By the eighteenth repetition, her voice had become noticeably hoarse.
"This is all your fault! I lost my son, and instead of comforting me, you're blaming me for reacting like this!"
She desperately tried to point at Ellis once more, but he immediately grabbed her wrist and forced her hand down.
She paused.
Then, without missing a beat, she raised her other hand and pointed at him again.
Ellis "..."
Yeri bit her lower lip to stop herself from laughing.
There was a difference between knowing and not knowing, and looking at Ellis Keir's expression, anyone would have laughed if they knew this was all just a prank.
"Will she be okay?" she asked Shin.
"Of course," Shin said.
But if Ellis's wife found out later how she had repeatedly embarrassed herself, she definitely wouldn't be okay.
On the other hand, Elder Madam Keir had obviously noticed the commotion and began trembling with anger.
The Keir family she had once been so proud of was now tearing itself apart for outsiders to see, when they were supposed to be a united clan, supporting one another and always having each other's backs in the public eye.
"That's enough! Why is no one stopping them?" she scolded. "Do you not feel ashamed acting like this in front of all these guests and at your own son's wake?"
However, unlike before, when her voice carried weight and influence, it was now weak and trembling, barely audible to anyone.
If anything, both nurses noticed that she was unwell and immediately took out her medicine as they wheeled her away from the crowd.
Xati had finally managed to get away from those wrinkly humans, but not from Sean, who continued following him.
"Can't you mind your own business?"
Sean blinked. "Why are you pretending to be an adult? I used to do that too, but Mom said she'd be sad if I forced myself to be someone I didn't want to be."
"I am an adult," Xati scoffed before lifting his chin. "Tell you what, I'm even older than all the humans here. Smarter, too."
Sean "..."
Then he playfully gave Xati a thumbs-up.
"You're so good at acting! You really got Prince Pirate's arrogant character!"
Xati looked at him as if he were an idiot and reminded himself that humans were stupid, and this little human was even more so.
Tilting his head, he nodded. "Fine. You could count as one of my pets. I have three orbs of snake, and a necklace, but they're all sealed. Well, one of them got stolen when I first arrived here, but I know where it is."
Sean also fell into thought.
"No, you're wrong. Prince Pirate's pet wasn't a snake. It was a dragon."
Annoyed, Xati stomped his feet before turning around to leave.
At this point, Ellis had already asked security to drag his wife away. He followed along, leaving the crowd baffled and filled with speculation about his wife's mental state.
Lianna spotted Yeri and greeted her.
"I thought you wouldn't attend. It's been a while."
Yeri smiled before leading Lianna to a corner where they could sit and chat. Her backside was already hurting, and standing for too long was making her tired.
Shin followed behind, but even though it was a funeral gathering, that didn't stop the other capitalists from taking advantage of the moment to speak with him. Before long, he was surrounded.
Jj sat down beside Yeri and Lianna, and it wasn't long before Anri inserted herself into the conversation.
"Brother Jj, you were so amazing earlier. Others wouldn't have had the courage to speak up because they were afraid of offending someone from the Keir family, but you didn't hesitate." Anri sounded excited, her eyes gleaming. "You don't know this, but you looked so handsome when you spoke up earlier. I really wish I had a boyfriend who would always have my back no matter what. You know, someone like you."
Yeri already somehow knew what kind of person Anri was, but Lianna didn't.
She looked between the two curiously, clearly embarrassed hearing Anri's words.
Anri smiled at them before pausing as she looked at Yeri with a pout.
When she used to like Shin Keir, she had really hated Yeri. Now, even though there was nothing more than sibling-like affection between Jj and Yeri, she still couldn't help but feel jealous of her.
"Sis Yeri, I know you meant well, but Hadi died because of your cousin. His parents are grieving and probably don't want to see anyone related to the person who caused their son's death," she said without thinking.
Yeri didn't even need to respond before Jj looked displeased.
"I'm also a Zhi, and we're here out of basic courtesy. Why should my sister feel guilty?"
Anri flinched, completely forgetting that Jj was a Zhi as well. Her jealousy had made her detach him from the matter entirely.
"That's not it. I'm not saying she's guilty." Her eyes reddened. "I was only thinking about the people Hadi left behind. I'm sorry, it's my fault, but I was just afraid Sis Yeri might get bullied if she came."
Yeri looked at Anri and wondered if she had learned this from Calin.
The acting, the self-blame, and the ability to immediately turn herself into the victim to earn pity were all remarkably polished.
