Nyssa responded to the cries of her disciple by pinching his nose, preventing him from leaping at her, before saying, “You should have thought of that before kissing the heiress of a clan in front of the entire world.”

  “…I…”

  “What? Now you regret your actions?” Nyssa said, giving her son’s nose a shake, before letting it go. “I thought you liked her.”

  “I do,” Alnea said without any hesitations, while rubbing his nose with an aggrieved face. “But her clan…”

  “What about her clan? If you really like her, then you should have the courage to fight for your love.”

  “…I… I will try.”

  “Silly child,” Nyssa said, with the edges of her lips curving upwards ever so slightly. “Though you may not be any clan’s heir, you are my disciple, my son. Just that alone is enough to give you a status no less than heirs of most clans. Not to mention the talent and ability you showed in the Lost City.”

  “…I… Will her mother know about it too?”

  “Her daughter spent the last two years with you. So, yes, she will know everything about you. Things, that even you do not know about yourself.”

  “I… She will not really kill me, right?”

  “Perhaps,” Nyssa said, becoming even more amused with her son. “It depends on your performance.”

  “I…”

  “If you are so flustered from Cecilia’s mother finding out about you two, what will you do when we return to the Union?”

  Alnea paused, both in thought and action, before glancing at Yuri. She, just like everyone else, was staring at him. But unlike others, there was a hint of fear and anticipation in her eyes. Both, for him, and herself. The Faed clan…

  “I understand,” Alnea said, turning back towards his master. “I just need to show them that I am worthy of their daughter, right?”

  “…You are not wrong. But how are you going to do that? Let me warn you first, for people at the Grand Rank and above, talent does not matter anymore.”

  “…I… I will think of a way.”

  “Then you better think fast, because we are going to Rian.”

  “Now?”

  “Do you have anything else to add?”

  “No… I meant, do we have to go at night?”

  “I have some matters to attend to in Rian… You will know once we get there,” Nyssa said, before glancing at Daes, Tia, and Vestia. “Since you have already introduced yourselves, I should tell you bit more about myself too. You already know my title. Lady of Thorns. Though some people also call me as the Black Star of the Union. You will learn of these things once we get to the Union.

  “In addition, just like my disciple, I too do not belong to any clan. So, you do not have to be too restrained with me. Though, you still need to maintain some civilities. And discipline. I do not care how you used to live your life before, but since you have chosen to follow my disciple, it is my responsibility to guide you on your paths. Whether to make sure that you keep up with him, or to ensure your own safety… Do you have any doubts?”

  “Many,” Daes said, glancing at Alnea. “But there is only one that is bothering me…”

  “What is it?”

  “…Are you his real mother?”

  “…No—

  “She is,” Alnea said, answering for his master. “Though she did not give birth to me, she is still my mother. The best mother in the world.”

  “…Silly child,” Nyssa said, pinching her son’s cheeks, with a hint of smile on her face, before turning back towards Daes. “As he said, I may not have given birth to him, but he is still my son. Nothing in the world can change that fact.”

  “…I… I am sorry. I did not mean to—

  “It is alright,” Nyssa said. “You would have learned about it soon enough anyways. In any case, does anyone else has any doubts?”

  Everyone shook their heads.

  “Very well then,” Nyssa said, pushing herself off the ground, with the rest quickly following suit. “Get ready. We are heading back to Rian.”

  …If they were heading back to Rian, then Alnea had quite a few doubts. Maybe enough to last till Enn’s rise. But before he could put those doubts into words, his master’s Spirit Power had already wrapped around him, and pulled him into the air. Along with the girls. Even Daes and Tia. Though, they could fly on their own, how could a True Wanderer’s speed compare to a Grand Wanderer? And his master seemed to be in a hurry… Was she so eager to see him getting killed?

  “…Your mother,” Alnea said, shifting closer to Cecilia. “How strict is she?”

  “…She is not very strict with me, but only when she sees me as my mother. When she sits on the Serpent Throne, or acts as the Serpent Matriarch, then I am just another Serpian to her.”

