Chapter 383
However, the woman did not seem to change her tone in response to Sakaki Chika's words; she continued her narration in a calm and collected manner, as if she were coaxing a child to sleep.
Her smile was beautiful and captivating, yet it didn't quite seem like a real human smile.
"Speaking of which, I was originally very angry with Ailu."
Tachibana gently stroked the Magic Wand.
This is Magic Wand that she crafted herself.
"Although it was just a failure, it still contained some of my hard work."
"Although she was never qualified to be a vessel."
"But she actually stooped so low as to fall in love with an ordinary person on Earth, married that person, and even had a child she hated."
"She even abandoned her identity as a Magic girl, willingly choosing to grow old with a frail human..."
Her voice grew fainter and fainter.
And that inhuman gentleness also revealed a chilling, terrifying quality.
The woman's wine-red pupils were as cold and sharp as blood even in the dim light of the cave.
However, the monster's smile, like a mask, never faded.
"At that moment, I almost wanted to wipe her out and all her family on Earth."
In Tachibana's words, those who were to be "eliminated" seemed extremely small and fragile.
But Sakaki Chika had personally heard her grandmother reminisce about the family members who had passed away.
Upon arriving here, Sakaki Chika fully realized that the Tachibana- san before her was the true Demon King, a Monster devoid of human emotions.
However, it is clearly not the time for Sakaki Chika to speak yet.
"But Ailu isn't entirely useless, is she?"
"After all, her descendants gave birth to you, dear Chika."
"As expected, only a real birth can achieve this. Ailu's offspring will be better than any of my failed creations."
Slowly, Tachibana walked across the tree-covered floor to Sakaki Chika.
She raised an arm and gently stroked Sakaki Chika's cheek.
"You are qualified to be 'me' and to be with her, my dear."
At this moment, the girl's face, which was being stroked by Tachibana, was trembling incessantly.
This appearance is not surprising.
Without transforming, this is Sakaki Chika's true form.
Timid, powerless, and at a loss.
She would only tremble like a weak little animal, waiting for a reliable "adult" to protect her.
Upon seeing the girl's weak appearance, Tachibana's gaze changed slightly.
A cold, indifferent look appeared in those wine-red eyes.
She said calmly---
"However, that awful kid always disappoints me in so many ways."
She taught you too many wrong things.
"What brings smiles to others...?"
"What...? 'Laugh when you want to cry'? Is that what they say?"
Tachibana casually touched her chin with one finger, her eyes following suit.
That terrible and incompetent child not only accomplished nothing, but also made a complete mess of raising other children.
Therefore, there are many areas where Sakaki Chika needs her "mother" to correct her.
It's okay, though.
Soon, dear Chika will truly understand what she needs and what she needs to obtain true "love".
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Chapter 150 Sakaki Chika's Nightmare
Miss Tachibana.
Or, she could be called the Flower Demon King, Ailulu.
All along, she had been living on Earth as a human, and as a director of the Star Flower Agency, she frequently met with Sakaki Chika.
But she just said something shocking and unacceptable to Sakaki Chika.
That was about her grandmother.
The person who was kindest to her in her memories, her grandmother, a former Magic girl, was the Demon King's... creation?
However, what she wanted to refute at this moment was something else entirely—
"Grandma wasn't a bad kid, and she didn't teach me anything wrong!"
She has relied on those things to persevere until now.
In her childhood and past, which felt like a nightmare, only her gentle grandmother treated her well. Without her grandmother, she doesn't know how she would have gotten to where she is today.
Star Flower was also left to her by her grandmother; she is a Magic girl who has always protected her.
However, Tachibana's expression did not change in the slightest despite Sakaki Chika's denial.
"Yeah?"
A hint of pity flickered in her eyes, and she smiled:
"What a pitiful child, Little Chika."
Finally, ignoring Sakaki Chika's words, she stroked Sakaki Chika's face, like a gentle mother about to give her child a heartfelt lesson.
It seems this child is too naive to understand anything.
