Aura Want To Be a Mother

Before Aura could make sense of her strange emotions, Serie had called her to the palace.

The palace was typically reserved for major matters involving human magic. Regular meetings about the development of the Continental Magic Association were held there, with at least twenty first-class mages in attendance.

However, this time, when Aura stepped into the temple palace, she found only herself and Zanze present.

Serie lay reclined in the main seat of the palace, looking down with a cold gaze.

Aura's heart sank with a sudden sense of foreboding.

"Recently, there have been rumors in the library about a so-called 'Tome of Truth.' I went to investigate personally and I discovered this." Serie pointed casually, and an unnamed black-wrapped book floated over, suspended in mid-air and automatically turning pages.

"The magic theory inside is comprehensive and well-structured. If a novice mage were to read it, it would influence them for life."

Serie's gaze swept over the two below, lingering on Aura for a long time.

Aura showed no change of expression and took it calmly. When Serie looked away, she was already sweating all over her back.

This time, what she had done was far more serious than her previous minor alterations to magic theories.

Smearing magic theory could only delay the progress of a specific research topic, but inserting private work into basic grimoire was a matter that could poison the entire human magic system, shaking its very foundation.

'If Serie found out that I had done it, even cutting off my head wouldn't be enough of an apology. she would have to imprison my soul and torture it forever to feel better.

However, there are only two suspects now. If I don't confess, won't Zanze be left to die?'

Aura bit her lip, struggling between good and evil thoughts.

Perhaps influenced by Frieren's curse to "understand humans," Aura had come to roughly grasp human emotions. Zanze, who often took care of her... Gentle Zanze... Who treated her like family... Could she let Zanze die without repaying this kindness?

"Who did this?"

"It was all Zanze. She was in charge of book procurement. It has nothing to do with me, Aura."

'Yes, Zanze, all I can ask is for you to die.'

Aura pointed to Zanze without expression.

As for human kindness, sorry, Aura never understood what that was from the beginning...

If you want to influence a demon with kindness, you'd better wait another hundred years.

"Huh??" Zanze turned her head and looked at Aura in horror. The look in her eyes clearly meant - how come I did this again?

Boom, boom— The palace doors closed, and Aura walked out alive from Serie's life-and-death judgment.

Of course, standing next to Aura was Zanze, who was intact and was announced to have made great contributions and was re-elected as the president of the Continental Magic Association.

The two stood silently at the entrance for a while, each with their own thoughts.

After a long time, Zanze suddenly spoke:

"Aura, thank you."

"Thank me for what?"

Aura was startled. She had pushed all her wrongdoings onto Zanze. If not for Zanze's human identity, she would have been executed by now.

And yet, this stupid woman wanted to thank her?

"You... never mind." Zanze wanted to say something, but she considered the difference in the way demons and humans think. It might take her a lifetime to make Aura understand humans.

"Although you might not understand."

"But I thank you on behalf of humanity, Aura."

"...You're crazy," Aura cursed, then disappeared with a flash.

————

'Don't understand, don't understand, don't understand—'

Zanze always said that.

Aura didn't understand why Zanze said she couldn't understand humans.

Aura clearly felt that she had been with humans for some time and had lived with Zanze for about twenty years. Why did she say that she could not understand humans?

Could it be that humans, a short-lived and stupid species, are something very complicated?

Give her, Aura, twenty years, observing a single human like Zanze, and she couldn't figure out the logic behind human actions?

Well, the truth is still unclear.

Aura lay in bed, her upper body and arms tightly wrapped in bandages, her once graceful legs now limp and immobile beneath the covers. She had conducted an experiment in physical magic on herself, pushing the boundaries of what she thought possible. The idea was brilliant, the effect nothing short of extraordinary, but she had overused her mana, channeling more mana than her body could handle. The spell had backfired with a force that shattered her body from the inside out. If not for her demonic resilience, the very thing that set her apart from humans, she would have broken every bone in her body and died on the spot.

Even though she had survived the ordeal, Aura was now facing the consequences of her reckless experiment. The damage was severe, and her body would need time to heal—a full week confined to bed, unable to move. Her demonic resilience could only do so much, and even it required time to mend the broken pieces of her physical form.

During this week, she couldn't move at all. She needed someone to take care of her most basic needs—eating, drinking, and even the more humiliating aspects of life like defecating and urinating. It was a level of vulnerability that Aura had never imagined she would experience, a stark contrast to the powerful, independent figure she had always been.

Of course, the only one willing to take care of Aura in this way is Zanze.

