Irene had long anticipated he would ask about this. She slightly raised her chin and stated an astonishing fact in a calm tone:
"Like Acnologia, I exist as a dragon transformed from a human body due to Dragon Slayer Magic."
"However, my power is far inferior to that Black Dragon King. Even Vitarnus, who had the most hope of destroying him, failed four hundred years ago."
"The only ones with hope to contend with him now are perhaps the future His Majesty, or you, who inherited Vitarnus's power."
Tike showed a lack of interest in this. He curled his lips, his small face full of disapproval.
"I told you, I have no interest in fighting him. Unless he insists on troubling me, then I will definitely kill him."
Tike paused, steering the topic toward what he truly cared about.
"Compared to that Black Dragon King or whatever, I care more about another question. Do you have a daughter?"
"..."
This question touched a forbidden switch in Irene's heart. Her originally calm face froze instantly. A trace of elusive sorrow and a nearly twisted ferocity flashed deep in her eyes, her voice suddenly turning cold.
"No, I don't have a daughter."
(Ah, she's lying.)
Tike captured the subtle tremor and deliberate coldness in Irene's tone and threw out the key information even more directly.
"I know a human girl named Erza. She has a scent very similar to yours on a bloodline level."
"I don't know any brat named Erza."
"Is that so?" Tike tilted his head, staring straight at Irene, and spoke words that struck the truth with a childish yet certain voice: "But the scent on you tells me clearly that you are Big Sis Erza's mother."
Tike stood up, looking down from above at Irene sitting on the edge of the bed.
"Big Sis Erza told me she hasn't seen her parents since she was little. I know she pretends not to care on the surface, but she actually longs for family affection." He paused, his tone softening a bit, carrying a trace of persuasion. "If you were separated from Big Sis due to some accident, then come with me to see her now."
"No, it wasn't an accident." Irene's gaze didn't dodge at all, looking straight at Tike. "It was me who discarded her with my own hands."
"...Why?"
"Why?"
The corner of Irene's mouth hooked up in a nearly twisted arc. It didn't look like a smile, but more like a ferocity born of extreme pain.
"Do you know how painful the torture of a human body turning into a dragon is? In this body of mine now, anything I eat has no taste, and I can't even sleep normally!"
"As my daughter, not only was she useless, but she also only cried and wept. She was simply a worthless waste! So, I threw her away! I never want to see her again, never!"
As Irene uttered these cold words, the already contradictory aura on her intensified.
(Only half is true. Her saying she never wants to see her daughter again is also a lie.)
But no matter how many unknown difficulties were hidden deep in Irene's heart, the fact that she abandoned Erza with her own hands and ignored her for over a decade was unforgivable.
Tike's face darkened. For the first time, obvious disgust and disappointment appeared in his eyes looking at Irene.
"I hate people like you who don't treat their children well. Having seen too many people like you, it makes my birth mother seem not too bad."
Stung by the sharpness in his words, Irene's scarlet lips twitched, revealing a nearly self-mocking smile: "Looks like I'm hated by you."
Tike looked away, no longer looking at her.
"I won't tell Big Sis Erza that I've met you."
"That really is..." Irene's voice lowered, carrying an emotion difficult to distinguish. "Thank you."
"No need to thank me." Tike retorted unceremoniously. "I'm not doing it for you. I just don't want to see Big Sis Erza sad because of your matters."
The boy turned to leave. Just reaching the door, he stopped suddenly, turned around abruptly, ran back to the bedside in a few steps, and with a faint magical glow, an exquisitely tempting strawberry cake appeared in front of Irene.
"You said just now that you can't taste anything, right?"
Tike looked away awkwardly, avoiding Irene's face.
"Mine might be different. Normally, I would never give such good stuff to someone like you. But for the sake of you being Big Sis Erza's mother, I'll make an exception and let you taste it."
Looking at the sweet-smelling cake in front of her, a trace of doubt flashed in Irene's eyes.
She hadn't experienced the sense of taste for too long, almost losing the concept of "flavor."
Without any hope, she picked up the fork and symbolically scooped a small piece into her mouth.
In the next second, Irene froze completely.
The sweet and sour taste of strawberries, the softness of the cream, the fineness of the cake... Various wonderful flavors bloomed in layers in her mouth. The taste experience, absent for nearly four hundred years, surged and impacted her long-silent taste buds!
"There's flavor! I actually tasted flavor!"
Incoherently, Irene couldn't wait to fork another large piece of cake into her mouth, carefully savoring this regained taste, her eyes actually turning slightly red.
"Looks like it's effective."
Watching her excited appearance bordering on losing composure, the disgust on Tike's face faded a bit, replaced by a complex understanding.
"Remember this feeling well. Until you can make me like you, I will absolutely not give you a second piece."
After saying this, Tike stayed no longer and went to find August and Brandish without looking back.
In the empty bedchamber, only Irene remained, holding the half-eaten strawberry cake, the sweet taste still lingering on the tip of her tongue.
She stared blankly in the direction Tike disappeared. After a long time, she uttered a barely audible whisper:
"Vitarnus, your child really has a shadow of you."
"Hmph."
An extremely slight yet clearly audible hum rang out somewhere in the room.
Irene wouldn't think this was her auditory hallucination. She scanned the surroundings with sharp eyes and scolded sternly: "Hiding your head and showing your tail, get out here!"
As soon as her voice fell, the air in front of Irene distorted. Immediately, a pitch-black arc-shaped spatial rift opened out of thin air. A woman dressed in a gorgeous and splendid kimono slowly revealed her figure, sitting elegantly on it.
Irene stared tightly at this uninvited guest, magic power surging around her, ready for battle.
"I don't kill nameless people! State your name quickly!"
The kimono woman raised her exquisite chin slightly, declaring her identity with a high-and-mighty dignity:
"I am Vitarnus's wife and also Tike's mother, the Moon Dragon God—Selene."