  “…Then the man who proposed to your sister…”

  “He was just a stupid man… a pawn used by other clans to test my mother, when Serena first broke through to the Fourth Stage.”

  “…Then when she learns about you and me…”

  “…I do not know,” Cecilia mumbled, glancing around, with her blood creeping to her cheeks. “And stop speaking!”

  …It was not as if he was kissing her. He was just asking some questions. Why was she acting so embarrassed? Alnea found the answer when he followed Cecilia’s gaze to glance around himself, and saw everyone except his master looking at him and Cecilia with amused gazes. Then again, they were all wrapped in his master’s Spirit Power, so she did not even need to look at him. He already knew that she too must be smiling at him…

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “…Forget these people,” Alnea said, fighting off his embarrassment. Maintaining his image was important, but not as important as his life. “Tell me more about your mother… What does she like? Would she be angry if do not follow the Wanderer etiquettes? Or should I…”

  Alnea spent the next quarter of an hour asking all sorts of questions, but all he got in answer was a glare from a blushing Cecilia, and amused laughter from the other girls… Noting down the grievance in his head, he swore to take his revenge one day. Not as an Oath, of course. His Oaths were not meant for such pity things. They were meant for things far greater than he could even understand…

  But it was not the time to explore, or even think about his Roots. Cecilia’s mother… The Serpent Matriarch… Slaying Thrall Lords as a True Wanderer, and decimating Grand Thralls as a Mystic Wanderer… She was legend in herself. And that was not even considering the power she had at her disposal. Not to mention the other Grand Wanderers in their family. He remembered Cecilia saying something about her grandmother…

  “Stop worrying so much,” Yuri said, bringing Alnea out of his daze. “It is not going to help anyway.”

  “…Then what should I do?”

  “…How about just lying down, and letting her mother spank you for a while? Who know, maybe she will be moved by your ‘sincerity’?”

  “…Laugh all you want, but do not forget, we will be going to the Union in a few months. I will see how you laugh then.”

  “Even if my mother learns about… us, the one suffering brunt of her wrath will still be you. I will just be scolded at most, and be restricted from leaving my clan. You, on the other hand…”

  “…I don’t want to live anymore.”

  “Who told you to be so greedy?”

  “…Stop speaking. Just let me die.”

  “I thought you loved us.”

  “…I…”

  “Are you not going to fight for us?”

  “…Fight? Against your clan? I do not even know if I can get past the level of Cecilia’s mother alive!”

  “So, you are going to give up?”

  “…I am not giving up, I—

  “Alnea Oathkeeper, the man who abandoned his love in fear of—

  “Fine! You win. I have never feared a fight anyway. At most, they will just kill m—

  “No one is going to kill you, fool,” Yuri said, before turning her gaze down to the ground. “Now, stop whining, and prepare yourself for a spanking. We are already at Rian.”

  Alnea followed Yuri’s gaze to look down, but did not find any city. Instead, he saw a snake so enormous, that even after it had coiled around itself, it still stretched for tens of kilometres in all directions. And it was raising its head high up in the sky, as if—

  Alnea blinked, and the snake was gone, replaced by buildings and streets, designed in the form of a coiling snake. And at the end of the snake’s tail, where they were descending, was a woman, clad in forest green robe, just like Cecilia’s, standing with her hands held behind her back, and her head raised towards the skies, as if waiting for their arrival. A thought that was proven correct when his master landed right in front of her, and gave her a terse nod.

  “It has been a while, Serpent Matriarch.”

  “It is good to see you too, Nyssa,” the woman said, and paused for a moment, glancing at Daes and Tia. “I see that you have brought some unexpected guests.”

  “They are my disciple’s Dependents. I hope that you will not mind.”

  “…Dependents? Did he get them on his own, or are they sponsored by their elders?”

  “He got them on his own.”

  “…It seems that your disciple is even more talented than the rumours.”

  “He is just blessed by Goddess Ilea.”

