Lackey's Seducing Survival Odyssey

Chapter 1884: A Pain that no one seen: Part-1

“Then die.”

Her fingers tightened.

She didn’t hesitate.

“Y-You crazy bitch!” he shouted as he struggled to push her hand away. “What the fuck are you doing?!”

Only a few minutes ago, she had been ready to sacrifice everything just to spend one more second with her son.

She had been willing to throw away her own existence, her powers, and even the possibility of ever returning to the Source.

And now…

She had decided to kill herself?

The contradiction made even him hesitate.

He stared at himself with disbelief as she continued squeezing her own throat.

“You’d really throw everything away now?” he snarled. “After choosing him over your own existence?”

The woman said nothing.

Her eyes remained cold.

Because she had finally understood something.

If she couldn’t protect her son with her own hands…

Then she would rather make sure those hands could never hurt him.

But her grip slowly weakened.

Her fingers loosened around her throat as the strength inside her began fading.

The man felt it immediately.

His fear disappeared.

A wicked smile slowly spread across his face.

“That’s right…”

He forced her hand away from her neck.

“You can’t even finish what you started.”

He laughed quietly.

“You shall watch your beloved son suffer through the hell I will create for hi—”

TANG!!

“AARRHH!!!”

His sentence was violently cut short.

Her hand suddenly seized the pan containing the hot milk and slammed it directly against his head.

The metal struck with a sharp, brutal impact.

The pan flew from her grasp as hot milk splashed across her hand and spilled onto the kitchen floor.

The man recoiled, clutching his head.

“Fuck!”

He looked down at the hand that had been burned by the boiling milk.

The skin was already turning bright red.

“What the hell…?”

His face twisted with pain.

“Is this how it hurts…?”

He stared at his trembling fingers.

“Fuck… so this is what it feels like to be powerless!”

He had existed beyond ordinary human limitations.

Pain had once been nothing more than a concept to him.

Now even a simple burn could make his body recoil.

And he hated every second of it.

His ears suddenly twitched.

Footsteps.

Small, hurried footsteps were approaching from the hallway.

His expression changed.

A slow, wicked smile appeared across….. the woman’s face.

“Watch me, bitch.”

His body flickered.

The man’s form changed to a woman.

A moment later, Aether rushed into the kitchen.

His eyes widened in horror.

His mother was standing in the middle of the room.

Her hand was bright red, already beginning to blister from the hot milk. The overturned pan lay nearby, while the spilled milk spread across the floor.

“M-Mommy… Heh…” he stammered, his voice trembling as he tried to approach her.

“Call the doctor!” she screamed, her voice filled with pain.

‘Huh?’

The man laughed.

‘Still trying to overpower me?’

The trapped woman desperately fought back, desperately trying to reach the surface.

‘I have to admit… I love your confidence.’

His voice became colder.

‘But you’re forever stuck inside the storm now.’

The woman screamed inside her own mind.

‘Aether!’

She tried to reach him.

‘Run!’

Nothing came out.

Not a single sound.

She could see him.

She could see her son standing only a few steps away.

She could even see the fear in his eyes.

But she couldn’t move her own body.

The storm had swallowed her consciousness completely.

The boy took another hesitant step forward.

“M-Mo… Hehe… Mommy… Hehe… are you… Heh—”

SLAP!!

The sound echoed through the kitchen.

Aether’s head snapped violently to the side.

The force of the blow sent his small body crashing onto the floor.

He didn’t even have time to understand what had happened.

His eyes slowly lost focus.

His left cheek burned from the impact, and a thin line of blood began trickling down his skin.

The kitchen became completely silent.

The mother stared down at him.

But deep inside her mind, the real mother was screaming.

‘NO!’

‘NO, NO, NO!’

‘WHAT DID YOU DO?!’

She desperately struggled against the storm.

‘That’s my son!’

‘Don’t touch him!’

‘Please… please don’t hurt him!’

But…

She couldn’t control her body.

She couldn’t wipe away his blood.

She couldn’t even hold him.

The child lay motionless on the floor.

His small fingers twitched once before becoming still.

That was the first wound his mother had ever given him.

The first time those hands, which had once carried him, fed him, comforted him, and gently stroked his hair, became the hands that caused him pain.

And neither of them would ever truly forget that moment.

The mother stood over him, her teeth clenched in a mixture of pain and fury.

As if the real mother was still trying her best even after she was stuck.

‘I’m sorry…’

Tears formed in her eyes.

‘I’m so sorry, Aether… Mommy didn’t mean to hurt you.’

Her voice cracked.

‘Please… don’t be afraid of me.’

The man laughed.

‘Haha… keep trying, bitch.’

His laughter echoed through the darkness.

‘Keep struggling.’

The woman looked down at the unconscious boy with an amused expression and said, “Are you going to laugh even if I die?”

The real mother… looked at the scene… with a broken expression.

The man… the current mother smirked as she stared at the unconscious boy, “It’s all because of you… You caused this… and you will suffer for this!!”

The real mother stared at him in disbelief.

“No…”

The man smiled.

“You chose him.”

