Ep 129. I Am Not Your Mother. (2)

  Raizel relutly sat down by her friend’s side, clig her tongue in annoyance.

  But even so, the steel dragon took care not to wake up the two sleeping siblings. She merely pined under her breath, talking to no one in particur.

  “Tsk. Why do I have to look after them? It’s not like anyone’s gonna e here…”

  The dragonlord had gone a little distance away with Karas, carrying an unscious body with them. Their entire excuse was ‘to not wake up the sleeping children’ through their versation, but Raizel was still failing to see why she o keep watch over the others.

  But pin as she may, the youngling tried her best to keep watch as told – for the first few minutes.

  Gradually, the steel dragon lost herself in boredom. Her tired eyes refused to remain open, and her sore body refused to sit upright for very long.

  And, soon enough, the number of sleeping childre up from two to three.

  Just as intended.

  ? ? ?

  Serenis quizzically tilted her head. While Karas had told her of all that’s happened in her absehere was still one aspect of his story that failed to make sense.

  And she was looking at it right now.

  “This is…a deity, you say.”

  “Was, to be specific. Though she’s currently asleep due to certairaneous circumstances.”

  “And you’d like me to firm whether she’s a dragonkin or not?”

  “Quite. That is within your capabilities, yes?”

  “It is, but…”

  Even as Serenis answered, the uainty in her gaze remaihe same as she beheld the two horns protruding from Aymeia’s head.

  ‘Those horns…’

  The strange, e-haired deity possessed her wings nor tail; in fact, there was little besides her horns to suggest her ins.

  But even so, the small resembnce she shared was more disturbing than anything else.

  Taking a deep breath, Serenis quietly began to speak to the sleeping star deity.

  “???.”

  “…”

  ”…Arise, child.”

  Truthfully, Serenis had no expectations whatsoever; if anything, she hoped that the deity wouldn’t react. She hoped their strange resembo her kin a mere ce of an otherwise ued individual.

  The girl before her didn’t feel nor look like her kin. It may even be ridiculous to think that a dragon would have held the position of a deity.

  But of course, life doesn’t always go acc to one’s expectations.

  “…Mnn.”

  “?!”

  ‘It worked?!’

  Aymeia immediately awoke from her slumber as both Serenis and Karas watched on. A deep frown crossed the deity’s face as she caressed her ag arms, sing her new surroundings with a pair of stretched pupils.

  “Where am I…huh?”

  Finally, the deity’s eyes locked with the dragonlord before her.

  “…”

  “…”

  One of them remained uo process the situation at hand; Serenis struggled to realize what was going on, unsure of what to even say to the awokey.

  And the other traced her hazy memories, trying tnize who the person before her was; when Aymeia ultimately broke her long silence, her spoken phrase carried a hint of hope and longing.

  And it was all the more disturbing because of it.

  “…Mother?”

  ? ? ?

  The first thought that crossed the dragonlord’s mind was how thankful she was that Raizel wasn’t awake to hear this.

  The sed thought that crossed her mind was how to deny what was just said.

  However, trary to the dragonlord’s torted expression, the smile on Aymeia’s face tihten with her increasiainty.

  “Mother…it is yht? You’re…you’re alive…!”

  “…”

  Uo ahe girl, Serenis iuro Karas once more.

  “…Karas. What you’ve said earlier…are you certain?”

  “…The Deity of Stars has ied the will of a certain dragon, a retains their will.”

  “…”“Or so I’ve read, anyhow. To this day, she’s worshipped as Asarda’s guardian. It’s said that when Aymeia was devoted to keeping the nd, Asarda was once a warm region full of life…us current cold climate.”

  Serenis returned her attention to Aymeia with a plicated mix of emotions.

  Meanwhile, the voi Karas’ head was absolutely delighted by his words.

  ‘Ahahaha! Ied their will? Where did that e from? Did I not just tell you that she was fused with the sed lord’s blood?’

  ‘…Shut up, Felicir. Serenis is sensitive enough about matters regarding her kin as is – if I were to tell her the truth, your precious Aymeia would disappear without a trace.’

  ‘Ahh…haha. Fair enough.’

  ‘And besides, your story’s doubtful to begin with. How an infusion of blood cause a disturban someone’s memories? The two have nothing to do with each other.’

  ‘Ah, you misuand. Vulka’s blood only caused her body to ge – which was merely a measure to tain her shard. What I’m uanding is that the ge it brought caused her to select favorable memories from her divinity that matched Vulka’s.’

  ‘…So, to put it short, she’s the victim of your screw-up.’

  ‘…Yes, but must you put it like that? It’s not like I inteo have my dearest student turn into a maddened half-dragon. What else was I supposed to do, leave the shard be and risk a spatial disaster every year?’

  ‘None of that ges the fact that you screwed up.’

  Following suit, Karas likewise shifted his attention to the star deity. But she was still smiling, her eyes longingly fixed on the dragonlord before her.

  Forcibly lifting her ag arms, Aymeia ed herself around Serenis.

  “Mother…wele back. I missed you!”

  “…”

  Biting her lips, Serenis tossed away the girl’s arms around her shoulders, gring back with a pained expression.

  “…I am not your mother.”

  “Huh? But…”

  “And you are not my child. You are but mistakenly thinking so.”

  “…”

  When Aymeia lowered her head, Serenis let out a small sigh. For a brief moment, it seemed like the deity ting the dragonlord’s words.

  But soon after, Aymeia’s tears struck the grouh her.

  “…I, I’m sorry…is it because I broke our promise?”

  “What? No, that’s not-“

  “I, I tried my best…to keep the children safe…”

  “Child…listen, I…”

  “Everything was so…difficult…the Reaper opped haunting us. The hatgs suffered the worst of it…”

  “…”

  “I had to do as he said. I had to cast your heart away…”

  Breaking into a quiet sob, Aymeia once again held Serenis with shaking arms.

  “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to, I didn’t want to. I had no choice, there was nothing else I could do. Five me…”

  A long sigh escaped the dragonlord’s lips. She softly pced her hands over Aymeia’s shaking figure, holding her as she would her own children.

  This wasn’t her child – that much, she knew. Aymeia was merely a victim of her role, their identity lost beyond the depths of someone else’s memories.

  The ‘someohat had missed their mother a lot more than they would ever have admitted.

  Finally, Serenis began to speak in low, longing whispers.

  “You’ve done n. None of it was your fault, and you’ve nothing to seek fiveness for.”

  “…But…”

  “There’s o apologize. You’ve…”

  …I wao tell you.

  That day, when I awoke in this body – when I was told of our kin’s survival – I wao believe that you’d still be there.

  And you were. But you were no longer of this world.

  Had you still lived, I wao tell you. That…

  “…You’ve done more than anything I could ever ask for. I’m very proud of you.”

  “…”

  Amidst the geouch, the hazy voi Aymeia’s memories grew ever clearer.

  Now, she could remember what that voice had called her.

  It was these very hands, this very voice. A geouch that would keep the heart at ease, a voice that would calm the world around them.

  But in stark trast to her f words, the pain in Serenis’ eyes only grew.

  What would you have me do? If you were still here…

  What would you have done, Vulka?