  “Luck is also a part of a Wanderer’s strength.”

  “Indeed,” Nyssa said, nodding once again. “Have the arrangements been made, Serpent Matriarch?”

  “…They have, but I would prefer if you do not call me the Serpent Matriarch today,” the woman said, glancing behind Nyssa’s shoulder with a faint smile on her face. “Today, I am just Ironia Serpia.”

  …Ironia Serpia. Alnea gulped, and followed the woman’s gaze to glance at Cecilia, standing too close to him for his comfort. Then again, he was the one who had shifted closer to her…

  “…Mother.”

  “That is it?” Ironia said with a hint of dissatisfaction in her voice. “Is that all I get from my daughter, whom I have not seen in over two years?”

  …Was it too late to shift a little?

  “…I… I missed you.”

  “Oh? Did you? But the information I have tells me otherwise,” Ironia said, glancing at the boy standing next to her daughter. “I heard that you have been ‘fun’ in the Lost City.”

  It was certain. He was going to die.

  “I…”

  “You can interrogate your daughter later, Ironia,” Nyssa said, coming to the rescue of Cecilia and Alnea. “She—They have just returned from the Lost City. Let them rest for a few days… When the time comes, I will send them both to you myself.”

  …Both? Why both?

  “…Of course,” Ironia said, withdrawing her gaze from Alnea. “I was just curious about the boy whom I have been hearing so much about… But you are right. They do need a rest… Follow me.”

  Ironia turned around, and walked towards the city, giving no chance for anyone to object. Not that Alnea would dare to, even if given the chance. Her eyes… Alnea gulped once again, before hurriedly catching up with his master, sticking to her side. It was not that he was afraid of Cecilia’s mother. He just did not wish to be too far away from his own mother. Not at the moment, and not a few days later either…

  Unfortunately for him, his master did not seem to care about his wishes, and kept walking in silence, following Cecilia’s mother into the city. One still bustling with life even at midnight. And unlike the Lost City, which was perpetually enshrouded in a blood red light, the lights illuminating the streets of Rian came in all kinds of colours and shades, though most of the people used either yellow or white, with a few preferring to use green.

  Yet, what set the Rian apart from the Lost City was not the lights, or the strange design of its streets, but the smile on the faces of the people around him, and their laughter, drifting with the first winds of winter. They were not afraid, or hungry, neither were they looking for their prey. They were just enjoying their lives with their families, and praying the same for everyone else.

  Though, for some reason, no one seemed to notice him even when he brushed past their shoulders. But that was true of everyone in his group. Even Cecilia’s mother. In the eyes of the city’s residents, they were just a gust of wind, no different from any other wind rushing into the city, cutting across its spiralling streets through the connecting streets in the gaps between the buildings, heading straight towards the centre of the city.

  From crowded streets to relatively quieter ones, they made it all the way to the part of the city, where the only people roaming the streets were the guards. And an occasional Wanderer or two, going about their business. Just like Cecilia’s mother, leading them to an inconspicuous house. A two storeyed mansion, almost the same size as the mansions in the Lost City, just more luxurious in appearance. Its roof—

  “Go on,” Nyssa said, breaking Alnea out of his thoughts. “Go in. There is a surprise waiting for you.”

  “…Surprise?” Alnea mumbled, glancing at Cecilia’s mother. He did not think his Heart could bear any more surprises. But she did not seem to have any intention of walking into the mansion. On the contrary, just like his master, she too was staring at him, waiting for him to walk in first…

  Alnea gulped, but did as what his master asked him to anyway, pushing open the doors of the mansion, and walking in with slightly hesitant steps, only to pause, both in thought and action, in the very next moment. The only thing occupying his mind was the figure of the woman standing in the centre of the mansion’s main hall, with a haggard look in her eyes, yet a wide smile on her face. One accentuated with tears trickling by its side.

  “Mom!”

  “…Welcome home, Alnea,” Ciena said, almost in a whisper, as her son quickly rushed to her, pulling her into a hug. “And happy birthday.”