Gripping <Distorias>, I drew the stored mana from it and willed it into my hand.

<The second movement of [V - World splitter]: Rupturing thrust>

My hand ripped space apart as it quickly made its way towards the Wyvern's heart.

Before I could puncture its body, however—

CLANG—!

—My hand bounced off Sylvia's mana-reinforced scales.

Pulling the Wyvern into her embrace, Sylvia then stared at me with a frown. "What are you doing?"

"Eliminating the danger", I curtly replied.

"D- Danger?", her frown deepened. "What is wrong with you? She's a child!"

"It is not a child", I said as I slowly approached them. "It's a monster!"

Sylvia, seeing what I was trying to do, shouted. "Don't you dare come any closer!"

"Why do you care so much about that thing?"

"Whatever the reason is", she said as she hugged the Wyvern even tighter. "It doesn't matter. I won't ever let you harm her!"

'Keep hugging it that way... maybe it'll suffocate to death'

Of course, my wishes didn't come true, as Sylvia loosened her hug as soon as she realized that she was doing it too tightly.

Seeing Sylvia's worried expression that was full of affection towards the thing that was in her embrace and the Wyvern extending its hands towards me as if asking for a hug, I sighed.

"Fine! Have it your way then!"

I then took out the grimoire from [Alternate storage] and casted an illusion spell on the Wyvern.

Instantly, the Wyvern's wings and stinger disappeared. It now looked like a normal baby dragon.

"Wh- What did you do?"

"It's illusion magic", I said as I plopped down the couch again. "Now the Wyvern won't be dissected as soon as it gets out of here"

"I- I see", Sylvia looked surprised by my action. "Th- Thank you—"

"Nope. Don't care. Get out of my room before I change my mind, now"

Seeing that Sylvia had left the room with the Wyvern—

BAM—!

"SHIT!"

—I stomped the ground in frustration.

"WHY DOESN'T SHE GET IT?"

Even if Sylvia didn't have the knowledge of the novel, she should have been able to tell that a fucking girl coming out of a Storm Wyvern egg wasn't a normal thing.

The reason why I wanted to kill that thing as soon as possible was that its existence could very well plunge the world into chaos 2 whole years ahead of time.

'The <Darkest night> would do anything to get their hands on the Wyvern'

After all, creating humanoid monsters and Void beasts was one of their major goals. And who knows how many spies they had in Avaron?

'Should I tell Eleanor about this...?'

However, I soon discarded such thoughts from my mind.

'No... there's no telling what she'd do to me... and Syl if she finds out that I brought the egg here...'

Since Sylvia was much stronger than me, I couldn't really go against her. And assassinating it was also out of the question. After all, I'd be the first one she would suspected if the Wyvern was suddenly killed.

Thus, my only option was to sit here and pray that no one ever finds out about the Wyvern.

It was then that I heard a knock on my door.

Knock— Knock—!

'Huh? Did Syl finally realize how much of a danger the Wyvern is? No... that's not right... she's too stubborn to change her mind this quickly'

As such, I walked towards my door and slowly opened it, not really expecting anything much.

"What do you want—"

However, I widened my eyes in shock as I laid eyes on the figure before me.

Before I knew it, hot tears were streaming down my cheeks. I felt as if there was a lump in my throat, preventing me from even forming the simplest of sentences.

After much effort, I was finally about to stutter the words I wanted to say to the woman smiling in front of me.

"M- Mom!"
***

It had been 5 days since Glacia hatched.

Currently, Sylvia was in her dorm room, watching Glacia sleep with a warm gaze.

"I wish Theo was here...", she muttered.

Although what Theodore did 5 days ago was questionable at best and downright disgusting at the very worst, she really couldn't bring herself to hate him. At most, she was just sad about what happened. After all—

'There must be a reason why he did it'

—She knew for a fact that Theodore wouldn't do anything without a reason, especially something as drastic as trying to kill his... newborn daughter.

