Chapter 163 - Chapter 160: Episode 158 - Real and Fake
Yena followed the magical traces, checking on her father from time to time.
When she saw that Min-ah's house was empty, she kept following the trail the two of them had left behind.
Finding them in a new house, she understood they'd started over.
As she watched them escape their painful memories and the demons to build a new life, a thought struck her.
She was already unnecessary to them.
After all, she wasn't a child they'd wanted.
Remembering that made her heart ache when she saw the happy smiles they shared.
So she stayed away.
To forget the pain and let them stay happy.
[Yena, still hesitating? If you accept my contract, you could take her place, you know.]
"Sophia-eomeoni, you're being annoying."
Yena kept her polite tone, but her irritation was obvious.
[Think about it. Your father is being deceived by Min-ah. Only you can free him from her grasp.]
'Only me...? No, Dad's happy smile right now doesn't feel fake...'
"No... I haven't changed my mind. Sophia-eomeoni, you need to let this go. Please stop."
She sounded certain, but Yena knew the truth: Min-ah's mother was the one pretending to be Sophia-eomeoni.
If she told Dad the truth while he looked so happy in the middle of all those contradictions, he'd only suffer.
[Since you've made up your mind, I'll drop it for now. But don't forget—your father is being deceived...]
'No... that can't be true...'
Yena pushed the thought away.
She just wanted Dad to be happy, so she wouldn't meddle any more.
.
.
.
A few days later, she went back to the house, wanting to see Dad.
To her surprise, Dad's eyes were bandaged.
When she realized he couldn't see, she wanted to rush over and check on him.
[Is Seon-ah hurt? Min-ah can't do anything right... Maybe you should take her place and take care of him yourself?]
"..."
She'd never given in to Sophia-eomeoni's sweet temptations before, but this time her agitated heart almost made her cave.
Still, she reasoned that Min-ah's mother was Dad's real parent, so she'd take care of him, no matter what happened.
So she decided to keep watching Min-ah's mother to the end.
What she saw shocked her deeply.
Her father, scared by his blindness, reached for Min-ah beside him.
But she saw Min-ah pretend to ignore him, only to smile and pull him close the moment he started desperately searching for her.
'I was wrong... that woman is just as bad as Sophia-eomeoni...'
Shock surged through her mind.
She'd believed that as his parent, she'd treat him kindly, but instead she showed her possessiveness and made Dad suffer.
Is there really no woman out there for Dad?...
Then someone came to mind.
Yu-rin, who always missed Dad desperately and took care of her like a daughter.
But for her to become Dad's lover would be a grave sin.
And Sophia's contract couldn't be trusted.
Even if she saved Dad, she might lose control of her own body.
So only one option remained.
The best thing was to put a woman by his side who could make him happy.
And since Yu-rin would also accept her as a daughter, that choice let her stay close to Dad too.
With that settled, Yena headed to Yu-ra's house.
Since Yu-ra would know where Yu-rin was, she planned to ask.
.
.
.
Coming back to this house after so long, Yena could only feel sorry toward Yu-ra.
She'd stayed away because she didn't know when Min-ah's mother might attack.
If they fought, it wouldn't end with just this house getting destroyed.
If things went wrong, even Yu-ra could get hurt, so she'd stayed away for her sake.
When she rang the bell, a familiar voice came through the intercom.
"Who is it?"
Unless she was mistaken, that was Yu-rin's voice.
"It's... it's Yena."
"..."
A long silence.
Then the front door opened, and she heard two sets of footsteps running out.
In the doorway, Yu-ra and Yu-rin were sprinting toward her.
"Yena! Where did you go..."
Then they both wrapped their arms around her.
From the sobbing voices in their embrace, she could feel how worried they'd been.
"I'm sorry... I was busy looking for Dad."
"Are you hurt? Have you been eating well?"
Hearing Yu-rin's tearful voice only made her guilt worse.
They had every right to be angry, but instead they showed concern—how could she not feel guilty?
Yu-ra's eyes were red. She loosened her embrace as if Yena were precious, then led her inside, holding her hand tight.
