"Huh?" Crystal turned towards the door, momentarily confused. Loreana, her face swollen from tears, took hesitant steps into the room, keeping her head bowed, afraid to meet her daughter's gaze.
To say Loreana was nervous would be an understatement. She had just returned and was standing outside the door when Anom abruptly summoned her. But her primary concern was how her daughter was coping with the devastating news. With a deep breath, she mustered the courage to enter the room.
Loreana's heart ached as she saw her daughter nestled in Anom's embrace like a koala. Their eyes met briefly before Crystal abruptly turned her head away. Loreana felt a pang of guilt, fearing that her daughter was upset with her. Little did she know that Crystal was simply unsure of how to face her mother, partly influenced by Anom's revelations. Crystal realized the pain her mother must have endured upon learning that her daughter had gone missing shortly after losing her husband. Crystal f
"You praise him too much, Mom. He..." The mother and daughter were engrossed in a private conversation after Anom had left when an unexpected interruption occurred."Yeah. What's the point of praising me behind my back?" Anom's sudden voice startled both women, causing Crystal to attempt leaping into her mother's lap but inadvertently shoving her down instead."You!" Crystal felt a mixture of fury and embarrassment at being caught off guard. Her anger intensified as she saw Anom standing behind them, his eyes filled with amusement.Swiftly seizing a nearby pillow, she aimed it directly at his face. "Why are you back, you sneaking bastard?"Anom chuckled, effortlessly catching the pillow mid-air. "I overheard you yelling my name, so I assumed you needed me. But I'm glad I returned. It's always entertaining to hear you grumble about me to your mother."Crystal blushed at his retort but continued to growl. "Are you a dog or something? And don't you know it's impolite to eavesdrop?""Alri
"You really love us, don't you?" Crystal asked Anom, her voice tinged with amusement."Of course..." Anom replied, realizing he had let his guard down in the presence of the two women. 'Damn! This girl set a trap for me!' he thought, regretting his swift response.Unfortunately for Anom, it was too late to retract his words. Loreana, who had been frozen in his embrace, finally became aware of their proximity and the embarrassing situation unfolding before her daughter. Her heart skipped a beat from the embarrassment that surged within her."Maybe I answered too quickly, but my response wasn't wrong, you know," Anom said to Loreana, who was attempting to gather her strength to extricate herself from his hold. Gently lifting her chin with his finger, he continued, "I do like you. Perhaps I pretended otherwise because I knew you wouldn't accept it. And maybe it's unconventional, but I no longer care. Now that you two have opened your hearts to each other, let me tell you something."Anom
"Mom?""…Hm?""So you, um… you never loved father?""…""I'm sorry, Mom. I know I shouldn't meddle in your affairs, but I was just a bit curious as to why…" Crystal's voice trailed off, as she decided to drop the question."It's okay, dear." Surprising her daughter, Loreana removed the pillow from her face and answered, "There was really nothing like that between your father and me."But that only furthered another question in her listeners' minds. "Why did you marry him, then?" Crystal asked, before she further added, "You also never cleared my doubts about your side of the family, Or, for that matter, anything about the life you had prior to your marriage.. Can you tell me about it now?"Loreana remained silent for a moment before responding. "Fine.""Uh, I should go to sleep now. Good night, ladies!" Anom stood up to leave the room to provide them with some privacy."Hmph! Stay seated." Crystal snorted as she said disdainfully, "Why are you acting modest all of a sudden? Didn't you
"After that, we were all directed to the selling area. It was where purchasers could inspect the "goods" and place their bids.The excited crowd stood in stark contrast to our despairing thoughts. There was no sympathy in those gazes, only more greed.We witnessed multiple batches of people being auctioned off one at a time. We saw our friends and comrades being received by their buyers, who, ignoring their pleading, enthusiastically dragged them off. That feeling of waiting for the same fate was revolting, to say the least. Not all those sold were children, however. There were many adult women, dressed in clothing based on their "quality".Finally, the turn of the batch I was part of came on stage, and so did the time for the conclusion.You could just by looking at the faces of the crowd that it was the main attraction there. After all, who wouldn't want a slave that can be used for more than just entertainment? It was actually the primary reason they kept raiding new cities on a re
"I don't know how those moments went by so quickly, but I realized that I had become reluctant to part ways with her. Not only because of the kindness and affection she had provided me with, but also because I didn't want to face the inevitable that was waiting me outside the carriage. She saw through my thoughts and said: "You can stay here and not go out. I'll ask Benny to check out the situation inside. But I would suggest that you go witness it yourself. Whatever it might feel like for now, it will give you direction when you feel lost. It will make you realize what you need to do and not let this kind of thing from repeating itself." I realized something from her words, or maybe I had realized it long ago. But I ultimately decided to go myself. We disembarked and followed the butler Benny to what looked like the ruins of a once lively town. Due to its location in an open plain that was simple to assault, the bandits presumably didn't use this town as a b
"But before they could even begin to mourn, the double-edged sword finally decided to swing backwards.The head was stunned because he couldn't fathom their motivation. He had, after all, already given up on the most important thing they desired.But he was crushed when he saw their king's most trusted minister walking alongside the force with which they had struck a deal. Only then did he realize where the king's anxiety had come from. The situation made it clear that the outside force that had assisted them in repelling their own kingdom's attack was the one who had arranged for this setup.And it was evident that they would not be willing to share the fruits of their plan with anyone.So ended the history of two great forces in a kingdom, one of which was the royal family itself.But, in the face of all the decisions he might have considered foolish, the family head's one decision proved its worth.He had already sent all of the family's direct and gifted descendants away as soon a
"But I couldn't have guessed that fate would save me from that effort. That day did become memorable, but not in the way I had hoped.I once again saw the face I didn't want to see even in my nightmares."Loreana clenched her fists, revealing a never-before-seen expression of hatred on her always-gentle face."We were on our way to the village when we were abruptly stopped by a commotion in front of us." Some of our village's residents were running in our direction. The majority of them were injured and covered in blood as they ran towards us.Other men dressed as bandits were chasing them down at a leisurely pace. They clearly had the strength to kill the villagers in an instant, but they appear to find a twisted sense of comfort in torturing the helpless villagers.Both groups were taken aback by our appearance. When the villagers saw Lady Faustina, they were overjoyed. They were aware that they had been saved.The bandits' faces were also surprised, as if they hadn't expected to se
"The man-from-the-auction was in the lead, looking menacingly at us. His previous calm had vanished, clearly affected by the death of the man Lady Faustina had just finished off.They saw through her escape plan and immediately engaged her in a fight.Just as things were looking bleak for us, we heard a commotion coming from behind the enemy.To our pleasant surprise, it was Uncle Benny! As Lady Faustina had said to me earlier, he was really a tough guy.Even our adversaries were in disbelief. Their gazes turned towards the path from where Uncle Benny had arrived, clearly looking for someone.They must have left quickly after hearing the commotion caused by Lady Faustina and the masked man's fight. They should have left some people to deal with Uncle Benny, who was half-dead when they left.But it was clear that they had underestimated him even more than I had.Uncle Benny charged into the bandit group and dealt with anyone who appeared in his path. The original four who had been stal