'But... is she our daughter...?'

Despite Glacia having her silver hair and Theodore's dull gray eyes, Sylvia still knew that she was fundamentally a Wyvern. Thus, it was practically impossible for her to have been born from both of them, especially when they haven't engaged in intimate acts.

After thinking for a while, Sylvia internally scolded herself for having even dared to have such thoughts as she caressed Glacia's hair.

"It doesn't matter. Even if Theo doesn't think of you as his child...", she muttered. "...I'll always consider you my daughter"

Knock— Knock—!

It was then that loud knocks could be heard right outside her dorm room.

Startled by the loud sound, Glacia jolted awake and look at Sylvia with teary eyes.

"Aw, don't be scared", she whispered lovingly as she tucked Glacia in her bed again. "Stay still okay? Mommy will be right back"

Seemingly understanding Sylvia's words, Glacia closed her eyes and immediately hid under the blanket.

"How cute!", Sylvia lets out a small squeal.

But what wasn't cute though, were the ones just outside her dorm.

'Is it the knights that father assigned me again?'

Ever since she returned from being kidnapped, duke Evanos had stationed knights and guards right outside her dorm to protect her. As such, she really couldn't bring Glacia inside her room without anyone noticing.

When the knights asked about Glacia, she simply stated that she was a distant relative on her mother's side.

'They seemed to have bought my excuse back then... so why are they at my door right now?'

It didn't matter all that much though, as she was going to scold them as soon as she opened the door.

CLANK—!

"I've already told you! She's just a distant relat—"

However, she suddenly halted her sentence and broke into a smile as soon as she saw who were actually at the door.

"Krista! Alicia! You made it. Come in!"

Similarly smiling, Krista dragged Alicia into the room and closed the door behind her.

CLANK—!

As soon as the door closed, Krista turned towards Sylvia with shinning eyes.

"So, where's my niece?"

In response, Sylvia grabbed Krista's hand and pulled her into her room.

"Glacia, you can come out now"

Instantly after Sylvia finished her sentence, Glacia poked her small head out of the blanket as she stared at them with her big gray eyes.

"This is Glacia, my—"

Before Sylvia could finish speaking, Krista had already rushed towards Glacia with a huge smile on her face. 

Picking her up, Krista squealed in delight as she stroked Glacia's head. "Uwah! You're even cuter than I thought! As expected of my brother's daughter!"

She then ran towards Alicia while still holding Glacia in her hands. "Alicia! Look! It's your sister!"

Watching Glacia desperately clinging onto Krista to avoid falling off, Sylvia couldn't help but to let out a small chuckle.

'I'm glad that I decided to tell Krista about this...'

She was worried that she had made the wrong decision by revealing the existence of Glacia to Krista and Alicia.

After all, there were no records of a Wyvern being able to turn into a humanoid. And just like Theodore had said, Glacia could very well be abducted and dissected by scholar mages if her identity as a Wyvern was exposed.

'It also means that... Theo does care about her...'

If he really wanted Glacia to be dead, he wouldn't have casted that illusion spell on her in the first place.

'What does people call this kind of behavior again? Tsun something?'

She eventually decided to not think too deeply about it and joined Krista and Alicia on in the fun.
...

"Aw, I'm glad to be your aunt", Krista stroked Glacia's hair as she let her sit on her laps.

Staring back at Krista for a few seconds, Glacia spoke as she titled her head to the side. "A...unt...?"

Instantly, Sylvia, Alicia, and Krista all froze on the spot.

Sensing the shift in the atmosphere, Glacia looked around confusedly.

It was then that Krista woke up from her stupor and asked with a shaky voice. "G- Glacia, what did you just say?"

"A...unt?"

"Sh- She talked?", Sylvia muttered in disbelief.

"KYAHHHH!", Krista cheered loudly. 

But upon seeing Sylvia's somewhat dejected face, she soon calmed down.

