Sera slowly undressed in front of her mother. While her body had healed when she sucked the energy, Sera had enough control whether to keep scars or not.
Sera kept them all, just for this moment.
There was the one on her left hand, showing up to her bone.
The teeth scratches dotted her body, starting from her feet to extending till her neck.
In fact, save for above the neck where she was not from a bite, every other place on her body has a scar of some sort.
" Does it disgust you, Mother ? " She asked, looking very vulnerable.
" No, my dear. " her mother answered, looking every bit guilty as Sera expected.
She entered the shower to bathe.
" Mother ! Are you still there ? " She asked as the water filled the tub.
" I am. " her mother asked, tears once more dripping from her eyes, looking as elegant as ever.
" Mother ! Can I ask you for something ? " Sera started slowly.
" Yes, anything. Anything our princess wants ! " Her mother answered her all too fast.
" Don't answer so fast, mother ! What if I ask for your life ? Will you really give me your life ? " Sera quipped.
" As long as it is not harmful to you, I will give you anything you want. " Emma promised.
" Then, Mother ! Give me all of your assets. Let me inherit early, and become the Dustwood heiress that everyone mocks me to be. " Sera asked.
Emma looked shocked. She did not understand it at all ! It's just money ! What could money do, except create more work and problems ? How could her daughter be so materialistic ?
" Why ?!! " Emma gasped, her hand on her chest, unable to understand.
" Do you think I'm too materialistic, mother ? " Sera asked, still in the tub.
" I .. I just don't understand. " Emma breathed out.
" This time, when they left me on the test planet, I was so angry ! I wanted to kill them. I wanted to crush their families to nothing. I wanted them to despair for their meager lives as I did. Only, I survived. As I lived, I thought about what I could do to these people who have left me ! Then, Mother ! " Sera breathed in, giving a dramatic pause.
" I could do nothing to them ! I have no money that I could spend freely. I have no place that belongs to only I. I am Dustwood heiress, but if one fine day I die, and come back utterly changed, I can't even ask for my mother's inheritance, because your husband is considered higher in terms of rights. " Sera said.
" That is not true ! Your father, he signed a prenuptial agreement. All of the assets in my name belong to you. In case you are not .. not around, they will return to the Dustwood family. " Emma explained.
' No wonder ! ' Sera thought as she heard Emma. She wondered why the general had to go to that extent destroying the Dustwood family. Afterall, both her mother and her uncle are very malleable, especially to General Marx Esgrot. He still ruined the Dustwood family. Now she understood. If there is no dustwood family, then this fortune will belong to him.
'It's simply business. '
As expected, her father in this world is exactly the same kind of fortune hunter scum as the one from the previous world.
" Mother ! I want it. Or, do you really not like me as a daughter ? you only care whether I live or die, not mind that I am in such pain ? " Sera whined, holding her heart, exposing the bite marks on her arms.
" No, my dear ! I will never ! As soon as we are out of here, I will ask your father to do the transfer. How about it ? " Emma asked coaxingly.
" Noooooo ! " Sera exclaimed.
" Sera ! Sweetheart ! " Emma got up in concern at Sera's violent reaction.
" Mother ! I know my father loves me the most, but I do not want to disappoint him by doubting him. Let's have uncle Orion handle this entire transfer, and keep it secret from father ! Please mother ! I just want my father to be proud of me at least once ! Isn't it better to show him with some achievements that I deserve this position rather than jumping around like a clown ? Moreover, Mother ! I just want to have some of his care in these troubled times ! let uncle do the work, while Daddy spends time with us. " Sera buttered up thickly.
" But .. " Emma was hesitating.
After all, Sera is barely an adult, and her lifestyle will entirely depend on Sera's ability once she puts the assets in Sera's name.
" Mother ! Do you not trust me ? " Sera asked, her voice vulnerable, her eyes full of tears, only a towel around her chest, her scars on full-on-display.