Yena followed them silently into the house she hadn't visited in a while.
But her gaze stayed on Yu-rin.
She imagined how wonderful it would be if the three of them—herself, Dad, and Yu-rin—could be a family.
.
.
.
They talked endlessly, asking so many questions after she'd left home.
Among the countless questions, she couldn't reveal her identity to Yu-rin, so she had to lie. But she planned to tell the truth about Dad and herself when the time was right.
When they finished asking, Yu-rin and Yu-ra told her something shocking.
"Yena... listen... I know who your mother is... and everything about you."
'They found me out...'
"I know your mother is the Demon King... and all about how you tried to save your father. You tried to rescue him from that Demon King who took over Min-ah's body, didn't you?"
"..."
The first part was true, but the second wasn't.
But it was hard to correct the misunderstanding by saying the Demon King, Sophia-eomeoni, was actually inside her.
They must have seen Min-ah's mother pretending to be Sophia-eomeoni.
Not sure how they'd react if she alarmed them unnecessarily, she stayed quiet and slowly nodded.
"It was as I thought... Yena, I'm sorry, but I told Yu-rin about you. I wanted to help..."
That was surprisingly good news to Yena.
She wouldn't have to go through the trouble of revealing herself—one less worry.
"No... I wanted to tell you too, but I was scared of how Yu-rin-eomeoni might react. Thank you."
Yu-ra felt relieved to see Yena's bright expression—it seemed she wasn't angry about what she'd done.
"So what do we do now? It won't be easy to save Seon-ah from the Demon King."
Yu-ra thought of the cruel Demon King who'd taken over Min-ah's body to abuse her own child.
"We can figure that out step by step."
Yena knew she was the only one with the power to oppose Min-ah.
There were plenty of ways.
Even without a contract, she could beat Min-ah by using Sophia's knowledge and her own magic properly.
But even if she forced Min-ah to submit, it'd be useless if Dad didn't want it.
She had to change Dad's heart first.
Thinking of a plan she'd prepared in advance, she whispered to Yu-rin.
"Um... Yu-rin-eomma... do you ever think about getting back together with Dad?"
Sophia, who'd been listening, spoke to Yena.
Sophia knew about the videos of Seon-ah being abused in Min-ah's memories, so she tried to stop her.
[No matter how much you regret it, the pain Seon-ah felt won't go away. My daughter Yena, it's not too late. Abandon this plan...]
But Yena ignored her.
Yena's incredible words reached Yu-rin's ears.
Her heart raced.
She stared at Yena, unable to believe what she'd whispered.
Then she said,
"Yena... I can't see your father anymore... We can't be together."
Yu-rin, remembering the Succubus Lord, briefly explained.
Not fully understanding, Yena pressed for more details.
So Yu-rin told her everything.
How she couldn't see Seon-ah even when he was right in front of their house.
The incident at Min-ah's house when she went with her mother but couldn't see Seon-ah.
How she only realized Seon-ah was at the amusement park after overhearing others talk.
Finally, when Yu-rin finished explaining that the Succubus Lord had caused her inability to see Seon-ah, Yena looked thoughtful.
Very quietly, she asked Sophia,
"Eomeoni... do you know what caused this?"
[I know, but I don't want to say. You'll lift the restriction on Yu-rin, won't you? Then that hell will start for Seon-ah again. I can't allow that.]
But her voice was firm.
It went against everything she wanted.
"Then how about a contract? I'll let you use my body for half the day. Please... give Yu-rin a chance too."
[Half, you say.]
Sophia considered.
If she could use Yena's body half the day, that would be enough time to punish Min-ah for using her name and take Seon-ah to the Demon World.
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[Then make the contract. I'll accept it just this once.]
Hiding her true intentions, she spoke as if she were granting Yena a favor.
But Yena had some idea of what Sophia was plotting.
Knowing what her jealous mother would do if she had free rein over her body, Yena added a condition to the contract.
While using her body, she could not touch Seon-ah—her father.
With no other option, Sophia reluctantly agreed.