I woke up the next day to find Mom and I tightly locked in an embrace on the ground. The scent of wood and the natural cold sensation from the floor was in contact with our skin. I guess we embraced so tightly in response to the cold. We ended up on the floor, because we went wild. It was impossible to lie in the mess we made on the bed.
I almost worked myself to death. Whenever I was on the verge of passing out, I would find Mom’s saliva in my mouth again, which would wake me up, and then I’d continue straddling Mom’s hips. We did it in every position imaginable without ever taking breaks, because wasting a single second was torture to us, since we didn’t know when we’d meet again.
Perhaps we would never meet again. Perhaps I could come back after finding a better method. Mommy Vyvyan was aware I wasn’t willing to become an ignoble elf. She also didn’t want for me to lose my rationality and conscience, consequently becoming a monster that lived off blood. I wasn’t willing to become that sort of monster. Vyvyan had to give me a dignified funeral for my reputation. She had to, at least, let me visit the places I lived, fought, cried, loved and lived before. That was my own idea and my final wish. I’d be able to rest in peace after I bid farewell to all of those things.
God’s mana was, indeed, powerful. It circulated around in my body after I absorbed it, but that also left teeth marks on Mom’s belly button. I never thought Mom would orgasm again when I sucked the mana from her. I suppose her belly button was her most sensitive erogenous zone.
The two of us opened our eyes at virtually the same moment; the sunlight outside woke us. With a soft laugh, I said, “Good morning. Welcome back, Mom.”
Mom lingered for a moment before softly giggling and responding. She kissed me on the tip of my nose and bit me in a teasing manner. Next to my ear, she whispered, “Good morning, my most beloved son.”
“Mm, it’s morning now,” I said in a soft voice while gazing at the sun outside.
Mommy Vyvyan seemed to choke on her words. However, she quickly wore on a smile with a tinge of sorrow: “Yeah, it’s morning…”
Mommy Vyvyan didn’t want to see the sun then, as it was the sign of departure. It was the last sunrise from outside, highlighting the sorrow in Mom’s heart.
I was Mom’s only child, but I had to bid her farewell face to face. I failed as a child. I kept saying I loved her. In reality, unfortunately, I couldn’t stay alive for her. All Mom wanted was to see me live, yet I couldn’t make it a reality.
Sometimes you have to pay with your life, but when I wanted to pay with my life, I didn’t think of my mother. I felt very guilty about that. Mom was always considerate of me, yet I never considered her feelings. I think those main protagonists without parents are the right way to go. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have the courage and determination to put their life on the line. Throwing away your life as I did when I had a mother is considered unfilial as a child.
“Mommy will go and prepare breakfast for you.”
After a short silence, Vyvyan stood up. She picked up her clothes and faced me with her back.
It was the first time I felt Mom looked old and helpless. I really wanted to give her a tight back hug. I even tried to attempt it, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to resolutely die if I did. Instead, I’d definitely accept Mom’s suggestion and become the parasite of Duargana, using the mana of others to sustain my own life. I didn’t want to live that sort of life, and I didn’t want to be such a filthy soul. After my first meeting with Mommy Vyvyan, she told me death wasn’t scary but never having lived was.
Was I in a position to say that I lived? I really did once live. I lived for my family, the continent and the world. That… was enough for me. Living a life with integrity and dying with dignity is all I could ask for. Nobody would criticise me in the future. I had no regrets. That was good enough. That was why I didn’t get up.
Mom seemed to be waiting for me; that would explain her deliberate slow pace. I really wanted her to hurry, for the way she she treated me was essentially torture. She soon gave up,
though. She got dressed and gently shut the door behind her when she left as if nothing happened.
===============
*Splash!*
Nier splashed water on the face of the maid she captured, waking the unconscious maid. The maid vigorously shook her head. Startled upon seeing Nier and Tanya, she yelled, “What are you doing?!! What exactly are you trying to do?! Are you those kidnappers who kidnap young girls to sell to humanity?! This is Duargana! This is Queen Vyvyan’s Imperial City! What are you trying to do?!”
