Chapter 9: The Truth Behind the Golden Eyes

“Bella?”

Gazing at Nina before me, I uttered that name. The person I referred to was none other than the ‘daughter’ standing right there.

“Bella?” My daughter tilted her head. “Father, who is this Bella you speak of…?”

“Uh…”

Nina’s hazy eyes suddenly grew vacant. From their depths, I sensed a mix of despair, unease, and resentment.

Yet, facing my daughter in this state, I felt not a hint of panic.

“Could it be that Father is secretly seeing other women again? Nina already warned Father! Father has me, and that’s enough. Why… why must Father do this?”

“Alright, stop pretending! Your eyes have turned golden!”

“…Ah!”

After several seconds of surprise, Nina—no, Bella—finally remembered. Whenever she occupied Nina’s body, her eye color would shift from black to gold. And now, before me, was a shimmering expanse of gold.

“Sigh~ I’ve been found out. Nothing I can do about it now.”

Once exposed, Nina sighed, her tone shifting. No, it was Bella. She dismounted from me, sat on the edge of the bed, crossed her legs, and lifted a hand to toy with her hair. She pouted, still feigning a tantrum, but had transformed from an innocent girl into a mature woman—if only she were a little taller.

It wasn’t my imagination. Though their appearances were strikingly similar, the woman before me was undoubtedly Nina’s mother, the Demon King Bella, whom I had personally slain.

To understand how this came to be, one would have to start from my duel with the Demon King… no, it would be more accurate to say, from Bella willingly allowing me to kill her.

The punch I landed on Bella caused her body to gradually collapse. However, given the Demon King’s resistance to such corruption, she shouldn’t have died so quickly. She might even have been able to dispel and heal her body, but Bella had no intention of healing herself from the start.

According to her, as she neared death and the link between her soul and body gradually loosened, she used a magic spell to transfer her soul into Nina’s body. After I took Nina away, she had been secretly observing our lives until one day I discovered Nina’s golden eyes, at which point she confessed.

Since then, Bella would occasionally possess Nina’s body, always when Nina had fallen asleep.

Earlier, in the midst of the chaos, my gaze had been fixated on Nina’s alluring body, almost overlooking those tell-tale golden pupils.

I had heard that Nina originally had golden eyes, but due to Bella’s control, they had turned black. Nina, however, was unaware that her birth mother’s soul resided within her, so she believed her eyes had always been black.

Not only that, but as Nina grew, the magic within her would also grow stronger. Yet, Bella suppressed it from within, allowing Nina to live like an ordinary girl for now.

All of this aside, I couldn’t fathom why Bella chose this moment to emerge—other than to tease me.

“Quickly, give Nina her body back.”

“What? You don’t like being with me?”

“I didn’t say that, but Nina is studying with me. Don’t interfere.”

“Studying, you say? Even if I give her body back, she won’t be able to study anymore.”

“Why?”

“Because she fell asleep on her own. I didn’t do anything sneaky inside her body.”

“Fell asleep? How so suddenly…?”

“It’s those medicines you made, of course.”

“Medicines?”

I glanced at the small bottle of medicine on the table, then back at Nin—Bella, furrowing my brow, unsure what she meant.

“Sigh, that’s why I say you’re an idiot. You don’t even understand this. Have you forgotten that you have no magic?”

“…Ah!”

It suddenly dawned on me. Although not everyone could use magic, everyone possessed magic within them. I was the sole exception. When testing the medicine, I had become a special case. Perhaps this medicine only worked on those with magic?

If that were the case, then the situation was not as reassuring as I had thought.

“Bella!”

“Ack!”

I sat up and grabbed Bella’s shoulders, startling her.

“Is there anything wrong with your body? Do you feel uncomfortable? Dizzy? Or in pain? Or nauseous? Didn’t you say your body felt hot just now?”

“No! I was just lying! Don’t make such a fuss! Let go! You’re gripping too tightly, it hurts!”

“Uh… sorry.”

After she glared at me, I immediately pulled my hands back behind me, lowering my head to the side.

Though it was Bella now, I couldn’t shake the feeling of being scolded by my daughter. At times like this, I found myself unable to argue with her, or rather, with ‘them.’

“Hehe~”

However, seeing my timidity, Bella let out a mischievous laugh and once again pounced on me, pressing her body tightly against mine. Her left index finger traced unknown patterns on my chest—clearly trying to seduce me using Nina’s body.

“Bella, what are you…?”

“Don’t move~ It’s rare for me to have a chance to come out, so let me be selfish for a bit.”

She pressed against me, shifting her body upward slightly until her lips were beside my ear, teasing me in a soft whisper:

“Now, this is the time for a child’s parents to cultivate their feelings at night, my~ dea~rest~❤”

“I refuse.”

“Eh~ I haven’t even said what I want to do!”

“It’s nothing proper, anyway. In short, no. Don’t mess around with my daughter’s body. Also, I’m not your husband, don’t call me that.”

I pushed Bella away, then turned around, crossed my arms, and sat cross-legged with my back to her.