They are deceived without even realizing it.
Of course, Tachibana knew very well that this child had always been stupid.
Just like I used to be.
"Ailu is a terrible, stupid child who can't do anything right."
Her sweet voice carried Malice and barbed words.
"In her youth, she was the worst mother in the world, never properly disciplining her children or correcting any of their mistakes."
Even after becoming a mother, she remained as willful and selfish as a young girl.
"That's why you raised such a pathetic parasite as your father."
Magic girls are never good mothers.
They are forever young girls.
Willful, self-centered, and pursuing their own ideals of beauty, motherhood is an identity that seems out of place for them, because they will never grow up and become adults.
In Tachibana's view, Ailu had committed an act worse than that of Monster.
"Even in the last few years of her life, she was still unbearable, wasn't she?"
"When your parents stopped caring about you at some point, she didn't try to correct them. Instead, she pretended to be the gentlest person in front of you, lecturing you on some foolish things about enduring all this injustice."
"I don't recall ever teaching her any of that."
Tachibana spoke each word carefully.
With each word she spoke, it seemed to evoke memories for Sakaki Chika, allowing her to once again conjure up the image of her grandmother from those memories.
She stood there, stunned for a moment.
Before anyone knew it, the girl's face began to turn pale.
She tried to explain, but she didn't want to hear a single word of what they had just said:
"No... Grandma isn't that kind of person..."
Her grandmother was the gentlest person she had ever met.
Whenever I get hurt, feel pain, or am frightened by my family, it's my grandmother who comforts me.
I applied ointment to myself and told myself not to be sad, as long as I smiled, everything would be alright.
Each time this happens, I can muster up my courage.
A smile just like my grandmother's back then...
Huh... Huh?
"That's the kind of person she is."
Tachibana spoke, she slowly lowered the hand that had been stroking Sakaki Chika.
He touched Sakaki Chika's neck.
Then he gently touched the girl's back.
Although there were no marks or bruises there, Sakaki Chika still reflexively trembled, as if afraid of being beaten there.
These reactions were all within the Demon King's expectations.
A woman's gentle yet icy voice reached my ears.
"Otherwise, why would Ailu never feel sad about your misfortune, but always smile?"
"Why did she only teach you to endure all of this, instead of solving the root cause of your suffering?"
As the creator of Ailu, Tachibana knew it all too well.
She knows a lot about Ailu and Sakaki Chika.
In her view, the truth might be even more terrifying and terrible than what she had just described.
But this poor child has never realized this, deceiving himself all along, pretending to know nothing until today.
Only after Sakaki Chika lowered her head and fell into a deathly silence did Tachibana reveal a satisfied smile.
"However, even the one truly important thing that saved Chika is about to be taken away."
Tachibana sighed dramatically.
Even a beautiful woman's sigh, if feigned, is alluring and captivating.
The girl's pupils suddenly dilated.
A wavering appeared on Sakaki Chika's face, as if she was afraid of what Tachibana was about to say.
"Or is it that the person you like never actually belonged to you?"
What are you talking about?
The girl's forced calm could not conceal her panic and anxiety.
Tachibana lowered her hand.
She clasped her hands together, letting them hang casually in front of her abdomen, and slowly walked step by step into the hollow of the giant tree.
"That person, Teacher Haihara, although she saved you when you were at your most desperate, you actually know that it wasn't because you were special to her, but simply because you were her student, right?"
The sound of the woman's high heels, along with her own voice, was crisp and clear, echoing in sync with Sakaki Chika's heartbeat.
Every word this Demon King utters touches the softest, most vulnerable part of Sakaki Chika's heart.
"That's your only connection with her..."
"She was a cold, indifferent woman who had no interest in associating with strangers."
"You know very well that even if your pitiful life and this twisted relationship have given her some pity for you, and made you have a glimmer of hope, it is ultimately just an illusion."
She raised her hand, and Magic Power transformed into several dazzling, dreamlike bubbles.
Within the bubbles, several faces that Sakaki Chika recognized emerged.