I returned to my ship, and I noticed Velar standing at the door of my cabin. I approached him.

  “Velar.”

  “Taneva is inside, with the monster girl.”

  I nodded and promptly stepped inside. Inside, Taneva was sitting on a chair while facing the small cage. The horrendous monster inside was squirming and quietly groaning. Taneva casually looked at me as Velar closed the door.

  Taneva snorted. “You’ve brought quite a guest, Your Highness.”

  I stood beside him as I observed the creature. “Is it one of the Cursed Children?” I asked for confirmation.

  “Yeah. A young one at that. Well, not that I’d call her young exactly. But young in their standard.”

  “Are the Cursed Children not only from the continent?”

  “Oh they should all be on the continent. It’s their home. But this one is a stray. Don’t know how she got here, she won’t talk to me.”

  “That I understand. Judging from what happened at the bandit base, the leader definitely abused this girl to the most intense degree.”

  “The ever healing monster, there’s no limit to what you could do to it. A sadist’s dream subject,” Taneva remarked.

  “It’s my first time seeing one bare like this,” I said. I mostly saw them completely covered in cloth.

  “So that’s how they look during the night,” Velar said.

  Taneva nodded with a smile. “Incredibly ugly, aren’t they? Absolutely horrendous.” He leaned forward with a slight smile, close to the cage. “They’re even cursed in appearance, not just immortality. And notice that slow pulsing on her flesh.” He pointed. “That’s the ever shifting and changing flesh inside the body. By force. Imagine your body being twisted. A constant suffering.”

  That would indeed be the most miserable way to live. Being that ugly, being in pain all the time, it would drive anyone insane. Even children were not spared.

  “A very terrible curse,” Taneva added before glancing towards me. “Your godly mother really was so pissed that she cast this curse on them.”

  “A mother’s wrath. It’s something that should not be undermined,” I said. “The grief, the rage, to see your child killed, it would be beyond words. It’s something none of us can understand.” We were not mothers.

  “True.” Taneva leaned back in his chair. “So, why did you bring her here?”

  “... Um, well, she’s a cursed child. She had somewhat of a connection to me, right? And I can’t just leave her. Maybe the Heneis could look after her.”

  “You think those two would gladly take care of her? It’s a kid.”

  “Why not?”

  Taneva narrowed his eyes towards me. He smiled and shook his head, as if he came to a realization. “This is not about her being connected to you.”

  “What…?”

  He stood up and leaned close to me. “You pity her.”

  My brow deeply furrowed upon hearing those words. “Oh please, I am not.”

  “Something is different about you. What happened out there?”

  I stepped back away from him. “Back off, Taneva.”

  “Is that compassion I see?”

  “Why would I feel compassion?”

  “Are you not compassionate?” Velar suddenly interjected. “You were quite gentle to the women slaves you saved.”

  Shut up, Velar!

  “You really are a softie!” Taneva started laughing hysterically, as though it was the most amusing thing.

  I clenched my fists. I was not being compassionate. It was bullshit. I was just in an emotionally vulnerable moment, but I was certainly not being compassionate. I didn’t care about them. Never.

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  But… I was reminded of the time in the far past. My younger days. The suffering. My meekness. My lack of confidence. The abuse. And the sexually abused women, some of them were young. Ended up in that miserable situation.

  During training, we had to be indifferent to various situations, to different actions, different endeavors. And to form indifference, one ought to experience it. But, since we were young during education, options were quite limited. You had to be indifferent to killing, in suffering, in pain, and no form of compassion. No matter what you had to do to finish the mission, you had to do it.

  Seeing those women being treated like that… It reminded me of a particular experience. The first time… The time to form a particular kind of indifference. It was just before my graduation… There was a man they introduced to me that I had… had to… To graduate, it had to be done… I was so young, clueless. Nothing but a machine to do what was required. Still, what I was didn’t matter… I must form indifference to such carnal actions, no matter how young or small I was. And I remembered… It was not comfortable…

  That was why, whenever I was vulnerable, or unaware, I didn’t want to be touched in that way…

  “Shut up, Taneva.” I glared at him, fists clenched tightly. “Before I fucking blow you to smithereens.” Intense emotion suddenly flared within me.

  Taneva froze, and he slowly stepped back, holding out his hands. “You’re mad. I didn’t expect that. I apologize. I’ll stop.”

