VILLAIN'S HAREM IN OTOME GAME

Carolynn stood frozen, her fingers lightly resting on Eren’s shoulders. Her orange bangs cast a shadow over her lowered face.

Eren didn’t move an inch. His blue eyes sharpened with clarity as he studied her trembling posture.

"Is this about that vial of The Substance I handed you for analysis three days ago, Madam Carolynn?" Eren asked softly.

The moment the name left his lips, the Demon Queen’s fingers trembled. A shiver racked her voluptuous frame, her knees wobbling.

"The Substance? What on earth is that compound, and what does it have to do with Mama?" Before the petite professor could walk to them, Carolynn’s knees completely gave out.

The ancient ruler collapsed squarely onto the floor. Her entire frame shuddered as soft, broken, wet gasps escaped her chest, struggling and utterly failing to hold back a torrent flood of agonizing grief.

"I’m sorry... I’m so sorry..." Carolynn repeatedly choked out in a broken rasp, her manicured fingers clutching frantically at the hem of Eren’s uniform jacket as uncontrollable sobs wracked her body.

Norelia confused. Kneeling beside the collapsed woman, she placed a tender hand onto her trembling shoulder. "Mama... look at me. What happened?"

Carolynn slowly lifted her head.

There was no trace of the seductive Vice Principal —only a raw, ugly cry that completely distorted her breathtaking features.

Mascara and tears tracked messy, glistening trails down her blotchy, flushed cheeks. Her eyes were flooded with the terror of buried guilt, desperate regret, and secrets.

Reaching out with trembling arms, the Demon Queen pulled her daughter into a desperate embrace, burying her tear-stained face into Norelia’s shoulder.

"I made a terrible mistake, Norelia..." Carolynn wailed in a muffled rasp. "Your mama is a monster... I don’t deserve to live... I don’t deserve any of this..."

Norelia blinked through a haze of confusion, but her instincts took over. Softening her posture, she gently stroked the fiery orange strands of her mother’s hair, her voice dropping into a tender, soothing whisper.

"It’s alright, Mama. Who decides who deserves to live or die? You’re here now. Tell me what happened."

"I can’t bear seeing you tear yourself apart like this."

***

A few minutes later, Carolynn was sitting back on the sofa with a fresh, dry blanket pulled over her shoulders. Norelia stood beside her, gently wiping a cloth across her mother’s swollen eyelids and blotchy cheeks.

Eren sat directly opposite them in a chair, leaning his elbows on his knees.

Norelia exhaled a long breath, adjusting her spectacles as her mind organized the confession.

"So, to summarize," Norelia began in her crisp lecture tone, "The Substance is a lethal narcotic that forcefully clamps down on a person’s mana pathways, preventing natural leakage to artificially boost their strength. But consistent usage corrodes the soul, driving the consumer completely berserk."

"Spot on, Professor," Eren nodded.

"And you have been running a covert investigation behind our backs, and asked the Vice Principal for clues."

"Two points for you," Eren replied with an unashamed smirk.

Norelia narrowed her eyes in pure, vein-popping frustration, planting her hands firmly on her hips.

"Idiot, do you have any idea what kind of hell Captain Emma will rain down upon your skull if I inform her that you’ve been sticking your neck into an underground conspiracy without her at your side?"

Eren let out an offended, theatrical groan, slumping back in his chair with his arms crossed like a grounded toddler.

Norelia rolled her eyes, completely ignoring his childish whining. Turning back to the sofa, her expression softened into concern as she looked down at the dejected Demon Queen.

"Alright, Mama," Norelia murmured gently. "We understand what The Substance is now. But why did seeing a single sample drive you into a complete mental breakdown?"

Carolynn stared down at her lap, her fingers twisting the fringe of the blanket. Her porcelain face looked like having countless wars against memories she had spent centuries trying to bury.

"Because..." Carolynn whispered, her voice trembling with raw dread. "...I was the one who created it."

She swallowed hard, lifting her tear-rimmed eyes. "The original formula for The Substance was engineered by my own hands during the United Humy War. Its primary alchemical catalyst... was my own blood."

"Wait, what?!"

Eren shot straight out of his seat, genuinely shocked.

"Are you seriously telling me this entire drug crisis is running on your ancient, three-hundred-year-old biological recipe?" Eren said as he stepped forward. "You can’t be serious."

Carolynn slowly shook her head. "I am telling the absolute truth, Eren."

"Eren, sit down and let her finish," Norelia instructed firmly, though the tremor in her own small hands betrayed her shock.

Eren exhaled and dropped back as she continued her painful confession.

"I was desperate back then," Carolynn murmured, her gaze turning distant as ghosts of a bloody era surfaced in her mind. "Humanity’s holy legions were pushing my people to the brink of extinction. I synthesized the compound to level the playing field. It temporarily bypassed biological limits, multiplied physical strength tenfold, and turned regular demon foot soldiers into unstoppable vanguards."

She let out a dry, bitter gasp that sounded like shattering glass.

"It worked precisely as intended for the first few months. We pushed the battle lines back. But then... the latent side effects began to fester. The compound didn’t just boost strength; it corroded cognitive functions, ate away at the soul core, and drove users into uncontrollable, cannibalistic madness. I ordered an immediate ban on the formula."

"My subordinates... the generals saw only expendable power. They seized my research notes, began mass-producing the drug in secret, and dosed entire battalions until they became mindless, feral beasts. They slaughtered defenseless human villages, butchered their own kin, and committed atrocities so unspeakable."

A fresh wave of tears tracked down her flushed cheeks, her grip around Norelia’s fingers tightening.

"That was the day I made my choice," Carolynn sobbed softly, her voice heavy with the crushing weight of history. "I couldn’t stand by and watch my legacy drown the world in madness. I betrayed my own kind. I executed my seven high generals in a single night, incinerated my research facilities, and severed the demon vanguard from within... ultimately handing victory to the allied human kingdoms."

Eren stared at the trembling Demon Queen, no playful banter. His blue eyes narrowed.

"If it requires your literal bloodline to function, then how the hell is it circulating through the human realm right now? Did you supply the harvest, Carolynn?"

Norelia snapped her head around. "Eren, stop it! Why would you even accuse her of that?! Look at her—she’s completely torn apart!"

"Because I need to be damn sure she isn’t the one orchestrating this nightmare, god damn it!" Eren roared back, the sudden force of his voice echoed through the quiet room.

Both women flinched at the raw explosion.

Eren exhaled as he stepped toward the sofa. He dropped to one knee before the crying succubus, his tone softening.

"I don’t want to doubt you, Carolynn," Eren murmured, his blue eyes locking onto her gaze with a pleading glint. "I want to protect my demon queen. I want you and please, tell me."

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