“Prim, in this world… Mommy really has nothing left but you.”
Lin Naiyue forced a smile as she said this, trying desperately to keep her tears from falling and making an ugly scene.
But the trembling and hoarseness in her voice were impossible to hide.
Primrose stared blankly at her mother’s forced smile, and a wave of intense guilt and self-reproach welled up inside her.
So that was it.
So her mother’s fidgeting nervousness at the dinner table, the worry hidden behind her forced smile, all of it was because of this.
For the past nine days, she’d been racking her brain trying to figure out how to conquer this world, how to make her mother grow stronger quickly, how to deal with the Final Crisis that might appear in the future.
She thought that as long as her mother had the ability to protect herself, as long as her mother’s level was high enough, everything would be fine.
But she had completely failed to consider how lonely and insecure her mother felt in this completely unfamiliar world.
Having lost the bloodline bond with her original body, her mother felt that the connection between them had been severed.
She was afraid that her daughter, who had become a goddess, would abandon her, this outsider with no blood relation.
Primrose took a deep breath, feeling her nose sting slightly.
Suddenly, a scene from this afternoon in Grayrock Town flashed through her mind.
Back then, her mother had one-shot killed Shisu, that Demon General with time-rewinding abilities.
After the battle ended, her mother had looked at her excitedly and asked, “Is Mommy impressive?”
At that moment, her mother’s voice had been filled with expectation, just like a child who had scored full marks and was running home with the test paper, eager to show off to her parents.
But how had she replied back then?
Her mother leveled up to Max Level.
Back then, her mind had been entirely consumed with calculating whether the remaining Demon Race was enough for her mother to reach Max Level.
Facing her mother’s anticipation, she’d only blurted out a careless “Not bad,” and then, after her mother had clearly expressed dissatisfaction, she’d only perfunctorily said, “Impressive.”
She had clearly been… too cold, too perfunctory.
Her mother was just an ordinary housewife who had lived in a peaceful era.
Suddenly dragged into this dangerous Otherworld, suddenly granted such powerful, even terrifying strength, and forced to face those hideous, murderous Demon Beasts.
Her mother’s heart must have been full of panic and confusion.
The reason her mother killed monsters, leveled up, and tried so hard to prove herself wasn’t because she needed powerful strength—it was because she needed her daughter’s recognition, companionship, and comfort.
What her mother needed was a sense of security.
And what about herself?
For the past few days, her mind had been completely occupied with how to conquer this world, how to use resources to help her mother level up, how to guard against a possible Evil God.
She’d treated her mother like a secondary character in a game, completely ignoring her mother’s psychological needs as a mother and as an ordinary woman.
Primrose choked back a sob. Without saying much, she stepped forward, opened her arms, crouched down, and tightly pulled Lin Naiyue into an embrace.
Lin Naiyue was startled by the sudden hug, her hands hovering in front of her, unsure where to put them.
“Mom.”
Primrose’s voice carried an unprecedented firmness.
“Don’t overthink this… blood relations and all that, they don’t matter at all.”
“You took care of me for so many years, you cooked for me, and even when I refused to eat because I was at a critical moment in a game, you never complained.”
“You folded the clothes I tossed carelessly onto the bed, washed the smelly socks I threw on the nightstand, and stayed by my side all night when I was sick.”
“No matter what our bodies have become, no matter whether we’re in the original world or the Otherworld.”
“Is the love you gave me really held together by some vague, intangible bloodline?”
“You will always be my mother, I will always be your daughter, and the fact that we’re family will never change.”
Primrose pulled back slightly, gripped Lin Naiyue’s shoulders with both hands, and looked into her eyes with serious silver eyes, speaking each word with weight and conviction:
“Until the end of time, it will never change.”
Lin Naiyue’s violet eyes stared blankly at Primrose.
The seriousness and determination in her daughter’s eyes surged through her like a warm flood, instantly shattering every defense in her heart, washing away all the fear, unease, and confusion.
Lin Naiyue’s violet eyes glistened with tears, her eyes growing warm. This time, she didn’t hesitate—she reached out and hugged Primrose tightly in return.
“Prim…”
“Mm, Mommy knows… Mommy understands now.”
She rested her head on Primrose’s shoulder, tears streaming down uncontrollably.
But this time, they weren’t tears of fear—they were tears of complete relief.
Primrose gently patted her mother’s back, feeling her mother’s breathing gradually settle, and a sense of ease washed over her as well.
Good. At least she’d caught her mother’s worry in time.
Otherwise, her mother might have bottled it up until it festered into something worse.
From now on, she needed to pay more attention to her mother’s feelings—she couldn’t keep treating her like a heartless monster-slaying machine.
The atmosphere in the room became incredibly warm.
Pale moonlight spilled over the mother and daughter embracing each other, a peaceful and beautiful scene.
However, this touching moment of tenderness didn’t last long.
Just as the mother and daughter were enjoying this rare, precious time, a strange and suspicious commotion suddenly came from the direction of the closed door.
“Creak——”
It sounded like someone was turning the doorknob from outside.
Then, following a series of startled cries.
“Thud!“
“Stop pushing, stop pushing, the door’s opening!”
“Who stepped on my foot!”
“Ouch, quit shoving me!”
“Who stepped on my foot!”
“Don’t…”
“BANG!“
With a loud crash, the door was shoved open from the outside by an immense force.
A pile of bodies tumbled in from the doorway like ice cubes spilled from a box, rolling into a tangled heap on the floor.
Primrose and Lin Naiyue both jumped in fright.
They let go of each other and turned to look toward the doorway.
When she saw what was on the floor, Primrose’s face filled with dark lines, and the corner of her mouth began twitching uncontrollably.
There, scattered haphazardly across the floor by the doorway, lay a pile of nine people.
Cecilia and Dolores were crushed at the very bottom.
Cecilia’s face was nearly pressed flat against the floor, with Dolores sprawled on top of her.
Dorothy and Clotilde were a bit further back, stacked one on top of the other.
And the Holy Sword Maiden, the golden-haired girl, was currently perched on the very top of the pile, blinking her big, sparkling golden eyes.
Except for the well-behaved Yuna, who was standing at the doorway.
It was painfully obvious—these girls had all been eavesdropping outside the door the whole time!
“Mommy, Grandma!”
The golden-haired girl leaped down, landing on her toes, and quickly ran over to Primrose, wrapping her arms around her waist.
Primrose patted the golden-haired girl’s head, then looked down at the group of girls in front of her, her voice dripping with deep exasperation.