506 Recipe
Selma Payne’s POV:
“I know how to save Adric – Father’s life,” the little girl said calmly.
At that moment, I accidentally knocked over the cup of red tea in my hand. I didn’t even have time to explain anything to Kara, who was looking at the situation. I anxiously asked Cynthia, “Really? How do you know how?”
Then, I realized this was not how I should treat a child. I tried my best to calm down.
“Although you may not be able to feel it, I witnessed everything through your eyes when I was still a mass of chaotic energy. That bottle of evil wine was disgusting, wasn’t it? However, it is not impossible to resolve. The evil power entangled Father’s soul and body, merging into one like salt and water. It thought that it could do it flawlessly, but it was wrong. People can’t solve it because they don’t know how to separate the salt from the water without hurting it, but this just happens to be my specialty.
“You can temporarily think of me as a reducing agent, Mother. I will be injected into the water to react with the salt, forming crystals at the bottom of the water. Pick that up with a tweezer, so it doesn’t have to be boiled and evaporated to clear everything. Although some losses will inevitably occur, it’s negligible, not even one in a million.
“You’ve tried to use New Flow to remove the impurities in Father’s body, but you failed. You’re in the right direction. The only obstacle is that you’re not me. No matter how thoroughly New Flow has fused with you, an insignificant barrier still has not disappeared. And this small obstacle is enough to cause the reduction agent to deteriorate and cause everything to fail.
“But do you still remember? I’m not ‘me’. The current me is just mimicry. My essence is still that mass of void and chaotic energy. I can temporarily abandon the simulated body and infiltrate Father’s body and soul invisibly without any obstruction. Then, I can perform my essential job – devouring. Like how white blood cells devour bacteria, all negative factors will be eliminated.”
Cynthia had been calmly explaining everything. Whether it involved herself or the ‘reducing agent’ or the theory on the essence of chaos, it was as if it was someone else’s story that wasn’t worth mentioning.
However, I could sense that this child was hiding something. Everything sounded so perfect, but wouldn’t it cause her harm?
Cynthia seemed to have seen through my doubts. Before I could speak, she said, “Of course, it will impact me, but it’s really small and not irreversible. As long as you continue to devour other energies in the future, there will be an unending stream of nutrients flowing into me from you. It’s like a person who ate too much and had a mild stomach ulcer. As long as there are enough nutrients and medicine, he will get better.”
That was right, that was it! Everything was so perfect. As long as I nod and agree, Aldrich’s crisis would be resolved, and my daughter wouldn’t be harmed. Everything would develop toward a perfect ending.
But was that possible?
I fell into a dilemma again.
Could I push my daughter to a possible death to save my husband?
I unconsciously fell into deep thought. Cynthia didn’t disturb me, allowing me to think silently.
After a while, it was Kara who broke the silence.
“I don’t mean to disturb your family time, but...” She pointed to the tea stains on my body, the dirty carpet, and the pillow. “If I don’t send them to the laundry room before the tea stains dry up, the cleaning servant will blame me behind my back. The tea stains on the carpet are always difficult to clean.”
I watched in a daze as Kara cleaned up the mess and left with my soiled clothes, the carpet, and the pillow.
At this moment, Cynthia finally spoke, “What are you so conflicted about? Mother, the best answer is right in front of you.”
“I don’t know. Maybe I can’t and shouldn’t push you out to solve the problem,” I said. “No mother will let her child face the danger on her behalf, not to mention that you’re just a newborn, and there are occasional unstable internal forces. If something were to happen, then you and Aldrich... Just if... If it does, I can’t accept that.”
Cynthia looked at me quietly before suddenly asking, “When did you become so indecisive, Mother?”
I looked at her in confusion.
“You’ve been a kind person since the beginning. This is very good. Like what Grandfather said, this gives you the potential to become a benevolent ruler.
“But excessive kindness is called cowardice, Mother. Perhaps it started back in the Elven Capital City? The lives lost at the city gate have given you too much pressure and shock, so much so that you have turned everyone within your sight into a scapegoat, causing these unnecessary responsibilities to wear down your will?”