Demonic Dragon: Harem System

"Do you know my mother?" Strax asked Monica. He really was interested about her.

"Yes, not directly, but I've heard a lot about the name Antares," she replied, crossing her legs as she searched her memory for information. Monica always had memories stored in her head that could be considered useful or useless, but like a flash, she remembered something from when she was 16 years old.

"Your mother was quite intimidating, but she was a great promise to the world, although nowadays probably no one knows about her. Cultivators don't care much about famous names like they did back then." Monica said while taking a sip of coffee. "They called her the Battle Queen. Although she was a complete cultivator, she was very famous as a spear user." Monica tried to recall more details.

"She was famous? Strange... I never even heard about her when I was with the family before I was expelled," Strax said, trying to remember something, any moment with his mother that wasn't just the visits when she was dying. He remembered nothing. "So foggy…" He felt something was missing, something that would change many things, but he couldn't grasp it.

"I guess we can say she's like Diana; she joined the family just for being strong but didn't change her surname. It was the golden age of swordsmen, and she was a lancer, very skilled, by the way, even called the Battle Goddess." Monica said as she sat more comfortably.

"So how… how did she die like that… if she was strong… dying from an illness? I thought cultivators couldn't get sick once their cultivation levels were high," Strax pondered.

"Her body probably couldn't take it anymore. I'd say it might have been destroyed, or she destroyed it giving birth to you. Maybe just giving birth caused something inside her to shatter… Believe me, I understand how she feels." Monica's tone grew somber as she touched on this sensitive topic.

"It's okay," Beatrice said, holding her hand tightly. "Even without the ability to bear life, you are still special. Don't dwell on it too much." Beatrice tried to ease the situation.

Strax could only smile at this; after all, he couldn't understand what it meant, he could only listen and support, but in his mind… "Maybe in a few years, I can help you with this, I just need to understand how this system works." He thought; in fact, there was something Strax wanted from the system…

"A shop… if I unlock a shop in the system, maybe I can solve this somehow…" He had thought a lot about this, and so far, the system had been developing well, giving him several appropriate changes.

With its evolution, it was possible that in the future, the system would develop into something beyond missions, and that's what he counted on… Or he would look for a divine doctor capable of curing her; after all, he would continue to pursue the path to become the strongest of all.

"So... What are you hiding from us, darling?" Beatrice broke the sudden silence, focusing on Strax. She might seem innocent, but she wasn't naive. "Or rather, what are you all hiding from me? It seems like I'm the only one not understanding things here," she changed her question, realizing that something was off.

"Tell another one, being a target of Samira's family is ridiculous. It's just a few people, it wouldn't be enough to make us all targets." Beatrice confronted them, "And you? You've been so defensive lately, treating me like a delicate princess since I came back from that supposed kidnapping.

You've been training hard with the excuse of wanting to follow Strax, but you don't fool me!" Beatrice had stood up, pointing her finger directly at Monica's face, who didn't know how to react.

"What are you hiding from me??!" Beatrice demanded again, her face serious and unwilling to accept simple excuses or fabrications. She knew Monica well enough to tell when she was lying, and Monica knew Beatrice well enough to see that she was truly furious.

"And nobody is lying to you!" Samira confronted Beatrice.

"Yes, you are! You would never react like this! You'd curse at me or point fingers and face me head-on, but you're sitting quietly in your place!" Beatrice shot back. She was good at analyzing people and knew how Samira usually was—blunt in her speech and serious when accused of something. But here she was, using empty words to argue without making any moves. It simply didn't fit her character!

"And you! You're the worst of all! You've been treating me like I'm a fragile piece of crystal that might break just by hearing something! Even in training, you don't fight me! You just support me as if you don't want to hurt me! What's this?

What's happening that I don't know about?" She roared again, and Strax thought... What caused this sudden outburst?

He knew this moment would come, and he wanted to be ready to support Monica, but... Perhaps he underestimated Beatrice or they were too careless, leaving obvious things unaddressed. "Dear, c-calm d~" "Don't tell me to stay calm.

I was kidnapped, and suddenly my caretaker of over twenty years is training to protect me, while my husband keeps hiding things from me." Beatrice stated as if pointing out facts, and well, it was true.

"Since I lost everyone, I only have you! Even though I hate being alone, I used to have more people, but now I only have you! So why are you lying to me?! I never lied to you!" She said, feeling utterly betrayed. She hadn't done anything to deserve this, and in her mind, everything was in chaos.

Sure, she had thought it might be a protective lie, meant to shield her from something, but it didn't change the feelings she was experiencing. It was heavy and it hurt to know that the people she loved and cared for were doing this to her...

The room plunged into a tense silence. All eyes were on Beatrice, but no one dared to move or say anything, both Strax and Monica were overthinking, but he decided to leave it in Monica's hands.

Beatrice's eyes were now completely red and irritated, tearing up as she struggled to keep her composure. She was held together only by the anger she felt, and any small break in her resolve would cause her to collapse.

Monica felt that sad look lingering in her mind, while she sensed what needed to be done... "I…" She tried to say, but the words wouldn't come out. She wanted to tell her, wanted to say, "I am your mother!" But she was scared, so scared that it would make things worse... but... why couldn't she say it? Why couldn't she just let go and tell the truth?

Beatrice waited, the silence crushing every second. "What are you trying to say, Monica? Just speak!" Her voice was now a mix of desperation and impatience.

"Calm down," Strax said, this time more seriously, addressing both of them. They both needed to calm down, but couldn't; this moment... was not the best, but Strax had accepted that it was now, it was time to end this. "Samira, come here. Let them talk." He called, pulling Samira away from that side and having her sit next to him.

"What happened?" Beatrice asked, looking at Strax, who only looked back at her seriously. "Calm down and listen to what she has to say. It's very important to her. We didn't lie to you because we wanted to; it was because she didn't want to change things," he said, taking the lead, leaving her confused.

"What do you mean by changing things?" Beatrice questioned Monica, who looked like she was about to cry... That broke Beatrice for a moment.

Monica took a step forward, standing up and coming face to face with Beatrice, their eyes meeting. "Beatrice... the truth is..." She was still choked up, but with Strax's nod of encouragement, she swallowed her fear and said, "I... I am your mother." The words finally came out, a trembling whisper, laden with decades of secrecy and fear.

Beatrice blinked, her anger momentarily replaced by confusion, not just confusion but as if her entire body had lost its strength completely. It hit her like a lightning bolt so powerful that she staggered to the side but managed to stay upright. "What? How... how is that? You said that...."

"Yes... I'm sorry for hiding it... but I am... your mother," Monica said with a somber look. When she stood up and looked at Beatrice, both of them already had tears in their eyes...

Monica's words penetrated Beatrice's head, and she had no reaction, she simply began to tremble and her eyes began to shed tears, so many things were going through her head... "M-mom?" She stammered in slight fear

Strax stood back just letting Monica and Beatrice understand each other while holding Samira's hands. "Now it's up to them..." Samira murmured, "Yes."