Emma hesitated, moving her eyes to the side. However, she moved her eyes away from Sera's face, only for them to fall on her arms.
Emma's eyes cleared up.
" Very well. We will ask your uncle. " she decided.
" Let's do it right now, from here, Mother. " Sera said, handing her mother's tablet to her.
Sera put her uncle on video call, turning the direction of the video to her mother.
On the other side, she dressed herself.
" Sister ! How are you? Aren't you with Sera right now ? " Her uncle asked in surprise.
It seems he was sitting in a conference chair in a meeting.
" Actually, I am ! Orion ! I want to change the ownership of all my assets to Sera right now. Is it possible ? " Emma asked.
She hoped that her brother would answer her like every other time, when he said ' Gods ! Its company business, Emma ! It won't happen in a day ! '.
Her hopes are for naught.
" Of Course ! Why wouldn't it be possible ? It's absolutely possible. In fact, we can have it done within an hour ! How about it ? " Orion asked.
" Oh … ! you could ! Then please do. " She said.
" Sister ! I will call you back on a legal line which allows call recording. Accept the call ! Also, if Sera is alright, ask her to join the call along with you. " Orion asked her.
" Actually, Sera is here. " Emma said.
Sera sidled up to her mother before she could turn the camera.
" Hi, Uncle ! " She greeted her uncle.
" Sera ! My dear ! I am sorry I did not pay enough attention to your academics. From now on, another mistake such as this will not happen. " He promised her.
" Then, please do, Uncle. I think we really need to look into all the donations we make to academic institutions. " Sera said.
" By the way, could you check if you have received your ID yet ? " her uncle asked.
Sera checked her tablet, opening her university mail box.
Yes, she has received her ID. This is a student ID and an income reporting ID. It does not mean she is a full on adult, more like legal emancipation for star police hopefuls.
" Alright. Then, we will start the transfer process. A call will go to you at the same time as your mother. Accept it. " her uncle told her.
Once they hung up the call, Emma got up from where she was sitting.
" Perhaps we should move this to the living room ? " She said, giving her hand to Sera.
" No. I think this is the perfect place, mother ! Don't you think it all has a secret coven vibe ? " Sera said, pulling down her mother.
Emma wanted to say something else, but she already received a call from Orion.
Perhaps Orion had never moved this fast to help Emma or Sera ever before.
In no time at all, the call with the lawyers began.
There were even three inheritance dispute judges, who collected more evidence just to stop disputes from happening. It was made as legally tight as possible.
Sera and Emma spent an entire hour there, giving all their consents.
After the end of the call, they had to wait for ten minutes, and they received the change of ownership certificate.
" Thank you, Mother ! " Sera exclaimed, hugging Emma.
' Considering you have given me your body, I will protect your mother. " Sera vowed, while hugging Emma.
Unlike Emma who trusted her father completely, she knew her father would kill her the moment he had a way to take over the entire Dustwood empire for himself.
They came out from the bathroom, hand in hand.
Emma stayed with Sera till sera fell asleep, which she did pretty fast, and with the tablet in her hand.
After half an hour, she received another call from Orion.
Sera woke up from her sleep. After her stint in the Testing planet, it is impossible for her to sleep deeply.
She walked to the bathroom to take the call.
" Sera, Dear ! Uncle is in a little bit of pickle ! Do you want to help him out ? " Orion asked sweetly.
" Get to the point, Uncle ! " Sera mumbled as she tried to concentrate.
" You see, we have this set of very ineffective and corrupt staff. We want to fire them. However, most of these staff come at your father's recommendation. And many of the shareholders are his friends. Some of these guys are holding high positions which require a certain percentage of shareholders to agree if we want to fire them. Yours and Mine together make that perfect amount ! How about it ? Could you give your uncle your consent ? "
" Sure. Fire them away. These bastards are ruining my father's good name. Of Course, they ought to be fired. " Sera said, with a cheshire cat-like smile.