Lackey's Seducing Survival Odyssey

Chapter 1507: When Mother-in-law’s Past Pain and Love Bleeds: Part-2

"Even when she was bullied, she never spoke against you. She never said anything, not even to me."

Her shoulders shook as she struggled to continue.

"For what?" she whispered, her voice breaking. "Because she was afraid I would blame you, and that you would never visit her again."

Kaelith’s face trembled violently as he stared at his daughter, horror and disbelief twisting his heart into something unbearable.

"A-Aria," he whispered, his voice shaking beyond control. "My child."

A single tear slid down his cheek, his lips trembling as he tried to speak, but no words came that could ever soothe the pain she had endured.

Kaelith had never thought of it this way.

He truly believed everything was fine whenever he saw her smiling face.

He thought the world moved smoothly even without him.

If he had known.

If he had truly known.

He would never have left them alone?

Maelona’s eyes hardened again, fire returning beneath the grief, burning brighter than before.

"So for her," she said firmly, her voice no longer trembling, "I steeled my heart."

She straightened slightly, her posture carrying the weight of years of struggle.

"I took the role you abandoned. I led the tribe not as a woman, but as its head."

Her voice carried strength forged from suffering and solitude.

"I showed my power through my words and my skill. I learned. I fucking learned everything I had to in order to protect her from those bastards."

Her jaw tightened as she spoke.

"I earned their fear... I earned their respect."

She looked directly at him, "You did not give me that authority, Kaelith. I earned it through my actions and my work."

"And yet," she said softly, her voice sinking into bitterness, "when the time came for her marriage, I was nothing more than a stranger."

Kaelith lowered his head, unable to meet her gaze.

Maelona continued, her voice heavy with resentment and grief.

"When the whole world forced my daughter into marriage," she said slowly, "when my words no longer held enough power to protect her."

She inhaled sharply, "I thought, no, we thought, that at least this time, her father would stand up."

Her voice grew colder.

"That my husband would finally protect us."

Her eyes burned with fury.

"But do you know what he did?"

Kaelith clenched his fists, his head still lowered.

"I... I didn’t have a choice," he said weakly, his voice barely audible.

Maelona looked at him with pure disgust, "Yeah," she said coldly, "Just like that."

Her voice hardened further.

"He bowed his head and said he didn’t have a fucking choice to save his own daughter, and let her marry that bastard."

Her lips curled bitterly.

"Just like how he himself was forced once."

Kaelith lifted his head slowly, his lips trembling as he met her tear-filled eyes.

"I really had no choice," he said desperately, his voice shaking. "You know that. We never had a choice to begin with."

Maelona’s eyes turned merciless. "Please," she said, her voice dripping with contempt. "Don’t talk like you truly had no choice."

"That is fucking disgusting."

Her glare burned into him with unbearable intensity.

"You left our home to sleep with another person," she said, her voice shaking with fury. "And now you sit here saying you had no choice? Asshole?"

She straightened slowly, looking at him like something rotten and unforgivable.

"I am... am very disgusted, Kaelith. Truly disgusted by you right now."

Kaelith frowned slightly, his brows knitting together as if he were trying to hold the situation together.

"Maelona," he said carefully, his voice strained. "I am saying this again. I know you are angry, and I understand your pain, but do not involve her in all of this... she had nothing to do with this all."

Maelona stared at him, unblinking, as she wiped the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand. Her expression hardened, as though something inside her had finally settled into a cruel certainty.

"You know," she muttered, her voice low and bitter,

"Sometimes I truly wondered if you ever loved your own daughter, or if you were just acting out of duty."

She let out a hollow breath.

"No, that’s not right," she corrected herself. "I really thought you were only fulfilling your duty. You never loved her, Kaelith. Just like you never loved me."

Kaelith shook his head immediately, "I love my daughter," he said firmly. "Otherwise, do you really think I would have—"

"That dance and the seed?" Maelona cut in coldly. "Ara~ how touching... That was very sweet of you," she continued flatly, "for easing your guilt."

She stepped closer.

"Tell me, did you find the perfect man for her?" she asked sharply. "No. Of course not."

"You only wanted peace for yourself, while my daughter endured pain and suffering for hundreds of years."

Her fists clenched painfully.

"You built your own little nest, Kaelith, while my daughter was locked inside a massive prison."

Her breath shook.

"Even I was not allowed to see her face."

Her nails dug into her palm, skin breaking as blood seeped out and dripped onto the ground below.

