About the time I was picked up and adopted by Tallulah

"Nothing much, just discussing some things with everyone. Anyway, the final result is my victory."

Tallulah puffed out her chest with some pride, but Orson had no idea what "victory" Tallulah meant.

"There's no need to show off this 'victory' that was entirely due to luck, my daughter."

Because Orson, the "anti-black snake router", was present at the scene, the virtual image of the black snake appeared beside the two of them and complained.

"...Luck is also a part of strength! And why did you become like me and wear that skirt?"

Tallulah complained to Black Snake unhappily. At this time, Black Snake had completely abandoned the original Kosice appearance and appeared in the "Black Lace Dress Ver Tallulah" outfit.

"Perhaps I should have taken more time to teach you how to dress like a real lady?"

The shadow of the black snake sat at the table next to Orson. She crossed her legs, held her cheek with one hand, and smiled and joked at Tallulah.

"You should teach me how to really kill you—and don't call me 'daughter' with that face of mine, it sounds so weird."

Talulah frowned and said to Black Snake that the joy she had felt from winning the "Exclusive Orson Lottery" had also faded a lot.

「Kill me... Haha, you're right. You all have the same goal, don't you? We all know that this hypocritical peaceful coexistence is just──」

"Speaking of which, Miss Black Snake, if you can change the style of your clothes, can you also transform into someone else's appearance in the phantom?"

"Of course you can—but please don't interrupt me with lines like that at a time like this, okay?!"

Black Snake responded instinctively, then complained loudly to Orson.

"Although I like Tallulah in military uniform, I still want to see her in cheongsam!"

"What are you talking about, Orson!?"

【Hahaha, this is boring! 】

Black Snake laughed when he heard Orson's request, then turned around gently, and the original black lace dress instantly turned into a red and blue backless cheongsam.

Surrender to the lethality of my daughter's cheongsam outfit.

"From today on, you are my light, Miss Black Snake—"

Orson gave the black snake a thumbs-up in a very serious manner.

--------------

I didn't expect that a phantom could even feel 'being beaten'. What a mistake...

"I'm so sorry, Tallulah. Please forgive my recklessness. Please don't send photos of yourself in women's clothing to anyone else."

After a brief exchange with Black Snake, Black Snake changed back into her previous black lace dress style. She sat upright with a bump on her head, while Orson next to her stood like a tiger and apologized to Tallulah, whose head was full of veins and who was holding the photo of Orson's maid in her hand.

"Really... I wanted to chat with you alone, why did it turn out like this?"

Tallulah sighed. She had originally planned to take out the photo of Orson in women's clothing to scare him, but when she saw Orson's extremely shy yet heroic posture in the photo, her anger subsided unconsciously.

"chat?"

"Yeah... Sorry, we're officially going to take action tomorrow, but I'm still thinking about this kind of thing."

After accidentally revealing her true intention, Talulah became a little insecure. After all, Orson was talking about tactics and planning so seriously, but she was only thinking about "getting a head start" because of the influence of that guy Li.

"That's great. I'm actually a little unsure too. Talking to me should help alleviate some of the worry."

Unlike what Tallulah thought, Orson did not blame her, but smiled instead.

"...Haha, it's a good thing I prepared myself so long in advance."

After seeing Orson's response, Tallulah sighed and then smiled.

Although the Reunion Movement has grown stronger and more formalized, and although they have already moved towards Casimir, Orson has not changed at all. She is still the young girl in the northern camp who would tell outrageous stories to the children with a smile.

"I told you, this idiot never gets angry or complains, my daughter."

Black Snake made an expression that said "I expected this".

"I know, but... well, never mind."

Tallulah wanted to say something, but in the end she didn't explain anymore. Instead, she sat next to Orson and leaned her head gently on his shoulder.

"I never imagined that one day I would liberate the infected in Casimir, and I certainly never imagined that I would get along with that 'Black Snake' in this way."

【…】

Black Snake did not respond this time. She just sat opposite the two of them in silence.

