The Dark Rebirth of Pandora: Revenge of the Abyss
Chapter 352: Alchemist Released
"Come on, Mama!!" I look into Pandora's future as I follow my daughter. In 50% of Pandora's futures, she succeeds in obtaining information from Lucios, it all depends on whether she makes a mistake or not.
Of course, I could warn her, but where's the fun in that? I'll let fate take its course, whether Pandora succeeds or fails in discovering the heroes' abilities is something only the future will reveal.
"Okay, Azazel, be patient. I'm not going anywhere," I say as we enter my room, where Gehinnom is also waiting. It seems Azazel invited him to "play" as well.
"Azazel, what are we going to play?" I say, focusing more of my attention on Pandora. Her future is always interesting to observe, and I need to see what my soulmate is up to.
"It's simple! A story acted out by us! The beautiful lady is the evil monster! I'm... the princess, and Mama is the kidnapped queen!" She starts inventing things, now seeming a bit confused with the terms.
"Mama, stay here," she says, pulling me to the bed and making me sit while she looks me over, analyzing if I'm well-positioned for her game. She gives a nod of approval and leaves me there.
"And the beautiful lady stays here," she says, while pulling Gehinnom to another spot, making a cute, serious face as if calculating the positioning precisely.
'Why am I the one who was kidnapped? Do I seem weak?' I can only wonder that as Azazel pulls a knife from her clothes, a very sharp one that she undoubtedly stole from the kitchen.
"Okay, I'll be right back," she says, running out of the room with the knife, her quick steps soon becoming silent as she enters a strange state of silent concealment.
'Where did she get another knife?' It's so unsettling not to see her future, I never know where she gets these things, even though I take good care of her, it's hard to predict what she'll do next.
'...' I wait until I'm sure she's not around to talk to Gehinnom. I need to release him from my castle soon.
"Gehinnom, you can stop making the relic, it's useless now," I say as Gehinnom looks at me in his true appearance. Anyway, that relic has no use anymore.
"Of course... Do you have any other work for me?" Gehinnom asks me, and I think. There are a few things, but I need to release him because he also creates relics for many others, even the Pandora kingdom orders a lot of things from him.
After all, he's the best alchemist in this world, there's no one more skilled than him, and that's why he always has orders from powerful people, even humans sometimes order things from him.
And as long as you pay him, he accepts most things regardless of your race, as long as it doesn't interfere with a much more valuable future business.
"No, I'll pay you, and you can go. Anyway, if I need something else, I'll just kidnap you back to my castle," I say, and Gehinnom seems extremely disappointed.
"You...like my daughter, do you?" I look seriously at "him". It doesn't matter if Gehinnom has no gender, to me he's a man even though he looks like a girl.
Everyone can choose how they want to call Gehinnom, and although his body is very feminine and he wears dresses, his own way of acting is like a man.
And in no way would I let my daughter get involved with something as disgusting as him, so he'd better be careful with what he says.
I don't want this genderless "whore" trying to get close to my daughter, it was obvious that I would notice how attached he is, someone crazy for money like him would never give things away for free like he does with my daughter.
"No, I don't like her in that way, I just enjoy her as a pleasant company. It's even strange that she came, and you being someone so sweet," he says, insulting me.
"..."
"It's better to keep it that way. I don't need a bastard from an extinct race trying to get close to my little girl. Anyway, Azazel only stays with you because she has fun, otherwise I wouldn't even let you be near her," Gehinnom looks at me for a moment before saying.
"Are you jealous?" He speaks in a cold tone, but with a slight mockery. He's really bold, knowing he's too useful to just be killed.
"!!!"
"You don't need to be jealous. I don't intend to get too involved with a daughter of the Demon King. I value my life, and I know that even if you didn't kill me, the Demon King would."
"Think of me more as an 'Aunt' who likes to give gifts to a sweet and well-behaved child, but doesn't want to get too involved, just giving gifts and receiving gratitude is enough," he says, and I feel more at ease.