Aria, who had been staring at the floor with tear-filled eyes, noticed the red drops hitting the stone. She flinched and quickly looked up at her mother’s hand.

"M-Mom," she said urgently, her voice shaking. "Stop. You’re hurting yourself."

She reached out and caught her mother’s hand tightly.

Maelona snapped her gaze toward her daughter.

"NO, DARLING!" she shouted furiously. "HE HAS TO KNOW!"

Her voice echoed through the space.

"Enough protecting him!"

Aria’s grip tightened, her expression pained as she forced a weak smile.

"We didn’t come here for that, Mom," she said softly.

Maelona nodded slowly, her expression torn between rage and sorrow.

"I didn’t either," she replied. "But he pushed the limit, darling."

Her voice hardened again.

"He fucking pushed it."

She drew in a sharp breath, her shoulders shaking.

"I am useless, Aria," Maelona said, her voice breaking. "I was useless when it mattered the most."

She shook her head weakly.

"The Elders gave up on us for the Empire’s safety. My own husband gave up on us for his own life."

Her eyes filled again.

"I couldn’t protect my daughter when she needed me most," she whispered. "When she cried behind those walls."

Her voice grew hollow.

"All I could do was think... All I could do was pray."

Her gaze snapped toward Kaelith,

"Why do you ask?" she demanded. "All because of a fucking selfish asshole who only cared about his own life."

Kaelith’s breath staggered violently, as if the words had physically pierced his chest.

Maelona looked down at him,

"And do you know why you did all of that yesterday?" she muttered.

"To validate yourself!"

Kaelith, taken aback, Maelona smirked, "Yes... I could see it, Kaelith... fucking it! Do you think I am a fool like the others?"

She stepped closer.

"I have watched you closely, asshole. I know exactly what you were thinking."

She scoffed bitterly.

"By giving the Sacred Seed and performing your traditional family dance, you wanted to make sure you wouldn’t feel guilt anymore."

"You wanted to be certain that this time, you walked away clean."

She clenched her jaw.

"Our daughter might have felt proud. She might have been deceived by your pathetic expression."

Her eyes burned.

"But I wasn’t."

She leaned forward slightly.

"Kaelith, I am not a fucking idiot."

"You needed the world to see a father’s love and sacrifice, so your name would not stain your bloodline."

She straightened slowly.

"The world may forgive you. Nature itself may forgive you."

Her gaze flicked briefly toward Aria.

"Even your daughter may forgive you one day."

She looked back at Kaelith with absolute finality.

"But I will not."

Her voice trembled with fury and grief.

"For the suffering, the insults, and the humiliation forced upon me and my daughter, I will never forgive you."

"Not now... Not ever."

Her expression twisted into pure contempt.

"There was nothing noble about you," she said flatly.

She took a step back.

"You are nothing but a coward who ran away from responsibility."

She spat onto the ground in front of him with open disgust.

Kaelith stood frozen, staring blankly at Maelona as she panted heavily, her eyes filled with pure hatred and revulsion.

All this time, she had been holding everything inside her.

All this time, she had smiled through pain and suffering, hiding the cracks behind quiet strength.

All this time, she had kept hoping that one day he would finally protect them.

All this time, she had believed in him, clinging to a single, fragile hope that refused to die.

Yet.

Yet..

Yet...

Kaelith lowered his head slowly, as if the weight of those unspoken truths had finally crushed him.

For the next few seconds, silence filled the room... Only Maelona’s angry, uneven breathing echoed through the air.

Then, barely audible, "I... I still cannot accept it," Kaelith muttered, his words strained and hollow.

"I’m sorry."

Maelona’s eyes widened instantly, fury exploding within them as if his words had poured oil over an open flame.

"YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE!!" she screamed, her voice tearing through the space.

Her hand shot upward without hesitation, fingers trembling with rage as she moved to slap his face with everything she had left.

Kaelith closed his eyes and braced himself.

After all, he understood now.

He deserved it.

He deserved every bit of her anger.

He deserved every ounce of her hatred.

However, just as her hand was about to strike him, just as the air seemed to freeze in that violent instant, another voice entered the room.

"Oh my goodness," the voice said lightly, calm and almost amused. "Who made my cute mother-in-law this angry?"

Before anyone could react, before anyone could even turn their head, Maelona’s raised hand was caught midair.

Her wrist was held firmly.

Not roughly, but tenderly like a flower.

Maelona’s breath hitched as her gaze snapped sideways.

Standing beside her was Aether with a soft yet gentle understanding smile.