I Became The Mother Of The Strongest Villain - Chapter 14

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Chapter 14

Yuria returned home with Fren in her arms. Choosing to carry him so he could rest from his long, and frigid journey alone in the pitch-dark forest. When they entered Yuria finally got a chance to properly assess Fren’s condition. Wounds that were invisible in the darkness came to light under the glow of the fire. Fren’s head was covered with leaves and dirt.

For how long was he wandering among trees?

However, that was only the beginning, Fren’s small, white hands were swollen and red, his palms scratched and bleeding. His knees were no exception with the cloth torn, the bloody and peeled skin was clear to see. Just how many times did he fall? He was all covered with bruises and bleeding.

“…It must have hurt.”

Even now, her heart ached at the thought of Fren persevering to find all the things she’d lost from her encounter with those men. Yuria didn’t mind losing them, although it was the first time she bought something for Fren, and felt a little regretful for losing all his intended items, she could simply buy them again. Rather, she felt more hurt for Fren, who must have had a difficult time searching for the objects.

She must’ve said something; however, fleeting and after hearing that, Fren went looking for these things himself. With this small body, with these fern-like hands, he hiked through the dark forest. Of course, she didn’t know exactly how he came to find all these things. It was just a vague guess that he did it by himself. In fact, Fren, who offered them as gifts, showed a proud look for the first time, at last portraying some semblance of childish innocence. But did she know how big the heart inside that tiny body was? It was as vast and deep as the sea, and more deadly than a tidal wave, wiping out everything in an instant. Yuria felt her whole body being swept away by Fren’s heart that he’d given her, it enveloped her, and she didn’t want to let a single piece go unnoticed. Every little piece was precious. She wanted to keep it all in her heart and remember it forever, yet doing so didn’t feel like enough.

Yuria gingerly grasped Fren’s hand as if touching a precious jewel, afraid that if she held it too hard it would break, or she would hurt him.

“It doesn’t hurt. It’s okay.” Fren, who was quietly watching cautious Yuria’s actions, spoke softly in a calm voice.

He had shards of glass stuck in his fingers, peeled palms, and bruised knees, but this was nothing. Considering the pain he’d been through before, these scratches were nothing. It was the words and gazes he’d received that pierced in his heart, making Yuria heartbroken alongside him.

No matter how hard the protective shield was, it was no use. They even broke down his hard built walls and drove him off. Remains of his walls became weapons for attacking Fren. In their eyes, his life was unnecessary, and it became a sin to survive. They placed the blame on his shoulders. They hated and disdained him to the point of harming his loved ones; the only greeting he received from his mother was her cold corpse thrown before him. Fren’s heart was shattered from such indescribable pain. Without any time to piece it back together, it was once more ripped to shreds, Fren hated himself for being weak, scratching his body to ease the self loathing.

He was afraid of their gazes so he scarred his eyes to avoid seeing them. He was afraid of their voices so he hurt his own ears, so he wouldn’t hear, but the wounds healed quickly. Nonetheless, just because his physical wounds healed, didn’t mean that the wounds on his heart healed. The scars in his heart accumulated one after another.

In the past, Fren lived without knowing what a wound was.

“Is there a wound on Fren’s body, right?”

“This, small wound.” From Fren’s point of view, it was too small to be seen as a wound.

“Fren, even small wounds are still wounds. It’s natural to feel pain when you’re hurt.”

How many wounds did he endure with this small body to think of it lightly just because it’s a small wound? Some people cry from small thorn pricks in their fingers…

“It doesn’t hurt.” Fren shook his head as he looked up at Yuria, attempting to comfort her in his own way, she only gazed at his body with sad eyes.

“Don’t hide your pain from me. Just because it’s small doesn’t mean it’s not painful.” Yuria knew why Fren said it wasn’t painful or hard. It wasn’t that it didn’t hurt or wasn’t hard, it was just that the wounds he’d experienced before were so great that this much felt like nothing.

Yuria hated it. Getting used to pain, so one was numb to pain was something she didn’t ever want Fren to experience. She hoped that he could at least be honest with himself, it didn’t matter if he overreacted, for the sake of such a lovely child, couldn’t she handle a bit of exaggeration? It was okay to constantly cause accidents like a troublemaker who didn’t listen, that way he could enjoy everything he couldn’t before.

Fren had yet to experience the original plot, but since she knew all the story, Yuria felt more heartbroken every time she saw Fren.

“Yuri hurt?” Fren asked while looking up at Yuria’s face distorted by regret and pity.

“If Fren gets hurt, I’m hurt too, but it hurts most when Fren is hurt but says he doesn’t feel pain.” At Yuria’s words, Fren’s expression morphed showing his bewilderment.

If she was hurt, he felt pain too, so he could understand that if he was hurting, she was as well. Yet he couldn’t understand why she said it hurt more when he said he wasn’t in pain when he was hurt.

