Chapter 19: I Brought A 'Wife' Home

But before Ugan could reach the little boy, something grabbed his feet.

"You fucking loony. If you dare touch my son, don't even think of leaving this house alive." The woman looked Ugan straight in the eyes. There was no fear in her, just desperation and numbness.

It was the look of a woman that had nothing to lose.

Those eyes are very familiar to Ugan. Looking at them made him feel an emphatic emotion. It snapped him out of his rampage and he realized what just happened.

"I—I..." Ugan tried to help her up but the woman suddenly stood and rushed to her son. Shielding the little boy in her embrace, the woman looked warily at Ugan as if he was some kind of monster.

Monster...

He looked up and saw the additional bruises that he inflicted on Ron's wife. He felt sick about what he did, but he still wanted to know where Ron is.

"I'm sorry... Ron took my daughter. I need to find him," Ugan said softly as he knelt down on the floor, "I just want my daughter back. I'm so sorry."

"..."

The woman looked at Ugan silently. Probably because of the desperation he showed, she relented. "It's true that I had no idea where Ron is. He is a useless leech. Aside from the fact that he is incompetent, he is also a violent maniac... just like you."

"He rarely comes home. He usually stays overnight at the brothel. That's all I know about him."

Ugan let out a sigh. He didn't dare look up and just left the house with his head down.

After seeing that he finally left, the little boy in the woman's embrace asked, "Mom, does it hurt? Let's apply medicine on it." His eyes were filled with worry.

The woman patted the little boy's head, "Mommy is fine. Save that ointment, it's very expensive." She had already been beaten to the point of numbness.

She couldn't even feel fear when her life was threatened, but she wouldn't ever let anyone touch her child.

That is her last resolve as a parent.

...

At the central part of the town of Syrencrest.

The Ikaris siblings finished dinner and went to their respective rooms. Cia was the only one left in the living room. He picked up a book (a normal one) and flipped the pages.

After a few tries, he gave up. His mind wasn't really on the book. He had many problems piling up. The most urgent one was probably the murderer hypnotism.

He wanted to mentally prepare himself to kill and it seemed to be working.

Next issue was the hidden drama within this family.

"What strange parents," Cia commented as he remembered this body's biological parents.

[What's up host?] The system started preparing his melon seeds. It actually had no idea about the Ikaris' family background and now that Cia seemed to be willing to share, the system was happy.

"I think... Among the five siblings, none of us had actually seen our mother or father." Cia rubbed his chin as he thought of that. "Freshly baked baby? Send them to town! The only sibling that stayed at the capital was Ain, but he was sent here when he was 12."

"Even he hasn't seen what our parents looked like, as he was entrusted to a 'family' friend while our biological parents sent them money for Ain."

[That sounds very suspicious. Are the five of you blood related?] The system didn't think much of it before. Now listening to Cia analyzing it, it does sound strange.

"We are probably blood related. The five of us had many resemblances that one look on our faces could conclude that we are brothers and sisters." This town is a bit backwards. There were no gossips around saying that they aren't siblings, so those people could also see their resemblance.

[Then do you think your biological parents are dead?] There had been no news for almost a year about the Ikaris couple.

"I think so." Cia leaned back on the chair and rubbed his head.

Tonight was a waste of time. Cia knew that but he still couldn't solve his psychological hurdle. He could feel the system was a bit hesitant, but it still said nothing.

I guess the lack of IQ compensated for the EQ.

But to be honest, even Cia was shocked by his audacity. The modern man spirit of procrastination really was too poisonous. Even with the threat of death, Cia still didn't want to move.

He closed his eyes. It was just supposed to be a short rest, but unexpectedly, his body was very exhausted and he fell into a deep sleep.

...

What Cia felt was the heaving sensation on his chest and legs. It wasn't just a simple 'he felt something pressing him under' but a 'did an entire boulder just collapse on me?'

"Ah—" He tried to speak but words couldn't come out of his mouth. He slowly opened his eyes and his pupils immediately constricted at the sight in front of him.

FLIP FLIP FLIP

There was something sitting on his lap. It was lying sideways as it scanned the book that Cia read before.

The figure looked very petite. After recognizing that fact, Cia realized that he wasn't feeling 'heavy'; it was pressure.

It was just a black silhouette of... what seemed like a woman? At least that is what Cia could guess from its figure and long wavy hair.

He had no idea what it was wearing or its body shape since all he could see was black like a shadow.

FLIP FLIP FLI—

The figure suddenly stopped flipping the book. Cia held his breath. He wanted to move but his body was paralyzed.

Sleep paralysis?

"System! System!" He called out in his mind but there was no answer.

The strange creature sitting on his lap slowly looked up. Cia felt that he heard a BANG on his head the moment he came in eye contact with it.

It was the eyes that he had seen at the library.

Those red rose-like eyes were not something that he could forget.

Meeting 'it' was probably one of the top most terrifying experiences Cia had coming into this world. Yes, it surpassed his encounters with the demons.

"Fuck, it really came out of the library and followed me." Cia felt... exhausted.

Of course the fear was there, but he unexpectedly felt an overwhelming exhaustion. He had a feeling that if this continued, he'd probably be world-weary not even a year after coming here.

Cia could hear the grandfather clock ticking each second. It synchronized with his heartbeat as he stared at the creature in terror.

The figure finally moved.

It raised its hands, touching Cia's cheeks. It was cold as ice. It cupped his face and its thumb brushed across his lips.

It was cold, gentle, and loving.

It felt like death.

Then she let go of his cheeks. Her arms slowly wrapped around his neck.

She was kneeling on Cia's lap, so she was a head taller from this angle. She lifted Cia's chin and stared straight into his eyes.

Such a short distance. Cia realized that this figure was not entirely made of black ink, but was covered in black fog.

She slowly bent her head down, her nose touching his. She opened her mouth and called out—

"Husband."

...

[Host! Host! Wake up! Are you okay?!]

Cia opened his eyes. He looked around and realized that he was still sitting in the living room.

No shadowy woman or anything strange. Just him, the book, and the system inside his mind.

[Huhuhuhuhu host. You are finally awake. I thought something bad was happening to you.] The system's voice sounded nasally. It was crying in fear a while ago as something strange happened in Cia's mind space.

[Your mind space suddenly turned very scary, host. Your crystal clear river turned into blood, and the blue sky suddenly became deep red. I feel like I just randomly descended into hell.] The system was also sleeping when Cia closed his eyes. But when it woke up, it thought that it died and was sent to the depths of hell.

"What happened? Is my mind space normal now?" This time, Cia felt a brutal headache that was caused by something aside from stress.

[It returned to normal, host, once you woke up. I feel like I'm in a horror movie.]

"Well, me too." Cia's shirt was soaked in sweat. It was really like a horror movie, but the erotica kind. A certain part of his body still had a reaction.

The mix between deadly tension and tender caress created a strange but stimulating feeling for Cia.

It was like adrenaline and affection blended together. Until now, Cia's heart is still beating fast. It was unknown if it was from fear or something else.

Cia took a deep breath as calmed himself down, "Aside from my mind space changing, did you notice anything else?"

[No, host. I couldn't find anything,] and that was what the system was worried about. If it couldn't find the problem, how do they fix it?

Cia stood up. He felt a bit repulsed sitting on that chair since he had a bad experience on it a while ago.

Something was off. There was no way that was an ordinary dream. Because let's just say, even if that sight of the eyes in the library really left him a strong impression, there was no way he'd dream about that being calling him husband.

So, fuck. Had something really followed him home?