After all, there were only two people who knew Aura's true identity as a demon. Serie, the other, wouldn't concern herself with Aura's living conditions. If she found Aura in such a state, she would likely cast a life-sustaining spell on her, ensuring that Aura's heart kept beating and her body stayed alive, but nothing more. Serie's concern would end there, and Aura knew it.

Only Zanze, with her unwavering kindness and compassion, took a long leave from the Continental Magic Association and stayed at home, dedicating herself entirely to Aura's care. She didn't hesitate, didn't complain. Day after day, she remained by Aura's side, nowhere else, wiping Aura's body with warm cloths to keep her clean, and cooking soft, easily digestible food to feed her.

If it weren't for Zanze, Aura would probably have rotted and stank during the week when she was unable to move.

Although she didn't fully understand it.

Aura felt that even among humans, those willing to do this for their fellow beings were rare, let alone for a demon like herself.

Why was Zanze willing to indulge her so?

Aura didn't quite understand.

"Hey, Zanze, I can't move now, so why are you still willing to be my slave?"

"I've already told you that I'm not your slave."

Zanze blew on the hot porridge in the spoon. If it were her younger self, the moment she heard Aura call her a slave, she would probably pour the scalding hot porridge into the throat of this despicable demon, watching Aura's body writhing and struggling because of the heat, while she would laugh loudly at the side.

But Zanze is already in her thirties and is no longer the irritable girl who would be easily angered by Aura.

After blowing the porridge until it was not hot, Zanze fed it to the bandaged, immobile Aura. She took it obediently with her mouth and licked it with her tongue, as greedy and alert as a cat.

Zanze couldn't help but smile. This demon only behaved when paralyzed in bed.

"But," Aura stared at Zanze for a long time, her purple eyes serious and clear, "Zanze, you take care of me every day and earn money for me to spend. Isn't that what a slave does?"

"Humans are different from demons. Perhaps among demons, only slaves unconditionally care for their masters, but among humans, such close relationships are very common."

"Do you want to be my mother?"

"I can't give birth to a five-hundred-year-old daughter."

So that's how it is. Aura's lively purple eyes seemed to be thinking about something.

If Zanze didn't want to be her mother, she could only be her daughter.

It's not impossible. Aura has no experience of being raised by a mother, but if Zanze wants to be her daughter, Aura doesn't mind giving it a try.

After all, demons are curious about things they haven't tried.

"Zanze, if you call me 'mom', I can give you some milk." Aura opened the loose robe in front of her chest with trembling hands wrapped in bandages, and invited Zanze with expectant eyes.

Zanze's pupils shrank, and her emotions, which had been tempered by time to be as calm as water, were shaken.

"Fuck your mother! I have my own mother, and I don't need milk!"

Zanze gritted her teeth, and covered Aura's open robe, which was revealing a pair of soft pudding with pink color at the top, and warned her seriously against doing so again.

"Oh."

Aura lay back down again, obediently letting Zanze fix her clothes, tightening them tightly to prevent her pudding from being exposed again.

Aura didn't mind herself. The demons did not have the sense of shame like humans, and even the way they dressed was imitated by humans.

She only knew from observing humans that human mothers would breastfeed their children. If Zanze wanted to drink, she could just let her suck a few sips. After all, Zanze's chest was so flat that she couldn't drink even if she wanted to.

Unexpectedly, Zanze reacted so strongly.

"It seems Zanze doesn't want me to be her mother either."

So why was Zanze willing to always indulge her? The humans she controlled in the past all said that Aura's behavior was intolerable to humans.

But Zanze was different. Aura hadn't used any obedience spells on her, and her charm—though potent—shouldn't have been enough to make a human sincerely worship her. Yes, Aura still had enough self-awareness to recognize her own limitations. She was a demon, not a goddess. She didn't believe for a second that her presence alone could inspire such devotion.

In the twenty years of getting along with Zanze, she had long realized that Zanze did not take care of her because of the so-called sense of dependence, but for something... that Aura could not understand.

"Humans really are hard to understand~"

"It's time to turn off the lights. Go to bed early. I have to go to work tomorrow. Don't grumble, don't snore, don't sleepwalk. If you feel any pain in the middle of the night, call me immediately. Don't hold it in." Zanze instructed, her voice soft but firm as she prepared to leave the room.

"Oh."

"Good night, Aura." She added, her voice gentle as she turned off the light and headed out of the room, leaving Aura in the quiet darkness.

Although Aura didn't fully understand the depths of Zanze's kindness, she found herself oddly comforted by it. It was a strange feeling, this warmth that seeped into her bones, this sense of being cared for in a way she had never experienced before.

But if possible, living like this forever was fine too.