Chapter 1180: Mary had just gone completely mad.

"W-We... kissed..."

That’s it... those words... enough to make her Mother... A daughter con to completely die.

Mary stopped breathing.

Not literally.

But something inside her died... something tender, maternal, sacred—froze completely and shattered in silence.

A cold, hollow stillness crept through her chest as if her heart had been encased in ice, and her soul — the very flame that gave her warmth — had been snuffed out.

She didn’t hear her daughter’s voice anymore.

She didn’t see the room or the bed or the gentle smile Lia wore.

Her eyes stared ahead, vacant. Her mind was flooded in silence. She wasn’t just still — she was gone. Frozen. Detached. As if she’d been shot in the chest and was only now realizing she’d been mortally wounded.

Peace?

No.

Loss.

Deep, soul-sinking loss.

And what was the cause?

Her little girl... kissed a man.

Her daughter’s FIRST kiss!!

Her precious baby girl... gave her first kiss to that bastard.

Mary didn’t move. Not even a flinch for several seconds.

She sat there in silence, completely paralyzed... Only her daughter’s giggle echoed.

And only after a long moment — far too long — her body finally stirred. But it wasn’t her will. It wasn’t her heart commanding her.

Her limbs moved as if someone had yanked her strings. Like a machine running on default, she stood up with jerky, soulless movements.

Her joints bent. Her neck turned. Her legs moved. But her soul wasn’t there.

She walked like a ghost possessed.

Inside her mind, words repeated, looping over and over without mercy.

’First kiss... Aether... my daughter... kissed him... her first kiss... given... to that brat...’

Like a Robot!

One that had just received a system error so critical, it was trying desperately to delete, override, or reset the corrupted data — but failing miserably.

Because her mind screamed to erase it.

But her heart refused.

But her heart...

Her foolish, weak, mother’s heart... refused to let go of the truth.

It clung to it.

That memory — that cursed, beloved moment — was precious.

It was her daughter’s first kiss.

Something sacred.

Her daughter’s first step into womanhood.

Something that should’ve been shared in safety, in innocence... With her mother’s blessing.

Gone.

Gone to a boy who was not her.

"M-Mom...?"

Lia peeked from under the quilt, her big eyes blinking with confusion as she noticed her mother standing strangely still.

Why was her mom so quiet?

"I... I... have... work..."

Mary’s voice came out disjointed, like broken code struggling to execute. Each word mechanical. Hollow.

"Oh? Goodnight then, Mommy~"

Lia sang happily, her lips curving in a dreamy smile as she rolled back beneath the covers.

Tomorrow was going to be amazing.

She could already picture it — telling Aether everything, his face lighting up, the joy in his eyes.

He’d definitely be thrilled. Maybe even cry. Maybe propose instantly. Just imagining it made her face burn with excitement.

And Maybe... Maybe...

’Oh my god! Naughty Aether... we shouldn’t do it before marriage~ Hehe~’

She squealed softly beneath the covers, squirming left and right like a flustered little rabbit. Her body writhed with too much joy, and sleep was officially impossible.

She clutched the pillow tight.

No way she’d sleep tonight.

Meanwhile, outside the quilt...

"G-Good... N-Night."

Mary’s voice sounded like someone forcing air through a corpse’s throat.

She turned and left the room like a corpse with momentum. Her limbs dragged in the air, cold and empty.

She closed the door behind her and with final look... saw her daughter squirming under the quilt.

Thud.

The moment it shut... everything changed.

Mary’s eyes... turned black with murderous fury.

A terrifying, merciless fury.

"I am going to roast that bastard alive..." she whispered.

Her voice wasn’t loud.

But it didn’t need to be.

The air around her twisted. Shadows bent unnaturally. Each step she took down the hallway felt heavier than the last. Not because of her physical weight...

But from the unbearable pressure pouring out of her killing intent.

Each step cracked the floor beneath her.

Hairline fractures spread beneath her feet with soft crunching noises, as though the very palace floor was terrified of her wrath.

Walls trembled.

Air grew thin.

Her killing intent oozed out of her body like poison, suffocating the hallway. A blood-chilling pressure swirled in the air — thick enough to choke.

The same rage that destroyed clans. Ended families. Silenced entire cities.

In that moment—Mary wasn’t a mother.

She was Bloody Mary, the Empress of Bloody God~

Far down the corridor, figure rushed towards her.

Morgana.

She was walking fast, clutching a scroll in hand, but when her eyes caught sight of Mary’s frozen, dreadful silhouette, her feet stopped.

Her brows twitched. She didn’t understand what she was seeing.

"Your Majes—"

Thud.

Morgana dropped to her knees instantly, as though the sky had fallen on her shoulders.

She gasped, spine arching under the suffocating weight, struggling to stay conscious.

A metallic taste crept up her throat as she coughed — nearly throwing up blood. Her hands gripped the ground in a panic.

She looked up.

And saw Mary walking.

No, stalking.

Very slowly.. Like a grim reaper who had already decided whose soul was next to be taken.

"M-Majesty...?" Morgana stammered, her voice cracking.

Mary turned her head.

"What?"

That single word was so devoid of emotion it chilled Morgana’s spine.

The memories of a blood-soaked battlefield flashed through her mind — when Mary had slaughtered her own family without flinching. That same soulless gaze now looked down at her again.

’W-Who the hell made her this angry?!’

Morgana panicked, swallowing hard. Her heart screamed for her to run, but her legs wouldn’t move.

She slowly raised a trembling hand, barely managing to speak.

"W-We found... the traces of Xara Seraphine..."

Mary’s eyes didn’t blink. Her expression didn’t twitch.

"Oh? Where?"

Still no emotion. Still that hollow, lifeless voice.

Morgana bit her lip, forcing the words through the fear strangling her throat.

"L-Last seen with... Aether."

A long pause.

A long, heavy silence.

Then Mary’s eyes twitched.

Her lips curved... slowly.

"Oh...? Ohhh~"

A chuckle.

Soft at first.

Then growing louder. Harsher. Twisted.

"Hehehe~"

Her laughter echoed through the palace corridor.

Dark. Hollow.

Like a woman who had just gone completely mad.