Chapter 295: Mother’s Reason to Turn Back Time

Victor followed the voice with a caution that still felt strange to him.

Normally, entering an unfamiliar room would never require so much attention. His body could regenerate from almost any injury, his senses were absurdly sharp, and if something truly dangerous appeared, he had always trusted his ability to react before it was too late. Seo Baek Hyang had shattered that confidence with a single flick of her finger. Now, as he walked down the short corridor connecting the bedroom to the rest of the small residence, Victor even paid attention to how he placed his feet on the wooden floor.

Her presence was somewhere ahead.

Restrained.

Gentle.

And yet, enough to keep every one of his instincts on alert.

Perhaps that was what bothered him most. Seo Baek Hyang wasn't releasing any pressure. She wasn't trying to intimidate him. Victor knew how to recognize when someone powerful suppressed their aura, and even in that state, there was something about her that his body simply refused to consider safe.

He entered the other room.

Seo Baek Hyang was sitting on the floor before a small wooden table, near an open window overlooking the horizon. Her long black hair fell down her back without any ornaments, and the dark hanfu she wore seemed far too simple for someone who had once ruled the Demonic Cult.

On the table were two deep bowls, both releasing steam. Long noodles rested in a thick, aromatic broth, accompanied by thin slices of meat, vegetables, a few herbs, and a boiled egg cut in half.

Victor stopped at the entrance.

Seo Baek Hyang didn't even turn her head completely.

"I'm not going to attack you," she said, picking up her chopsticks and slowly stirring her food, as though she had noticed every thought he was trying to hide.

Victor remained silent for a few seconds.

"That's a little hard to believe after what happened," he replied, remaining where he stood and maintaining what he considered a minimally sensible distance.

Seo Baek Hyang raised her eyes.

"I merely wanted to find out how badly my husband had messed up your training," she said without the slightest trace of guilt, examining Victor as though she were still evaluating the results of some experiment. "Apparently, quite badly."

Victor arched an eyebrow.

She pointed her chopsticks toward the empty place across the table.

"Sit," Seo Baek Hyang ordered, returning her attention to her bowl.

Victor looked at the makeshift seat on the floor, then at her.

There was no chair.

No luxury of any kind.

Just a thin cushion in front of a low table.

He approached carefully and then noticed the smell of the food more clearly.

It was good.

Strangely good.

Victor felt his stomach react out of pure habit, but immediately remembered the problem.

"I'm a Vampire," he remarked, looking at the bowl before him and wondering whether she knew exactly how his diet worked.

Seo Baek Hyang didn't even look up.

"Shut up and eat," she replied, picking up some noodles with her chopsticks and beginning to eat calmly.

Victor blinked.

Seo Baek Hyang chewed before continuing.

"I know perfectly well what you are," she explained, resting her chopsticks against the bowl for a moment. "This food contains enough nutrients to nourish your body better than most of the mediocre blood you've been drinking."

Victor opened his mouth.

Nothing came out.

The confidence with which she spoke left little room for argument.

He finally sat cross-legged before the table and picked up the chopsticks placed beside his bowl.

"If this tastes like garbage, I'm going to complain," Victor warned, separating a few strands of noodles, far too accustomed to ordinary food tasting practically flavorless to his vampiric senses.

Seo Baek Hyang didn't respond.

Victor brought the first portion to his mouth.

He stopped.

His eyes widened slightly.

The flavor emerged in a way he had never expected from ordinary food. The broth was rich, filled with layers of flavor that spread across his tongue without becoming overwhelming. The meat practically melted as he chewed, and even the vegetables contained an unusual amount of nourishing energy.

It wasn't simply good by human standards.

It was good for him.

Victor chewed slowly.

Swallowed.

Then looked at his bowl.

"What the fuck..." he muttered, immediately picking up another portion as though he needed to confirm he hadn't imagined it.

Seo Baek Hyang sighed softly.

Without making any comment, she picked up the nearby pot and added more broth, meat, and noodles to his bowl.

Victor watched her.

She didn't seem pleased to have impressed him.

She didn't even seem particularly interested in his reaction.

After serving him, Seo Baek Hyang simply rested her elbow on the table and turned her gaze toward the window, silently observing the mountains stretching far below the residence.

Victor continued eating.

For several minutes, neither of them spoke.

It was strange.

