CHAPTER 86: LOST WAR

At his daring statement, Clarissa’s cold facade broke for the first time, and a small, mesmerizing chuckle escaped her lips before she asked, "Me included?"

"Naturally!" Noel flashed her a grin.

And Clarissa asked again, "What about Selena’s father? What does that make him?"

Noel blinked, this time slightly surprised by the mention of such an insignificant figure.

Did Selena ever even consider him as a father? Noel asked himself, already knowing the answer.

No, even Clarissa — instead of calling him husband — had said ’Selena’s father.’

So really, did he amount to anything?

Noel shook his head and stopped thinking. On his face was a playful smile as he suddenly pinched Clarissa’s soft cheek and said, "Do you really want to provoke me like this? To make me pounce on you right here?"

’Maybe that’s not such a bad idea?’ Clarissa seemed to think in a merry mood as she glanced at her daughter.

"Hmm, it’s really a tempting offer," she said, but then shook her head and added, "But perhaps you should wait until you possess the necessary strength and standing before discussing taking me as your woman again."

’It’s really one surprise after another,’ Noel couldn’t help but think.

Had he misread Clarissa’s personality? He couldn’t help but wonder.

Noel was unable to take his current fatal charm into account — otherwise, he wouldn’t have been taken aback like this.

"Well... then let’s leave that for later," Noel nodded, before he grinned and added, "But how about some financial support? I’m completely broke and need Soul Crystals."

"Now I have to fund shameless men trying to seduce me?" Clarissa asked, her tone caught between bewilderment and amusement.

And Noel shook his head as he replied, "Well, it’s a one of a kind man, after all!"

"And how much do you want?" Clarissa asked curiously.

"Nothing much, just a few million."

The room fell silent at his shameless demand, and Clarissa finally seemed to lose her temper. Once again, Noel — who had gotten away with caressing and even pinching her cheek — found himself hurled against the wall.

This time though, she was being gentler, as nothing broke in him. Noel even saw a storage ring thrown his way and couldn’t help but smile.

In the past he wouldn’t have done something like this.

But maybe it was worth it if he was going to get millions of Soul Crystals? He thought cheerfully as he stood up and caught the storage ring.

His smile vanished the moment he examined its contents. "Clarissa, it seems you’ve put in the wrong amount. There are only one hundred thousand Soul Crystals inside."

"Then it’s correct, because I don’t plan to give you any more."

Since when had everyone become cheapskates like this?

Noel didn’t pause to consider that this amount, for someone of his current strength, he would never see in his entire life.

Accustomed to being very wealthy before the parasitic relic incident, he didn’t consider one hundred thousand Soul Crystals that significant an amount, after all.

In the end, Clarissa didn’t budge and give more, despite her ability to casually provide much more. And Noel, unable to lower his pride further and already having far more than the amount needed for upgrading the Codex Null, decided to be satisfied with this much.

He turned to his phone, which had been vibrating for some time now, and saw that Lilith had messaged him that Hilda had arrived. So, he finally decided to end his visit to the Everen house at this point.

He walked back to Clarissa and hugged her once more. "Then I’m going away, Clarissa," he said, as he once again squeezed her ass.

And this time, before she could throw him away from her — if she even had the intention — Noel moved away to Selena and kissed her before finally taking his leave alone, asking for an attendant outside to lead the way.

Inside the room, the atmosphere grew heavy with silence after Noel’s departure. The mother and daughter duo stared at each other — one with a calm gaze, the other with madness-filled eyes.

"Why did you let him touch you?" Selena asked, her deceptively calm voice doing nothing to mask the heavy, possessive aura emanating from her trembling form.

And Clarissa’s face bloomed into a smile far more radiant than the one she had shown Noel as she asked back, "Why? Are you jealous?"

Her mother’s sudden unexpected behavior, which could arguably be considered out of character toward a man — and at the same time not, especially with how dissatisfied her mother had been with her lately, not letting her have her way in many things since the incident of the Trial dimension — made Selena bite her lip until blood stained her face.

She fell silent and stared at her calm mother, golden eyes glowing as her Law power began wrecking the room.

Finally, she parted her lips and asked again, "Why are you being like this? You know how much Noel means to me!"

’He is genuinely charming,’ Clarissa mused to herself.

Those endearing antics as he tried to conceal his hidden motive were almost adorable.

The beautiful child had grown up into a devastatingly handsome man.

And rather than allowing his former pride and arrogance to evolve into something truly menacing, as she expected — he had somehow gained a more gentle side. Perhaps his previous memory loss had catalyzed this transformation?

Regardless, this fascinating contradiction within him affected her in ways she hadn’t anticipated.

Despite her thoughts, Clarissa merely shrugged, "Well, I just felt like acting that way."

Then, with her aura suddenly radiating intensely, effortlessly overwhelming Selena, she added, "Why? Do I need to monitor my behavior around you now?"

Selena clenched her teeth, words unable to come out of her mouth.

And observing her daughter’s helplessness, Clarissa withdrew her overwhelming presence. A sweet smile played across her lips as she began speaking in measured tone.

"Be honest — did you ever truly believe he would claim you as his sole woman? Even stripped of his memories, such exclusivity seemed laughably improbable.

"You killed every woman who dared approach him, yet even then, his heart never belonged entirely to you."

"You’ve devoted yourself to mastering many Laws, forged a Soul Aspect specifically to bind him to you, prolonged this tortuous courtship until this very moment... and still, your abilities remain powerless against him."

In a gentle tone, Clarissa delivered one cruel truth after another to her daughter.

And Selena, while trying to dismiss her words, found her eyes drifting to her finger.

She remembered when she had finally accepted his confession nearly ten days ago... that time too, her gaze had been fixed on her finger, but nothing had appeared on it.

Thinking about it now, his changes had started back then. So did her confession have any relation to his transformation?

She wondered, her previous joy that he had fixed his condition — that he had also made love to her — now seemingly evaporating as the moment when he would take another woman drew nearer.

She was certain she couldn’t prevent him from interacting with other women like before, after all.

And his pointed words to Lilith regarding those who watched over him? That warning had been aimed squarely at her, not his sister.

So despite her apparent victory in this moment, with every desire seemingly fulfilled and every dream apparently realized... Selena recognized the bitter truth.

She had fundamentally lost this war, and would likely continue losing to Noel for all eternity, watching helplessly as he slipped further beyond her desperate grasp.