“Don’t be so cold~”

Bella pounced on me again from behind, wrapping her arms around me. Her head peeked over my shoulder, and her cheek rubbed against my ear.

“I’m the mother, you’re the father. Doesn’t that make us husband and wife?”

“No. Besides, how can you even call yourself a mother? You willingly sought death and entrusted your daughter to the person who killed you. It’s utterly absurd.”

“But that enemy is now her doting father. From the outcome, it’s not a bad thing.”

“What if I hadn’t agreed? Perhaps, to eradicate the roots, I would have…”

Killed her. The words wouldn’t leave my mouth, for she was now my daughter.

“Hmph hmph~” Bella chuckled softly. “I was already inside Nina’s body by then. If you had truly done that, you would have been the one to die.”

“…So I had no choice at all?”

“You could have just left, you know. Cut off my head, display it to humanity, and gain supreme honor. But you could never abandon a helpless infant. You even cried to me then, ‘I want to save you!’ Isn’t that what you said? I was very happy, you know~ So, I believed you would definitely take Nina away.”

“Ugh…”

Hearing her say that, I felt completely used, and a sense of indignation welled up within me.

Or rather, had she intended to do that from the very beginning?

“What’s wrong? Not happy? I gave you, a man who came seeking death, a reason to live. Shouldn’t you be grateful to me?”

“I… I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You might not know, but I do. If I hadn’t deliberately let you kill me, you might have been the one to die.”

“Impossible. I had ‘Prism.’ How could I have lost to you?”

“‘Prism,’ huh… I don’t know what that toy does. What I mean is, back then, you never intended to kill me. You simply wanted to end your life as a hero, didn’t you? In other words, you also came seeking death.”

“…!”

Bella’s tone suddenly became serious, striking a chord deep within me. For a moment, I couldn’t respond.

Back then, without any magic, I had no idea what kind of life I should lead. I was even worse than an ordinary commoner, only able to passively accept my mother’s care in the royal palace. It wasn’t until I learned of my origins and obtained ‘Prism’ that I conceived the idea of fulfilling my mission—

“Your purpose in life is to subjugate the Demon King. Now go and complete your task!”

The obnoxious dwarf had said so, and I accepted this fate. But when I stood before Bella, I had already given up.

It was impossible for me to defeat the Demon King. How could a magic-less waste like me, relying solely on a small box, ever win? Fulfilling a mission was just empty talk.

But at least, if I died fighting the Demon King, I could be called a ‘sacrifice,’ rather than dying as a magic-less waste—it was entirely an act of self-gratification and self-abandonment.

I never expected that Bella’s goal was to be killed by me, that I would actually fulfill my mission, and then find my own purpose in life—protecting Nina.

However, there was one thing I still couldn’t figure out:

“Tell me, Bella.”

“Mm?”

“Why… did you want me to kill you?”

“Take a guess~”

Just like every time I had asked her before, Bella had no intention of answering.

Why she died, why she resided in Nina’s body, why she chose me—a series of questions that, no matter how many times I asked, she would only fob me off with, then say:

“For now, isn’t it enough for you to focus on raising Nina?”

“…I would do that even if you didn’t tell me.”

“Huhu~ Indeed.”

“Then why did you come out now? You can at least tell me that, right?”

“It’s all because of the medicine you two made. This medicine has a sedative effect, and the stronger one’s magic, the more potent its effect. Nina is my daughter; her magic is absolutely top-tier. She fell asleep right after drinking it.”

“So it’s a sedative… Are there no other side effects?”

“None. Rest assured.”

That’s good. Still, I felt a little uneasy. The stronger the magic, the stronger the sedative effect. While it could help insomniacs, it could also be used for nefarious purposes. I felt it shouldn’t be sold in stores.

Thinking about it carefully, since it worked so well on Nina, then perhaps…

“Are you thinking something naughty, Fa~ther~?”

“Urgh!?”

As if seeing through my thoughts, Bella suddenly mimicked Nina’s tone to question me, startling me… No, why should I be scared? I wasn’t thinking anything strange!

“I… what are you talking about!”

“Hmph hmph~ You’re flustered, aren’t you? Although Nina is very cute, you mustn’t lay a hand on her, because…”

Bella suddenly pulled me down, then skillfully maneuvered above me, straddling my waist.

Ah, from this angle, I finally saw it: a ‘川’ shape amidst the whiteness… No, I mustn’t look at Nina’s body with such eyes!

“What are you trying to do now?” I averted my gaze and said to Bella, “I already told you, I…

“Yes, Ken, you indeed don’t feel that way about me. But I do.”

“?!”

Hearing Bella say that to me in a seductive tone, my heart skipped a beat.

I didn’t dare look, fearing to see her make a seductive expression with Nina’s face. If that happened, I truly wouldn’t be able to turn back.

“Since Ken and Bella are impossible, then Zero and Bella, surely that’s not a problem?”

“!!”

Zero and Bella? Why did she use my original name?

“Hey~ Zero~”

Bella leaned down again, cupping my face with both hands, turning it so that our eyes met.

“Let me see it, the original appearance of Zero, the one who killed me.”