I Became The Mother Of The Strongest Villain - Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Fren couldn’t understand Yuria, all her emotions and attitudes were unfamiliar.

Why was she doing this? Why was she so nice to him?

Everything was unfamiliar and new to him. Yuria was the first person to approach him and stand by him, and he, who was always alone, was given warm food and proper clothes. She was the first to wrap a blanket around him worrying that he might be cold, and lay him in a soft bed. Moreover, she always said warm words to him. Fren had never before received an endearing gaze; it was his first time feeling such a loving gaze and receiving affectionate touch. He met Yuria and learned that such things existed in the world.

She gave him a proper name. Now she even told him that he wasn’t a monster. For Fren, Yuria was already giving him a lot, while still feeling hurt for him. Though it was unfamiliar and awkward, it made Fren’s cold heart race, emotions he’d never felt before filled his chest, and made him experience a colorful world.

It tickled his nose, and made it feel like his whole body was melting. It was as if he was about to burst out laughing from this warm sensation.

Fren reached out to Yuria. To the one that didn’t even hurt him, he didn’t want her to be hurt because of him. He didn’t want to see her cry.

“Don’t cry, Yuri.”

Fren wiped Yuria’s scrunched face even though there wasn’t a single tear rolling down her cheeks. His fern-like hand gently stroked her cheek as if it was a crystal and would break with a single touch. Even though her cheeks were dry, Fren felt like his fingers were wet when he wiped her cheeks.

“…I am not crying.”

“Fren, is okay. So Yuri should be fine too.” He wished for Yuria to be okay.

Although it was clear that he was the most hurt he only cared about her, Yuria smiled sadly at Fren’s attempt to comfort her.

He’s so lovely and so pretty. Why do people hurt Fren so much? Why do people have to be so cold to Fren?

Her face was distorted as she recalled Fren’s life in the novel.

“Did Fren make Yuri hurt?” Fren trailed. There were no words after ‘hurt’, but Yuria seemed to hear the word ‘again’ muttered faintly.

“No, you didn’t. I’m happy to have Fren, and I think I am lucky to have met Fren.” Yuria said, gently stroking Fren’s head.

“….me too.” Fren said in a low voice.

He didn’t know what happiness was. He’d never felt it because he had gotten used to a life of being repeatedly hurt, and thought it was normal for life to be like that. However, if these fluffy emotions he was feeling now were called ‘happiness’, then he could now understand what that ‘happiness’ meant. It was the feeling he discovered when he met Yuria.

“Thank you, Fren. For coming to me like this.” It was a coincidence, but Yuria didn’t think so. Meeting Fren felt like fate.

Fren quietly buried his face in Yuria’s arms, safe in her arms, he felt a tickling sensation like tiny feathers were fluttering all around him. But it wasn’t unpleasant, rather quite liked it because he didn’t know what to do with it.

So… Wouldn’t she feel the same way if he hugged her too?

The two hugged each other, quietly listening to each other’s heartbeats, the constant thumping brought comfort to each other.

“Let’s go home now.”

They already bought all the things they needed so there was no need to stay in the market any longer.

“……Home?” The word was unfamiliar, so Fren tilted his head.

“Yes, Fren, home.” At Yuria’s friendly words, Fren’s cheeks reddened.

Home.

It was a warm and shiny word. If he could grab the word now, he might’ve swallowed it right then and there. He had been waiting to have it for so long. He wanted to cherish every little bit of it.

“Let’s go back to our home.”

Fren giggled shyly and nodded. He was very happy knowing he now had a home with someone else so it became ‘our’ home. His heart was racing so fast it felt like it would jump out of his mouth, so he kept his lips sealed. Fren continued to clench and unclench his hand as though he held all his newfound emotions within. Fren was constantly seeing and feeling new things while spending his time with Yuria.

It tickles.

It didn’t really tickle, but Fren felt a warm energy pass through his body and tickle all his senses.

Fren and Yuria hugged each other as they walked through the woods. Between the two was an atmosphere overflowing with kindness and warmth that no one could interrupt.

It was then that five men suddenly appeared, blocking Yuria’s path. They were chased by bandits and they entered the forest where Yuria’s house was in search of a place to hide.

