“Mom.”
I held Vera, who had blonde hair, in my arms. Mommy Vyvyan gave her the name. The name Vera was very similar to Vyvyan. I didn’t know if she deliberately named her Vera.
Mommy Vyvyan sat at the window, gazing at the moon outside while sipping on wine. It was a very similar scene to Elizabeth drinking at night. Her blonde hair shimmered; underneath the moonlight, it resembled gold. She looked as though she was smiling yet not. She gazed at the moon outside and drank her colourless wine. It looked as if it was water as opposed to a strong wine.
The distilled wine came from humanity. I could tell it was Mommy Elizabeth’s specially produced wine with a single glance. I never saw Mommy Vyvyan drinking so well from memory. Seeing her expression never change made me perceive her to be a better drinker than Mommy Elizabeth. The wine seemed to not have any effect on her.
“Hmm?” responded Vyvyan.
Vyvyan placed her bottle of wine down when she heard me call her. A few drips of wine ran down the corner of her mouth. She looked at me with her blue eyes. She gave off the vibe of a vampire, one that was incredibly beautiful with the moonlight shining down. She was so beautiful that men would disregard their safety and continue to approach her.
After placing the bottle down, Vyvyan walked up to me and looked at Vera sleeping in my arms. She smiled and pinched her soft face: “Vera, Vera, Vera, Vera, you’re such a cute girl. Mommy has no experience raising a girl, but Mommy thinks it should be the same as raising you.”
“Mom.”
“What’s wrong?”
I wanted to speak but kept stopping. Mom smiled. She then stroked my head with slow strokes. She nostalgically looked at Vera in my arms. Softly, she said, “Looking at Vera reminds Mommy of you when you were born. You were the same when you were born. You were small and always smiling at me. Your smile was so bright that I couldn’t help but kiss you when you smiled. I always held your small hands. You always gave me a gentle smile after breastfeeding. It was as though an angel was smiling at me. Your smile warmed up my entire body and filled it with bliss. It was such a blissful feeling that it felt surreal. I had to hug you tightly to confirm it wasn’t all just a dream.”
I looked at Mommy Vyvyan, who wore a nostalgic smile and a tinge of sadness. Vera gently shifted around in my arms. She then turned to look at me. She tapped my chest with her tiny hands and grabbed my shirt. Vyvyan smiled and touched her hand without saying a word.
I sincerely said, “Hold her.”
Mommy Vyvyan froze confused. She smiled and asked, “Me? Me? Son, she is your child. Your child with Lucia. Why would I hold her?”
Smiling, I replied, “Mom, do you still not know? This blonde hair, this face shape couldn’t possibly be inherited from me. Mommy Vyvyan, you understand, right? I’m very grateful. Though my marriage with Lucia isn’t supported by the Galadriel tribe, you always protected me despite being a member of the Galadriel tribe. You used all sorts of means to protect me. This girl will be the Galadriel tribe’s next, I mean, the ruler after the next.”
Mommy Vyvyan smiled: “Uhm… Have you seen it? Her mana, that is? Her mana is truly incredibly powerful. It’s about the same as when I was born…”
I cut mom off to ask a question I always wanted to ask: “Mom, I have a question I’ve always wanted to ask you. How can you tell what a child’s mana level is?”
Vyvyan explained, “Their egg shell. The truth is that the infant produces the shell themselves. It’s their defensive mechanism. What I provide them with is a flesh defence mechanism, which only works when they are at risk, while the one they set up will allow them to heal when they’re sick or hurt. The shell is made using their mana and the shell is proof of their mana. You saw that Vera’s egg was a transparent egg shell that also emitted a faint light, while Nona’s had a matte appearance. It wasn’t transparent and it didn’t emit a light. Despite it being a very short moment, it was enough for us to see that Vera’s mana is much purer than Nona’s.”
Vyvyan continued with a smile: “At the time, your egg shell was a virtually non-existent purple light, while I wasn’t born with a shell. Instead, I shined a crystal light. You wouldn’t have been able to tell I had a shell unless you touched it. You couldn’t see my shell. Though the shell exists only for a second, it’s how we grade mana. The reason our Galadriel tribe can grade mana in such detail is because we can…”
Vyvyan waved her hand; two eggs suddenly appeared in her hand. I was dumbstruck for a moment.
‘Aren’t those my girls’ eggs?’
“We can recollect the mana scattered around.” Vyvyan smiled as she then made the shells vanish. She laughed: “However, I don’t think you need these, Son. Since you don’t care about their mana purity, I won’t need to keep these two shells. Vera’s mana is much purer than Nona’s, since…”
Vyvyan took Vera. Vera moaned, and then turned over. She curled up in Vyvyan’s arms and gently snored. She rested her hand on Vyvyan’s chest the same way I did eighteen years ago.
“Since…”
Vyvyan slowly revealed a blissful smile as she held her. She felt so blissful that a layer of mist formed in her blue eyes. She looked at Vera lying in her arms. Her voice started to shake. She gently swayed her body, which brought Vera along. I saw her cicada-like eyelashes budge. I watched her gently snore as her face shined underneath the moonlight. It was as though she was filled with bliss when touched.
“Since… she’s my child… my child… She is my child…”
Vyvyan kissed Vera’s face. Vyvyan’s teardrops landed onto Vera’s face. She kissed the drops of tears away. Her voice turned hoarse, but her smile was bright as the sun.
“But, Son, Mommy’s condition is… currently similar to Lucia’s… After all…, compared to Lucia… Mommy… So…, Mommy’s breasts are a little swollen, right now… Lucia can deal with it, since she has kids… But Mommy can’t… Vera is deep asleep now… So… Mommy needs to feed Mommy’s child… So, Son, give Mommy a hand… just as before.”
“That’s not a very good idea… Mom…”
“It’s fine. You’re my son. There are no limitations as to what we can do.”
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