“Shut up. We know Vyvyan better than you do. Queen Vyvyan is your Queen, but she’s my husband’s mother,” stated Nier, after she grabbed the maid’s chin out of frustration. Voice frigid, she continued, “I’m Prince Troy’s wife, his human wife. My child is Daisy. I can’t possibly lie to you, since I have no reason to. Now, I need you to tell me, do you know where my husband is?”
The maid revealed a dumbfounded expression. Nier’s terrifying gaze left her lost for words. She didn’t believe the human before her was His Highness’s wife. In her mind, his wife should’ve been Miss Lucia. The Elven Prince should be with an elf, after all. Nier had no reason to lie to her, nevertheless..
“I asked you: is my husband in the elven Imperial Palace or not?!!” Nier didn’t have the patience to wait for her to be convinced, so she pressed her sword up against the maid’s chest: “If you don’t speak, I’ll cut off your child’s future food source. Don’t all you elves want to become mothers? You want to test me?”
“Don’t!! Don’t!!!”
Nier learnt about elves over time. You could say Nier knew them too well. For an elf – females in particular – threatening to kill them was usually ineffective, but if you threatened them with their motherhood, female elves would feel fearful, for their motherly instincts motivated them to become mothers.
“If you don’t want me to hurt you, then tell me, has my husband returned or not?!!”
“No! He hasn’t!! His Highness and Her Highness haven’t returned. Wait. No. Her Highness returned once and called a group of maids, but she never came back again after. That’s all! I’m telling the truth! I’m honestly telling the truth!! Please spare me!” The maid belted out everything she knew as she cried.
Nier was confident the maid wasn’t lying. She was taught interrogation techniques as a Valkyrie. She grabbed the maid’s collar and thundered, “Where are they?! Where did Vyvyan call the maids to?! Where exactly is my husband?!!”
“The Galadriel Tribe’s villa! I only know that much! They should be there!!”
Nier knocked the maid out with a punch, and then placed her onto a bed by the side. She took in a deep breath and peered outside with a hint of resentment. She muttered, “It appears we’ll have to go to that villa next. Frankly, I don’t really want to go there.”
“Why?” asked Tanya.
Nier sighed: “Because that place isn’t a place with happy memories for His Majesty. It’s very close to where His Majesty buried Luna, so I’m sure he wouldn’t be willing to go there again.”
Tanya turned around and looked at Nier the same way. Calmly, she responded, “But you will still go there if His Majesty is there, regardless.”
Nier proudly and solemnly nodded: “Of course. I’m His Majesty’s wife. I will go wherever His Majesty goes. Since we know where he is now, let’s head out. I don’t want to wait for another second.”
Tanya nodded: “Me, too.”
The two of them swiftly left the hotel and wore on their hoods again before vanishing into the elven Imperial Capital.
=========
There was a flower field before me. I slowly rode my horse up to a tall hill.
I hadn’t been back in a long time, yet it was still just as I remembered it. The sea of flowers wouldn’t ever change no matter when. The flourishing flower field would never disappear regardless of how bloody, dangerous and turbulent the world outside was. The flowers were still leisurely dancing in the wind, carrying along their charm and naivety that didn’t care for the world. The flower field drowned my horse’s hooves. It was as if they were somewhat angry with me disturbing their peace. I looked around in a sluggish manner.
While I was confident I’d never forget the way, I still needed to discern things when I was in the middle of a flower field that was identical on all sides. It didn’t take me too long this time, however, for I was too familiar with it. The scene and the space had appeared in my dreams countless times. I knelt there countless times in my dreams. I literally remembered every flower petal in the vicinity in my dreams. However, the small tombstone was still the same as always in my dreams.
Luna’s faint smile still wandered among the flower field. Sadly, the small tombstone was covered in dust. The small mound of dirt covered the flowers. It seemed as though the flowers there were beautiful thanks to Luna and her smile.
“Luna…” I slowly dismounted. I looked at the small tombstone and lightly sat down. I stroked the ice-cold stone: “Long-time no see…”
Glossary
*All the talk about failing as a child and being unfilial is within the context of Confucianism.
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