Raised in Dungeon

The light reflected by the crystal in the ceiling began to fade and change into red moonlight, indicating that it was night outside. The entire dungeon room was now dark red. That light, however, shone on Lavinia, who was also looking up at the ceiling and humming a lullaby.

Lavinia's lips were slightly wrinkled and dry. Her eyes seemed droopy and very tired. She was not alone. She stroked someone's hair who slept on her lap. It was Allen who fell peacefully asleep.

-DRAP DRAP DRAP

When she heard that sound, Lavinia stopped humming, but she kept stroking Allen's head. Lavinia knew what the sound was. She frequently heard it almost every day; that was Queen Orc's step.

The door opened, and Queen Orc entered, looking at Lavinia and sleeping Allen on her lap. Queen Orc stood there for a while, then Queen Orc came out and closed the door.

Lavinia sighed and looked down at Allen's face grimly. When alone, she always recalls how Queen Orc killed her friends. She thought that way to keep her sane and keep her big hatred toward Queen Orc.

Lavinia stopped stroking Allen's hair. Her hand suddenly grasped Allen's hair roughly.

"You d*mn little brat," Lavinia muttered.

She tried not to pull Allen's hair with her hands. Her voice trembled, and she looked at Allen with despise.

"You sicken me, very nausea. Your innocence makes me sick, your trait, your face! Do you think I didn't understand everything? You filthy monster! I am sick hearing your confession."

Despite having just learned a little monster language, Lavinia understood everything Allen had said previously, including his confession and Allen's desire for her to stay there forever.

"Aaah, I've always disliked kids since the beginning. I despised a stupid boy like you, Allen. You are the son of the monster who murdered my friends; how could I wish to remain here forever?! I can't stand watching you and your fake-b*stard mother playing around."

Because she is a priest, she never said or thought such rude things and never badmouthed like that. She was fed up with everything now, after two months of acting nice to Allen.

'One thing I cannot get is why Queen Orc can enter this room. Because there were numerous elemental spirits and no demonic mana in this area, it served as a resting place for dungeon explorers. That is why monsters avoid entering this room; there is no mana feeding for monsters here. Queen Orc must be uncomfortable in this room, so much so that her regeneration ability is weakened. That is how bad the atmosphere is for monsters. Nonetheless, she persisted. It's all because of Allen. This monster is crazy; she must consider Allen as her son, and chooses to accompany Allen in this room whenever she can. The proof is that when she saw Allen sleeping on my lap, she knew she didn't have to wait for Allen to fall asleep like she always did. Now, all I have to do is use God's blessing to regenerate my legs and then run away. But before that…'

Lavinia took Allen's sword, which was lying near her. She lifted it limply and looked at the sword. She saw the reflection of her face in that sword. She had a tired, broken, and messed-up face and vengeful eyes.

She vertically twirled the sword and then pointed the tip at Allen's chest.

"Sorry, Allen, I will kill you. This is my vengeance on Queen Orc. IN HONOR OF MY FRIEND! SHE WILL SUFFER LIKE ME!"

Lavinia's hatred was directed not toward Allen but against the Queen. She understood that murdering Allen would upset the Queen, making Lavinia extremely happy. She wanted to catch a glimpse of the Queen's face when she saw Allen's dead body before fleeing. Her heart had become as dark as night and was rife with hatred and rage. A terrifying aura surrounded Lavinia's body as she thought about Queen's sad face.

BUT… 𝗳𝗿𝐞ℯ𝙬𝗲𝗯n𝗼νel.𝒄𝑜𝘮

Despite her raging heart, she couldn't bring herself to push her hand. She cannot make the sword pierce Allen's chest as she thinks about what Allen said to her.

"I WANT YOU TO BE HERE WITH ME!!! FOREVER!!!"' That voice... and Allen's innocent face while saying that, kept playing over and over in her mind. She had never murdered a human before, and if she killed Allen here, it would be her first time killing a human… a human that didn't even hate her or did bad things to her… just an innocent child who just wanted to be with her…

-tes tes tes

Lavinia's tears fall on Allen's cheek.

She was at odds with herself, her heart, and her emotions.

'What should I do now?'

Humans are inconsistent, unstable, and ambiguous.

She tried her best to suppress her tears, but they were already falling freely. She held back her voice and then murmured.

"I can't kill him… I can't… I can't do anything…"

"Friends *sob, I'm sorry, I can't avenge you all *sob. How much I hate that orc, I can't kill an innocent kid like him. *sob, I am a priest, yet I am thinking and saying such sinful things."

Her hand, which was gripping the hilt of the sword, was starting to weaken. She pulled it out of Allen and threw it.

Lavinia took Allen's right hand and grasped it with both of her hands.

____When Allen woke up the next day, he was all by himself. Lavinia was nowhere to be found.