"Great, I don't want my lineage to be tainted by... you," I prefer Azazel to be with someone "special", someone strong and from a race that has great potential.
I don't want my grandchildren to be of Gehinnom's disgusting species, after all, this would also look bad for my image and the image of my dear Azazel.
Even though Gehinnom can't have children because he has no gender, he's a brilliant alchemist, and my daughter is quite adaptable. I don't doubt that they could be together and have children, which would be a stain on my daughter's unique lineage.
As a mother and queen, I can't allow that. My daughter can obviously be with whoever she wants, as long as that someone doesn't taint her lineage. Besides, her purity must be protected until she's older.
"Mama's back, let's start," Azazel says as she drags in a maid, the maid seems alive but unconscious, while Gehinnom and I remain silent as if we hadn't said anything too serious.
'Gehinnom...' I look into his future. After this, he'll return to his home and make some items that Pandora ordered, but he'll still send gifts to my daughter.
'It seems that even someone like him can be affected by my daughter's cuteness.' Again, another abnormal trait, Azazel's future can't be seen by me, and she's not affected by Gehinnom's strangeness.
"...Of course, daughter. What will you do with this?" I say as she places the maid near Gehinnom and hands the knife to "her" to hold.
"The beautiful lady is the villain in the game. She kidnapped the queen, and I, as the princess, have come to rescue the queen. The villain has a weakness! She's too weak to move heavy things, so I'm making a barricade with... a maid?" She gets tangled up in her own story, which makes me smile.
"It sounds great, daughter, but isn't that weakness a bit nonsensical? What if the villain in the story actually took the maid as a sacrifice?" I say, as Azazel seems to think.
"No, that can't be it!! If that's the case, then why did I bring a maid to help the villain?" She speaks agitatedly, pointing at the maid.
"Hmm... Then how about you swap the maid for me, and that way we can trick the villain into thinking the maid is me while we both escape together?" I say with a smile.
"...Hmm... Wait, doesn't that make the beautiful lady seem stupid for not noticing the difference? The beautiful lady is smart, she can't be a stupid villain!" She speaks, and I start to get annoyed.
'Why does my daughter have to be so brilliant at such silly things?' All this rambling for a game that won't last more than 3 minutes, she's too hyperactive and will soon get tired of this silly fantasy.
I use magic, and the maid's body becomes like mine. Apart from the magic, there are no differences, now it should serve well enough to start this, right?
"There, the maid was actually a copy of me, and..."
"But if she was a copy, how did the beautiful lady know who to kidnap? And how can she know that the Mama is the right Mama?" Azazel, with her immense curiosity, continues to ramble.
"Ugh... I have no idea, let's just play, daughter," I say as Azazel makes a cute, thoughtful face.
In moments like these, I think, why did Pandora have to be so agitated when she was born? If Pandora had been calmer, Azazel would probably have inherited that, but Pandora was a pest as a child.
And now Azazel is following the same path. Azazel asks too many questions and tries to find logic in everything when it's not necessary, which only irritates me, and I'm not as patient anymore after failing at something I've prepared for millions of years.
"Then how about we play something else, daughter, this game doesn't work," I decide to try changing the game before I lose my patience.
"Then how about... uhm... hmm..." She makes a thoughtful face, tilting her head cutely as she has her little ideas.
"Let's play Mama Pandoru! I'm the Demon King, Mama and the Beautiful Lady are my allies, and together we're going to hunt something alive! The more it runs, the better!" She says with a smile that shows her cute fangs.
"...Sure, daughter... whatever you want..." I say with a fake smile.
'Tsk...' It's annoying to see that she always puts Pandora first, but there's nothing I can do. Pandora has already made it clear that she would kill Azazel if I went too far.
I don't want to put my daughter at risk, so I can't try to undermine Pandora's authority. I guess I'll have to be content with being the second place in Azazel's heart and the third place in Pandora's life?
I'm not sure how Pandora feels about me. She likes me, but much less than she likes Delphina and Zephyra. At least she still likes me a little, maybe I should kidnap her for another night of sex?