"During the time I lived as the Duke's daughter, I always thought the world was only red and black—red blood, black environment."

Orson reached out and gently stroked Tallulah's short silver hair, while the young dragon closed its eyes slightly and slowly recounted its past.

"Then I traveled to the north and met Alina. White appeared in my life at that time, a white that could dispel darkness."

"But after Alina fell into a coma, I gradually began to grow tired of that white. It was no longer dazzling, and only the boundless coldness of the North remained."

"When the cold white, the suffocating black, and the dazzling red were about to drown me—I met you, Orson."

“Then, for the first time, I realized that the world is actually colorful.”

Tallulah opened her eyes, turned her head slightly, and stared at Orson with her golden eyes.

"I'm a little embarrassed..."

Listening to Tallulah's words from the heart, Orson blushed and turned his head away a little embarrassedly, but Tallulah kissed Orson gently, and then showed a mischievous smile that was inconsistent with her "identity".

【Cough cough——】

"Well--!"

Tallulah was startled by Black Snake's cough and almost instinctively jumped away from Orson's shoulder.

The black snake, who had been silent all the time, finally coughed twice, indicating that while you are showing off your love, could you please consider the feelings of an old and lonely snake like me? Especially when I have to watch my cabbage being eaten by pigs in front of me, who can stand it?

"Koschei... No, Black Snake, I've actually always wanted to ask you, why did you choose to 'cultivate' an heir?"

After noticing the existence of Black Snake, perhaps out of "revenge" for the interference in their world of two, Tallulah did not choose to "pull the plug" this time, but asked Black Snake a question.

Good question, my daughter—but I cannot answer it.

The black snake shook his head, his expression somewhat troubled and distressed.

"Are you afraid that it will make me hate you even more? Don't worry, Black Snake. I will never forget the moment you took me away from Huijie."

Tallulah asked with a frown, but Black Snake did not confirm this guess.

Orson, who was standing by, noticed the subtle expression on Black Snake's face and thought of something.

"Is it because—the reasons from the past can't convince you now?"

「──That’s right.」

Orson's guess made Black Snake's eyes widen. She didn't expect that this young man who had said "I understand you" before would once again guess what she was thinking in her long-distorted and dry heart.

"I originally just wanted to use this method to give myself a wider platform for my next parasitism. Your bloodline, your race, everything about you is rare, my daughter."

After pondering for a moment, Black Snake walked up to Tallulah and spoke slowly.

[But... I saw you return from the brink of despair because of Orson, saw you marching step by step towards Chernobog in the north, and saw you fighting against the old nobles in Che City.]

I've gradually noticed that I'm no longer anticipating your collapse, but rather anticipating how far you can go. And every time you overcome a seemingly impossible situation, for some reason, I feel a kind of... indescribable joy.

Black Snake placed one hand on her chest, looking somewhat confused. She didn't know how to categorize this emotion.

"Ms. Black Snake—have you ever given birth to a child?"

【Bai, you idiot! 】

"Bai, you idiot!"

Black Snake and Tallulah both roared with red faces, and knocked Orson to the ground with one punch.

"No, no... I mean, have you ever trained an heir like this before?"

Orson quickly added.

[…No, Tallulah is still number one.]

"Then I understand. This is the natural satisfaction and joy that comes from seeing your child grow up! It's what we often say, 'It's a great honor to be a parent!'"

Orson looked very confident, while Black Snake just stood there in a daze.

"You're saying... I truly treat Tallulah as my own daughter, not a 'vessel,' and am happy for her success?"

Black Snake looked at his hands somewhat at a loss, then looked at Tallulah.

"...Don't look at me like that. I told you, I can never forgive what you did."

Tallulah said this, but after a pause, she added:

"But if that's what you really think, I might try to accept it - forget about mother or anything like that. If it's a sister... No, sister won't work either. After all, you should just change my appearance!"

Seeing Tallulah showing a shy and angry look to him that she had never shown before, Black Snake smiled.

