MyGO!!! I am the succubus Xiaoxiang?

The daughter in front of him looked up at him, opened her mouth as if to say something, but when she looked at him, she closed her mouth and simply hid behind her.

"What are you hiding?!" Mori Minami strode forward, looking down at her daughter and glancing at her face, which turned deathly pale in an instant.

Why is my face so pale? I got caught red-handed, it's from staying up all night!

"No wonder you always had such a blank expression, and your acting was so stiff. You're so lively now! You're so energetic at night, and you can also have this scared and timid expression! So it's all because you're doing this useless stuff here?! Don't you want to sleep?"

The thought of wanting to give her everything—the best teachers, the best conditions—was so compelling. I was afraid that her acting career would be slower than others, and that she might not become an actress at all.

Take another look at the other person.

We're here with the best conditions.

I had the means back then; if I had such good conditions back then, I would have done so much earlier.

"I have to go out to promote the new drama during the day, and I still have to worry about whether you're asleep at night! And what do you do? You're playing guitar in your room behind my back! Do you stay up like this every night? No wonder, no wonder you always have the same expression during the performance. We work so hard, and this is how you repay us?"

"I didn't, every day..." Wakaba Mutsu's voice was so soft it was almost inaudible.

"Shut up!!!" Mori Minami looked at her daughter. "You've learned to argue now? You've learned to lie? Since you don't want to sleep, then don't sleep! Play! Play all night long! Let's see how long you can play!"

He snatched the guitar from behind Wakaba Mutsumi with such force that the strings emitted a piercing, mournful sound. Then he slammed it heavily against the corner of the wall with a dull thud.

He watched as his daughter looked at the guitar, her brow furrowed as she heard the mournful sound emanating from it!

Minami was furious.

"Go to sleep!" Mori Minami said to her daughter, then watched as she got into bed without moving. She walked to the door, but instead of leaving, she turned back to look at her daughter.

Disbelief, doubt, anger, and an unquestionable belief that her daughter would never listen and would never sleep.

"Door," Minami emphasized, enunciating each word clearly, "Don't close it. Leave it open. I want to see how you'll 'sneak' around now!"

After that, he turned around and left.

Only Wakaba Mutsu remained, staring at the open door.

I lay down silently and stiffly, pulled the blanket up to cover my head, but it couldn't block out the cold wind and the silent, dark gaze from outside the door.

It wasn't until daytime that the broken guitar string grew back on its own while I was lying on Xiang's body.

Xiang sang softly, and when he woke up, the guitar was working again. Xiang and he lay down together to sleep in.

The marks left by the guitar strings were imprinted on Xiang's fingers.

And then.

Every now and then, every night, in the darkness by the door, there would always be a pair of eyes watching me.

However, not long after...

On one occasion, I made direct eye contact with the other person.

Minami Mori emerged from the darkness.

talking.

"Open the door! You can listen to me and wait for me to come, then lie down right away, right?"

"I don't."

"No one? Hmph! They just didn't catch him! Don't open the door! And don't close it either, leave it ajar!"

Having failed to find any evidence that she hadn't slept, Senmina Nami, who was convinced she wouldn't sleep, made this request.

So, it felt as if someone was spying on him through the crack in the door, devouring the warmth and the last vestige of privacy in the room.

Xiao Mu peered through the crack in the door, feeling as if someone was watching her. Her body stiffened like a stone, and she deliberately kept her breathing light and slow, afraid that even the slightest movement would attract the scrutiny of those invisible eyes outside the door.

After an unknown amount of time, amidst extreme exhaustion and the feeling of collapse following intense tension, Xiao Mu finally drifted into a hazy, restless sleep. Her consciousness floated on murky water, sometimes sinking, sometimes rising.

However, sometimes, insecure children sleep with their eyes open. A very subtle, deliberately light footstep, like a cold snake, slithers across the floor, quietly intruding.

Ruo Ye Mu opened his eyes almost instinctively.

Looking at his mother.

"Pretending to be asleep?" That "I knew it" tone was something Wakaba Mutsu had learned.

When the snake came again, instinctively, before waking up, Wakaba Mutsu learned to tightly close his eyes, which had just been slightly opened in terror, and his whole body tensed up instantly, even his toes curled up.

However, in those fractions of a second when my body instinctively tensed up, I noticed the extremely subtle movement of my eyeballs under my eyelids, the momentary disruption of my breathing rhythm, and even the imperceptible twitch of the fingers outside the blanket.

"Sure enough, he's pretending to be asleep!"

"Fine! Keep pretending! Go ahead and keep pretending!"

From that night on, sleep became a difficult and terrifying task.

She no longer dared to fall asleep easily. Every night when she lay down, Ruo Yemu felt that someone was always watching her through the crack in the door. She began to stare nervously at the bottomless darkness in front of the door for a long time, her ears perked up, catching any strange noise in the house. The hum of the water pipes, the start of the refrigerator, or even the sound of the wind blowing through the window frame could make Ruo Yemu stiffen as if she were dead.

I'm afraid of falling asleep because if I do, I'll wake up and be accused of pretending to be asleep, which is an especially difficult act.

Exhaustion was like a heavy brand etched on Wakaba Mutsu's body, and being listless during the day became the norm.