"Sorry...", she kept her head down low. "...That was her first word, wasn't it?"

"I don't mind all that much"

However, Sylvia couldn't fool anyone, not with that sad look on her face. 

Feeling guilty, Krista grabbed Sylvia's hands and declared loudly. "Come on, I'll make her call you 'mom' today!"

Now sitting right in front of Glacia, Sylvia lowered down her body a bit and let Glacia sit on her arm.

From behind, Krista whispered into Glacia's ears. "Glacia, it's your mom!"

"..."

In response, Glacia just stared at Sylvia with a smile.

Frowning, Krista rotated her to face Alicia.

"This is your sister"

"Sis...ter?"

An instant answer! One that made even the impassive Alicia widen her eyes in surprise.

"Huh?", Krista, however, was confused. "Why did she take Alicia for her sister right away and not Sylvia?"

She then slowly rotated Glacia to face Sylvia again.

"She's your mom"

"..."

Krista's frown deepened as she once again moved to face Glacia.

"Au...nt!", Glacia exclaimed as soon as Krista came into view.

"That's weird..." 

She then took out her phone and showed Glacia a picture of Theodore.

"It's your daddy"

"D...addy?"

Being turned towards Sylvia yet again, Glacia didn't call her 'mom'. Instead, she merely extended her arms out as if asking for a hug.

Sighing, Sylvia let Glacia into her embrace with a sad look on her face.

It was then that Glacia's hands slowly moved upwards. She tried to pat her mother's head, but all she managed to achieve was lightly hitting it.

However, she was still able to get her intention across.

"Are you consoling me?"

In response, Glacia nodded her head and did something no one expected.

"Don't... b-e... sad, mommy"

"!"

Sylvia was pleasantly surprised. Despite it taking a bit more efforts, Glacia had finally called her 'mom'.

As such, tears were flowing down her cheeks as she squeezed Glacia's soft cheeks together.
...

After a while, Sylvia stopped crying and looked around the room, only to see Krista and, strangely, Alicia looking at her with grins plastered on their faces.

"Now that she finally called you 'mom', let's get into business, shall we?", Krista said as she clasped her hands together.

Alicia nodded her head in agreement. "Yes, let's"

Sylvia was confused by their sudden statement.

'Huh? Aren't they only here to see Glacia?'

Before she could voice out her question though, Krista had already snatched Glacia from her hands.

"Wait! What are you doing?", Sylvia shouted.

"Oh right", Krista face palmed herself. "I forgot that you were here"

"We are making her our dress-up doll", she continued. "And it would ruin the surprise if you're here! So go get Theodore here or something!"

"..."

"Or do you also want to be our dress-up doll?"

"N- No!", Sylvia stuttered with a frightful expression on her face. "I- I'll get going!"

CLANK—!

'Did I just get kicked out of my own dorm?'
...

Finding Theodore was much faster than she had thought, as she had already familiarized herself with his mana signature.

'He's over at the food stands?', Sylvia frowned as she sensed the mana trail leading to the area just outside Avaron main building.

In fact, the Cooking elective set up their food stands every weekend to promote their elective. And even she had to admit that the food was extremely good. 

Pausing her thoughts there, she quickly made her way towards where Theodore was.

Upon seeing his familiar back, she was about to call out to him when she noticed a woman sitting right besides him.

'Huh? Who's she?'

However, she quickly discarded such questions from her head. After all, who she was to Theodore wasn't important. What was important was that—

'I can feel foul mana coming from the woman...'

—The disgusting mana of an undead was oozing from the woman.

Although the normal person might not have been able to notice such small details, Sylvia could thanks to her superior mana sense.

Slowly walking towards Theodore, she tapped on his shoulder.

Theodore turned around and gave her a slight nod upon seeing her. "What do you need me for?"

Before she could answer though, the undead had already turned its head around and gave Sylvia a smile. "Oh? Is this the girl you had been talking about?"

