Demonic Pornstar System novel Chapter 628

Chapter 628: Cruel Mother

Kaiden lowered the artifact and placed it back into Vespera’s waiting hand. She accepted it with the same composure she’d given it, slipping it back into her coat as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred.

Only then did Kaiden look down again, tightening his hold on Alice, grounding her without a word, while the corridor beyond remained undisturbed. Paths diverted, futures delayed, and one fragile girl spared a collision she wasn’t ready to survive yet.

That was when Julia parted her lips.

She had been watching in silence with her hands clasped together at her waist, eyes drifting between Kaiden, Vespera, and the girl curled so tightly against him. There was hesitation on her face, the kind born from not knowing whether it was her place to speak at all. But in the end, concern won out.

"U-um..." she began softly. Her gaze settled on the girl in Kaiden’s arms. "...are you Alice? What... what happened?"

Kaiden felt it the moment the question landed. The confusion in Julia’s eyes wasn’t judgmental, just genuinely lost. He glanced down at Alice, still tucked against him, and a small, fond smile curved his lips as understanding clicked into place.

She had stayed with him since the transformation, the moment their bond had crystallized into something irrevocable, when Alice became his Conduit. Julia hadn’t seen the girl since.

Her once dark hair was now split cleanly down the middle, one side retaining its former shade while the other had turned a brilliant, luminous white. The same duality marked her eyes; one red as ever, the other pale and radiant. It wasn’t subtle. It wasn’t something makeup or lighting could explain away. She looked like something out of myth, mesmerizing in a way no costume, no convention spectacle, could ever hope to imitate.

Even if she were to walk into an anime convention with numerous cosplayers, she’d still stand out.

Julia’s confusion was more than justified.

Kaiden smiled gently at her. "She transformed a bit," he said easily while stroking Alice’s back. "But she’s still Alice. She’s okay. There’s no need to worry."

Julia blinked, then let out a small, disbelieving breath as she shook her head. "You awakened people really live in a completely different world... That big of a change and you’re saying there’s nothing to worry about?"

Kaiden chuckled under his breath. "You might be onto something there."

The moment lingered, soft and warm, until it broke under the weight of a cold tone.

"There is something to worry about."

Vespera’s voice cut cleanly through the room.

She was looking directly at Alice, gaze sharp and assessing. Her expression hadn’t changed, but the temperature in the air undeniably had.

"Daughter, why don’t you climb out of your brother’s lap?"

The words were calm. Polite, even.

But they carried authority like a blade.

Alice stiffened the instant the words left Vespera’s mouth.

"No!" she hissed at once, the response sharp and unfiltered. She tightened her grip around Kaiden instead of loosening it, arms locking around his middle as she pressed herself closer. "No. This is my rightful place. I deserve to be comforted. I need to be comforted."

Silence answered her.

Vespera did not repeat herself. She did not raise her voice. She did not even move. But something rolled outward from her all the same, an invisible pressure that made the air feel heavier, denser, like the space itself had decided to pay attention. Alice felt it immediately, the familiar, overwhelming presence of her mother settling over the room without a single overt gesture.

"..." Vespera said nothing at all.

"I refuse!" Alice declared anyway, louder now, defiant in the face of that wordless authority. She burrowed even closer into Kaiden’s chest, cheek pressed firmly against him as if bolstering her resistance by sheer will. "I’m not moving!"

Vespera’s gaze sharpened even further.

"And I might not even be biologically related to Kai now, so stop judging me!" Alice blurted out, the words tumbling over each other in a rush of raw emotion and poorly timed honesty. "I asked for a DNA test already, but it’s taking forever. But you can prepare to disown me, too!"

For the first time since Kaiden entered the room, Vespera closed her eyes.

It was brief. The smallest pause imaginable. But it was unmistakably the expression of a woman processing something she absolutely didn’t want to hear.

"?!" Julia let out a sharp, involuntary gasp with one hand flying to her mouth as her eyes widened. She looked between Alice, Vespera, and Kaiden with mounting disbelief, her thoughts screaming that she had somehow wandered into a sitcom without being warned. ’Is this reality?’ was written plainly across her face.

Kaiden, for his part, bit the inside of his cheek. Hard. His shoulders trembled once, just enough to give him away, as he tightened his hold on Alice in what could plausibly be interpreted as comfort rather than the act of restraining laughter.

At least, until Vespera rose from her seat.

The movement was unhurried, deliberate, and final in the way only she could manage.

The room seemed to straighten around her as she stood, authority settling into place as naturally as breath.

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