When Laura Croft first heard about Milia's origins, she could hardly believe that the adorable girl splashing about in the pool like a duckling was the so-called Son of the Devil. At the same time, she understood the girl's strange behavior, as well as why the woman who occasionally appeared in the drawing room at Oxfordshire Manor, claiming to be Milia's blood relative, had such complicated feelings toward everyone in the manor, including Milia herself.
After the mist was cleared away, Laura Croft saw that the shadows of Bayonetta and Jeanne were elegant women with butterfly and moth wings growing from their backs, while Milia's shadow was a massive monster with goat horns and bat wings. Under the pool lights at night, that shadow was submerged in the water, one claw resting on Milia's shoulder while the other, dripping wet, clawed at the shore. In that fleeting glimpse, she noticed a ring of glowing marks around the neck of that heavy, greasy-black shadow.
Before Laura Croft could recover from her terror, Bayonetta waved a hand, and the strange sight vanished.
According to Jeanne, Milia's so-called tendency toward pranks was actually a shallow, childish malice. The Psionic Power surging through her veins affected her brain, driving this utterly adorable-looking girl to unconsciously attempt acts that were extraordinarily dangerous to ordinary people, hurting others and hurting herself. Without proper guidance, Milia's reason would gradually decay under psionic influence. She would no longer have empathy for any living thing; she would become cruel, cunning, promiscuous, and unscrupulous. That was precisely why the girl needed to spend time with him and the Witches. Only he and the Witches could tame the malice within her soul.
The Cheshire Cat lay on a poolside lounge chair, its round eyes fixed on the girl.
The female archaeologist