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Cornelia stared at the person who should not be here, as though she could not feel any pain. The woman was still wearing a gentle smile on her face, but her eyes were filled with pain and guilt.

“My precious Cornelia… Come, mommy will blow the pain away.”

The woman cradled Cornelia’s head and ran her fingers through the child’s silky long hair like she always did. She planted a kiss on Cornelia’s forehead, like the little girl was the most valuable treasure in her life. But she was unable to stop the hot tears streaming down her cheeks.

“I’m sorry, Cornelia. I really do, but mommy has no choice but to do this.” The woman held her tightly as she sobbed.

“Sorry?” The same words came tumbling out from Cornelia’s trembling lips as she repeated them like she was possessed. “Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry… sorry?”

Cornelia pushed the woman away and hissed. “I don’t want to hear your apology! I only want to know why!” she yelled. Tears gathered in Cornelia’s eyes. She looked no different than a wounded beast right now.

“Why is mommy here? Why do you have power? Why are you helping Lilith? Why…? Why would mommy hurt me?” The last question sounded like Cornelia had squeezed it out from her soul.

Her delicate body trembled violently as she drew sharp breaths, like she was standing on a frozen plain naked and beaten by the cold wind. Blood flowed out from her wound, dying her black dress red. Her face paled from the severe blood loss.

Compared to the pain she felt, the stabbing pain in her heart hurt more and to her very core. She never thought that her own mother would hurt her for an enemy. All Cornelia wanted now was an answer. Everything else was no longer important.

“Because mommy knows everything.” Unfazed by Cornelia’s strong response, the woman smiled and told Cornelia the answer tearfully. It was an answer that Cornelia least wanted to hear, but it was well within her expectation.

“You knew everything…? That means…”
“That’s right. Mommy knows everything. I know about this world, my existence and what you are trying to do right now, Cornelia.”
“Is that so…? I see.” Cornelia’s eyes widened as her body trembled like her entire world had just crumbled before her eyes.
“Haha… I see… So you knew everything…”

The laughter, the swaying candlelight, the warm atmosphere, the parental bonds… Everything she had carefully constructed was reduced to dust. Everything that happened during the past nine million years flashed before her mind’s eyes. And she felt ridiculed.

If her mother knew everything since the beginning, what was the point in her acting her younger self all these years? Was she the only one who was playing the clown? Was there any point in doing this? Was there? In the end, what was she doing all this for? If she knew everything was fake, why did she play along for nine millions years? Just for all this to become reality?

No, that was not possible. Not even deities had the power to switch dreams and reality. The so-called law of control only allowed her to control lifeless creatures. She might be able to control countless skeletons, but she could not revive any one of them.

The gentle face of her mother appeared in her field of vision. Her thoughts were pulled back in time, when it all began.

……

“Mommy, where did Cornelia come from?”
“Cornelia came from the stars.”
“Then why does Cornelia have mommy and daddy?”
“Because in fairytales, the sun, the moon and the stars are inseparable.”

……

“Mommy, mommy, do Cornelia look pretty in my new dress?”
“Yes, my Cornelia is the prettiest.”
“Really?”
“Of course, I will swallow a thousand silver needles if I lied.”

……

“Mommy, Cornelia doesn’t like celery. It’s god awful.”
“Nu-uh, you won’t grow into a beautiful woman if you don’t eat your celery.”
“But didn’t mommy say Cornelia is the prettiest?”
“But if Cornelia eats her celery, the future Cornelia will become prettier than the Cornelia in the past.”

……

……

“Mommy, Cornelia’s gonna go out and play.”
“Alright, have a good time. And remember, be home before dinner.”

……

Tears fell uncontrollably, but an amazing will burned intensely in Cornelia’s eyes. That was right. The purpose of her creating all these… was not because she hoped to turn everything into reality someday.

She merely wanted to spend more time with her parents, to indulge in the love and affection that she had lost. So, it did not matter if everything was real or not. Even if it was self-deception, she was going to keep on doing that.

Cornelia grabbed the imitation holy sword that was stuck in her abdomen and bravely pulled it out. Blood flew everywhere, yet Cornelia remained unfazed.

“It’s Cornelia’s turn to say sorry, mommy.”

The woman was stunned. She reached out futilely, as if she wanted to grab something but she could not. Cornelia had suddenly disappeared. The imitation holy sword was going to fall to the ground, but turned in mid-air and returned to Lilith’s grasp.

“You held back just now, didn’t you, Little Lilith?” The woman suddenly commented. For the very first time, she wore a disappointed look on her face.

Lilith was taken aback by her sudden approach. She didn’t expect to be exposed.

“Who told you to appear so suddenly in front of Cornelia? Anyone would hold back in that kind of situation,” she said with a pout.

“Is that so?” The woman nodded, but did not further expose Lilith. “In any case, if you don’t deal with Cornelia, it will come back to bite you.”

“Bite me? How so?”

The woman’s gaze stopped briefly on the titans who were in the golden bubble in the distance. Just when she was about to say something, her figure started flickering like she was losing signal.

The woman could only smile wryly, but her voice started breaking too.

“Looks like Cornelia… has.. begun…”
“Begun? Is she doing this to you?” Lilith frowned.
“She… should… be… resetting me… No… everything…”
“Reset? What do you mean? What is the truth that you spoke about this world?”
“The truth is that this world is… Cornelia’s…”

Lilith seized the opportunity to find the truth from this woman who obviously knew everything that was going on. Unfortunately, the woman only had enough time to say half sentence before her flickering projection vanished completely.

Lilith slapped her own head. It looked like she could only rely on herself to figure things out. However, without enough information and intel, she probably could not make a correct guess no matter how smart she was.

Then again… Lilith turned her head around to look at Lesiah who was safe and sound, as well as the large group of titans who were lucky enough to survive. She finally heaved a sigh of relief.

At least, she had resolved that.