I Became The Mother Of The Strongest Villain - Chapter 8

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Chapter 8

It felt like fate. If there was a God, then they must’ve heard her wish and pitied Arnen. It mattered not how she came to this world, whether by the force of a god or not, thanks to Them, she met Arnen and was able to change his name. Yuria had one goal in this life: to make Fren walk a painless path so he could live a normal life and be loved.

Yuria was still shaken by this world, but if she can help another, becoming someone reliable and dependable, then that was enough to keep her stable. Yuria hated living alone, and hoped to meet someone who could be beside her. If that was Arnen, the villain of the novel, and now Fren, it would be a blissful thing. She didn’t care if he had inherited the devil’s blood or not, to her Fren was just Fren.

“Fren, I promise you there’ll be no more wounds or misfortune in your life.” Even if Yuria had to sacrifice her own life, she wasn’t going to let Arnen – no, Fren – go down a path that would only hurt himself and turn him into a villain. If only once, she wished to be his warmth, light, and salvation, otherwise it would be a meaningless life.

“….”

Fren quietly stared at Yuria, he didn’t quite understand what she was talking about; however, he could feel the undeniable affection she had portrayed through her eyes. It warmed him at just a glance, it was so deep that Fren couldn’t guess what strange emotion it was. To him, such a huge affection was a little scary.

How can she possibly have those feelings? Can such feelings even exist in the world?

He was full of doubts, but his heart was pounding. He unknowingly clenched and unclenched his toes, his hands shook, unable to grab anything, left to aimlessly grasp air.

Would I know if I touched it?

If it was an emotion that he can’t know by simply looking, he thought he could learn about it by touching. He was also curious; how would it feel to touch that warmth, thus he unconsciously stretched out his hand, wanting to touch, and take what was inside those eyes. However, Yuria’s tears had begun dripping down, and he had no choice but to back away.

“… it hurts, it hurts.”

Fren had never shed tears in his life, but he knew instinctively that’s what they were.

“I will take all your pain Fren, all the pain Arnen had to bear, I wish for your happiness, Fren.”

If he put meaning behind those tears, he wanted to understand them as Yuria hoped. He had always cried alone, so he didn’t know what to do, but his hands instinctively wiped Yuria’s tears with utmost care. Despite his fern-like hands being full of awkwardness, Yuria’s heart was touched by his attempt to comfort her. Fren’s touch seemed to contain all the emotions she felt. Yuria smiled and buried her face into his shoulder.

A child who always walked a thorny path, who knew nothing of the world and had to live in fear. Now she will become his refuge so that there will be no more thorns obstructing his path, and the world won’t be scary or painful.

As Yuria had done, Fren raised his small hand and patted Yuria. His arms were short, so he couldn’t reach her back, and was only able to tap Yuria’s arm, but his intentions were communicated. With such a fragile and small body, he still hugged Yuria with all his might, proof Fren was changing little by little. His sprouting emotions met Yuria’s affection, and bloomed like the most beautiful flower in the world. They spent the day doing their best to comfort each other.

The next day, Yuria and Fren headed to the village. Though the food in the cabin was enough, there were still some things they needed. As she will be living with Fren in the future, Yuria had to buy new clothes and items for him to use.

“Fren, can I carry you?” The last time she came home with Fren, he struggled due to the rough forest road. Nevertheless, he had endured without saying a word.

Worried by her tone, Fren slightly nodded his head, a small and quiet acceptance Yuria almost missed. After gaining his permission, Yuria carefully lifted him. Fren widened his eyes at his elevated view.

Wow.

Fren’s mouth gaped in admiration, he didn’t say a thing, but it was easy to see how curious he was. His small hands were tightly clenched into fists as he hit Yuria’s shoulder with excitement. His hands were too soft to consider it a hit. Nonetheless, when his fist contacted Yuria’s shoulder, Fren flinched and looked at her.

Though he was in her arms now, he hated being touched by everyone he’d met. Fren put a wall up in front of people, so he unintentionally hurt people, leaving them bruised and bleeding. Because of that, Fren had no choice but to be extremely careful towards Yuria. He didn’t want her to bleed or be hurt like the others had.

