What sort of mom was Mommy Elizabeth to me? The first time I saw her, her majestic aura stunned me. I didn’t see a mother in her. Mommy Vyvyan was gentle with me the first time I met her, whereas I didn’t see a mother from Elizabeth’s attitude toward me. Instead, I saw a majestic Empress. She was the Empress of a nation, after all.
Afterwards, I came to understand that Mommy Elizabeth was the same as Mommy Vyvyan. They were both my mothers, and they both deeply loved me. Mommy Vyvyan gave birth to me and so did Mommy Elizabeth. Further, if what happened after my birth didn’t happen, Mommy Elizabeth would be my biological mother. She always felt guilty, because she didn’t take care of me growing up. Mommy Elizabeth didn’t desire an empire but me.
Mommy Elizabeth was a very pitiable woman, wasn’t she? She could never obtain what she wanted. She once had everything she wanted. She had a husband she loved and her son by her side, but she forsook everything for the empire. She didn’t live for herself but for others. She became an Empress for her family and her denizens. She made the decision to become a majestic and murderous Empress, in spite of not willing to and in spite of knowing that the decision meant that she would lose a lot of things. She lost her sense of identity, because she wore too many masks that she couldn’t remember how many she wore, all of which she wore for the sake of others.
Elizabeth liked to drink wine. I didn’t know she looked to her side whenever she was drunk. I only ever seen Elizabeth drunk once, which was when I got married. Honestly, she seemed to see herself when she was sixteen. She saw herself living by Inard’s side and my newborn form. Perhaps she saw the moment I was born, as well. I was sure that was an unforgettable moment for her.
I didn’t know what Mommy Elizabeth thought of me. Maybe it was because Mommy Vyvyan was the one who appeared in front of me first. That would explain why my feelings for Mommy Elizabeth weren’t as deep as my feelings for Mommy Vyvyan. Let me rephrase that. My feelings for Mommy Elizabeth as a son weren’t as deep as my feelings for Mommy Vyvyan as a son.
I, very much so, want to understand and know Mommy Elizabeth. When I occasionally peered at her face underneath the moonlight and saw a relieved, yet sorrowful, smile, I had a desire to understand her thoughts. But nonetheless, all I ever saw was a deep seated sense of loneliness and sadness…
“Son, you need to know that it’s not unreasonable to not hesitate to sacrifice your life, but you need to know why you are putting yourself at risk,” was what my mom told me.
I didn’t care how exactly Mommy Elizabeth viewed me. When I saw her drown, all I knew was that Mommy Elizabeth was my mom, my family and the person I loved most. She was my most beloved Mommy Elizabeth; therefore, I had to rescue her. She gave me my life. I wouldn’t be alive if it were not for her. Moreover, I recalled that night. I recalled all of it. I had a reason to sacrifice my life for Elizabeth.
I didn’t hesitate or regret my decision. Mommy Vyvyan had informed me of the consequences, and I was very clear as to what would come next; however I didn’t have a shred of concern, for I knew that I had to protect Mommy Elizabeth. I had to save my most beloved mom!
What was magic? It was imagination. It was about imagining the end outcome you wanted just as I destroyed an entire forest, lake and vacant space of land that one night. Mommy Vyvyan gave birth to me, and I was a successor of the Galadriel Tribe. My mana wasn’t inferior to Mommy Vyvyan’s, so I could do what she could. Mommy Vyvyan could imprison the wyrm, so I could, too.
Mommy Elizabeth fell into the water. I didn’t know what the wyrm was planning to do. Regardless, it was right in front of me. It seemed to be under the impression that it had found an opportunity. It thought Vyvyan wasn’t paying it any attention. I didn’t know what it was planning to do to Mommy Elizabeth. Perhaps it wanted to escape. Either way, I had to protect Mommy Elizabeth!
What did I imagine? I imagined a bird cage, just as the one that Mommy Elizabeth spoke of – the one that imprisoned her. I imagined a bird cage and slammed it down. The wyrm that was desperately attempting to see in the water crashed straight into an invisible wall, causing it to shudder. It trembled with all its might in the new cage and bawled. It even tried to escape from the water, but the cage gradually lifted it up as if it was a fish in a portable cooler that was being picked up.
“Aaarrrrghh!!” I cried.
At the same time, I discovered the consequences.
Just as on full-moon nights, my body that was overflowing with mana heated up. My body couldn’t withstand my mana spurting forth. I should’ve used a normal method to release it, but it discharged similarly to water that had broken down a floodgate and was storming out. Every inch of my nerves bellowed. The pain didn’t come from outside but within me. It felt as though it came from the pain deep within my organs. All of my organs felt as though they were being ripped apart.
My mind went blank as a result of the intense pain. Despite that, I could still hear Mommy Vyvyan crying out to me from the sky. She was crying out my name. I knew why, because when I heard her voice again, my body couldn’t withstand my second usage of magic. It took a long time for my mana to recover, once I exhausted it.
I thought I was going to die. Yet, I wasn’t worried in the slightest. In fact, I felt a little satisfied. People probably see their entire life flash before their eyes before they die. I didn’t live a life free of regret. I made wrong choices and suffered pain, but I had more blissful moments than painful ones.
My brain felt as though an electric current ran through it, bringing all of my memories that I didn’t have in the past to the surface. I saw my past with Lucia as well as “my” past with Mommy Vyvyan and the first time I went to humanity’s lands… I remembered it all… Or rather, I finally became the real Troy. I wondered if I died again. Maybe I had to die again. Not that it mattered.
Mommy Elizabeth’s head came out of the water. A figure appeared from the blast of mist and leapt toward the wyrm. This time, the captured wyrm in despair didn’t even resist. A sharp sabre pierced its mana shell and most fatal weak point. Blood spurt forth as if it was a whale that was spraying its blood everywhere…
The entire world slowly vanished before my eyes. I gradually let go. My body that felt heavy, yet light, fell down towards the ocean. I didn’t regret it. Sometimes life is an expendable. I had no complaints or regrets sacrificing my life for my mom, my most beloved Mommy Elizabeth…
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