The 'Curse of the Black Snake' is not only for the parasite, but also for the black snake itself.

"Survival", "climbing the political ladder", "extreme advocacy of violence" - these are the stigmas that have been entangled with the black snake and cannot be erased.

And when his own existence was temporarily stripped away and he could no longer change or command anything, Black Snake finally had time to re-examine himself, to forget 'Kosice' from those dusty "memory bookshelves", and to search for the original black wish that had not yet deteriorated.

She gradually stopped harboring a morbid desire for the "future of Ursus" and instead began to feel happy about the success of the "daughter she raised."

「Haah…… The ‘Immortal Black Snake’ has become like this. If those Ursus guys knew about this, I’d rather die.」

Black Snake finally faced his own transformation and accepted it.

You're right, Tallulah. I'm not qualified to call you 'daughter'.

"I'm glad you understand, but..."

"How about calling me 'sister' from now on? That way I can steal her openly—I don't want to steal someone like that!"

Black Snake suggested excitedly, then banged his head hard on the table. Why was his mind full of this silly little guy?

"My sister is tall!"

Tallulah hit the black snake hard, and the number of bumps on its head became two.

"Hahaha, let's put things one way and let's get along slowly from now on."

Orson tried to smooth things over with a smile, but was then attacked by a mixed doubles match between Black Snake and Tallulah.

RT, I haven't saved any drafts since the Chinese New Year, but today I was a bit busy because I attended a dinner party. I couldn't open my eyes when I got home to Yeonpyeong Island, so please add me. Maybe there will be a 2K update in the evening, but anyway, I'm sorry for posting now. By the way, I feel bored after not having a post, so I think it would be better to create a group.

86. If you want to delay, just delay it.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the Casimir Knight Competition. Although many unexpected situations occurred during this knight competition, I know that every one of you is looking forward to today's game, right?"

Inside the Knight Arena, the familiar host, Big Mouth Mob, was at the podium, stirring the atmosphere as usual. Unlike the previous matches, however, the atmosphere in the arena was already incredibly heated, even without his warm-up.

Since the start of this year's Knights' Games, today's game has been the most popular and has the highest odds so far.

Many gamblers have staked their entire fortunes on this one match. For them, the fact that the two teams involved in this match aren't affiliated with a trade association significantly reduces the likelihood of them being manipulated into a match-fixing scheme. In other words, this time, it's a matter of skill.

About 3% of the people bet on the [Deer-Headed Reaper], but % of the people still believed that the [Infected Knight] could defeat this terrifying Sarkaz.

"For the sake of my job and personal safety, I'll skip the sponsored content for today's match! Let's just enjoy this highly anticipated match. Now, please welcome the players! The knight of the red team [Reunion Movement], the Deer-Headed Grim Reaper! And the little knight of the blue team [No Belonging]!"

"By the way, today was supposed to be a 2v2 team battle, but Orson's teammate on the blue team suddenly bumped his toe into the corner of a stone table after the match was finalized, so he had to tearfully forfeit today. And Deer-Headed Death God's teammate on the red team chose to retire and become a streamer after the match was finalized, so he didn't participate in the competition today."

It seems that most people can't stand standing in front of the Patriot and confronting him, and fighting side by side with the Patriot is something that most people can't handle.

A good 2V2 turned into a replica of the previous game, but for the audience, it didn’t matter!

Accompanied by the cheers of the audience, Orson and Patriot entered from both sides of the venue.

"..."

The audience in the stands noticed that Orson said something after he walked up to the Patriot, and the deer-headed spirit nodded slightly to show his understanding.

"It seems both contestants are well prepared! Our young knight remains undaunted even when facing the Deer-Headed Grim Reaper. Is this courage reckless or a result of preparation? And what is he saying to the Deer-Headed Man? Is it taunting, provocative, or perhaps a testament to the admirable etiquette between knights?"

Big Mouth Mob continued to warm up the atmosphere while speculating about Orson's words.

The answer is actually:

"Don't get carried away this time, old patriot..."