Yuria patted Fren’s head to reassure him, Fren squeaked, surprised by her touch. His black hair swayed as he shook his head in shock. He looked at Yuria with big, round, clear eyes, completely clueless as to what she was doing right now.

“Fren?” Yuria quietly called. When Yuria dropped her hand, Fren raised his to touch his head lightly. Her touch was so warm and attentive that his head felt like it was melting, fortunately, despite the mushiness, his head seemed to be fine. Fren let out a small sigh of relief. Then, mimicking Yuria’s actions he stroked his own hair, but strangely, it just didn’t feel the same.

Why is it different?

He couldn’t understand why her actions had a different effect.

Fren’s appearance was so cute that Yuria let out a small puffy laugh. Fren’s eyes turned to her; he didn’t know why she patted his head, but it was nice seeing her smiling face, and he hoped she would again. Fren shook his head at the last thought. His expression was so adorable that she couldn’t help but pat his head again. This was the first time he felt a touch as cozy and warm as the blanket Yuria had covered him with earlier. Yuria had no idea what Fren was thinking, as he unconsciously rubbed his head against her hand.

“Let’s go, Fren.” Exuding a friendly atmosphere, Yuria spoke softly with a smile. Fren nodded in reply.

After arriving in the village, Yuria quickly bought the essentials and headed straight to the clothes shop to get clothes for Fren. She had barely managed to make clothes for Fren to wear using some spare fabric with her sloppy workmanship. Since the child would be with her in the future, Yuria wanted him to have good clothes. Although she doesn’t have much money to buy all the clothes she wanted.

When Yuria and Fren opened the door and entered, the store owner politely greeted her.

“Oh my, what a beautiful child.” The owner said in admiration seeing Fren hiding himself in Yuria’s arms.

“I’ll be buying clothes for Fren.” Yuria, who felt better after her compliment, maintained a smiling expression. Fren looked blankly at her smile, and embarrassedly buried his face in her shoulder.

“I think this cute gentleman’s name is Fren.” The owner gave Fren a friendly smile, causing Fren to squeal and dig deeper into Yuria’s arms.

It was alright for him if Yuria looked at him with that kind of gaze, but he disliked it from other people. It was as though a huge monster was opening its large mouth to eat him. Fren had never received such a gaze until he met Yuria, so it was uncomfortable and frightening for a normal passerby to look at him in such a way.

Yuria hugged Fren tighter to comfort him, and in response to the shopkeeper’s words, Fren finally nodded.

“Fren, would you like to choose the clothes you like?” At the store owner’s words, Fren, who had his face buried in Yuria’s arms, turned to her with a bloody expression on his face. It was almost impossible to believe that he had been awkwardly hiding in discomfort until just a moment ago.

Fren showed blatant hostility, an unknown aura rose from his body. As a child with the blood of the devil, his aura was overwhelming and terrifying for any ordinary human. Yuria didn’t notice Fren’s sudden change, but the shop owner certainly did. The owner was shuddering and trembling at the sight of the child bearing the cruel face like a devil. Only a little while ago he was a cute and shy child, now it felt like he was going to cut off her head. It was terribly frightening to see such an expression on a child the store owner assumed was only four years old.

“…….Stop it,” Fren emotionlessly threatened, glaring fiercely at the store owner, his voice was cold enough to freeze the surroundings.

In fact, before the shopkeeper was even aware, she was quivering. She couldn’t believe she was scared of such a small child, but she was terrified. It didn’t seem human, neither Fren’s facial expressions nor his voice held any childish emotion. However, Yuria did not see Fren’s expression, since he had deliberately turned his head so she wouldn’t, and was only making a cruel expression towards the store owner.

“Fren, only Yuria.” Fren bitterly warned the shopkeeper as though he would tear them apart if they didn’t listen. Fren faced the owner head on, adamant that only Yuria should call his name.

‘Fren’ was the name Yuria had given him, so it felt like his and Yuria’s at the same time. Only Yuria could call that name. If someone else tried to call his name, he would tear them apart so they’d never speak again.

That was how Fren lived. An injury for an injury, pain for pain, and violence for those who didn’t listen.

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