedly. Having granted the forbidden wish of reviving the dead, she was on the verge of extinction.
'Now I can finally disappear.'
She's been having trouble sleeping because she was worried about the mess the demon world had become, but now she feels like she can finally relax. Mori, it was all thanks to that kid.
'But, I have to finish the work before I go.'
The father and daughter, who had just finished their emotional reunion, were slowly getting up.
"Dad, where did Mom go?
"Well, it seems like she's hiding in the Demon World so that she won't get hurt. Should we go to the Demon World together to find your mom?
“Yes! Hehe!”
Haylene finally managed to smile like a child. Leon smiled wryly and stroked Haylene's head.
"But, before you go, Dad, I have a question."
“What is it?”
"I heard that children can't be born between demons and humans, so how did I come to be?"
"The reason why children cannot be born between demons and humans is because of the nature of their blood. Human blood is consumed by demon blood, so they cannot mix. However, there is a flower that suppresses that."
“What flower is it?”
"Astridium flower. Do you remember the white flower that used to bloom a lot in our backyard?"
"Of course I remember! Mom made tea with those flowers every day."
"Your mother loves flower tea, so she brewed tea with all the flowers of the empire, and that's how I found out about it".
A thought flashed through Haylene's mind. Now that she thought about it, that flower seemed to have bloomed just at this time.
"Can you find that flower now? There's someone I really need to give it to."
"It must be hard, because it is a flower that only blooms in the snowy mountains at the edge of the continent, so there is not a single flower left of the flowers that I planted in my backyard.”
"Yes?"
As Haylene was pondering how to get to the snowy mountains at the edge of the continent, Sith appeared before them with a smile.
"I can take you there."
"Ah..."
Only then did Haylene notice Sith's presence. Seeing the white shoes Sith was wearing, Haylene vaguely knew what Sith was. Perhaps it was the guardian spirit that had saved her father and resided in her mother's treasure.
"Of course, I can take you to where your mother is after that."
"Then thank you so much! I'll go right now, hehe..."
Sith stroked Haylene's head as she ran towards her, holding her father's hand.
***
A precious Christmas present was delivered to the Grand Duke's residence. Mori's expression turned strange when he saw Haylene's gift as he trudged home.
"That kid gave this to me? And she did it with a smile? And even to me?"
Could it be poisonous? The smell is fine for now.
"There's a note inside, but it's in ancient demonic language, so I can't read it. Can you?"
"Maybe."
The ancient language of the demon world could only be read with the power of a powerful demon. Mori strained her eyes and pulled out the note from among the bouquet of flowers, reading it.
"Thanks to you for finding my shoes. I can finally rest. Thank you for saving the demon world and the human world. In return, I will give you a gift.
If you dry these flowers and brew them into tea, you'll be able to conceive. If you're too lazy, you can just eat them raw. This amount should be more than enough to conceive."
The child you encountered...”
After that, it was written about Haylene's story and how she went to the Demon World with her father to find her mother.
"!"
“Mori, what’s wrong?”
"!!"
"What does it say?"
Mori's pupils reddened. Opening her mouth, she bared her fangs and began to gnaw on the bouquet. Chession, clueless, was simply horrified.
"Ugh! Mori! What's wrong? Is this also like the Rilkena flower?"
"Let go of this! I have to eat this right now!"
"No! You're going to vomit blood again! Please stop eating weird things!"
"Ah. Let go! I have to eat all of this now."
The butler who was watching shook his head, rubbing his dizzy forehead.
Before they knew it, Christmas morning had dawned.
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