Seo Baek Hyang had just made him experience the fear of death for the first time since his reincarnation, and only a few hours later, she was feeding him as though it were the most natural thing in the world.

Her voice broke the silence.

"My daughter told my secret to some random idiot," Seo Baek Hyang remarked, still looking toward the horizon, and the slight change in her tone made it clear that this genuinely bothered her.

Victor slowed the movement of his chopsticks.

Only then did all the pieces finally fall into place.

The resemblance.

The nickname Seol-ie.

Yu Jin Cheon being her disciple.

The way she spoke of the Cult as something that had once belonged to her.

The woman before him was Rakshasa's mother.

The regressor.

Victor placed his chopsticks on the bowl.

"You're Seol-Ha's mother," he said, finally looking at her differently, feeling that his earlier suspicions had now been sufficiently confirmed.

Seo Baek Hyang didn't respond.

She didn't need to.

Victor slowly exhaled.

"Then... I'm sorry for being disrespectful earlier," he said sincerely, inclining his head slightly, something he very rarely did.

Seo Baek Hyang continued looking out the window.

"I don't care about respect," she replied, her tone remaining calm. "What bothers me is misplaced arrogance."

Victor raised his eyes.

Seo Baek Hyang finally turned toward him.

"Stop treating strangers as though you already know their limits," she said, that strange gentleness still present on her face, contrasting with her words. "If I hadn't known who you were, I would have killed you the moment you opened your mouth like that."

Victor felt his throat go a little dry.

She continued.

"There wouldn't have been a body left," Seo Baek Hyang explained, resting one hand on the table. "No blood. No accessible soul. Nothing that could even be used to prove you had ever been here."

Victor swallowed.

He believed her.

That was the problem.

Normally, a threat of that magnitude would sound exaggerated. Coming from her, it seemed like nothing more than a technical description of what would happen.

Victor looked at his own hand for a few seconds.

Seo Baek Hyang was right about something he rarely admitted.

He was far too carefree.

Perhaps even arrogant.

Ever since his regeneration had become so absurd, Victor had developed the habit of taking risks no rational person would accept. He entered hostile rooms alone. Provoked people stronger than himself. Tested attacks on his own body because he knew he would probably survive.

That logic had worked enough times to become a natural part of his personality.

But if that woman hadn't been Yu Seol-Ha's mother...

He would have died.

It was that simple.

"I'll keep that in mind," Victor replied, picking up his chopsticks again, although his expression was now considerably more serious. "And I'm sorry again."

Seo Baek Hyang ignored the apology.

They remained silent for a few more seconds.

Then she suddenly spoke.

"Seo Baek Hyang," she said, returning her gaze to the mountains.

Victor looked up.

"That's my name," Seo Baek Hyang added, her dark hair moving slightly in the breeze entering through the window.

Victor repeated it mentally.

"Seo Baek Hyang..." he murmured, searching for the name among memories that had already been hazy even before his death.

Nothing.

Victor frowned slightly.

His mother had told him many stories during the years he had been confined to bed. Serafall had spoken of wars, kings, ancient monsters, cultivators, legendary Vampires, and powerful beings who had shaped entire eras.

But that name...

He couldn't remember it.

That began to bother him.

Seo Baek Hyang didn't even need to look directly at him.

"You're trying to remember whether you've heard of me before, aren't you?" she asked, continuing to stare at the horizon, as though reading his expressions was far too simple to deserve any attention.

Victor remained quiet for a second.

"Yes..." he admitted, slowly resuming his meal. "My mother used to tell me a lot of things when I was sick. I don't remember her mentioning you."

Seo Baek Hyang showed no surprise.

"What year did you die?" she asked, keeping her eyes on the mountains.

Victor slowed his movements.

"Less than twenty years from now," he replied after thinking for a moment. "I don't remember the exact date. I was a terminal patient, if you can even call it that."

Seo Baek Hyang fell silent.

Her expression didn't change, but Victor noticed that the question hadn't been casual.

She continued observing the mountains for a few moments.

"In a way, we're alike," Seo Baek Hyang remarked, slowly interlacing her fingers on the table. "Did you also correct the mistakes of your timeline?"

Victor thought before answering.

"Some of them," he said, remembering Serafall, his own illness, and events that had already deviated from their original course. "Actually, I prevented a lot of bad things before they could happen."

Seo Baek Hyang gave a slight nod.

"I see," she replied without pressing him for details.

