Chapter 24: 24. Dorothy's Exhaustion
"Alright, Dorothy, you're old enough now; it's time to tell you everything."
Facing his daughter's serious gaze, the middle-aged man on the sofa finally couldn't bear the pressure and spoke.
"It all started more than twenty years ago… Well, that's pretty much it, Dorothy. You're about to come of age, and you can make your own choice. Whatever you choose, I will respect you."
Adam finished speaking in one breath, then looked at his daughter with expectant eyes, waiting for her decision.
Meanwhile, Dorothy was frowning, completely dumbfounded.
What kind of bizarre plot is this? Should I say you two really know how to play?
Her father's narration just now was very long, but to summarize, it was something like "Poor Country Boy Genius Mage Meets Rich and Beautiful Demoness Who Wants a Child," "My Deal with the Overbearing Female Island Lord," "Choice: Family Affection vs. Self-Interest, Daughter or Future," "Because I Didn't Want My Daughter to Become a Warmonger, I Refused the Easy Life," and "Chased by the Overbearing Female Island Lord, I Struggled to Be a Stay-at-Home Dad."
The Dragon Witch's Dragon Kingdom is a vast alliance composed of countless large and small Witch Territories of the same race. Within this alliance, there are great lords and naturally also small lords. Some Witch Territories were once prominent, while others gradually declined.
Youfeiliya's family, Dorothy's mother, was one such declining family. Even though their branch's history could be traced back to the Dragon King, they were indeed descendants of the Dragon King, with noble bloodlines. Their ancestors were once prominent and were one of the oldest and strongest branches in the Dragon Kingdom.
But nothing lasts forever. Over the long passage of time, this branch declined for various reasons, and by the time it reached Youfeiliya's generation, it was even a single-line inheritance. However, the family never gave up hope of restoring their family.
Youfeiliya grew up with the expectations of her entire family, and she indeed lived up to their hopes. She was a rare atavistic Demoness; the Dragon King's bloodline, which had long been diluted, revived within her. She was born with ten powerful Dragon Talents, and her innate magic power was exceptionally strong, making her a prodigy with tens of thousands of magic power from birth.
Moreover, she herself was quite ambitious and capable, not a theoretician with talent but no practical ability. As soon as she came of age, she directly took over the position of family head from her mother. In just a few years, she raised the family's ranking in the Dragon Kingdom from last to middle-tier.
However, as the family gradually revived and the lost territories were slowly recovered, Youfeiliya's parents began to become restless. Well, it's not exactly that; they just did what most parents like to do, which is urge marriage.
Things like, "Daughter, your bloodline is so excellent, it would be a waste not to pass it on." "A king cannot be without an heir; if the family has no descendants, it will be detrimental to future development." "Now that the territory is larger, there aren't enough people in the family to manage it. Daughter, why don't you have a few more children?"
Such high-intensity urging for marriage from her parents made the genius Demoness Youfeiliyaquite overwhelmed. As someone who had been educated since childhood to be a tool for family revival, she had never considered marriage and childbirth.
However, she ultimately did not resist such urging. After all, in her view, with family interests as the top priority, she indeed needed to have some descendants, especially since the family's revival had reached a certain bottleneck. To climb from the middle to the upper ranks, she would have to go to the battlefield to expand.
And the battlefield is merciless; even a genius Demoness like her couldn't be 100% sure she would return unscathed. If she fell and the family had no new heir, wouldn't all her life's efforts be in vain?
Even so, Youfeiliya had no intention of falling in love or anything of the sort. After all, family affairs were busy, and she didn't even have enough time to handle official duties every day, let alone time for romance. Of course, if purely from the perspective of family interests, her best choice at the time would have actually been to marry into another family in the Dragon Kingdom.
However, the proud genius Dragon Witch disdained such a choice. Her belief was to revive her own family with her own hands, just like her ancestor, the Dragon King. She disdained crooked ways like marriage alliances that relied on others' power.
So, she naturally came to the idea that if she were to have a child, it should be a daughter even more outstanding than herself. However, this was not an easy task. After all, she was lucky enough to have an atavistic bloodline, but that didn't mean her daughter would also be so; otherwise, the Dragon Kingdom would be full of prodigies.
Fortunately, this is a fantasy world. When in doubt, don't panic. Just do a divination, listen to the guidance of fate, and you might find the answer.
And in the end, Youfeiliya, after paying a huge price, finally got the answer she wanted from the strongest Diviner in the Dragon Kingdom.
"After you return, patrol your territory. The most handsome man you encounter along the way is the one whose bloodline is most compatible with yours. The offspring born with him will have talents surpassing yours."