Theodore nodded.

Seeing this, it quickly stood up and extended its hand out. "Nice to meet you! I'm Karin Gray, Theodore's mother"

'So it's a Revenant...', Sylvia frowned as she finally realized what kind of undead it was.

Unaware of her thoughts, the Revenant then chuckled. "It wouldn't be wrong to call me your mother-in-law"

"Mom!", Theodore groaned. "I already told you, there's nothing going on between us!"

"Yeah right", the undead waved its hand dismissively, not really buying his words.

In response to all of this farce, Sylvia quickly marched towards Theodore and whispered with an urgent tone.

"Theodore! This is not your mother! It's a Revena—"

"Shut up, will you", Theodore interrupted her with a frown on his face. "Is this your payback for me trying to eliminate the danger?"

Sylvia frowned at the sight of Theodore still calling Glacia a 'danger'. However, that wasn't important right now.

"I'm being serious! It's an undea—"

"Oh, we're out of food!", Theodore exclaimed, completely ignoring Sylvia.

He then turned towards the Revenant. "I'll get some more, mom. I'll be back in a bit"

As soon as he finished his sentence, Theodore turned around and leisurely walked towards the food stands.

'I can't let him be fooled!'

As such, Sylvia hastily followed behind Theodore.

Now walking alongside him, she bombarded him with words.

"Theodore, that thing is a Revenant, not your mom!"

"..."

"It's going to kill you in your sleep if you leave it around you for too long!"

"..."

"Theodore! Listen to me, it's a rev—"

"I know", Theodore suddenly replied in a cold tone, startling even Sylvia.

"Huh?"

"I could tell that her heart isn't beating when I hugged her... that's how I know"

"Th- Then why do you keep it around you!?", Sylvia was confused. There was no uses to keeping a Revenant alive, as it was virtually impossible to track down the necromancer that created it using the Revenant itself.

"..."

Seeing that Theodore had returned to ignoring her, Sylvia frowned as she started to get frustrated.

Thus, she grabbed his shoulders with both of her hands and shouted. "THEO! You know that there's no benefits to keeping a Revenant alive! Why are you k—"

"I'm scared, OKAY?", Theodore suddenly shouted in a loud voice and yanked her hands off his shoulders.

Fortunately, they were still a good distance away from the food stands, so no one noticed his loud shout.

He then trembled as he spoke in a low voice. "I- I'm scared that as soon as I kill the Revenant, its appearance will s- stay as my mother's i- instead of turning into a strange corpse..."

Hearing this, Sylvia couldn't help but to sympathize with him. "I see... If it stays the same, then it's basically confirmed that your mother is dead, correct?"

"Y- Yes... A- And I don't think I can have the motivation to go on i- if she's really... dead..."

"..."

"I'm pathetic, aren't I?", he lets out a self-deprecating chuckle. "I just wanted to stay with my mother for just a little bit more, even though I know full well that I'm just deceiving myself"

"I understand your feelings", Sylvia put her hand on his shoulder to reassure him.

In response, Theodore slapped her hand away. "No you don't..."

"I really do", Sylvia spoke, not really minding what he had just did.

She was speaking the truth when she said that she understood his feelings. 

After all, she already had a vague realization that her 'regressions' were nothing more than mere illusions even when she was still trapped in Iferus' illusions.

From the smallest of details on how people around her acted, to Theodore's impossibly perfect personality. She always knew that it was most likely just an illusion. However, she was just too afraid to accept that fact and... end the almost perfect world that she was living in.

As such, much it pained her to pull Theodore out of his comfort zone, she had to wake him up from his delusions.

"The existence of the Revenant means that someone's deliberately targeting you. You'll be betrayed by the walking corpse that you deluded yourself into calling 'your mother' sooner or later"

"..."

"So, will you slay it and keep the beautiful memories of your mother intact? Or will you fool yourself only to regret it later?"

