"When you speak of a mother, you most likely imagine a person who cares for you, loves you, and most importantly, chooses you over anything in any situation imaginable."
"But when you think of a Half-Fallen one, one thinks of responsibility, impartiality, and a person whose gaze stares at all as if they’re equal"
"If faced with a situation, one would expect a mother to choose her daughter over all. But when a leader is faced with a situation, they choose the entire race, and in such a scenario, care and love for a single person would seem unfair."
"There will be no spoiling of one to a leader and somehow the Half-Fallen one somehow holds this dual position to you."
"Sometimes, you will catch her spoiling you, but other times she will make decisions that might, at times, even give you the lesser of better options, just to fulfil her position as the elder."
"Before your mother, you’re the only one. Before the Half-Fallen one, even though you’re her daughter, you’re just one of many."
"There is a considerable difference between both," Ryuk stated casually as he cut a piece of meat and dipped it into his mouth, the light in his eyes beaming as he unconsciously began eating faster.
The taste!
It’s a thousand times better than the one in the Arsien Hall.
Quickly, Ryuk dove in as his stomach made satisfying grumbling sounds.
His surprise and hunger made him forget Morgaine, who had suddenly zoned off.
She looked at Ryuk blankly for a few seconds but soon regained herself.
The sight of him rushing the food into his mouth made her raise an eyebrow.
"Now, who is looking like the barbarian..." Morgaine asked as Ryuk felt a kick on his leg, finally breaking him out of his robotic motion.
"Are you the one that cooked this?" Ryuk asked as Morgaine’s eyes sparkled.
"You think so?" she asked, as Ryuk looked at her for a bit before shaking his head.
"Nah, forget it."
"You’re a princess."
"Those spoiled things don’t cook."
"This was probably made by a beautiful maid..." Ryuk stated as Morgaine’s head turned dramatically red, and golden energy spilled from her uncontrollably.
"You dickhead!!!" Morgaine roared in anger as Ryuk felt the table tilt forward toward him, almost sending the food flying, but he quickly reacted and managed to push the table back, saving the food, but at the cost of falling off his seat and rolling a few meters backward.
Still, Ryuk had now clutched an apple-like fruit that had fallen along with him, sinking his teeth into it.
His eyes almost rolled back in his head.
"Hmm, this is so good too!" Ryuk stated, quickly gaining the energy to sit upright in the process, and Morgaine rolled her eyes sarcastically.
"It’s just an apple, duh."
"You don’t have to be so pretentious to make it seem like you’re being taken care of," she mused as Ryuk returned to his seat.
"An apple, huh?" he asked Morgaine as he looked at one of the fruits on the table.
He picked it up, sinking his teeth into it and smiling radiantly.
"I haven’t eaten a fruit before. Only heard of them..." he replied to Morgaine, whose gaze flashed in shock.
"You haven’t eaten a fruit before?" she asked before clapping her hands.
"That seemed right. I don’t suppose any tree would grow in that wasteland..." she mused under her breath, but Ryuk still caught it.
"A wasteland?"
"Yes. That is what Grade E is called. My mother told me about your story while you were unconscious," Morgaine explained, and Ryuk shrugged.
It didn’t really matter if she knew where he was from.
He wasn’t ashamed of coming from such a low-grade place.
No matter what everyone might call it, that was his home, and there was no place better than home.
"You know, you nailed it right on the head about my mom," Morgaine said with a chuckle as Ryuk raised his head.
"It’s really hard being the daughter of the Half-Fallen one. So much expectation, so much unneeded respect, and forced actions..."
"Many people, once they learned of my origin, instantly had their attitude do an absolute 360-degree change to one of respect."
"That side of people, where they have to bow and smile even when they’re not currently happy, seems so fake to me."
"I hate it so much."
"Everyone just seems to hide their true sides when they hear of my background and switch to this weird respectful state."
"That was why I tried to hide my identity when arriving at the Arisen Hall."
"But all of the instructors already knew, and they made sure to limit my interactions with the students. In the end, it just ended up becoming boring once more."
"At least, it gave me a chance to massively increase my strength."
"And then there is the mention of her making hard decisions. Truly, she has made hard decisions."
"Like me being her daughter—I could have easily gained access to the academy without having to train relentlessly for five months and pass some dumb test, but she forced me to do it anyway."
"Just because she’s the Half-Fallen one, she has to uphold her image of righteousness and impartiality, even if it clashes against what is best for me."
"And she is incredibly strict about it. Once she takes the crown of the Half-Fallen, it’s like I cease to become her daughter any longer."
"Her gaze becomes indifferent, lacking warmth or color."
"I become judged by my achievements, which, of course, I don’t seem to have much of in such a state..." Morgaine rambled on and on as Ryuk quietly listened.
It was like a bottled emotion within her, which she had finally chosen to reveal, and Ryuk’s attention worked at full speed, gulping down everything.
He was completely enraptured in her words.
Why?
Because he, too, had always wished for it—for what it would feel like to have a mother of his own.
That was why he gave her his listening ears for thirty minutes of rambling on and on.
Morgaine finally paused as she finished, only to see Ryuk still looking at her.
Only then did she realize she had zoned out while speaking her thoughts.
"Oh my God, I’m so sorry I—"
"It’s fine," Ryuk said, waving her off.
"But even then, Morgaine, I would say you’re quite lucky, still."