The Broken Halo

Chapter 23: Regret

Simon had no knowledge or idea of what his aura was doing to the surroundings, or how his body was devouring the energy in the air.

His mind was completely clouded by anger and disbelief.

One might think that this anger was completely directed at his mother, but it wasn’t.

The majority of the anger was directed at himself.

He was furious at himself.

The second time... This was the second time he was being betrayed by somebody he trusted.

In his past life, it was his so-called comrades and lover who betrayed him.

And in this life, it was his mother who betrayed him.

Since he had been betrayed in his past life, shouldn’t he have been more careful in his current life?

Shouldn’t he have been suspicious of everybody?

How pathetic was he that he fell for the same trick in such a short period after gaining a second chance?

All these thoughts and many other thoughts appeared in Simon’s head as he stared at his mother with a completely furious expression.

Despite these thoughts, a part of Simon knew that it was not his fault in the slightest.

He had not been foolish. He had not trusted just anybody.

Heck, he was not friends with anybody in the tribe. The only person he truly interacted with was his mother.

A part of Simon knew that trusting his mother was not his fault in the slightest.

She had given birth to him. He was conscious when she gave birth to him, and though he had the soul and memories of an adult, he was still her child.

His mother never maltreated him. She always gave him a truly happy smile whenever she was around him, and she sacrificed a lot for him.

His mother had acted like how a caring and loving mother should act, and she was the last person Simon had his guard up against.

He trusted her.

And he was stabbed in the back.

She betrayed him for some cheap change?

Even till now, Simon could not believe it. He would let out strange chuckles once in a while, causing Lyssa and Zaglur to have different expressions.

Zaglur looked at Simon for a few seconds before he stood and dusted his hands. He looked at Lyssa, who had a complicated expression as she stared at Simon.

”I’ll be taking my leave with him. You did well bringing him to me.”

Lyssa’s lips opened and closed multiple times as the words she wanted to say were stuck in her throat and heart.

It felt like a dagger was cruelly twisting her heart, and she should have felt immense sadness and pain when she looked at Simon, but whenever she felt the pouch in her hands and looked at how her life was going to change for the better with this decision she made, the sorrow in her heart slowly dissipated.

Clang!

Zaglur did not bother waiting anymore for Lyssa to say her last words to her son. He had waited for a minute, but she said nothing.

Time was money to the Wandering Merchant, and every second was precious to him.

He pulled on Simon’s chains, but Simon was unresponsive. He clicked his tongue in annoyance, then he yanked his hand, causing Simon to fall forward with his face slamming into the ground.

”I can drag you like a dog or you can get up and walk. To waste less time and energy, I’ll prefer it if you walk.”

Zaglur’s cold voice drifted into Simon’s ears, and Simon could not help but gnash his teeth in anger.

He wanted to say a billion words, but he chose to keep quiet and get to his feet.

His arms were chained to his back, and only his legs were free, so he had to use only his feet to get up.

When he stood, he did not even bother sparing his mother a glance...

’...No... She does not deserve to be called my mother. A true mother would never sell their child for money.’

’I know that there are mothers on Earth who can do such a thing, but I doubt any mother would do it after sacrificing so much for the child, laughing with the child, not maltreating the child in the slightest, and suffering so much for the child.’

’Only a demon can do something like this... And that’s my mistake.’

’I’m in the demon realm, so I need to completely understand how demons think, and I also need to start thinking like a demon if I want to survive and thrive.’

’Demons... I need to truly become a demon to survive. I can’t think or see things like how I used to think and see things on Earth.’

Simon looked at Zaglur and said with a cold voice,

”We can start moving.”

Zaglur’s lips curled up slightly. ”What an interesting lad. You’ve become so calm after shouting at your mother. Learning how to control your emotions is a very important skill many demons neglect.”

Simon said nothing and just stared at Zaglur with a cold, calm, and indifferent gaze.

Zaglur chuckled softly, then he turned while holding Simon’s chain.

”Let’s go. We have a rather long journey ahead of us.”

Simon followed Zaglur from behind, but before he took his tenth step, his mother spoke.

”You said I could have gotten so much more from you if I didn’t betray you... You claimed that you would become the Demon King and the Demon God.”

”You said I’ve missed out on a lot because I betrayed you, but what if you die or you’re not able to reach the high ranks?”

”What if both of us were captured by the remaining members of the Tribe?”

”What if you died an unfortunate and ridiculous death?”

”Or what if I was the one that died? What if you couldn’t bring me back to life? What if I died of old age and I was not able to reap the fruits of my labour?”

”So many things could have gone wrong, and I did the smart thing by betraying you. The pay is worth it.”

”And you might die at the merchant’s hand. Who says you’ll survive?”

Simon paused, and his shoulders trembled in disbelief, shock, and fury.

He wanted to say a million words and to erupt in anger, but his many years of experience allowed him to stay calm.

He inhaled and exhaled softly, then without looking at Lyssa, he replied with an extremely cold voice and expression.

”Believe me when I say that you’ll greatly regret your words.”