“Look at this, I didn’t expect to see such beauty in this drab place.” The man scanned Yuria’s body with a lewd expression. The five men surrounded her. Yuria was extremely nervous as the men approached her.

“……Please move away.” Yuria spoke with a calm voice while tightly clenching her fists as if she felt nothing from the bulky men approaching her with impure intentions.

The intentions of the men were obvious, after all, this was a forest. No matter what they did here, no one would find out about it with no witnesses, and no one would help Yuria, who was utterly alone. Nonetheless, she was confident in her strength. Yuria’s strength was simply on another level compared to theirs. She made large trees collapse with a single swing of an axe, but the handle of the axe broke. She had yet to use that strength against a person, and it was one thing to hit an object, protecting one’s body was an entirely different thing.

No matter how strong she was, it was no use if she didn’t know how to use her strength.

“Heh heh, I’ll show you heaven soon.” The man declared and let out an atrocious laugh. Yuria couldn’t easily show an expression of fear, lest Fren would then be afraid. She was currently Fren’s guardian so she should be the one to protect him, so she had to think of something fast. This way, Fren wouldn’t be endangered.

There were five men in front of her. She wondered if she could actually deal with them and protect herself and Fren. Regardless, she couldn’t stay still; she was like a sitting duck. It was Fren who would be hurt if she got hurt. For his sake, she was planning to try to get out of this situation safely.

Yuria didn’t say anything as she fell into deep thought. She then turned her head, pretending to look around, and suddenly threw her luggage at the men, creating room for the two of them to escape. Due to her unexpected attack, the men released a dangerous air around them. Frightened by the atmosphere, Yuria trembled but hurriedly slipped through the men and ran away.

“I was trying to be nice to you!” One man spoke harshly.

Yuria just kept running, tightly embracing Fren in her arms, fearing she might let go of him. Under her protection, Fren clung to her. She wondered if they would really be able to escape from the men if they made it home, but there was no other way. She just kept running. If she could shake them off their trail, they would be able to escape from the present danger.

However, the men quickly caught up to Yuria, and one of them yanked her by the hair, causing her to fall to the ground. The moment she fell, she rolled over to protect Fren in case he would get hurt. Fortunately, Fren fell into her body instead of the ground, although Yuria’s body roughly hit the ground. As she fell, Yuria caught sight of the man with a tight tension. There wasn’t enough time to get up and run.

What should I do?

Meanwhile, the men were now upon Yuria.

I have to protect Fren. I’d rather just let Fren run away.

After all, the men were after her, if Fren was alone then he should be able to escape. However, thinking of his safety, it was heartbreaking to make him run away by himself. She was worried he might think that he’d been abandoned again, but there was no other way.

She was too weak. She wanted to be Fren’s shield but couldn’t be one in reality. She didn’t even have the right strength to protect him, let alone herself.

“Fren, run away,” After a moment of thought, Yuria spoke with a firm, unshakable expression. She didn’t know what would happen next but she couldn’t let Fren stay here. She didn’t want Fren to see it. She was worried that it would inflict a long lasting wound on Fren and cause him to fall into a deeper abyss.

“Yuri……?” Unaware as to what Yuria was talking about, Fren just stared at her blankly.

“I’m sorry, Fren.” Yuria couldn’t give more details since she didn’t want to put more burden on the child. She only had a painful expression on her face from her feelings of helplessness and guilt for being unable to properly protect Fren.

Please, I only hope for Fren’s safety.

I hope you can escape this danger.

Yuria only wished for Fren’s safety.

Fren said nothing and looked at her quietly.

Meanwhile, the men were within arm’s length, they reached out to Yuria without any hesitation. To protect Fren, Yuria embraced him and turned away, signaling him with her eyes to run. Now that she had turned her back to them, it would be easier for Fren to run away.

Then an amazing phenomenon occurred.

As though there was some force blocking them, the men couldn’t reach Yuria, instead, they cried out in pain. Some had their bodies twisted, others had their limbs ripped from their bodies, and some shriveled up like mummies as if they had lost all their vitality. There wasn’t even a trace of the last man.

Yuria, who turned away from the men, tightly shut her eyes, then feeling something strange turned her head and looked at the men. Faced with the horror scene in front of her, Yuria couldn’t look, and forced herself to focus her gaze elsewhere.