Kafka did not know the meaning of fear, but for the first time, she now felt an emotion called disquiet.
All because she heard that single address from the boy’s lips—”Mama.” Every woman has, at some point, fantasized about the day she might become a “mother.” Kafka was no exception.
But that fantasy was a fleeting one.
As a former “Devil Hunter,” she never felt she had the right to be a mother.
Because the only thing that can hunt a demon is a demon that is even stronger.
“Little one, if you keep joking, this big sister might just get angry, you know~” As she said this, her eyes still held a smile, but it was a smile so cold it was terrifying.
Perhaps Zao Wu felt that chill.
Kneeling on Kafka’s lap, his whole body began to tremble slightly, his fingertips clutching her white blouse even tighter.
But he wasn’t joking, nor was he lying.
Zao Wu didn’t understand why he was here.
He had forgotten how he had come into being.
He couldn’t recall any memories of his past.
The only meaning for his life that he could find, the one thing that allowed him to continue existing, was just…
“…I want to find a mama who will truly love me.” Even though every time he uttered that word, it felt as if an endless agony and sorrow rose up, which he had to fight with all his might.
Yet the boy chased after it with such obstinacy.
Like a kite runner.
Kafka’s pupils flickered, the sharp thorns within them breaking, one by one.
So that’s how it is…
An abandoned child…
Just how much pain must he have suffered to possess such a fragile voice, like fine porcelain?
A voice that felt like it could be so easily shattered, made hoarse, and turned to soft, melodic sobs.
Kafka could not deny that she felt a pang of pity for Zao Wu.
Having just been harsh with the boy, a faint ripple spread through her heart.
“Ai.” She let out a soft sigh, raised a hand, and cupped the back of the boy’s head, applying gentle pressure.
Zao Wu’s cheek was pressed against something exceptionally soft, which carried a faint, sweet, milky fragrance…
Kafka never skimped on rewards for obedient children.
And for pitiful children, she did not skimp on comfort.
“Zao Wu is a good boy, isn’t he~” “Good…
boy?” “To me, an obedient boy is a good boy.” “…” “If Zao Wu is a good boy, then the one who threw him away must be a truly bad mama.” “We don’t need a bad mama like that.” Kafka spoke these cruel words in the gentlest of tones, as if they were nothing at all.
Yet, for Zao Wu, who had never encountered such a concept, they stirred a tempest within his heart.
A child…
can also abandon their mother?
He had never thought of it, never known.
Before this, he had always believed that it must have been because he wasn’t good enough, that he was a bad child, and that was why he was now all alone.
That was why he had thought of destruction, of death.
But now, Kafka’s words spread through Zao Wu’s sharp mind like a virus.
And life, just like this, evolves by shattering one piece of common sense after another, continuously accepting reality.
Zao Wu was in a daze for a long time.
Kafka’s hand gently soothed his back.
Soon, the boy let out a low gasp, and his skin, from his cheeks to his earlobes, was quickly dyed with a delicate pink, like that of a cherry blossom.
He still understood shame.
A liquid sheen shimmered in his clear pupils as he pleaded with fragile vulnerability.
“Don’t, don’t look at me…” “…?” This time, it was Kafka’s turn to freeze.
Wait a minute, wasn’t I just comforting him?
Stroking someone’s back is a perfectly normal way to offer comfort, right?
Could it be…
Zao Wu’s physical sensitivity was many, many times higher than that of an ordinary person!?
Didn’t that mean that all the intimate gestures she had made toward him so far were tantamount to dancing on his every sensitive point?
It was basically like doing strange things to him!
No wonder his body had been so limp, so weak, ever since he had come into her arms.
But the problem was—is Zao Wu an idiot!?
To be touched so freely by a strange woman, to be teased until he was red in the face, yet he didn’t run away or resist.
He was just like something out of a nature documentary.
A young beast that hadn’t yet had time to be taught self-defense by its mother!
Kafka had seen documentaries like that, where a naive little fawn doesn’t flee or hide from a male lion, but simply stares at the predator with wide, innocent eyes, full of curiosity.
And the fate that awaited it was to have its throat torn out, becoming a meal for the apex predator.
So then, Zao Wu…
whose dessert, whose little cake, would he become?
If she just let him leave the Stellaron Hunter base, leave this planet.
Kafka could already foresee the outcome: with his pure and beautiful appearance, he would be easily tricked into the hands of some villainous woman out in the galaxy, to be toyed with, humiliated, mentally controlled, and even imprisoned.
He would go from a blank sheet of paper, to one stained with ink and bodily fluids, to being torn to shreds.
Kafka sucked in a sharp breath of cold air.
A headache was starting to form.
She really shouldn’t have gotten involved with the boy…
Oh, no, not that kind of involved.
Just, involved at all.
Now he was a hot potato in her hands.
She couldn’t throw him away, but she couldn’t not throw him away either.
And from Zao Wu’s few words, Kafka could basically determine that he had been abandoned by his own mother.
If Kafka were to abandon him again under these circumstances…
That thin string inside Zao Wu’s heart, which was already stretched to its breaking point, would instantly snap!
—The boy would fall completely into the abyss of destruction.
“Did Zao Wu…
do something wrong?” The white-haired boy’s body began to tremble again.
Kafka snapped back to reality, her eyes darting about.
She was at a loss as to how to face the boy’s upward gaze, which was filled with an inexplicable attachment.
Like a young animal instinctively imprinting on the first creature it sees as its mother.
He was terrified of being abandoned again.
He needed validation.
Otherwise, he would lose his reason for being.
“No, Zao Wu didn’t do anything wrong.” For a rare moment, Kafka responded to the boy’s expectation.
Zao Wu’s pupils instantly brightened as if they had been washed clean.
The pale jadeite of his eyes was like a clear lake, reflecting Kafka’s face.
And only hers.
“Then…
can I call you.” “Mama?” The instant the boy’s words fell, the other Stellaron Hunter members, Silver Wolf and Blade, who had just returned to the base, pushed open the door.
Naturally, they heard every single word.
Dun dun dun!
The pupils of the petite, silver-haired girl in a high ponytail contracted in a violent tremor.
Kafka!
Your private life is pretty wild!!!
Even though she understood that Kafka, as an adult woman, would surely have…
needs.
And that those were perfectly legitimate.
But couldn’t she just find a discreet hotel outside to do this kind of thing!?
Why did she have to bring a man back to the base!?
And it was some kind of really messed up roleplay!
Couldn’t she spare a thought for her!?
She wasn’t old enough to be exposed to this kind of stuff yet!
Wait a minute—the boy straddling Kafka looked even younger than her???
Silver Wolf felt as if her entire worldview was being refreshed.
So this is the adult world…?
Yikes!
—o—