Chapter 45: Chapter 44 – Willpower

"Willpower... That's the factor that will decide whether a Dragon Lady lasts for 3 hours or a full 25 days before succumbing. Something so uncertain is all that temporarily protects us from succumbing to Frenzy permanently. If we're lucky, we last long enough to seek help; otherwise, we can only hope for our end to be as swift as possible. Humphh."

After releasing a dissatisfied sigh, perhaps because the man didn't react to her words, Nala stopped staring at him and returned her gaze to Mom and Abigail.

She seemed a bit more confident, so she began walking to the front of the armchair where she was but didn't sit. Then she started speaking:

"The longer a Dragon takes to succumb, the stronger and more relentless the Blood Frenzy attacks, like hunger that is not satisfied and only grows over time... I believe you understand this very well, Inessa."

"..."

"Lady Nala, please, don't mention this topic... Inessa is..."

"She's recovering, I know... But she must know better than anyone what I'm trying to explain."

Okay... I think Nala just touched on a very sensitive topic about Mom. And as always, it must be related to the incident three years ago. What exactly happened, I still have no idea, but now I have another clue.

But I have to admit that Nala's ability to touch on sensitive subjects so accurately is really impressive. Out of nowhere, she managed to shift the focus of the conversation from the three women to Mom with a single sentence.

And not only that, Nala just switched from defense to offense in the same move. After all, in a clever way, Nala is trying to use this argument as a way to relate Mom to the three women. She too knows it was effective.

Cowardly? Yes. But quite effective.

Once Nala finishes, she sits in the armchair as if she hadn't said anything extraordinary, but she doesn't wait for a response from Abigail or Mom. She keeps talking:

"I understand perfectly how you feel, Inessa. I've seen friends succumb to Frenzy several times. They always succumbed even before I could get help. It was a matter of hours, girl, hours..."

Nala settled into the armchair, put her feet on the table again, but didn't grab the cookies again. Instead, she put her hands on her head and stretched.

Her abs showed halfway when she did this, not to mention her chest almost tearing through her blouse. I was a little fascinated, well, I was drooling for a few seconds before refocusing.

Anyway... After she stretched, she continued speaking:

"None of them were weak or cowardly. I trusted my life to them many times before, and I never regretted it. They were my friends... Sisters whom I admired as if they were idols. And yet, I saw them succumb as quickly as a fire burning in the wind."

At this moment, Nala stopped talking and started staring into space, quiet and still. As if she were thinking deeply about something or remembering something. But I have to admit, this mood doesn't match her at all. I think this contemplative state doesn't suit her personality.

Anyway, she stayed in this contemplative state for almost a minute, only then did she start talking again:

"But I didn't let that bring me down, Inessa. In fact, it only made me stronger. It was because of these horrible experiences that I learned to move forward. And if I, who was alone, managed, you, who have so much motivation, will surely manage too."

Nala certainly knows how to play with words... But I have to mentally apologize to her this time; her intentions were noble. She set an example of how Mom can overcome what she's going through.

At the same time, I also have to correct myself; there's no one without a story. It's wrong to judge people without knowing exactly what their intentions and motivations are.

It's like judging a book by its cover.

"Since then, I've been involved in these kinds of cases, girls. And what I've learned is that strength doesn't matter, but things as trivial as comfort, affection, and hope are extremely important. Do you understand why these things are important, Inessa?"

"Yes, Lady Nala."

Mom finally said something. She also stopped shaking her leg, but she still showed signs of being very nervous. Even so, she finally decided to face Nala directly, as if determined to show that she wasn't so weak.

And to show her resilience, she gave a small smile to Abigail, to show that she was okay before continuing to speak:

"Usually, we have nothing or very little besides our strength and knowledge to hold onto, so we succumb as quickly as a human loses their breath. But when we have something to hold onto, even the weakest aspirant can last for days or weeks."

I'm sure Mom understood where Nala was trying to get, but even so, she didn't try to stop the conversation. Instead, Mom continued to follow the course of the conversation; it's as if Nala was sure from the beginning that this topic would reach this point.

While Nala continued to observe Mom's reactions and movements, Mom began alternating between looking at the carpet and looking at me.

At the same time, she continued to rub her hands together forcefully. After a few minutes of suspense, Mom seemed determined and started talking, still looking at the carpet.

"Only a few of us are lucky enough to have good friends, a family, dreams for the future... All of this makes us strong against Frenzy... But it often only prolongs our suffering because Frenzy is cruel and sadistic. The more we resist, the more disturbed our minds become, and the more painful it is to resist... All we can think of is what would happen if we just gave up."

She then stood up, determined with confidence in her eyes and a little sadness too. Then she started walking towards the three women, doing almost the same thing Nala had done.

But unlike Nala, Mom was looking directly into the eyes of the women. She also ignored the man before stopping in front of the black-haired woman...

She kept looking for a few seconds before touching the woman's shoulder and starting to gently stroke her face.

"For you to have resisted for 23 days... What an incredible thing... I salute you for that; you achieved what even the strongest of us would find impossible. But it must have hurt, right? You must have suffered a lot, didn't you? How many times did you think about ending it all right there to stop that suffering?"

Some drops of tears began to fall from Mom's face right at this moment. Her voice was also wavering and threatened not to come out a few times as she spoke.

You could feel the sadness, empathy, and pain corroding Mom from the inside just by listening to her voice.

Tears also began to stream down the faces of the three women, even though they didn't want to show weakness and were trying to resist. Especially the black-haired woman who was being comforted by Mom.

With efforts in vain, their eyes soon turned red from sadness and soaked with tears that continued to fall against their will. I don't know what they were thinking at this moment, but they didn't want to cry.

Maybe they wanted to convey a stoic impression or simply didn't want to let their guard down. The fact is, no one in the room expected them to continue resisting.

Nala remained in her position and didn't move to see what was happening behind her armchair. But the smile on her face betrayed that she had an idea of what was going on.

Abigail and Hendrina were trying to turn their faces not to embarrass the women even more.

I was looking attentively at the scene in front of me and saw when Mom gently hugged the black-haired woman and started talking to all of them:

"Don't worry, I understand perfectly how you feel... It's okay now... Everything will get better..."

After that, tears began to fall freely from the faces of the three without restrictions. Mom pulled them into a hug all at once, in an affectionate and very beautiful way to see. Like a mother bear protecting her cubs.

Meanwhile, Nala seemed quite satisfied with the situation, even without seeing what was happening. It's as if she had predicted this from the beginning. I have to be careful with that...

Abigail seemed quite resigned to the situation and the loss of the argument again. So much so that she had a contented smile on her face watching the scene. I think she's happy that Mom could find something that stimulates her in a positive way, possibly.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I hope you can help me correct any spelling errors in the chapters.

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