## Chapter 122 – Asser . Mind Games (1)
The three, having left the lodging, entered a shabby restaurant nearby.
A place plagued by flies, with an unfriendly owner, and a menu that didn’t offer anything particularly appealing.
Normally, they wouldn’t even consider eating at such a place, but they had no choice if they wanted to find a suitable place to talk.
The owner didn’t even greet them despite their arrival. He didn’t show the slightest intention of cooking. He was so glued to his seat, just flipping through the newspaper.
Charlotte, who valued etiquette, frowned slightly, but she wasn’t foolish enough to cause a ruckus in District 1.
“Should we go to another place?”
Asser shook his head and opened the sticky menu.
“Let’s just have a quick coffee. It doesn’t look like they serve proper food anyway.”
He called the listless owner, ordered two coffees and a sweet fruit drink, and then, as if reminiscing about the past, Asser gently caressed Number 25’s hand.
“You’re still wearing the ring?”
On Number 25’s finger, the ring given by Charlotte and Asser still shone brightly.
Number 25 smiled sweetly, holding Asser’s hand as he stroked the back of it.
“Of course. It’s the most precious thing you two have given me.”
Charlotte also smiled contentedly but pointed to the feather-shaped necklace around Number 25’s neck and asked,
“I haven’t seen this before?”
Number 25 stammered, looking flustered.
“Ah, this… this is…”
He hadn’t told them about Low yet. Asser, staring intently at Number 25’s face, stroked his cheek and said in a gentle tone,
“You don’t have to tell us if you don’t want to. What does a necklace matter?”
Just then, the owner nonchalantly approached and roughly placed the three drinks down before returning to his seat near the counter and unfolding the newspaper with a *thwack*!
Charlotte glared at him with a displeased expression and clicked her tongue.
She could see why a place in such a good location wasn’t doing well, but the dissatisfaction she felt melted away when she saw Number 25’s worried face.
Charlotte put on a seductive smile and handed Number 25 the fruit drink, saying,
“Here, drink this first.”
The two of them stared intently as Number 25 drank his beverage and asked simultaneously,
““How is it, is it good?””
“Yes, it’s delicious. You two should drink yours too.”
The owner’s attitude was unpleasant, but the coffee had a decent flavor.
Asser, who was having a late breakfast with Number 25 over a cup of coffee, suddenly slammed the table and stood up as if he had made up his mind.
The two in front of him, as well as the owner reading the newspaper, were startled and looked over at him.
Asser leaned forward and raised his voice.
“No… I can’t go on like this! Spending yesterday and today together, I know for sure. I can’t live without Number 25.”
At the confession-like words, Number 25’s face turned red in an instant.
Charlotte, who had been sipping her coffee with a nonchalant expression, asked casually,
“Do you have some kind of plan?”
Asser, now sitting back down and appearing calm, shook his head.
“I don’t have one. I’m just going to go and have it out with Low.”
At the mention of having it out with Low, Number 25, who had been silent, looked back and forth between the two with a flustered expression.
“Will it be okay? Seeing how carefully she’s raising me and sending me to the academy, it seems like she values me quite a bit, unlike what we thought.”
“Values you? Is that why she left a scar like this on your cheek?”
He was referring to a small scar from a past battle with a monster.
“Ah, this is….”
Asser stroked Number 25’s scar and looked at him with tears welling up in his eyes.
“It’s okay. You don’t have to say anything. It must have been hard for you all this time?”
The situation was irreversible.
Asser had already made up his mind to have it out with Low, and Number 25 and Charlotte had no power to argue with that decision.
The three of them finished their simple meal, got up, paid, and headed to the back alley.
Number 25, watching the two of them, used the necklace Low had given him to open a rift with practiced ease.
“You two go in first. It’ll close as soon as I enter.”
Hearing Number 25’s words, the two stepped into the rift without a moment’s hesitation, showing no signs of panic at the suddenly changed scenery.
Instead, Charlotte smiled playfully and poked Asser in the ribs.
“This is much more convenient than the Demon King’s ability, isn’t it? Low, the strongest in the Demon Realm, is indeed different.”
“Ugh….”
Unlike the two who were casually chatting behind him, Number 25 was on edge, heading towards Low’s tower with familiar steps.
The number of gaunt trees gradually decreased, and the tower became visible to the naked eye.
Number 25 could already see her. Low, who had come out to meet him, was pacing around the entrance of the tower.
