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A pale pink streak slowly brightened the eastern sky as dawn approached.

The entire city was still asleep in deep silence, interrupted only by the occasional barking of dogs and roosters, or the cries of babies startled awake by bad dreams.

However, Lilith did not feel like sleeping. After sending Lesiah away, she went to the highest point of the palace to gaze upon the stars that occasionally twinkled and the pale moon that could still be seen in the sky.

The breeze carried not only the lingering scent of blood, but also the scent of something else.

Lilith then sensed an incredibly familiar presence behind her.

She pursed her lips then turned around, only to see a fiery-red figure who was staring at her with a smile on her face.

“Mom,” Lilith acknowledged her softly.

Before she could do anything else, the woman suddenly turned into a blur before her eyes.

Two towering peaks with terrifying aura loomed before Lilith’s eyes and then dominated her field of vision. She then found herself trapped in an endless darkness

“Ummmmfffffffff…!”

“Oh, I am finally reunited with my lovely daughter. Come, give Mommy a hug! Did you gain or lose weight? Have you been eating properly…?”

“Ummmfffff…!”

“What was that? You’re so happy that you can’t speak? The feeling is mutual, Mommy is just as happy as you are! How I wish I could hold you in my arms like this forever…”

“Umff!? Ummmmfffffffff!!!”

“Ah, don’t struggle so much. Just be a good girl and bask in all the warmth Mommy is providing… Or… are you saying that you want more body heat from Mommy~?”

“Ummmff…”

Lilith thrashed her limbs around violently, but no matter how hard she tried, she could not break herself free from the fiery-red figure. She grew powerless and eventually succumbed to the overwhelming force, sinking deeper and deeper until…

◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

“Little girl, hell is just up ahead…”

An old man with a blurred face stood before two towering mountains, warning the young girl who was about to scale them.

“Once you go there, there’s no turning back.”

“Is that so? All right, I understand. Even so…”

The young girl clenched her hands into fists and spoke with conviction, “I must go. What I’m searching for is there.”

The old man let out a long sigh. “You’ll only lose your way if you pursue things that you’re not meant to possess. Do not be led astray, little girl.”

“No, I’m not! I believe that hard work pays off. As long as I understand the secrets of these mountains, I will one day claim them for myself,” the young girl said resolutely.

The old man shook his head and gestured behind the girl. “It’s futile to pursue what isn’t meant for you. It’ll only bring you regrets. Look around, young girl. The scenery is beautiful here, but there’s more to see beyond this place.”

The young girl turned her head around.

She saw the boundless flat plain that stretched endlessly. The long grass rolled in the breeze like waves. When the wind picked up, the horizon dropped by a full twenty centimeters.

“No! I want to go into the mountains!” the young girl cried tearfully.

“All right then, I won’t stop you.” The old man sighed helplessly.

“But let me remind you for one last time, the mountains are filled with life-threatening dangers.”

The young girl halted in her tracks and asked fearfully, “What kind of dangers?”

The old man chuckled, then made a gesture of two huge hemispheres with his hands and left her some mysterious words.

“They’re so immense that they’ll suffocate you…”

◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

Lilith snapped open her eyes, and was greeted by the Dragon Queen’s gentle smile.

“Oh, you’re awake, my lovely daughter.”
“What… happened to me…?”

The Dragon Queen patted Lilith’s head and chuckled.

“You actually fell asleep in Mommy’s arms like an adorable child. You must have been exhausted.”
“Is… that so?”

The corner of Lilith’s mouth twitched. Why was her memory slightly different from what her mother told her?

She scratched her head, then sat up. It was only at this moment, she realized that her head had been resting on her mother’s laps. As soon as she got up, she was met with those powerful and terrifying entities.

“Why did they… remind me of that strange dream I saw?”

Lilith stared at the powerful pair with her dead fish eyes. She could not help but think that exposure was really a terrible thing.

She still remembered how excited she was when she first saw them. She was no different than a country bumpkin who came to the big city for the first time, and could not wait to explore every part of it.

