To learn that I’d been on the radar throughout the night was not… actually surprising. Mother taking her anger out on Belfray, though? By blasting him across the sky, at that? Now that was somewhat tragic.

  Poor guy didn’t do anything.

  No, scratch that.

  I guessed from the air in the main hall that he’d tried to defend me.

  He and Radek did, both.

  Then it was my turn.

  “I can’t believe you did this,” Mother said, her face taut with nervousness. Something radiated from her, a sense of weight, a certain heaviness that settled right over my shoulders. “What if something happened to you? Your soul energy is not a toy, Leo, you’re not supposed to play with it like a little child!”

  It was getting harder to breathe.

  I was a little child, damn it.

  Anger rose.

  I knew I was due a crashout, and I could feel the faintest signs of it creeping ever so slowly across my arms. Breathing in, I tried to hold it inside and managed an obedient expression.

  Mother wouldn’t let go.

  “I thought you were clever enough to know what’s good for you. I thought by now you’d learn how to handle yourself. We’ve been teaching you for years, have we not? What happened? How could you be so reckless?”

  Even though she glared at me with intensity that could probably cut through stone, I could instantly think of a few answers.

  “My Lady, I’ve given him a Soulbound Treasure the other day,” Radek interfered with his hands clasped tightly before him, then he winked toward me. “He would’ve been safe if there had been any life-threatening—“

  “Look at his hands!” Mother demanded. “His pitiful internal energy is still struggling as we speak! He’s different than us. Without those hands, he’d be just a simple Knight. I could’ve showered him with treasures worth more than your scalp had I wanted, but I didn’t. You know why? Because I actually thought there was no way he’d harm himself when I ordered a pair of Celestials to watch over him!”

  Belfray’s back hunched further at the remarks, his butler suit already clipped and torn, his face bloody with mud in the mix. He couldn’t for the life of him lift his chin and glance at Mother. Shame, in his case, proved a difficult border to cross.

  Same couldn’t be said about Radek. No matter how Mother pressed him, the Heart Mage’s expression hardly changed. It was as though against this sudden fit of anger, he was trying to keep things cool. Or rather, keep me calm and relaxed.

  It didn’t work.

  My heart raced. My fingers itched as if thousands of worms drilled tiny holes across my skin. It was the first time I saw Mother in such a state, and you have to consider I’d watched her kill a Priest in cold blood.

  So, this was the real Veyra Vorath, the Butcher of the Dawn, the so-called Bloody Mistress, the Celestial Knight whose hands were covered in blood?

  Was it a good thing that she was my mother?

  That was a hard question. In my experience, people with some power were almost always cursed with fucked-up personalities.

  I mean, you couldn’t become the Butcher of the Dawn with compassion, right? You wouldn’t have people like Belfray and Radek serving you just because. To actually earn those names Mother had to have proved herself across the Planar System. How she did that remained a question, but from all the history lessons I was getting from Belfray, I was sure that things hadn’t been pretty for her at all.

  Which made sense.

  Or rather, it would’ve made sense had anyone in this house actually bothered to tell me about our past.

  Then again, there was no running from it.

  Loving or not, every family had to face the day where their children rebelled against authority. What was important was how they would react to that.

  A part of me was eager to prove a point. Another part, my original part that I inherited from my first life, screamed at me to stay silent, but who would I be if I kept letting my former life drag me down? I was a changed man, right? Then I had to show that to myself.

  That was the dream, after all.

  Live a life where I’d be present and without shame.

  “What did you expect?” Words poured out on their own as I lifted my chin and glanced into Mother’s eyes. “What actually did you think was going to happen after you imprisoned me in this house and kept pushing me like that? Do I have a life other than all the training and torture you’d forced me to live through every single day? Did you ever care to ask me ifI’m fine with this or not? Did you ever think that maybe it isn’t such a good idea to treat a nine-year-old like he’s one of your obedient soldiers?”

  Mother froze.

  Belfray looked horrified as he lifted his hands to his mouth.

  Radek’s smile was so faint that only I could see it from this angle.

  Mary wasn’t sneering anymore. The cook’s aide looked decisively shaken.

  “What—“ Mother struggled with her words. “What did you say?”

  “I said that you’re treating me like a slave soldier!” I didn’t even have to try to come up with an answer. I had them plenty. “You know how hard it is to actually be in your presence? Most of the time, I don't even know who you are going to be. Will you be the Celestial Knight feared by all your aides and soldiers? Or will you be my Mother who loves me and can’t stand seeing me get hurt? I can’t even say anything to you because I don’t know how you're going to respond. You make me eat poison, mum! Please tell me you don’t think it’s normal.”