This was the guidance the Diviner gave her at the time.
Youfeiliya did as she was told, and eventually she found Adam, the genius human mage who was traveling in the Witch World.
And the divergence from Dorothy's memory begins here.
When her father Adam told her this story in the past, he said that his looks instantly captivated her mother, and they quickly fell in love, which ultimately led to her existence. It was a standard and classic love story of a poor boy and a rich girl.
But the truth now revealed is that there was no emotion between them from the beginning, only a cold transaction.
Indeed, with her mother Youfeiliya's aloof and regal queen-like demeanor, she didn't look at all like the infatuated girl in her father's story. Dorothy had wanted to complain about this before, but she never thought much of it. Now it seems that everything was indeed her father's lie.
The real situation was that Youfeiliya found Adam and very directly said, "Give me your seed, and I'll make you the chief steward of my territory."
For an ordinary human mage to become the steward of a powerful Demoness's territory, this was an incredible temptation that most people could not resist.
As a mage scholar, Adam's dignity as a man of letters made him feel insulted at the time. He angrily stood up, wanting to furiously rebuke Youfeiliya for going too far, and to tell her not to think that being a Demoness meant anything special.
But before he could retort, Youfeiliya directly increased the offer.
"My family's library will also be open to you."
So, Adam immediately nodded.
There was no other way; she offered too much. At that time, young Adam had only two pursuits: to make a name for himself and to pursue knowledge. Now, the rich and beautiful Demoness in front of him laid everything he dreamed of before him, and all he had to pay was a little essence, which was insignificant to a man. Only a fool wouldn't do such a profitable business.
Of course, what was more important was that he was simply powerless to resist. After all, the Dragon Witch's firm and domineering gaze clearly stated that her decision was not to be questioned; even if Adam disagreed, he would ultimately be "volunteered."
So why bother struggling? Since he was powerless to resist, he might as well enjoy it. Anyway, Youfeiliya was a rare beauty, so Adam wouldn't lose out either way.
However, what happened later was not as beautiful as Adam had imagined.
There was no such thing as a romantic encounter. The human method of intercourse had too low a success rate and was not effective. Such an inefficient method would naturally not be accepted by Youfeiliya. Therefore, the moment Adam nodded in agreement, a feeling of being completely drained swept over the young human mage.
Heaven knows what kind of magic this was, but in a flash, in less than a second, Adam was completely drained.
Then, the indifferent Demoness left mercilessly with a test tube full of seeds, leaving behind the human mage, who was almost turned into a dried husk, lying weakly on the ground, unable to get up, clutching his waist. He only recovered after several months of rest.
Adam was very angry about being treated as a tool, but before he could get angry at Youfeiliya, the agreed-upon transaction content had already arrived.
This formerly humble human mage became the powerful chief steward of the witch Territory, second only to one person and above ten thousand. The vast collection of books from the ancient Demoness family made the knowledge-seeking mage so engrossed that he forgot all about dignity, insult, and beautiful women. He only knew to spend every day immersed in the library, diligently studying academia and magic.
Until one day, as the chief steward, he followed Youfeiliya to the battlefield. The young human mage witnessed the madness and cruelty of the Demoness race for the first time with his own eyes.
It was originally a quiet and peaceful plane, where the people lived in peace and contentment, and the country was harmonious and prosperous. But on that day, the Demonesses set their sights on this beautiful and fertile land, and so the Heavenly Disaster descended.
The human mage, who had previously only focused on learning and research, had never seen such a cruel scene. All the books he had read glorified the power and glory of the Demoness, and he had always believed that the Demonesses were as peaceful and elegant as their beautiful appearance.
But when he witnessed those beautiful humanoid creatures mercilessly riding brooms and equally showering Death and fear upon everything in that world, his former faith collapsed.
At this moment, this human mage, who had always held romantic ideals, deeply understood what terrifying creatures the Demonesses were. They were more indifferent than angels, more cunning than demons, and more cruel than dragons. No matter how much they were embellished in books or beautified in legends, none of this could change the fact that they were a cruel invading race.
Indeed, their methods were gentler than the other three Heavenly Disaster Races; they wouldn't truly annihilate everything. But if I'm slightly more merciful than a psychopathic killer, and I don't like dismemberment, leaving you a whole corpse, would you consider me a good person?
No, I am still a great villain.
Regardless of whether others could accept such a cruel reality, Adam, at that time, vomited. The young mage, who harbored romantic fantasies of equality and beauty, could not accept any of it.
He even began to harbor hostility and disgust towards the Demoness, whom he had once revered so much.