He looked at the unconscious child.

“You abandoned everything for him.”

His eyes narrowed.

“So now…”

His smile widened.

“He’ll be the reason you suffer.”

The real mother shook her head desperately.

“No… Please…”

Her voice trembled.

“Don’t punish him for what I did…”

The man ignored her.

“And you will suffer for this.”

The woman’s eyes widened.

She screamed his name from within the storm.

“AETHER!”

But the boy couldn’t hear her.

That was the day everything began.

From that day onward, the current mother used what little power remained within her to slowly break him further.

Every cruel word, every punishment, every wound became another crack in the child’s understanding of love.

And somewhere deep inside that endless storm, his real mother remained trapped.

Forced to watch.

Forced to remember.

Forced to love her son while being unable to reach him.

That was her punishment.

She had chosen to abandon her own existence for one person.

And now she was forced to watch that very person suffer through the existence she had sacrificed everything to protect.

“Since you spread the rumour that I had an affair… why don’t we have a wonderful talk about it?”

She smirked.

Then, with the little power she had left, she created an entire drama around him.

“How could you do this to me?!” Aether’s mother screamed.

The man she had created sighed heavily, as though the entire situation was nothing more than another burden he had been forced to carry.

“Listen,” he began, his tone flat and detached, “we’ve both had a hard time dealing with Aether’s condition. Neither of us could support each other. Every time I came home from work, you’d start another fight about how much care he needs. I couldn’t take it anymore… so yeah,” he shrugged off like nothing.

“Bastard!”

Aether’s mother spat the word through gritted teeth as tears streamed down her face.

The real mother watched from within the storm.

She wanted to scream.

She wanted to tear the lie apart.

She wanted to tell Aether that none of it was true.

But she couldn’t.

The only thing she could do was watch.

And then she saw her son.

Young Aether trembled as he covered himself with his small arms, tears running down his cheeks while he listened to the argument.

His eyes moved between the two adults, desperately trying to understand what was happening.

“Mommy…”

The word came out weakly.

The current mother glanced at him.

For a brief moment, she softened her expression and acted as though she cared.

She knelt beside him.

She wiped his tears.

She hugged him.

She gave him what looked like love.

But every gentle touch was another carefully measured deception.

She gave him the carrot called love…

Only to use it to make the pain hurt even more when she eventually took it away.

The real mother watched in silence.

Every night.

Every day.

Again.

And again.

Forcing her to watch.

Her son was crying for the love he deserved.

And the current mother kept giving him just enough affection to make him believe he had it, only to tear it away again.

“You said you only love him, right?”

The current mother muttered wickedly as she stared toward the politician.

Her lips curled into an amused smile.

“Well then…”

Her eyes gleamed with cruel curiosity.

“The real fun is about to start~”

She laughed softly.

“Hahah~”

Meanwhile, deep inside the storm, the real mother cowered with her knees pulled against her chest.

Her eyes were hollow.

She could see everything.

Every tear.

Every frightened glance.

Every moment her son desperately searched for the affection he had once received from her.

She wanted to close her eyes.

But even that small escape was denied to her.

She had to watch her son endure every pain and every nightmare.

And all she could do was…

Nothing.

She watched helplessly as her son slowly began breaking apart.

The current mother stared into the storm where the real mother was trapped.

“But it isn’t enough.”

Her smile widened.

“You said I couldn’t understand him.”

She tilted her head.

“You said I couldn’t understand his feelings… his happiness… that love you discovered because of him.”

She chuckled.

“Then perhaps we should test that too.”

Her expression became almost playful.

“Who knows?”

She placed a hand against her chest.

“Maybe I really can understand you.”

Her smile became wider.

“Maybe I might even learn to love your son as well.”

“Hahah~”

The real mother stared at her in horror.

“No…”

But the current mother had already made her decision.

Since she was never truly real, neither was the body she had. So she couldn’t create life or give birth to a child.

But with the little power she had left, she could manipulate perception.

And that was enough.

She manipulated the new father and made him genuinely believe she had become pregnant.

Then she stole a newborn from an orphanage and placed the child into his arms.

To him, it was their beloved newborn.

Their miracle.

Their new family.

And before Aether’s very eyes, she held the baby close to her chest.

“My child is going to become the greatest person in the world,” she said proudly as she cradled the newborn in her arms.

The baby cried… cried really loudly, and she smiled with a joy that Aether had never seen before, a joy that stung him more deeply than any words could.

He stared at her.

His lips trembled.

His eyes became wet.

He looked at the baby.

Then at his mother.

For a moment, he seemed to hope she would look at him.

She didn’t.

The child turned around and ran.

His small footsteps echoed through the house as he desperately tried to get away from the sight.

The current mother watched him leave.

Then her lips curled into a satisfied smirk.

“Haha…”

She looked toward the trapped consciousness.

“Look at him~”

Her voice dripped with amusement.

“You see this?”

She laughed cruelly.

“He’s getting jealous… Ahahah~”

Deep inside the storm, the real mother stared at the scene.

Her entire body trembled.

She wanted to scream.

