Chapter 264: The Truth Unknown...

"WHAT!? Avilia! Is that you?! This is the first time you talk to me ever since I woke up and this is the first thing you're telling me?!"

Avilia paused and took a deep breath before she continued. 

"I've never been the best at comforting people okay! So, I decided it would be best for you to figure things out by yourself and see the changes your decisions have made!" 

"That still doesn't explain why you said that! Put her down!? What is she to you? A dog!?" 

"Yes! In the state she is right now, she might as well be a dog! She's suffering much more alive than dead and she doesn't even realize it! Listen! She's taking up a servant slot for nothing right now! She might at one point accidentally leak our identity! Right now she's free XP, so you might as well take it!"

Moby had never been this mad at anything Avilia had said to him prior, despite knowing her argument was in fact somewhat rooted in logic.

"She might still recover! Mason even used some sort of extremely valuable wish to keep her alive! And now you're telling me I should kill her?! How would Jayden think of me? I'm the reason she's like that! I could never bring myself to kill her under any circumstance! How would I ever be even able to forgive myself after that?!"

"YOU WOULD BE ABLE TO FORGIVE YOURSELF BECAUSE YOUR EMOTIONS FOR HER AREN'T EVEN REAL!"

Avilia blurted seemingly accidentally as she was too caught up in the moment, Moby's teary eyes growing wide as her words seemed completely obscured to him, yet since it's from Avilia, he knew she might very well be speaking the truth… 

"Please explain… I'm listening..." 

Moby took a deep breath and spoke, trying to calm himself to see what Avilia had to say… 

"Okay! Listen! Didn't I tell you that every being that is turned into a demon will experience a certain type of corruption in their character? You have one too!"

"Wait! Do you know what it is? I thought you didn't know…"

"I lied! I lied to protect you and your sanity but I guess it's now time you find out…"

"So… What is it?"

Moby's heart was beating like machine-gun fire, almost like it was about to explode from his chest as the anticipation of what he was about to hear began to take center stage on all his senses. 

"So! You're an orphan kid who lost his family and never had any lover or friends at school since you always got bullied… More than anything else, what did your heart desire…"

'W-what… It can't be... Has my life been a lie…'

As soon as Avilia spoke those words, it was almost like something clicked in his mind, connecting all the dots and realizing something he should have found out a long time ago, as he waited patiently for Avilia to continue her words…

"Yes, I assume that you guessed it by now… Anyone that you turn into a demon, you begin to see them more like family, friends, lover, and much more far more than before… This is not a common trait for other household members and masters in the Netherworld… This is simply just you… And yes, people usually call them household members and not family, you used the word family subconsciously without even realizing it…"

Avilia paused once more to take another deep breath before continuing.

"Didn't you realize? A crazy girl that tried to rape you and keep you as a pet is now your girlfriend. Don't you find it odd that you fell for her? People just don't forgive and forget that easily. Or how you couldn't really care less about Abby and her family's situation before you turned her into a demon since all you wanted to do was manipulate her, but then you ended up befriending and sympathizing with her. Or, how about the fact that you used to see Alex and Ray equally, but when you turned Alex into a demon, you began to value him more. I can keep going on and on if you don't believe me, but all I'm saying is the truth…"

The realization of things became more and more apparent the more Avilia spoke in Moby's shaky, aching mind, yet he still had a few questions to ask her… 

"But what about Natalia?! I turned her into a demon and I still hated her! How does that make sense!?" 

Avilia took a deep breath and responded.

"Simple, it's all because of Jayden. Subconsciously, you valued your relationship with her more and knew that if you saved Natalia, your relationship with Jayden would be lost,"

"W-wait… So, you're telling—"

"Yes… If Jayden had died, or simply wasn't there… You would have forgiven Natalia and probably fallen in love with her too…" 

Moby knew what Avilia was about to say before she even said it— but, hearing it from her only made the realization hit harder, as he clenched his turning stomach as he heard Avilia continue her words. 

"This is why when you heard about Natalia's death, even though you think you couldn't care less about her, brought upon an aching pain in your mind and heart, this also extends to Jason as well,"

"Wait a minute, does that also mean—"

Almost like Avilia was reading his mind, she answered him before he even finished his question.

"Yes, this is also why you lost control over Alex's death to such a degree. Seeing Alex dying was almost akin to seeing an actual family member dying which triggered something in you, rage and sadness unlike ever before overrunning your senses, all due to that demon corruption of yours that actually served to save your life against that shalker, despite the consequences… I still have a lot to discuss about the fight with you but that will wait until another time,"

Moby now understood why Avilia kept such a thing secret from him, the realization of the truth was messing with his entire perception of reality… Was he truly in love with Jayden? Did he ever truly care about Abby? Did he really care about any of his friends? Or was that all part of his demon corruption, a desperate need to fill an empty void in his heart, one that he never even knew that he needed. 

"A-Avilia… Is there a way for me to get rid of my demon corruption?"

Avilia took a pause, almost like she was thinking of whether she should tell him or not before she finally made up her mind.

"Yes, there is definitely a way, but it's much harder and more costly than you expect so we can't do it anytime soon. But still… Do you really want to go through with it? If you do, the reality you now know might fade away… Many things will definitely change… Loved ones might turn into worse enemies and enemies might turn into loved ones, it's almost impossible to predict how it will affect you— would you still be willing to go through with that?"

Moby smiled as he stared blankly at the ceiling, almost like his mind had completely fried from overthinking as he spoke in a soft voice towards Avilia in his mind…

"I honestly don't know… I don't know…"

Avilia took a deep breath and spoke to him in an almost motherly voice, as she too hated to see him in such a state. 

"I would like to apologize for my previous comment. I should have thrown away my logic and took things in from your perspective. Don't take what I said just now too seriously, I would forget about it for now and not let it bother you. There isn't anything you could do about it so just go back to normal for now,"

Moby smiled at Avilia's words and spoke. 

"Don't worry about it… But thanks for telling me the truth, it really means a lot and I understand why you kept it a secret for so long. And, I get that you just wanted the safest way for me to keep my identity secret so you could also achieve your own goals. For now, I'll try and believe that at least most if not some of the emotions I feel towards my household members are real and live my life like that until I revert my mind back to its normal, non-corrupted state— thank you…"

"No problem, I'm glad you're okay from this… Sorry for dropping this on you all at once, it must be a lot to take in. If you ever want to talk about it, don't hesitate to let me know okay?" 

Still looking at the high ceiling of the hallway, his mellow smile growing wider he responded.

"Thanks for that, I really appreciate it. But, I have one last question to ask you… Are you also affected by my demon corruption?"

"Haha! No! of course not! Your friendly neighbourhood Avilia is all good in that department! Everything we've been through is genuine so don't worry about it!"

Avilia's tone shifted into something more positive and upbeat, leading to Moby's smile growing even wider and he wiped the old tears from his face. 

"Good to know…"

Suddenly, in his moment of recovery, Moby heard a voice coming from his right, one that he should have expected to hear yet had almost completely forgotten about. 

"Young Master Kane. It seems you have finished your conversation with Lady Reid. I hope that things didn't go too badly. If you could please follow me, I will escort you to the dining room where young mistress Jayden and lord Griffith have been patiently awaiting your arrival…"