Her eyes, rarely showing any dark circles, were now heavily shadowed, and she was gnawing on her nails as if to express her anxiety.
It was only natural, considering he hadn’t contacted her and hadn’t come home for a day.
“Low-nim….”
Hearing Number 25 call her name softly as he revealed himself, Low’s eyes widened, and she immediately ran to him and embraced him.
She hugged him roughly, as if his body would crumble, and asked the question that had been plaguing her, in a worried tone that contrasted with her rough embrace.
“Where have you been without a word? How worried do you think I was….”
He had a hundred excuses he could make. How could he tell her that he had spent the whole day entangled with those women, unable to resist the joy of reunion?
There was only one thing Number 25 could say right now.
“I’m sorry….”
“It’s okay. It’s enough for me as long as you come back safe.”
Low hugged Number 25, stroking his back and caressing his head, but her gaze was belatedly drawn to Asser, the Demon King of District 7, who was behind him.
Upon seeing Asser’s face, Low let out a sound close to a sigh.
“Ah, so it’s finally come to this….”
An unpleasant gaze turned towards the two of them.
Number 25 clung to Low’s waist as if trying to appease her, desperately pleading, so that she wouldn’t harbor any ill intentions.
“Lo, Low-nim! Please listen to what they have to say first.”
At Number 25’s plea, Low sighed deeply as if she couldn’t help it and turned around.
“Come on up, both of you. Although I’m not thrilled about it.”
In Low’s room, where small crimson lights flickered, the four sat around a round table and began to talk.
Low was the first to speak.
She crossed her legs and blew pipe smoke directly into Asser’s face, saying in a cold tone,
“So? What brings you here?”
Asser didn’t back down and stared straight into Low’s eyes as he replied,
“Give Number 25 back to me now.”
*Thump!*
No sooner had he finished speaking than Low tapped her pipe on the table with a rather rough motion.
Since it wasn’t an actual cigarette, no ashes flew, but it was an action that signaled her displeasure. At that, Number 25 flinched, his shoulders twitching, even though it wasn’t his fault.
“Didn’t I say I’d return him when the time came? I don’t particularly like people showing up unannounced like this.”
Asser clenched his teeth. The joints next to his handsome jawline were bulging.
“When is that time supposed to be? It’s already been two years. If you had contacted us during those two years, it would be one thing, but there wasn’t even a single letter. Isn’t that all your doing?”
Low put the pipe back in her mouth with a relaxed expression and exhaled towards the floor as if sighing.
The smoke that thickly covered the floor added an even more dreamlike atmosphere to the already unreal space.
“It’s not my will that our child hasn’t contacted you. And he’ll naturally return to your arms when I die, so what’s there to worry about?”
Charlotte slammed the table as if she was dumbfounded.
“You… you’ve lived for well over five thousand years, according to the records, right? Will the day ever come when you, an immortal witch, actually die?”
Low’s eyebrows twitched, and she glared at her with cold, purple eyes.
If Number 25 hadn’t grabbed Low’s hand tightly and calmed her down, the two of them would probably have been beaten to a pulp and become food for beasts.
Asser didn’t back down and subtly pulled Number 25’s chair closer to his side.
“Let’s stop this meaningless back-and-forth between us. What matters is Number 25’s will.”
Low stroked Number 25’s head and asked in a gentle voice that was quite different from when she was dealing with the other two.
“Darling, what do you want to do?”
Asser was the first to react to the question, before Number 25 could even answer.
“Da, darling?!”
Charlotte and Asser’s eyes turned to Number 25 at the same time.
Number 25 didn’t seem to notice anything wrong with the term of endearment that Low had naturally used.
“Who do you think you are, calling our Number 25 by such a name? Don’t tell me you have a thing for that? I knew we shouldn’t have sent Number 25 to a woman like you.”
Low caressed Number 25’s cheek with a triumphant expression and said,
“I don’t know what you’re talking about…? Isn’t it natural to call my son ‘darling’?”
“Son!?”
Asser, who had unknowingly jumped up from his chair, trembled as if there was an earthquake.
Come to think of it, the two of them did have quite a few similarities.
Hair that shone beautifully like the night sky adorned with stars, and a delicate appearance that could be mistaken for a woman, seemed to resemble Low.
The overwhelming potential that Number 25 possessed also made sense if he was Low’s child.
This changes things.
Asser, who had now gathered his hands neatly and adopted a polite attitude, cautiously opened his mouth.
“Mo, Mother-in-law?”