In the end, Jj looked at Yeri apologetically as he stood to leave, giving the two women some privacy to chat in peace.
Of course, Anri followed him like a shadow, but not before throwing Yeri a hurtful look as if she were somehow responsible for the misunderstanding.
"That..." Lianna frowned.
Yeri briefly explained who Anri Rune was and shrugged. "Don't mind her. I think she just read too many romance novels."
With her privileged background, Anri had nothing better to do than dream about her destined man and live in her own delusion all day.
"Aren't you worried about your brother?"
Yeri thought about it for a moment before smiling meaningfully.
Jj was his own person. Whom he chose to like wasn't something she could interfere with, even if that person happened to be Anri.
Besides, if Anri turned out to be just like Calin, now that Yeri had regained her memories, she could simply use her demon ability to make Jj see her true colors.
"Doctor Neri keeps glancing over here, and he seems nicer than before?" Yeri changed the topic.
Lianna almost rolled her eyes. "Ignore him. He probably took the wrong medicine lately."
"Is that classmate of yours still pursuing you?"
Lianna sighed. "It's only because he now knows that I'm the infamous Mrs. Neri, thanks to a certain someone. I wouldn't be surprised if there were others who approached me for the same reason."
Yeri understood that the "certain someone" was Doctor Neri. As a wealthy single mother, some people might see Lianna as an easy target, assuming she was in need of a man.
That also explained why Doctor Neri seemed to have changed. With competitors appearing, he really couldn't afford to be too confident that Lianna wouldn't fall for someone else.
Just then, Yeri felt a tug beside her.
Looking down, she met Xati's gaze.
For a moment, Yeri was at a loss, not knowing how to respond, when she heard Sean's cheerful voice calling out to her.
"Big Sis Yeri! I get to see you again! You look tired. Are you okay?" Sean asked.
"Yes. This is just my natural complexion," Yeri replied.
Xati, who felt completely ignored, looked wronged. "Big Sis? You know Emp—"
He almost said "Empress Mother" before quickly changing it to "...her."
Sean nodded enthusiastically. "She's Mom's friend."
Yeri's heart was pounding.
After all, even in this different timeline and identity, she now knew that this little demon was her son.
Looking at Xati, who kept stealing glances at her, Yeri figured he must have been expecting that she already knew who he was and why he had come to this realm.
She merely told Lianna that Xati was a Keir, much to the latter's surprise, before making an excuse that there was something she wanted to ask the child about.
Taking his hand, she led him toward the back garden.
The two sat silently on a bench for a moment, seemingly observing each other.
"I..." Yeri cleared her throat. "How's living with the Keirs? Are they treating you well?"
Xati pouted.
"It's a strange infrastructure, and everything is so small, but I guess it's okay. The humans are okay too. They laugh and smile for the most trivial reasons."
Yeri "..."
Well, considering her memories of the demon realm and its palace, which gleamed as though it had been carved entirely from black diamond, even the grandest palaces in the human world probably looked like a joke to Xati.
For a moment, Xati became unusually talkative, airing out all his grievances and complaints about the human realm while Yeri couldn't help but laugh, her smile stretching from ear to ear as she listened to him.
"If you miss that realm, can you still go back?" she asked.
Xati nodded reluctantly before shaking his head.
"But I'm not going back. Why should I when you're here, Empress Mother..." He suddenly stopped and corrected himself. "I mean, Big Sis. Can I call you that?"
Yeri's eyes moistened.
No matter how many times Shin Keir reminded her that her life as an empress, as a demon, was gone and that she should simply live as Yeri, it was still impossible for her not to feel something for this little demon.
Not to mention, she felt like she owed this child so much.
"How about you call me Big Sis when there are other people around? And if it's just the two of us, you can call me whatever you want."
"Really?!"
Xati's eyes immediately lit up, all his previous reservations disappearing as he pounced on her and hugged her.
"I knew Empress Mother loved me the most! That mad Emperor can die of jealousy! He thinks he can compete with me even in this realm, hmmph! He can continue dreaming!"
Yeri's smile froze.
"Compete with you in this realm? You mean he's also here?"
Xati blinked. "Yeah. Do you not remember how you ended up here, Empress Mother?"
"No, Brother Shin already told me."
Yeri didn't realize the anxiety creeping into her voice, her heart pounded even more violently as her back and hands turned cold.
Memories of how she had died began pouring into her mind again, while something deep in the back of her consciousness screamed at her to stop.
Don't ask.
That it's for her own sake that she remained oblivious.