Victor waited for her to continue.

She didn't.

Silence returned.

Curiously, it no longer felt quite as uncomfortable as before.

Victor had finished most of his bowl when another question occurred to him.

"Why did you bring me here?" he asked, looking around the small residence, still trying to understand why a woman of her level had simply decided to carry him to her home.

Seo Baek Hyang sighed.

"Because this is my house," she replied, as though that were a perfectly sufficient explanation.

Victor looked around again.

There was a living room.

The bedroom where he had awakened.

A small kitchen integrated into the other side.

A few bookshelves.

A table.

That was all.

"That's it?" Victor asked, looking genuinely surprised.

Seo Baek Hyang finally laughed.

It was a brief, quiet laugh, but it was the first time Victor had seen her express amusement without seeming ready to destroy him immediately afterward.

"What else would I need?" she asked, opening one hand. "I have a bedroom, a living room, and a kitchen."

Victor looked around the simple interior again.

"You're kind of the Heavenly Demon's wife," he replied, vaguely pointing downward, where the entire enormous Cult existed beneath her feet. "I expected something a little more... grand."

Seo Baek Hyang looked at him.

"That child?" she asked, raising an eyebrow slightly.

Victor blinked.

Seo Baek Hyang shrugged.

"He's just for appearances," she replied with absolute nonchalance. "I only needed him because I wanted my precious Seol-ie. Yu Jin is disposable. If he annoys me too much, I'll kill him with a single strike."

Victor stared at her.

There was no obvious humor.

That made it impossible to tell whether it was a genuine threat, an extremely problematic marital joke, or simply Seo Baek Hyang's particular way of expressing affection.

"I thought..." Victor began, trying to reorganize what Rakshasa had told him about the two.

Seo Baek Hyang interrupted.

"I went back in time to save my daughter," she explained, her expression finally losing some of its constant indifference. "Nothing else mattered."

Victor remained silent.

"Unfortunately, Yu Jin was her father," Seo Baek Hyang continued with another small shrug. "So I had to have her all over again."

Victor froze with his chopsticks in midair.

The statement was completely insane.

But another part was what truly stayed in his mind.

She had gone back in time to save her daughter.

Victor had received a second life, and even without fully understanding who had caused it, one of the first things he had done was prevent Serafall from walking the same path again.

In his first life, his mother had destroyed her own blood essence to keep him alive.

In this life, he would refuse to let that happen again.

Victor slowly lowered his chopsticks.

Suddenly, Seo Baek Hyang no longer seemed merely like that incomprehensible existence that had nearly frightened him to death.

There was something familiar about her.

Not her personality.

Not her morality.

Her motivation.

"So you did all of this for her," Victor remarked, observing the woman before him with an entirely different kind of interest.

Seo Baek Hyang turned her gaze toward the horizon again.

"Everything," she replied, her tone leaving absolutely no room for doubt.

Victor understood.

Perhaps better than he would have liked.

She had gone back in time for Yu Seol-Ha.

He had been reborn and changed his own fate for Serafall.

The scales were different.

The circumstances were different.

But the feeling behind their actions was frighteningly similar.

Seo Baek Hyang remained silent for a few seconds before looking at him again.

"You're a Valentine," she remarked, her black eyes briefly studying his facial features. "Who's your mother?"

Victor answered without needing to think.

"Serafall Valentine," he said, picking up another piece of meat from his bowl.

The reaction was instantaneous.

Seo Baek Hyang turned her head so quickly that her long black hair followed the movement like a curtain being violently pulled aside.

It was the first time since Victor had met her that he had seen a genuinely abrupt reaction.

Her black eyes locked onto him.

"You..." Seo Baek Hyang began, her absolute composure showing a slight crack for the first time. "Are you the son Serafall lost?"

Victor stopped chewing.

He raised an eyebrow.

"Hm?" he replied, taking a few seconds to understand exactly what she meant. "I guess so. Well... in the other timeline."

Seo Baek Hyang didn't respond immediately.

She simply stared at him.

Victor felt something change in the atmosphere.

Not pressure.

Not hostility.

Recognition.

As though a piece of information buried for far too long had suddenly resurfaced before her.

Victor set his chopsticks down on the bowl.

"You knew my mother?" he asked, realizing that, for the first time since arriving at the summit of that mountain, Seo Baek Hyang might be the one who had something to explain.