Why does it hurt more?

How come? Why is that?

Fren kept tilting his head, unable to understand.

“One day, Fren will understand. If Fren finds someone precious to him.” Yuria just said so and patted his head not wanting to overload his brain. “Let’s treat you first, then wash up.”

Yuria thought it would be better to wash with warm water to warm himself up. Since it was especially cold outside, his whole body must be frozen. In addition, he was filthy with dirt and leaves plastered all over his body.

Before washing, Yuria treated Fren’s wounds. Afterwards, she gently caressed Fren’s skin as though they were transmitted to Yuria. Although this touch on its own could not remove the child’s injuries, she hoped that it would provide comfort for Fren’s heart.

Once finished Yuria moved Fren to the bathtub brimming with warm water.

“…Tickle. Poke, poke.”

Fren frowned, as his body tingled once contact the water. Obviously, it didn’t feel like this before. He hated the water just a little bit as it seemed to sting him. In retaliation, he smacked the water with his palms as if scolding it, each time, water droplets splashed onto his face and Fren closed his eyes tightly.

“It will be fine soon,” said Yuria soothingly, looking lovingly at Fren’s actions.

‘It’s probably because of the warm water coming into contact with his cold body. Yuria carefully scrubbed Fren’s body. The child looked at the bubbles while letting himself be scrubbed. He had seen it before, but he was still amazed every time he saw it. White, fluffy things floated on the water, and when he touched it out of curiosity, the white lump disappeared. Instead, there was a baby lump.

Yuria, finished applying the soap, gave a friendly smile and sprayed water from the bathtub onto Fren to remove the foam.

“Me too.”

“Huh?” Yuria replied with a question, causing Fren to speak again. He was amazed to see the bubbles disappearing when the water touched them, so he wanted to try it himself.

“Me too.”

“If you want to, you can do it.”

At Yuria’s permission, Fren put his palms together and filled them with water, sprinkling it all over. But, since he didn’t know how to spray it, he just threw it randomly, and water droplets splashed all over. The droplets that fell on the water bounced like balls. As if it was something marvelous, Fren filled his palms again and dropped it. Then he splashed his hands in the water.

Looking at Fren playing with water, warmed Yuria’s heart. He finally looked like a child his age. A smile spread across his face that he couldn’t hide. His eyes shone so dazzlingly that they looked like jewels, shining just like stars in the night sky.

Yuria affectionately stroked Fren’s hair. After showering, the two went to sleep again.

At first, she wanted to go down to the floor to sleep because she thought Fren would be uncomfortable with them both in the bed, but in the end, she gladly agreed to sleep with him when he grabbed her finger tightly at the sight of her trying to sleep on the floor.

The next day, Yuria woke up feeling suffocated. What she saw as soon as she opened her eyes was Fren. ‘Since when was it like this?’ Fren slept tightly her neck and body like a cicada hanging from an elder tree.

She agonized for a while. He was sleeping so soundly that she didn’t dare to wake him. The sunlight coming through the window and the chirping of birds indicated that the day was bright, but Yuria decided to stay still for a while. Today especially she didn’t want to force her odly heavy body to get up.

‘Such an adorable child…’

It was unbelievable that this child would grow up to become a mastermind and the ultimate villain like in the novel. Fren’s appearance yesterday was scary, but thanks to him, she was able to escape that situation safely. Yuria didn’t even want to think about what she would have gone through if Fren wasn’t there. He didn’t harm them for no reason, they were bad people, that was reason enough. She didn’t want to feel troubled anymore thinking about what had already happened.

He was an adorable child who lacked many things. If there’s something he didn’t know, she would teach him, and if there was something he lacked, she would provide it.

There was plenty of time left, as she had decided to dedicate her life for the happiness of this child. In the original, it was only after he became an adult that he met the original heroine and started working in earnest, but Fren was still a child right now. Even if Fren had a faster growth rate than humans because he was a hybrid of a demon and a human, there was definitely still some time left before he matured.

She vowed again. I will never let this child grow up and walk such a bloody and terrifying path. As in the novel, that was the path Fren walked to become the ultimate villain and attempt to destroy the world, and she definitely wouldn’t let his heart be pierced by a sword.

Gently stroking Fren’s head, Yuria fell asleep again.

How much time has passed? Fren, who had been sleeping on Yuria, shrugged and slowly opened his eyes. Soon after, his round eyes widened, he was surprised to find out that he had fallen asleep.

He had tried not to sleep. Earlier felt like a dream in which she would run away if he fell asleep, thus he tried to keep an eye on her out of fear of losing her. That way she wouldn’t disappear, and even if she tried to, he would be able to catch her. Thus Fren was extremely relieved to see Yuria in front of him.

‘Yuria is still by my side.

Suddenly, he felt something strange. Yuria’s body was hot, too hot. Her face was soaked with cold sweat and she groaned in pain.

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