Aurelia... is Mira?

Not just me—even Loli looked slightly taken aback. Aefina showed no reaction, though reading expressions on a Great Dragon’s face was always tricky. The others, however, seemed to have known all along.

Mo Mo nodded calmly beside us. "Mira used to be called Aurelia. She changed her name after coming here."

Now that I thought about it, Mira had vaguely mentioned her past before—but she’d refused to elaborate. Was it tied to this name change?

"By the way, Loli," I suddenly remembered something and turned to her. "What did Urias say when you met him earlier?"

"Why is there a child here?" Loli parroted.

"Not that part. The next line."

"Hmm? A beastkin? That explains it. Where are your parents, little one?"

"Still not it. Keep going."

"Ah... My apologies. I was merely protecting Aurelia."

"Exactly that line." I glanced at Mira, lying motionless with her eyes tightly shut, then asked Nia, "You just said Mira is Aurelia. So this person claiming to protect Aurelia—meaning Mira—what’s his relationship to her?"

Could Urias be Mira’s suitor? I braced myself for some messy drama.

"That person," Nia said flatly, "is Mira’s father."

Well, scratch my earlier thought—wait, toss out all those perverted father jokes first.

Seeing I was about to press further, Nia cut in smoothly. "Some things should wait until Mira wakes. Discussing her behind her back isn’t right."

"Wait for Mira to wake?" I eyed Spirit and Mercy bustling around her. This didn’t look like a one- or two-day job... Still, at least she was safe.

"Don’t worry. Mira should wake soon," Mo Mo said calmly, glancing at her. "Demons heal faster than you think. And as an adult, her recovery far surpasses Loli’s juvenile resilience."

"Alright, Mr. Luo Sa. Trust us," Mercy finally looked up after a while, brushing stray strands of hair from her face.

Opposite her, Spirit produced another white cloth from nowhere and draped it over Mira. Two unused scrolls lay beside her.

As if to prove Mo Mo’s point about demonic resilience, Mira stirred moments later.

"Mmm... Hnn..." Unconscious whimpers escaped her lips. Her brows furrowed; long lashes trembled slightly. She seemed on the verge of waking. This was likely the first time I’d heard Mira’s voice—a bright, energetic tone that defied her perpetually silent demeanor. I’d expected something deeper.

Her soft sounds drew everyone’s attention. No one spoke. We waited in silence as Mira’s whimpers faded and her expression smoothed. Or so I thought—until I caught a flicker. Had she just opened her eyes for a split second?

Just as I decided she hadn’t woken, tears welled at the corners of her closed eyes. Two glistening drops slipped silently down her cheek. Like a signal, more tears flooded out, soaking half her face. Her body began trembling faintly, muffled sobs escaping as she fought to hold back her cries. It ached to witness.

Nia stepped forward. One tentacle gently wiped Mira’s tears while her voice remained icy, devoid of warmth: "How does it feel... to be alive?"

Mira didn’t answer, but her sobs grew louder. She reached out as if to grasp Nia’s tentacle—hesitated mid-air—then let her hand fall. Nia wrapped another tentacle around Mira’s wrist, but Mira flinched, trying to pull away like a stubborn child.

For someone usually so composed, Mira now seemed heartbreakingly vulnerable.

"Mira, it’s over now." Loli had appeared beside Nia, stroking Mira’s head. Though Mira couldn’t understand her words, her trembling intensified. Her expression twisted—not in pain, but in fierce restraint.

Spirit and Mercy quietly retreated. Mo Mo hopped onto my shoulder. Aefina watched the trio with quiet confusion. Only Mira’s stifled sobs and the rustle of wind through leaves filled the air. Time seemed to freeze.

Nia broke the stillness, still wiping tears, her tone unchanged: "This time, it wasn’t Sacrifice who found you. Aefina sensed you first. If you keep vanishing like before... can you guarantee you’ll return? Even demons can’t resurrect from true death."

At this, Mira lifted her head toward Aefina’s direction. I say "toward" because her eyes remained firmly shut.

"Mira’s... eyes?" Aefina frowned, puzzled.

"They’re fine. She simply refuses to open them," Mo Mo answered from my shoulder. "Those eyes once hurt Nia."

"Eh? Her eyes hurt you? Is Medusa a demon?" In this fantasy world, lethal eyes immediately brought Medusa’s petrifying gaze to mind. But weren’t Medusas half-snake with living serpents for hair?