She wanted to reach her son.

She wanted to hold him and tell him that he was still her only child.

That the baby wasn’t replacing him.

That none of this was his fault.

But her voice wouldn’t come.

Her lips moved soundlessly.

“I…”

Her eyes became completely broken.

“I…”

She tried again.

“I… I… I…”

The words wouldn’t come.

There was nothing left for her to say.

No explanation could reach him.

No apology could erase what he had already seen.

No matter how desperately she loved him, she could only remain trapped inside the darkness and watch.

“I… I… I…”

Her voice finally disappeared into a whisper.

She watched her son suffer again and again.

Everyone broke him apart.

Every single person who came into his life seemed to leave another wound behind.

And every wound they gave him felt as though it were being carved directly into her own soul.

She watched him remain alone in his room, sitting quietly in a place that was supposed to feel like home.

Instead, he was treated like a disease.

Like something that needed to be endured rather than loved.

She watched him become hesitant around others, carefully measuring every word before speaking, afraid that the slightest mistake would make someone turn against him.

She watched his confidence disappear little by little.

She watched him become lonely.

She watched him become broken.

She watched him wear masks.

She watched him change himself again and again.

And…

All of it was because of her.

Because of her greed.

Her eyes trembled as she stared at the child she once held so lovingly.

‘If I had left him…’

Her lips trembled.

‘If I had simply obeyed and returned to nothing…’

The storm surrounding her consciousness tightened.

‘Would this have happened?’

She curled herself into a smaller shape, wrapping her arms around her knees.

‘Would all this suffering have happened to my son?’

She lowered her head.

‘All of this… because I wanted something I had never known before?’

Love.

A feeling she had never understood.

A feeling she had never even known she was capable of wanting.

She had only wanted a little.

Just a little warmth.

Just a little time.

Just a few moments beside the child who had somehow made her feel like she was more than an empty consciousness.

‘My greed is what caused my son to suffer.’

Her consciousness trembled.

‘Why?’

Her fingers dug into her knees.

‘WHY?’

The storm around her suddenly tightened violently, crushing the space around her.

… Red tears began flowing from her eyes.

She covered her face, but the tears continued falling between her fingers.

She was nothing more than a consciousness.

She had no flesh.

No blood.

And yet…

She bled.

She bled tears.

She cried alone inside the storm that had become her eternal prison.

She didn’t cry because she wanted freedom.

She didn’t cry because she feared being erased.

She cried because she could no longer bear watching her son suffer.

And somewhere within that despair, a horrifying wish began taking shape.

She wanted her son to kill her.

Yes.

She truly wished for him to end her.

‘Please…’

Her broken voice trembled through the darkness.

‘Aether…’

She closed her eyes.

‘If you hate me… then hate me.’

A red tear slipped down her cheek.

‘If you want to hurt me… then hurt me.’

Her voice cracked.

‘Just don’t look at me with those eyes anymore.’

She remembered the way he used to look at her.

Those innocent eyes that once searched for nothing except his mother’s warmth.

Now those same eyes were filled with pain whenever he looked at her.

She couldn’t bear it.

‘I don’t want you to look at me like that.’

Another tear fell.

‘I don’t want you to look at me and feel hurt.’

Her breathing became uneven.

‘And I don’t want you to love me anymore…’

The last words nearly broke her.

‘Because your love for me is only hurting you.’

She looked toward her son.

The child she remembered was slowly disappearing.

Not physically… Something far worse.

The innocent child she knew was being buried beneath years of fear, rejection, loneliness, and desperation.

She watched him change himself for other people.

Change the way he spoke.

Change the way he behaved.

Change the way he smiled.

Change everything about himself simply because he wanted someone to love him.

He was becoming someone she had never seen before.

And the most painful part was that he never changed himself for his own happiness.

He changed because he believed the real version of himself wasn’t worthy of being loved.

‘You never…’

Her voice trembled.

‘You never cared about yourself, did you?’

She pressed her hands against her chest.

‘You only cared about becoming someone everyone else could love.’

Her blood tears flowed harder.

She curled deeper into herself inside the storm.

For an existence that had once feared nothingness, this was far worse than being erased.

Being erased would have meant the end.

There would have been no pain.

But this?

This was eternity.

An eternity spent watching the person she loved most slowly destroy himself while she remained powerless to stop it.

Her son was disappearing right before her eyes.

And she couldn’t even touch him.

She couldn’t hold him.

She couldn’t apologise.

She couldn’t tell him the truth.

She couldn’t tell him that every time he had cried, she had cried with him.

She couldn’t tell him that every time he had wondered why his mother no longer loved him, she had been screaming his name from inside the storm.

All she could do was watch.

And cry.

‘It all happened because I wanted to spend time with you…’

Her voice became barely audible.

‘I only wanted to spend a little more time with my son.’

Her tears continued falling endlessly.

‘Maybe this was written from the beginning.’

She stared into the storm.

‘Maybe… this was always his fate.’

A cruel thought passed through her broken consciousness.

Like Fate itself had already written every page of his life…

And she had become another chapter of his suffering.