  “I did those things for you…” Mother’s eyes searched the main hall, passing by Belfray and Radek who remained painfully silent against her obvious pleading. Now she was looking for support? Now she thought she could use some guidance? “To be your own master—“

  “You were different when it was just us,” I said, and that was the truth. In that small world this woman was a doting mother who, occasionally, did questionable things. Since the time we stepped foot in this giant place, however, she’d changed. “I tried to understand. I had my own thoughts. You and people in this mansion are obviously not here for a holiday. You’re keeping your identities a secret. We’re acting as though we came here for the scenery, yet it doesn’t fit, mum. The things you make me do are not normal.”

  Stolen novel; please report.

  I took a step forward. That was harder than I thought. Seeing the creases on Mother’s face and watching her struggle with her answers, I was conflicted. For too long I’d gotten used to seeing her in control that for a second this sight didn’t match the woman I knew.

  She was shook.

  Which was a good thing.

  Because it probably meant there was a chance that she could understand.

  “I tried to keep my silence. I told myself that there has to be a good reason for all… this. Radek told me as a Runemaster, there are big things expected of me. That I was a rare talent worth more than millions of men, but I have no friends. I have nothing but this giant mansion. I'm surrounded by dozens of people, yet I feel completely alone. Is this what you want? Raise a son who’s going to hate you for the rest of his life?”

  Okay, that wasn’t a certainty, but definitely a possibility. I didn’t know if I’d be having this talk had I been a normal child. Probably not, though. Chances were, either I would’ve been long folded against Mother’s tight regime and become a docile little creature who lacked any personality whatsoever. Or I’d become a maniac who’d go on to plan his own revenge against the family who raised him.

  Right now, I was in the middle of two extreme, but possible futures. I didn’t hate this woman since getting powerful was enough of a drug that could keep me hooked for a while. I didn’t really love her because… well, because we didn’t have anything remotely close to being a healthy relationship.

  I couldn’t have that.

  I made a promise to myself that in this life I wouldn’t cross people right away. I’d try and keep them around me by giving them chances. If they didn’t take it, there’d be no hard feelings. If they did, though, then that’d save me from becoming the same, miserable fool in this life.

  “We’re in a dangerous place, aren’t we?” I continued. Silence made me uncomfortable. “And you keep things from me because you don’t want to burden me with the truth. I get that. I’m a child, but the least you can do is be more… understanding. I don’t ask much. Just allow me to have my moments here and there, that’s all.”

  “Have your moments?” Mother’s face creased further in thought. “I— I never considered that. The only thing on my mind was to prepare you for the future.”

  “Guidance is important, my Lady,” Radek interfered just at the right moment. “Trust, however, is the one code we should all abide by. Isn’t that how you raised that weak army to become the most feared battalion of the whole Empire? It wasn’t because your men feared you. No, it was because they believed as long as they have you, they’re going to be safe and heard in that forsaken pit.”

  There was a common reaction to those words. Even Mary, who seemed like she had a bone to pick with me, peered out from the wide windows and into the night sky as though she was lost in thoughts.

  Belfray managed to finally glimpse into the Grand Marshall’s face. That apparently took a lot of effort on his side. Then he lumbered forward and bowed deeply. I could hardly breathe from the sheer pressure he radiated at that moment.

  “He’s of a bloodline scarcely seen in this Planar System, Grand Marshall. He’s of a breed whose mention would be enough to scare most. He’s diligent and calm. You’ve seen how clever he is with his words. I’m afraid we’ve done a great disservice to Young Master. We underestimated him.”

  “Hey, speak for yourself.” Radek shrugged. “I knew the moment I laid my eyes on him that the kid’s not your average child. He’s got brains. You’d be surprised how rare a find that is to witness in many a genius in this Planar System.”

  Belfray glared back at Radek, but met with a wide grin, which ultimately pushed his glare further into a tight grimace.

  I was glad for the distraction and the change in mood. I spent a lifetime keeping everything in my chest and suffering from its weight. Now that I poured everything out, no matter how hard it was, I felt a sudden calm settle over me.

  Who knew speaking your mind would bring about such satisfaction, right?

  That was a depressing thought. It seemed, at that second, that I still had a long way to understand how messed up my first life actually was.

  Perhaps I could’ve changed things had I been more present.

  Perhaps I could’ve saved myself from all that misery.

  Eh…

  It was too late now.

  Too late—

  “Leave us,” Mother’s voice echoed slightly across the main hall, the reactions to which were silent and direct. Belfray pulled Radek by the arm against the Heart Mage’s attempts at remaining in the room, while Mary was guided unwillingly out by the butler’s fierce gaze.

