The border city of Caspara serves as the primary defense line between two mighty powers: the Huangfu Empire and the Adel Empire. Helena, wife of the late Crown Prince of the Rosewood Kingdom, escaped into the Voldemort Kingdom of the Adel Empire.
How did she manage to evade capture? She ran for six months, ultimately passing through one of the most perilous places on Cerulean: the Everlost Forest, also known as the Forest of Spirits among the continent's top powerhouses. The forest is shrouded in unknown mysteries, dangerous enough that even Titled Legends may lose their lives if they venture too deep.
As for why she didn't encounter any danger herself, it was because of the baby she carried in her embrace. Yes, the baby—though it sounds unrealistic and mysterious, it is the truth.
At the border of the Everlost Forest lay the small village of Kroton, located ten kilometers away from Caspara City. Its existence was due to the fertile lands surrounding it, which supplied most of the city's food (rice, wheat, vegetables, and meat).
Caspara City, a border town, acts as a strategic fortress, protecting the Adel Empire against any invasions from the Huangfu Empire. Though it began as a mere town, its size gradually increased over the years to form the city it is today.
The city has two distinct sections:
Inner City Area: This is where trained soldiers, rich merchants, nobles, guilds, official buildings, and higher military officials reside.
Outer Section: Here, lower-ranked soldiers and common citizens live. At one far end lies the slums, home to beggars, poor peasants, a red-light district, and a black market.
The Outer City's lawlessness and the contrast with the inner grandeur immediately highlights the dangers Zeun mentioned he wished to avoid.
This area represented the darker side of Caspara City, with the bright lights of the inner sections casting long shadows. The slums stood as a stark contrast to the city's grandeur, characterized by lawlessness where crimes like rape, murder, and robbery were common. Surprisingly, even though it was a strategically important border city, the wealthy inhabitants tended to overlook these issues.
Two silhouettes were seen walking through the dimly lit alleyway of the Outer City. One was a well-proportioned, beautiful lady looking to be in her mid-30s, with oversized breasts and plump buttocks. A cute child held her hand, walking alongside her at a slow, rhythmic pace. Yes, they were Helena and her son, Zeun.
Soon, they walked out of the alley and headed straight towards the inner city walls. They stopped a few blocks away from the inner walls, before a closed, wooden, three-story building. The name of the building was beautifully drawn on a signboard near its entrance: 'Happy Inn'.
Her annoyance soon turned into joy when she saw the familiar face of her best friend standing there. She warmly welcomed us inside.
"Hi, Merry, how have you been?" Mom asked as she entered the inn, hugging her best friend.
Merry hugged her back, and we sat at a nearby table. Mom introduced, "Merry, this is my son Zeun, and Zeun, this is my best friend. You can call her Aunt Merry."
"Hello, Aunt Merry," I greeted her.
"Hello, Zeun, how have you been?" Aunt Merry greeted me with a hug. My face was buried between her jiggly assets. She released me, and I was gasping for breath.
This was the first time a woman besides Mom had hugged me. I was embarrassed, and my face turned slightly red. She chuckled, looking at my red face.
"Helena, your son is too cute to handle. Will you give him to me?" she asked with a teasing tone.
Mom flickered Aunt Merry's forehead. "Ouch, ouch! How mean. I just wanted to help him learn something interesting about us women."
Mom became a little annoyed as the conversation wasn't going anywhere else. My ears perked up, and I listened to the conversation with full attention.
Mom squinted her eyes at me, and I flinched, then turned my head, avoiding her gaze. I started looking around at the cracked walls and broken chairs and tables, so focused as if admiring the most beautiful piece of art in the world.
Mom sighed, looking at my behavior, as if someone had caught me just as I was about to steal. But how could she not know her son, whom she had raised from her womb? She twisted my ears and looked at Aunt Merry. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, Mom, it hurts!" I looked at her as if she had wronged me.
"Merry, you still have that flirty habit of yours. Let me warn you, you'll get into trouble because of this one day. Also, remember that our party is no more..." Mom started her long lecture as she scolded Aunt Merry.
