Bound and Broken: An Isekai Adventure Dark Fantasy (Melas Book 1) V.A. Lewis (feel good books to read .TXT) 📖

he was— spotted the rare black hair and unique silver eyes even so. With that observation, he had formed a simple hypothesis. The girl had to be related to the Fiend.

But in what way?

Black hair as a human meant she was of the Corinna family, but that did not necessarily mean she was the Fiend’s daughter. Silver eyes however, was a trait that only the former-Lady Valeria and her mother were known to possess. And still, that did not confirm anything.

But Victor was both a genius and an intellectual. His curiosity had been piqued, and he was not just going to let his question go unanswered

The blue haired man followed the girl and monitored her every action. He took note of everything she did, and paid attention to the movement of the mana surrounding her.

After all, if she was the Fiend’s daughter, it was highly likely that she was taught magic by her mother. And at the end of the day, a child is a child. So even if she was as prodigal as her mother, she would have not had the maturity to hold herself back from doing magic involuntarily.

Victor was disappointed when there was no disturbance in the ambient mana during the whole incident at the fruit stand. However, he did not let that cloud his judgement, and he continued his observation. Finally, his dedication paid off.

The girl was chased through an alleyway by a man trying to sell her into slavery. Victor did not follow them in, because that would have been too conspicuous. Instead, he focused on the mana around the vicinity of the alley.

And when the mana in the air was not just momentarily disrupted, but also fully manipulated, Victor finally came to his conclusion. The same conclusion that he had just presented to the subject herself.

The girl was the Fiend’s daughter.

Victor looked down at her. He saw a wide eyed stare. Her jaws were wide open, working for words to say. Such a deduction could have only been made by one as brilliant as he was.

The young man couldn’t help but revel in the moment. His lips curled up to a smirk, as the girl looked on at him amazed. Just like how he predicted her thoughts, and noticed her pre-spellcasting, he had left her dumbfounded.

There was nothing to say. Nothing but praise, perhaps. And even then, how could you articulate it? Victor did not know, but he waited to hear her comments. Waited for her to find the right words to say.

And finally, she spoke.

"...who?"

***

Many thoughts were flying through my mind at the moment. They were mostly questions like who was this ‘Fiend’? How was I her daughter? What was this guy even talking about? Was he mistaking me for someone else? Suffice to say, I was very confused right now.

I thought he would elaborate, but he just stared at me expectantly. So I said the only thing that was in my mind at the moment: who?

I guess that was not the reply he was waiting for, since the smile vanished off his face; the young man frowned, and placed a hand on his chin.

"...the Fiend?"

"Yes. Who’s that?" I asked dumbly.

"Lady Valeria."

"Uh, I still don’t know who that is."

"Valeria Aimy Corinna!" Victor snapped. He raised his hands and waved it in the air wildly. "A former Lady of the Ducal house Corrina in the Holy Xan Empire! She was disgraced and disowned when she was found to be a heretic, and went on to become one of the founding members of the Shadow’s Evangelium. That’s who the Fiend is!"

"Oh…" I blinked. The Shadow’s Evangelium? I recognized that! That was the organization my mom was in. Which means— "You mean my mom?" I asked.

"That’s what I said!" he shouted.

Victor looked ready to tear all his hair out; I sort of understand his frustration since I probably should have realized who this ‘Fiend’ was earlier just by context clues alone, but I’ve only ever known my mother as… Aria.

Although mom taught me a lot of things about this world, she never liked talking about her past life much; I had only ever gotten bits of information which I used to piece together a rough idea of her history, but I never knew she was called the ‘Fiend’.

"I see." I nodded my head slowly. But Victor did not seem satisfied with my reaction.

The young man had his arms crossed, and was tapping his fingers impatiently, as if he was expecting me to say something else. I continued to stare at him for a few more seconds before I finally spoke. "What?"

The tapping stopped. Victor’s eyebrows furrowed for a second, then he took a deep breath and sighed. "Is there anything you want to say? Anything you want to ask?"

"Uh,"— I raised my eyebrows and shrugged— "does that mean I’m a Duke’s daughter…?"

Victor inhaled sharply, and pinched the bridge of his nose. This time, I was the one to frown.

"I’m sorry Mr Victor, but I don’t even know you. What do you want from me?"

Victor just shook his head and muttered under his breath. "Nevermind."

"What? I’m curious now! Come on, what was I supposed to say?" I threw both arms in the air, but he ignored me.

"So, you are the Fiend’s daughter." Victor inclined his head to the side.

"Oh— uh, I guess so?"

"Interesting. And I take it by her absence and you being on your lonesome, that something has happened to her: either death or abandonment?"

I felt a pain strike my chest; for a moment, I almost couldn’t find the voice to speak, but I managed to utter a few words. "That’s… blunt. But it’s the former. She— my mom’s dead."

"Ah." Victor nodded his head. "You have my condolences. The Fiend—"

"Can you please stop calling her