  In moments, we were left alone with Mother.

  I could feel the tension in the air, yet I had to stand strong. Now that I made my point, the next move belonged to her. The things she would say would define our relationship, and likely the next few years of my life.

  She kept her eyes on me for what felt like a long hour, and when she decided to speak her mind, I could hardly believe the sight I witnessed.

  There were tears.

  “I don’t know how to be a mother. I was never taught anything,” she said, keeping her tears close, balling one fist as though the mere fact angered her more than an army of enemies. “But I know how to fight. That, I thought, would be enough to raise a child who could keep to his own codes and become his own man. I now see that I’ve been too naive.”

  Wow.

  I nearly flinched a step back, but I managed to hold it together. This look… This woman… She was giving me the chills, and I wasn’t ready for that.

  Which was why I had an impulsive reaction.

  “It wasn’t too bad.” I kinda lied, but her eyes did somewhat regain their former glimmer at those words. “I mean, I’m getting lessons from Celestial Knights and learning how to handle my emotions from a Celestial Heart Mage. I live in a giant mansion surrounded by dozens of staff waiting to hear a word from me. The other day you even brought an elf guy to teach me about being a blacksmith. I don’t think I should take these for granted.”

  “Ah… Is that right?” Mother muttered.

  “Right, of course! We’re doing a fine job on the training front, mum! No worries there!”

  Celestial people didn’t grow on trees. In the history books, the famous figures you’d see were mostly around the Herald stage. Celestials could sweep the floor with a bunch of Heralds. I had, to my knowledge, three of those figures in this house, all teaching different things to me.

  I couldn’t be an ungrateful bastard.

  “We just need a bit of tweaking, that’s all,” I said. “Maybe eat out every once in a while? Just you and me, no guards.”

  “Eat out?” Mother looked confused for a second, then she nodded. “We can do that.”

  “Then maybe, and I’m not saying right now, you can start telling me about our… past. If you feel comfortable, of course!”

  Whew. Nearly blew there.

  “It wasn’t an easy life, was it?” I pressed on. “You and all these people, you share something that I’m not entirely aware of. I want to learn more of it.”

  “You’re too young.”

  “I don’t mean right now, but at least give me something. Tell me why we’re here and why you want me to become a true Runemaster so much. I think we both learned that keeping things from each other doesn’t work, right?”

  “You’re… You’re one clever little devil, aren’t you?” Mother’s face finally eased into a smile.

  I sighed all the breaths that got stuck somewhere around my chest at that reaction.

  “I guess I really am.”

  I chuckled genuinely at that, which netted me a generous pat on my head, with an affectionate ruffle coming right after it.

  We were doing this.

  Good.

  “I can’t tell you anything about our past—“

  “Why? I’m too—“

  “It’s not just because you’re too young. There are certain things that might affect your growth, and mind. I will not let such a burden weigh on my son’s shoulders. You will learn about them when you’re ready. I will tell you the reason why we’re here, in this world, though.”

  Okay.

  I’ll take it.

  Just give me something.

  Please!

  “We can’t teach you how to become a true Runemaster. That fool Gerard couldn’t, either. He is just that, a dog leashed by a rich master, happy to be fed and kept warm, much like how most Runemasters are.”

  “I know that.”

  “Good. Then you know we’re strictly limited in our options, as well. To teach you the ways of the old, we have but one man who’s available across the Planar System. A true master of his craft who, occasionally, takes disciples under his wing.”

  “The so-called legendary Runemaster who’s supposed to be the best, right?”

  I remembered Belfray talking about that guy. He didn’t mention anything about his name, though.

  “I can’t speak of his name, for he will know and won’t be happy about it. I can, however, tell you that he’s a rather difficult person to deal with.”

  “Difficult how?”

  “His price is quite steep.”

  Oh? So it was a sort of paid tutelage rather than the classic master and disciple stuff. For the latter, it was often enough for the master to take a liking to his disciple, or see the potential of his talent. The former, though, could just ask about anything.

  “What’s his price, then?” I asked the obvious. “I thought we were pretty rich. Can’t we just pay him out of the pocket or something? He couldn’t be greedy enough to ask for a whole world, could he?”

  Mother’s expression stiffened.

  The corner of her eye twitched, just barely, but enough for me to notice.

  I suddenly felt funny in my stomach.

  “Mum?”

  Mother’s lips thinned, and for a moment she looked almost embarrassed.

  “…Leo. He did ask for a whole world.”

  I blinked.

  “That’s why we’re here,” she continued. “To get him what he wants.”

  My breath caught. I had expected a high price, but this…

  He asked for a whole world?

  What the damn hell?!

  .........

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