“Vyvyan… I beg you… Vyvyan……” Vyvyan silently watched her brother kneeling before her without any expression on her face. Her blue eyes were completely still, completely indifferent as if he were just an ant crawling past.
Inard knelt on the ground with his head at his sister’s toes. In elven culture, that act meant that he had submitted to her. Inard was the son of the elf king, and the next king in line. He was Vyvyan’s elder brother, and the man that she loved and most probably still loves. He who never lowered his head was now kneeling before his sister.
“Onii-sama, you are the prince of elves and yet you are kneeling before your sister for the sake of a human woman and her child?”
Vyvyan’s voice was unbelievably cold. She wasn’t angry that her brother was stolen away by Elizabeth. Elves understand love very well. They understand that both parties must love each other to receive the blessings and protection of the gods. Therefore, when she found out her brother liked Elizabeth, Vyvyan wasn’t in pain, and instead sincerely gave them her blessings.
However, at the time, Vyvyan was still naive enough to believe that the world would accept them. The reality however, turned out to be the elf king becoming furious and ordering them to kill the human woman and her child. Vyvyan let Elizabeth go considering their friendship, so only her child was left.
Vyvyan had no feelings for the child. Yes, no feelings whatsoever. He was but just an infant to her.
So she had no hesitation and felt no sense of guilt when it came time to kill the child. While it was regretful, it was just that the child happened to be born in the wrong place. If he were the child of a normal household, he might have been fine if nobody said anything. But there was no way the royal family was going to let a mixed-blood offspring succeed the throne.
However, because of Elizabeth, Vyvyan wanted to save the child too.
She wasn’t angry because her brother was weak as she understood the love of parents. When a man doesn’t have a family, he can be decisive and fearless, but once he has a child, he may retreat at any given moment, not because of fear of death, but due to the fear that there would be nobody around to look after his family.
She knew that her brother wasn’t a weakling, but that he knew his child would die if he didn’t submit.
“Vyvyan, Vyvyan… I beg you… I beg you, please save my child… He is my only child…… I don’t care what happens to me, but, I beg you, please save the child. Vyvyan, I will stay by your side forever in the future. I will be a good husband and a good father. I won’t contact Elizabeth again. I beg you, please just save the child.”
“Onii-sama, I love you but, the thought of trading a child for your love has never crossed my mind. This child isn’t your gambling chip!”
Vyvyan stuck her foot forwards slightly angrily, and then said, “I will show some benevolence. I will destroy his mana, and then toss him to the humans. Whether he survives or not, and how he survives will depend on the gods.”
“Our gods won’t help a mixed-blood child!”
“I’ve already given him a chance at life. It’s not my fault if he dies.” Vyvyvan looked at her brother. In a somewhat angry tone, she continued, “Onii-sama, you can’t keep this child!! The child is of mixed-blood. He’ll be discovered! Forget the royal family, mixed-blood elves can’t survive here. He won’t be able to work, and he won’t be permitted into the palace. He’ll die here with us elves if he stays with us, no question about it. If we toss him to the humans, he might have a chance at life!”
“I can’t do something that would let Elizabeth down!”
“You already have!!”
Vyvyan looked at her brother and shouted loud enough to lose her voice. Tears formed in her blue eyes. She looked at her brother and hopelessly shouted, “You got together with Elizabeth before consulting our teacher. You didn’t say anything about Elizabeth being pregnant either. Hiding everything like that was what led to the current situation! Your irresponsible and impulsive decisions were what hurt Elizabeth most!!”
Inard held his face as he knelt on the ground and tightly hugged his sister’s leg. He choked as he said: “I can’t… I can’t watch… I can’t watch my child with Elizabeth leave just like this. Elizabeth has already left, so the responsibility of looking after him has fallen on my shoulders. I can’t abandon him. There’s no way I can. I want to keep him by my side. I must keep him by my side!”
“That’s impossible, onii-sama! Come to your senses!!”
Vyvyan slapped her brother across his face. Inard’s body wobbled. He cried as he raised his head to look at his sister and shouted: “I have a way, I have a way! I’ll use time reversal magic. I can return the child to the state before he was born, and then move him into your body. Sister, you’re a pure-blooded elf. The child that you and I give birth to will be a pure-blood for sure……”
*Smack!*
Vyvyan slapped him a second time, only this time, she used all her strength. She had the red blush of a young girl on a face, but she was actually furious. Her slap sent Inard flying and he banged his head on the leg of a table. Vyvyan looked at him and shouted: “Are you crazy, onii-sama?! You’re saying you want to take a born child, turn him back into a fetus and place him in my womb?! During an elf’s pregnancy, she will transfuse her mana to her child once! Do you know what the consequence of that is?! With two sources of mana being transfused into the child, the child’s mana will become completely berserk! Onii-sama, you’re aware of the consequences of the berserk mana condition, are you not?! Right now, he’s a mixed-blood that has a normal flow of mana thanks to your blood. If we do it again, his mana will become berserk!”
“Even so, that will allow him to survive!”
Inard trembled as he stood up and looked at his sister. He extended his hands out and then pulled his sister into his arms. Vyvyan desperately hammer-fisted him. Inard panted crazily. He wouldn’t back off regardless if she hit or strangled him. He shouted: “I know you love me! I’ll be sure to fulfil the responsibilities of a husband and father in the future. Vyvyan, I beg you. I’ll give my entire life in exchange for the child’s rebirth, okay? I beg you. I beg you. I won’t think of Elizabeth again. I’ll continue to be your husband and always protect you!”
“Still, I don’t want to have another person’s child!!! I want my child to be ours!!”
Vyvyan started crying. No woman could accept this sort of humiliation, asking her to carry another woman’s child and view it as her own child. The man that she loved wanted to exchange his company for the woman he loved and the child he had with her. What woman would be able to accept something like that?
“This is our child! This is our child! I won’t see Elizabeth again. We’ll give birth to this child and say it’s ours. I won’t tell him. When you want to tell him, you can decide whether or not you want to tell him. We can have other kids of our own. If you can’t accept it, we can have another child of our own afterwards, as long as we can let this child live on. I beg you, sister. Anything, as long as he can live on.”
Inard held Vyvyan in his arms. Vyvyan was rarely hugged by her brother. She had never seen her brother so hopeless before. Her brother had always protected her. When she felt hopeless, she always believed that her brother could save her, and protect her he did. Now it was his turn to be the one in despair, and she could save him.
She had always loved her brother. Always…… Seeing her brother in so much pain, she felt like her heart was being crushed.
It’s just a child. Just one child. She could have another child of her own with her brother afterwards.
“Alright, onii-sama……. however… remember what you promised…….”
She gently wrapped her hands around her brother’s back and tightly embraced him.
“Uhm… I know…… I love you, Vyvyan……”
“I too…. I love you too, onii-sama……”
She initially didn’t like the child.
It was a cowardly form of punishment for her. He was the evil incarnation of a human. She lied to her brother, abandoned her hurt brother and her own weakness. That’s how humanity is, always running from their own responsibilities, yet coveting that moment of happiness without any consideration for that consequences. And this child was a creation from their love that was not meant to be.
That… was how… it was meant to be…….
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