"Medusas are Monstrous Beasts. I told you before—Mira’s a Life Demon. Entirely different." Nia took over. "Life Demons are mutated demons. Any demon lineage can produce one. Like most mutants, they’re born immensely powerful—stronger than average variants. Defeating higher-level opponents is as easy as breathing for them."

"Luo Sa, remember Aefina’s combat power?" Nia suddenly asked me.

"Over three hundred thousand? I don’t recall the exact number." I remembered most details about Aefina.

"Three hundred forty thousand, precisely." Nia corrected. "But ‘Scout’ is a skill created by a certain Sovereign—it only shows rough estimates. Real combat isn’t like those games where higher numbers always win."

"Imagine two fighters. One has no special abilities but 10,000 combat power. The other has only 6,000—but can fly. Who wins?"

"Obviously the flyer. The stronger one can’t even land a hit."

"Exactly. ‘Scout’ only measures base combat power. Special advantages or elemental weaknesses aren’t factored in." Nia nodded. "I’m explaining this so you grasp how strong Life Demons truly are. A mature Life Demon can defeat opponents with 50% higher combat power using their innate abilities alone. Creatures named after *Life* aren’t ordinary."

**Eyes that drain life. Fangs that devour flesh. Hands that shred souls.**

"When fully unleashed, these abilities annihilate a being on every level—that’s why they’re called Life Demons," Mo Mo chimed in seamlessly, as if rehearsed. "And Mira... sealed all her innate powers herself."

I suddenly understood Mira’s unusual accessories—the paper strip over her eyes, the mask covering her mouth.

"Back then, I obtained a scroll. After analysis, Mo Mo and I determined it could summon a demon from the Demon Realm. But the interdimensional channel was sealed, so the scroll was deemed unusable—locked away as forbidden magic."

"Stubborn as I was, I poured massive mana into it, forcing open a tiny rift. That’s how Mira arrived. The channel-tearing consumed so much energy that the actual summoning power was minimal—just enough to pull over Mira, who’d been gravely wounded fighting other demons."

"Battered by her attackers and destabilized by dimensional transit, she collapsed unconscious upon arrival."

"Recognizing her race, Mo Mo and I decided to save her. Without Spirit and Mercy back then, we could only treat her wounds crudely. Halfway through, Mira woke—mistaking us for her assailants. With nothing left to lose, she unleashed her full power in a life-draining glare at me."

"Focused on healing her, I was caught off-guard. But as a Slime, life-drain affects me weakly. Even point-blank and unprepared, it only cost me half my vitality. When Mira recovered and realized what she’d done... she was devastated."

"I didn’t hold it against her. But Mira—stubborn to a fault—insisted on sealing away the very powers that sustained her. She’d planned to gouge out her eyes, sew shut her mouth, and sever a hand. I stopped her. Hence... her current state. You’ve noticed how her clapping draws attention? That’s her sealed soul-siphoning ability—now reduced to a mere distraction."

As Nia spoke, Mira had sat up, wrapped in a cleaner cloth. She bowed her head like a chastised child awaiting punishment.

"Since I saved her life, Mira vowed to give me everything—to slave herself to me, even offer her life." Nia’s gaze flickered almost imperceptibly toward Loli. "With only Mo Mo and me in that house before the Eight Virtues existed, I welcomed the company. And against her relentless insistence... I accepted her as my butler."

"Guilt over hurting me consumed her. To atone, she sought to discard her very self—to become my *object*. She begged me to strip her of the name ‘Aurelia’ and grant her a new one."

*Discard the self...* I recalled how Mira replaced the character "I" with blank spaces on her paper strip.

"Later, Mira learned her father had also come to this world. She begged my permission to hunt him down. If she succeeded, she’d sever her past completely. If she died... she’d repay my kindness in the next life."

Nia sighed. "Mira said her only reason to live before was to seek revenge on her father. If that ends, she’d have nothing left to hold her back."

"But honestly, if my lovely butler goes out fighting every day, it’d put me in a real bind. And with Mira away all the time, so many chores go undone. So I made a deal with her: revenge trips are allowed only once a year, on the anniversary of when we first met."

Wait—Mira’s after her dad for revenge? Mira is Aurelia, and Aurelia’s father is Julias. Julias claimed he was protecting Aurelia… Then that “thank you” he gave us… Was he thanking us for rescuing Mira? If he was protecting her… yet she wants revenge on him… Could this twist really be… “My foolish… daughter”?

"So why does Mira want revenge on her father?" I asked.