"I know, and stop behaving with me as if I'm the same old child! I even have a daughter now who is older than your son, and I'm just teasing my nephew. What's wrong with that?" Aunt Merry retorted.
"Yes, it is wrong because he is my son!" Mom emphasized.
"You're being selfish and unreasonable," Aunt Merry said with fake tears in her eyes, as if she was wrongly accused.
"..."
"..."
Both Mom and I were baffled by Aunt Merry's childish and overly cute antics. As the two went on with their bickering, I had a feeling that a big sister was scolding her younger sister's mischief.
I was happy to see my mom being herself after so long. I didn't interrupt them as I watched them closely with imaginary sunglasses and a popcorn packet in my hands, munching on them.
God knows how long it took before Helena and Merry realized something together, turning towards the third chair at their table. They saw Zeun sleeping adorably while sitting.
"Sigh, he told me that he was hungry before coming here, but we were so engrossed in ourselves that we completely forgot about him," Helena said with a sigh. A genuine, faint smile could be seen on Helena's beautiful face.
Merry also sighed apologetically. "Sorry, I was so excited about you that I completely forgot your son too."
"Don't worry, I'm at fault too. I was also happy seeing you after almost seven years," said Helena.
"Yeah. We were like a family during those days," added Merry, reminiscing about the past. "But what will you do now? I can feel that something isn't right, seeing your attire, and where is Paul?"
"Let's talk about it tomorrow. First, give me a room."
"Okay. We'll talk about it later. But Helena, I don't think your boy is simple. There's something about him bugging me, though I can't quite pinpoint it," added Merry.
"Oh. One of your abilities is to partially feel the future, right? Did you use your ability on him?" Helena said with a frown. She knew that her son would face many downsides in the future, but she didn't expect it to be this soon. Merry's abilities were to 'feel' the immediate future.
Merry's accuracy in prediction was on a different level, though it had its shortcomings. Even if she predicted the future up ahead, she couldn't tell the exact cause or time of its occurrence. She could only warn them beforehand.
Through trials and errors, she had deduced that the future she predicted could be as immediate as a few hours or as long as a year. Although it seemed pretty useless to some people, it had its benefits if you thought deeply about it.
For example: If you knew that walking on 'a path' would cause an accident, you could take a longer path to minimize or avoid the accident. Or you could take another means, like jumping on a roof or flying, to avoid 'a path' as you didn't know which specific path was dangerous.
The shortcomings of her ability were a cooldown of one month, and she would be extremely weakened in that month.
"Nope, I didn't use my ability on him. I used it two months ago on my daughter, and some signs indicate the intertwining of her and Zeun's fate..." After a pause, Merry continued, "...But the beginning won't be happy. Still, I can feel that both of them will be alive. It won't be a life-threatening one, but a psychological one. Maybe like torture or assault... not sure myself."
Helena's brows furrowed as she thought deeply about something. "You mean if they don't meet each other, then their fate wouldn't intertwine?"
"Can't say for sure, Helena. But I have a gut feeling that it's better they don't meet. And I also feel that you should return to your village. I'm getting an uncomfortable feeling from that ability. It's the first time I'm feeling it, though; it's as if my ability can't judge what is a good future and what is a bad future for your son." Merry paused and saw the complicated feelings in her best friend's eyes.
She sighed and continued, "I will use my abilities on your son tomorrow before I say any further, but just so you know, I have a positive vibe coming from this. So don't worry too much."
Helena's eyes brightened for the first time. She had an expectant gaze, longing for her son's happiness, as a crystalline tear droplet rolled down her otherworldly beautiful face. "Thank you..." she choked, soon breaking into tears in her friend's arms.
A heart-wrenching pain assaulted Zeun as he heard his mom's sobbing—how burdened and pitiful his mom was. 'So she always hid so much pain and sorrow inside her, and I never knew,' he thought.
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Thank you for your time.