Meanwhile, Mori Minami believed that Wakaba Mutsu stayed up all night, determined to find evidence.

Today, Ruoye Mu fell asleep, enjoying the comfort and warmth that Xiang brought, and the warmth of sleeping in Xiang's arms that she cherished.

And then.

Just as expected, a certainty, and a hint of self-satisfaction, rang out behind him.

Come back.

On Minami's face, there was no surprise, only a mixture of anger and satisfaction, a feeling of "finally, I've been waiting for you" and "as expected."

. . . . . .

Every time my eyes close.

It seemed as if I saw another eye open through the crack in the door in front of me.

Until the sunlight shone through the curtains onto the floor.

Until the outside corridor was bathed in sunlight.

My limbs and bones felt heavy, as if filled with lead, or as if I were tightly bound by countless invisible threads. I propped myself up on the bed and got up.

Sitting in his seat, he asked the maids to bring him breakfast quickly. After stuffing something haphazardly into his mouth, he stood up and asked—no, begged, pleaded—to have the driver take him to school.

Mori Minami had just gotten up, sat down, and prepared her thoughts, wanting to have a good talk with her daughter.

He had done so much for her, but her father hadn't cared about her at all. Only he still cared about her. If he didn't love her, who would stay up late at night to see her?

I want to tell her that her mother loves her and that there is no one better than a mother in the world.

It's for your own good.

If it weren't for your own good, who would do these things? Who would worry about whether you're getting enough sleep?

Mom wasn't angry because you didn't sleep.

I'm worried about your health.

Mom is angry because you lied to her. How could you bear to lie to Mom?

Mom is doing this for your own good.

Look, this is how Mom prepares the most nutritious food for you.

But you're the opposite; you eat less and less, or even refuse to eat at all, preferring to eat junk food instead.

I was worried you weren't getting enough nutrition, so I bought you a bunch of vitamins and fish oil, but you resisted it like it was poison.

Not to mention, these past few days and nights, no matter how tired I am, I still have to listen carefully outside your room to hear what you're doing, for fear that you're neglecting yourself and not getting proper rest.

Mom sacrificed so much because she loves you.

why?

Why don't you understand how much your mother loves you?

But Mom doesn't want you to understand. Just study hard, work hard to improve your acting skills, and if you win an Oscar in the future, I'll be happy if you mention Mom in your acceptance speech.

When you grow up, you'll understand your mother.

Having prepared my thoughts, I sat down, ready to eat, when I saw Ruoye Mu, carrying her schoolbag, push open the door in the distance.

"Musuko Mi!"

"Mori Minami shouted."

However, upon hearing her own voice, Wakaba Mutsu didn't immediately come to her. Instead, she instinctively shrank back, arching her body almost imperceptibly. The look she gave him when she turned her head was filled with fear and dread.

Then, after saying that she was going to school, she ran out.

"As expected, Xiao Mu is talented. That look of fear in her eyes was so expressive!"

Just as Senmina was about to get angry, she suddenly realized how wonderful Mutsu was.

That look, if it appears in the right TV series or movie, would absolutely become the most unforgettable look in everyone's memory.

That fear, the desire to escape, the terror, and also, the despair, and...

awesome.

They are much more talented than me.

I don't even have that kind of look in my eyes.

She's an absolute movie star, an absolute celebrity, Xiao Mu is definitely capable of that.

Where I can't go, Xiao Mu will definitely be able to go.

As for that kind of look in his eyes.

Well, I'm her mother, and she's my daughter.

I raised her, fed her, and clothed her. Without me, she wouldn't exist.

No matter what, I am her mother.

Moreover, everything I do is for her own good.

She is not grateful to herself and yet she sees herself this way.

She wasn't even upset herself, but the other woman was.

But what do kids know, what do they have?

Oh well, never mind, I'll have a good talk with her later and tell her that Mom is doing this for your own good.

What do kids know?

. . . . . .

"Xiao Mu, are you alright?" Su Shi looked at Ruo Ye Mu, who looked exhausted.

"Dumb tape." Ruoye Mu responded blankly, but then, looking at Su Shi beside her, she subconsciously tugged at the other's clothes and then drifted off to sleep.

"It's okay, it's okay," Su Shi said, gently patting Xiao Mu's back.

"Don't worry, take a nap first. Class isn't that far away yet. Okay, okay," Su Shi said, watching Xiao Mu slowly drift off to sleep.

"SOYO".

"I'm here, it's okay." Looking at Wakaba Mutsu's weak appearance was like seeing her own vulnerable self back then, when Shoko was by her side taking care of her.

"Mom's here, it's okay." Just like Xiangzi had comforted her before, Su Shi recalled Xiangzi's appearance.

"Mommy loves you. Mommy is only doing this for your own good, so don't worry, Mommy's here."

However, as soon as she finished speaking, Ruo Yemu looked over with bloodshot eyes, and then stiffly sat down in her seat.

"Xiao Mu?"

"fine."

"Why don't you take a nap? I'll wake you up when class starts. Otherwise, if you fall asleep in class again, the teacher will contact your parents," Su Shi said.

"fine."

Su Shi looked at the indifferent Xiao Mu and couldn't quite understand it.

What exactly went wrong?

Yes, doesn't she look like her mother enough?