Theodore buried his face into his own hands in thoughts. After a while, he slowly looked up at Sylvia with determination burning in his eyes.

Turning towards the direction of the Revenant, his eyes then turned cold.

"You're right, it's utterly insulting that I even attempted to deceive myself into thinking that walking corpse to be my mother"

He then looked a Sylvia, hesitant to say whatever he was thinking in his mind. Eventually, he sighed and decided to let it all out.

"Th- Thank you. I don't know what would have happened to me if you weren't here..."

Before Sylvia could even voice out her surprise at Theodore's sudden display of gratitude, however, he had already stood up and rushed towards the Revenant.
...

Tailing right behind Theodore, Sylvia caught her breath as she watched him from behind.

"Mother!", he waved his hands as soon as he saw the Revenant. "I found the best food stand!"

"Is that so?"

"Mhm!", he nodded as she pointed towards an isolated area.

"Are you going too, daughter-in-law?", the Revenant said as it glanced at Sylvia.

Although she was caught off-guard by the question, Sylvia still managed to keep a polite smile and answered. "Of course!"

Despite her smile though, she was feeling absolutely repulsed.

'Disgusting...'

She couldn't stand acting all polite with an undead with such foul mana like this one, especially when it dared to deceive Theodore.

However, she still endured through it.

'I can't mess up now and ruin Theo's resolve!'

Eventually, they arrived at a patch of land devoid of people.

"Son?", the Revenant cocked its head in confusion. "There's no one here. Are you sure there's a food stan—"

<The first movement of [V - World splitter]: Shredding slash>

Riiiiiip—!

Before anyone could even react, Theodore drew mana from his scabbard, <Distorias>, and slashed at the Revenant's throat.

"Wh- Why...!?", the revenant screamed in pain as its body fell lifelessly on the ground.

Staring at it with cold eyes, Theodore spoke with anger apparent in his voice. "Stop that disgusting act of yours! How dare you deceive me while wearing my mother's skin?"

Before it could let out a retort, Theodore raised his fist up again and crushed its throat, killing it instantly.

"Huuuuu...", he lets out a tired sigh as he wiped the blood off his fist and slowly stood up.

Seconds went by, but they felt like hours for both Sylvia and Theodore. After all, they were holding their breath, waiting for the Revenant's appearance to revert back to its original form.

Eventually, it happened.

"Hehahahah!", Theodore lets out a small laugh as he looked at the corpse under his feet.

Who the Revenant looked like now wasn't his mother, but a strange woman with blonde hair instead.

"HEHAHAHAHAHHA! SO SHE'S ALIVE AFTER ALL!"

Theodore's expression right now was of relief and joy. After a while, he got down on his knees and cried.

"Hic... I- I'm glad that you're still out there somewhere..."

Although Sylvia really wanted to pat him on the shoulders right now and assure him that everything would be fine, she ultimately decided against it.

'It's better for him if he sorts out his emotions himself...'

As such, after giving Theodore a dazzling smile that would definitely make his mouth drop in awe if he could see it, Sylvia quietly walked away and went back to her dorm.

'Guess I'll have to become Krista's dress-up doll then...'
***

After a while, I finally managed to calm my emotions down.

Coldly staring at the corpse right underneath my feet, I fell into thoughts.

'Who could have sent this Revenant?'

I haven't made enemies with that many people.

It couldn't have been Eleanor, as I was sure that she would have used a much more direct way of assassinating me if she was actually behind this.

'All that leaves is... Max...!'

I was absolutely livid right now. If it wasn't for the fact that he was an important villain for Arthur to overcome, I'd have marched into his room right now and made him regret living.

However, I still couldn't help but to let out a small chuckle as I thought of what Max did to me.

"I can't believe I'm saying this but... I'll have to thank Max for this one"

After all, this whole incident made me realize how weak I was, both physically and mentally.

As such, I pulled my phone out and made my decision.