Now that she had seen too many of them, she felt more jaded than thrilled.

Lilith looked down at her flat plains again. Her lack of enthusiasm completely turned into self-pity as she concluded that nothing could be more unreliable than genetics.

“Oh, you’re getting up already? Do you dislike Mommy that much?”

The Dragon Queen appeared saddened when she saw Lilith getting up.

She wiped away the non-existent tears from the corner of her eyes and cried, “We’ve only been apart for such a short time, and you’re already drifting away from Mommy? Oooooh, Mommy is really sad…”

“N-No… it’s nothing like that…”

“It seems that I have to let my lovely daughter feel the heat of my passionate affection for her…”

The Dragon Queen pulled a piece of very questionable-looking garment out of nowhere, then held it up in front of Lilith.

“I’m already feeling it! I can always feel your passionate affection!”

Lilith hurriedly lay down again obediently then said anxiously, “I can’t tell if that’s a maid, bunny or nurse outfit, or it’s a three-in-one outfit. But please hurry up and put that thing away!”

“Geez, what a shame.”

The Dragon Queen put the garment away with a disappointed look on her face. “Mommy has always wanted to see how it will look on you.”

“I love Mommy the most, so please don’t make me wear that!” Lilith, who had a strong desire to live, could only abandon what little pride she had in front of the Dragon Queen.

“Aww, what a sweet girl you are.”

After hearing Lilith’s “love confession”, the Dragon Queen’s cheeks flushed as she stroked Lilith’s head with satisfaction.

She felt like all her efforts were worthwhile, even if it meant almost torturing Gulch to death just to push him to break through his own limit to make this ultimate cute little dress.

Lilith sighed in exasperation. She could only give in when it came to the Dragon Queen. She preferred being in control, so being forced into a situation like this was really unpleasant for her.

With that thought in mind, Lilith turned to her side, pressing her entire cheek against the Dragon Queen’s soft thigh…

Hmm… As expected of the legendary lap pillow. It was really comfortable~

The Dragon Queen ran her slender fingers through Lilith’s soft long hair. Her warm gaze remained on Lilith throughout, and the corners of her mouth curved into a smile. She looked as if just having a moment longer with Lilith would bring her utmost joy.

Lilith lay on her side, resting her head on the Dragon Queen’s lap as she gazed at the slowly brightening morning sky in the distance.

It was quiet and peaceful, the Dragon Queen could not help but wish for this moment to last forever.

Suddenly, Lilith interrupted their little paradise by asking, “You were the one who made that giant run away yesterday, right?”

“That’s right, but he didn’t succeed,” the Dragon Queen replied without any hesitation.

“…You’re really not beating around the bush, huh.”

“Of course, Mommy can’t possibly bring herself to deceive her lovely daughter.”

The Dragon Queen was very focused with braiding Lilith’s long blonde hair. In just a short amount of time, Lilith’s hair was skillfully weaved into several beautiful braids.

“What does my lovely daughter want to know?” she suddenly asked.
“All of it.”
“Oh my, what a greedy girl you are.”
“It’s your fault for never telling me anything.”
“Aww~ you look so cute when your cheeks are puffed up like that. I have to record this quickly.”

The Dragon Queen was fiddling with her spectrum stone to record the new contents for her “loveliest and cutest daughter’s growth diary”, while thoughtlessly mumbling to herself, “Since my lovely daughter wants to hear it, then I’ll tell her all about it. Hmm… where do I begin?”

“Ah yes, let’s start with reintroducing myself.”

The Dragon Queen’s eyes, which had been squinting because of her smile, opened slightly. A golden beam of light immediately poured out of it, like a ray of sunshine.

“I am the Blazing Dragon, Artemis El Nino Regalis. I have been serving as the thirty-second dragon elder of the Third Major World in the Great World for thirty-five… million and six hundred seventy thousand years. I am currently a demigod. My hobby is my daughter, and I hate everything my daughter hates. Currently a single mother who is cultivating arduously…”