"Treasure?" Tracy abruptly sat up in bed and eyed her mother warily. "What treasure?"
"Oh my, my little Tracy, are you still going to play dumb with your mother?" Katarina's smile remained unchanged, but her gaze suddenly sharpened.
"Have you forgotten that whole shipload of Beyonder Characteristics?"
Tracy's heart sank. She had known her mother would never leave those materials alone.
She rose to her feet and fixed Katarina with an icy stare. "I brought those things back. They belong to me alone. Neither you nor the sect has any right to touch them!"
At those words, Katarina's smile instantly vanished, replaced by a wounded expression that looked on the verge of tears.
"Little Tracy, how could you say that? If I hadn't arrived in time to scare off that third mate with his wicked intentions, do you think you and your 'treasure' would still be sitting safely here?"
The Demoness of Unaging's superb acting skills were on full display at that moment.
Tracy remained unmoved. She had seen this trick from her mother far too often over the years for it to have much effect on her.
Seeing this, Katarina said no more. The sorrow gradually faded from her face, and her signature, teasing smile returned.
She stood there, silently watching her daughter as an invisible pressure belonging to a higher-ranking Demoness spread through the room like a rising tide.
The air seemed to freeze.
After a while, Tracy finally buckled under that almost tangible pressure.
She turned her face away, the first to yield, and spoke with a slight tremor in her voice.
"...Mother, at least leave half. That half... doesn't belong to me."
"Oh?" Katarina raised an eyebrow with a smile, seemingly intrigued by this answer. "I can consider that request. But in exchange, you must tell