However, something even more unacceptable soon happened: Youfeiliya became pregnant, and the child was Adam's. Those seemingly insignificant seeds he had traded away would soon become a living being, and, if nothing went wrong, would be nurtured by her cruel mother into a new War maniac, a merciless executioner on the battlefield.
Adam could not accept any of this. The thought of his own bloodline, his own daughter, becoming one of those terrifying creatures who laughed maniacally while sowing destruction and Death on the battlefield, pushed the human mage to the brink of collapse, waking him up from nightmares countless times.
And when he thought of that future, Adam realized that the power that once made him fanatical, the knowledge that captivated him, and everything else, no longer held any appeal. If he could, he would rather have gone back in time, and rather die than agree to that transaction.
But reality was cruel; the great power of time was not something a human mage like him could access. And facing the even more powerful Dragon Witch Youfeiliya, Adam had no choice. He knew it was impossible to persuade that terrifying Dragon Witch to give up on raising her daughter into such a War maniac.
Because Dragon Witches are naturally the most excellent Armed Witches; the brutality of dragons is etched in their genes, and their instincts call and guide them to the battlefield.
Fortunately, when Adam was almost in despair, he was pleasantly surprised to find that Youfeiliya, that terrifying Demoness, seemed not to care about his weakness, nor did she have any intention of expelling him for being so soft. That Demoness seemed to want to give her daughter a complete home, so she didn't want Adam, as the father, to disappear, and instead, unexpectedly trusted him.
Youfeiliya even told him directly that after the child was born, she would need him, the father, to take care of her, because she herself might have to go to the battlefield and wouldn't have much time to spend with the child. She might not be a qualified mother, so she hoped the child would have enough paternal love.
At that moment, Adam realized that this terrifying Demoness, who was as brutal as the grim reaper on the battlefield and as powerful as a god in his heart, might, unexpectedly, have a somewhat low emotional intelligence. This simpleton simply didn't understand human emotions.
This was the weakness of this terrifying Demoness, and it was the only opportunity for his weak self to exploit.
So, Adam agreed. He even specifically explained various parenting techniques, which he had actually just learned, to Youfeiliya, completely fooling this powerful but seemingly exceptionally simple-minded Demoness into believing he was an extraordinary parenting master.
Adam's plan ultimately succeeded. Five years into her pregnancy, Youfeiliya gave birth to a healthy daughter. The Dragon Witch, new to motherhood, was very excited and called for Adam, the father, to welcome their daughter's arrival together, generously allowing Adam to participate in the daughter's naming ceremony.
At that time, the witch Territory was actually facing a crucial War. If they won this battle, the family would successfully enter the upper echelons of the Dragon Kingdom. And Youfeiliya, already weakened after giving birth, would soon have to go to the battlefield.
But in her excitement, the Dragon Witch still expended a large amount of magic power to immediately bestow her daughter with a true name. Only then did she confidently hand her daughter over to Adam, the "parenting master," to take care of her, and then she went to the battlefield with peace of mind.
Before leaving, this Dragon Witch, who had always been emotionally detached, was unusually happy, teasing her sleeping daughter in Adam's arms.
"Wait for me at home, little one. Once this War is over, I'll come back and stay with you until you grow up."
The Dragon Witch, new to motherhood, promised this.
And then...
And then there was no "then."
When Youfeiliya returned victorious, she found her home had been raided. Her newborn precious daughter and that despicable human mage had both disappeared, and no one knew where they had gone.
That damned human even specifically took one of the top-tier anti-Diviner secret treasures from her treasury, which made it impossible for Youfeiliya to even use the all-powerful Diviner to find them.
The enraged Dragon Witch was helpless. She could only turn her grief and indignation into strength, beginning to frantically expand the size of her witch Territory to have enough manpower to search the entire Witch World for her daughter's whereabouts.
But the Witch World was simply too vast; the theoretical probability of success for such a needle-in-a-haystack approach was almost zero.
However, this was a world of idealism, where the power of belief was the greatest magic, and the obsession of a powerful Demoness would sometimes turn into a miracle.
Just sixteen years later, today, after countless carpet-style searches of suspects, Youfeiliya finally sensed a similar magical power, stemming from the same source as hers, in this remote, eighteenth-tier small town.
Upon hearing this, Dorothy: "..."
She rolled her eyes like a dead fish. She was truly numb to her bizarre background now.
Life is not easy, Demoness sighs.
Alas, I didn't commit any sins in my previous life, so how could I have been blessed with you two as parents?
Don't ask, because the answer is exhaustion.