  It took a moment for me to realize I was emanating a good amount of mana, just after Velar began stepping away, being choked by my mana. I lost my composure. I took deep breaths to calm myself down, retracting my mana.

  Taneva was right, my decisions today… I was not thinking straight… No… Thinking about it, there was another benefit to my decision. This monster girl. A monster that never dies. Despite being a kid, she should still be plenty useful. If she becomes indebted to me, she’d be more trustworthy than those two Cursed Children. A follower. A shield, a weapon. The potential to have someone like that to serve me. Loyal to me.

  “Can we bring her out?” I asked Taneva as I stared at the monster child.

  “It’ll be dangerous. When they’re in this state, they’re brought to the edge. She might attack you.”

  “Is that so?” I slowly approached the girl. “She restrained herself when we first met. Saying not to harm me.”

  “Your blood is precious to them. They can sense it. Don’t just trust her words. A feral beast cannot control their instincts. Not to mention she’s a child.”

  “Really? Is there a way to stop that?”

  “We can sate her hunger. But how much blood depends on how hungry she is. Or you could try giving her your blood.”

  “My blood?”

  “As I said, your blood is precious to them. Despite you being incompletely divine, your blood still has effects.”

  “Like what?”

  “Temporary relief. You can free her from her curse for the night.”

  “I see…” I crouched right before the girl in the cage. “Hello.” She stared at me. “You know what I am?” The monster meekly nodded before moving away to the edge. “Are you hungry?”

  The girl groaned in a monstrous tone. Despite being so small, I could sense akin to a giant, hungry beast. And from the looks of it, me being in front of her only made it more difficult for her to hold herself back. And that was the point.

  “Will you try to eat me?”

  The girl vigorously shook her head. “No! I should not hurt the goddess!”

  I smiled softly. “Very good.” I pulled out a dagger and broke the lock. And I slowly opened the cage, extending my hand forward. “Reach out to me, be free from this cage.”

  “N-No. I can’t…”

  “Touch my hand and resist your hunger. Be a strong girl.”

  “A strong… girl?”

  “Yes.” I further extended my hand. “Come to me.”

  The girl was full of hesitation. However, I looked her directly in the eyes, urging her to step forward. The girl slowly moved towards me, her body trembling as she did. I could see the intense control she put on herself. She panted heavily as she got closer.

  She lifted up her hand slowly. With fear and doubt, she closed her hand and retracted it a little. However, that hesitation only lasted for a moment, and she reached out for my hand. Our hands touched. Her hand had a nasty and rough sensation on them. But that was fine. I slowly pulled her out of the cage until her feet finally touched the wooden floor.

  She looked at the floor with labored breaths, our hands still touching. I crouched right in front of her, and her sharp, monstrous eyes shook.

  “Do you want to feed on me?”

  “N-No… I don’t want t-to… It’s bad…”

  I waited for a moment for her to move differently. And yet, she only stood there firmly, even though our hands were still touching. The strength this girl had was incredible. The power to resist the temptation. A rare gift for someone this young.

  I caressed the side of her face with my finger. “You are a strong girl.”

  “I… am?”

  I smiled tenderly, like how a mother would smile to their daughter. “Yes.”

  She lowered her head.

  “How did you get here?”

  “... I ran away from home…”

  “Why?”

  “Mother, Father, have lost their minds. They hurt me. Everyone was cold. And so I ran away, as far as I could… But I was captured by humans, and was brought here in this land.”

  “I see. It must be hard.”

  “...”

  “Do you want to come back home?”

  She shook her head.

  “I see. How about you follow me, for the meantime?”

  “F-Follow?”

  “I have to go on a journey. Will you help me?”

  “...”

  “I won’t hurt you.”

  “B-But… I… I don’t know if… I might hurt the goddess.”

  “I’m sure you have the strength to resist that. Will you show me more of the power of your will?”

  She paused for a moment, merely staring at me. And she nodded. “I… I will try.”

  “I’m sure you will not disappoint.”

  And thus we waited until the sun rose. She displayed an incredible will to resist her extreme thirst for my blood. When the sun had risen, showing its first ever light to the world, the monster turned into a normal, young, little girl. A small and pitiful little girl with black hair and amber eyes.

  And she started crying as she stared outside through the window. Relief washed all over her. She still kept a tight hold on my hand.

  “What is your name?” I asked her.

  She rubbed her eyes. “Nira…”

  I gently patted her head. “Hello, Nira. I am Estelia. Nice to meet you.”