The Villainess Is My Cute Daughter

She gestured at him.

”It wasn’t differentiated by factions,” she explained. ”You naturally get a good, positive trait based entirely on the positive karma that your soul has accumulated in your previous lives, specifically your most recent past life. And the exact same logic goes for the negative aspect, which you guys now call the ’Curse’. You receive a curse based purely on the negative karma that your soul has accumulated. In short, you get what you give.”

Hearing this, Adrian frowned heavily.

”If that’s actually the case, then it doesn’t make any sense that a vast majority of the common people just get generic stuff,” Adrian argued. ”Like a minor increase in a few years of lifespan as a blessing, and a slight decrease in a few years of lifespan as a curse. How does that make sense? It doesn’t really sound like it’s karmic if everyone just gets the exact same boring traits.”

The Dragon just shook her head patiently.

”People die everywhere, Adrian,” she corrected gently. ”This is still considered the Dark Age of War. Because your specific continent is currently in a rare state of relative peace... well, comparative to the other continents, I would call it peaceful. And due to this, you have a skewed perspective. But even on your continent, there are brutal wars, petty border skirmishes, and a lot of horrific things constantly happening in the shadows. There are hundreds, if not thousands of people dying every single day.”

Her eyes hardened.

”Now imagine the other continents across the ocean where wars are rampant. Tens of thousands of people dying every single day is a common, expected sight. People ruthlessly take lives, and people heroically save their dying comrades. And those extreme actions immediately become the heavy anchor for their soul’s Karmic Fate in the next cycle.”

Adrian closed his eyes and leaned back into his chair.

He let out a soft, exhausted sigh, brought his hand up to his forehead, and rubbed his temples.

”This is just... something I did not expect at all,” Adrian muttered.

He opened his eyes and looked back at her.

”Well, if that’s actually the case, then I have a few more questions,” Adrian said. ”Why exactly do people get ’Demonic’ and ’Divine’ prefixes on their curses and blessings now? Sometimes it’s a Divine Blessing, and sometimes it is a Demonic Blessing. Why is it categorized like that if it’s all just natural karma?”

The Dragon smiled patiently.

”It’s just them putting their brand on you,” she answered simply. ”Or, let’s say it in simpler words: it is them artificially sowing a magical seed directly into your mind and your soul. Your curse does not matter where it comes from. Everything depends entirely on what your specific blessing is officially affiliated with.”

She pointed a finger at him.

”If someone’s blessing explicitly says ’Divine’, it means that the Angels have laid claim to that person’s soul,” she explained. ”And if it says ’Demonic’, then it means that the Demons have laid claim to that person.”

She paused and looked at him meaningfully.

”And in your specific case...” she started.

”The Demons have explicitly laid claim to me,” Adrian finished the sentence for her.

The Dragon nodded. ”Do you know what that actually means for your future?”

Adrian just shrugged his shoulders.

”Well, not entirely, but I have a pretty solid guess,” Adrian replied. ”All of this hidden fate stuff, the karmic soul cycles, and the Angels getting terrified of me accidentally accumulating too much positive karma... I just feel like all of this is deeply related to the path of true Divinity.”

Adrian leaned forward.

”Like, there is no way the Angels are going to be this genuinely scared of me, and would actually actively try to assassinate me like they did recently, if they weren’t terrified of what I would become in the future,” Adrian reasoned. ”And... like you said, they don’t exactly know the full truth about my soul, but they do accurately perceive me as a massive threat to their monopoly. So that is my logical conclusion.”

Adrian smirked.

”They think that once I get strong enough... or if something completely unexpected happens, for example, I learn the actual truth about this Divinity stuff and successfully to ascend into actual Godhood. Once that happens, I will automatically default to the Demon’s side because of my branded blessing. Which is obviously not a good thing for the Angels to deal with. Am I right?”

The Dragon delicately placed her teacup down on top of her porcelain saucer, and chuckled softly.

”Well, your imagination is pretty wild, isn’t it?” she mused. ”But you’re really not far off from the truth.”

She casually stood up from her plush chair and snapped her fingers.

The circular table and her chair instantly disappeared into thin air, along with the teacups and the floating teapot. But the chair that Adrian was currently sitting in remained perfectly solid.

Adrian looked up at her, looking a little surprised by the sudden dismissal.

”Well, we have talked for quite a while now,” she said gently. ”So I believe it is time for me to take my leave. Though... I will allow you exactly one more question before I go.”

Adrian immediately stood up from his chair.

He rapidly cycled through his thoughts, mentally canceling out dozens of pressing questions in his mind before finally locking onto the one single question that he was most curious about. The one he desperately needed the answer for the most right now.

”The Angels and the Demons,” Adrian started quickly. ”The specific way they harvest and use this mystical energy that you talked about... the Faith Energy, or whatever we want to call it. Is it fundamentally different between the two factions? And also...”

Adrian hesitated for a second.

”I know you said one question, but this is also incredibly important,” Adrian tacked on. ”Do these Angels already know everything about me?”

The Dragon smiled warmly at him.

”Well, the specific energy that they actively harvest from the mortals here doesn’t exactly have a formal name,” she explained patiently. ”Well, you humans did not invent an accurate name for it, but we Dragons certainly do have one. And I will keep the true name of this energy a secret for now. But I will, of course, tell you exactly how it works.