Saga of Atlantis

Chapter 81  Mother's Awakening

"Young master!" Sarah exclaimed as she finally recognized me. She moved closer, reaching out for me.

"Yep, the one and only," I replied, moving closer. Just as I thought she was going to hug me, she yanked my hand, grabbing it tightly.

"Come with me!" she commanded, dragging me with her.

"Head maid!" As the guards saw me getting away, one of them gathered enough courage to speak.

"What?" she replied, her voice emotionless as she glanced back.

"That man breached the castle; that's a crim-", he said angrily as he looked at my face. His words, however, were cut short as Sarah interrupted.

"And you guys got beaten up without even getting a chance to fight back. Go back and train!" she commanded, making them shut their mouths. Then she started to drag me into the castle.

"Where have you been, young master? We couldn't even track you; you were practically gone, vanished from this world," Sarah said with concern in her words as she led me through the castle.

"Well yeah, things happened, and now here I am," I replied, not divulging too much about my journey.

For the first year, all I did was train like crazy with Sylvia, and for the last two years, I have been hopping on different continents, collecting different hero's items, saving important characters, and building up a name for myself.

"And couldn't you have been more secretive about your arrival; why barged in from the main gate?" she grumbled.

"Yeah, about that..." I replied awkwardly, lacking a clear reason for my actions. I just wanted to beat them up, nothing more.

"Things aren't good for you, young master," she said, her voice serious. "Many people will not be happy if they know about you being here."

"I know. I am pretty famous in the kingdom," I replied with a chuckle, not a bit bothered by her words. I had already witnessed how people viewed me in this kingdom, and well, it wasn't favorable.

*Slam*

"It's not a laughing matter, Young Master," she said as she opened the door to the room and slammed it closed.

"It's my room," I mumbled as I looked around the familiar space. It was the same room where I had first woken up in this world. Most of the things were arranged just as I left them, with no dust in sight.

"Stand still!" As I tried to roam around my previous room, Sarah commanded, holding my hand. "Let me have a better look."

She took a step back to get a better view, her gaze moving around my body.

The first thing she did was look up since I was 6'1" now, towering over her. Her gaze then landed on my hair, which was braided and tied with a single red ribbon.

"You have grown a lot, young master," she said, her voice trembling with different emotions as she moved closer.

Her hand extended to my face, her fingers gently touching my high cheekbones and jawline. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"And became more handsome", I replied with a chicky grin, which earned me a light pinch on my cheek from her.

"Haah, I missed you," she said with a sigh as she gently closed in. A cloud of her sweet fragrance enveloped my senses as her hands wrapped around my waist. Her face nestled on my chest, giving me a warm, loving, and tight embrace.

"I missed you too", I replied, returning the hug and gently wrapping my hand around her waist while, with the other hand, I started patting her head.

"Haah...Haah...",

Her hot and peaceful breath hit my chest as she continued to hug me, and I gently patted her head.

'...now, you're taking an awful lot of time.' She showed no signs of letting go, even when five minutes had passed, and the silence between us was making me akward but I kept my emotions at bay as I let her hug me.

"When did you come back?", After hugging me enough, she left my embrace as she asked me.

"A week ago," I replied as I started to roam around my room. "I was collecting some information before I decided to show myself".

"Then you shouldn't have been bothered to be here if you heard the rumors about yourself,", she replied with a sigh as she leaned against the wall.

"Yeah, anyway, where are the others", I replied, changing the topic.

"Both Sir Danial and Lady Marine have gone to the capital to join the academy, and Sir Aldric is on petrol for the Dukedom; he should come back in a short time." She replied, giving me all the details about my family members.

"Oh, and by the way," I said, a gleam in my eye as I approached the table by my bed, "did I happen to receive any invitations from the academy?"

"Why on Atlantis are you asking that?" she replied, a cute frown forming on her face. "You aren't planning on going there, are you?".

"Did I or did I not?" I asked with an air of authority, locking eyes with her.

"... Yes, you did." She replied after a few seconds of silence.

"Hmm." Just as I was about to dive into more questions, my attention snagged on a photo frame resting on the table beside my bed. Grasping it, my eyes locked onto the frozen moment captured within its frame—five children laughing happily.

Three girls formed the front line, radiating joy, while a taller girl stood proudly at the back. And there I was, situated in the middle of the vibrant group, a beacon of pure happiness emanating from my smiling face.

'Sophia', I thought as I gently placed my hand on the taller girl.

'Angelina,Grace,' I thought, looking at the little girls who were smiling happily, '―and Cassie'.

I sighed, placing back the photo frame, but then my gaze landed on the ring placed on the table.

"I clearly remembered telling you to go through them!", I said, looking at Sarah as I picked up both the photo frame and my engagement ring.

"They are your childhood memories; you should Cheri–", she replied, but I quickly stopped her by extending my hand.

"I don't want to remember those memories", I said as I threw both the photo frame and the ring into my inventory.

"Then are you going to run away from them?" she said, looking at me as I began to walk out of the room. "Again."

"To my mother's room," I command, ignoring her words as I started to move towards the other section of the castle.

As I moved through the corridors of the castle with Sarah following me, I noticed a peculiar thing. As soon as I passed any maid, they would stop their work and look at me in a daze, their mouths agape.

'Yeah, I'm not wearing a mask now,' I thought as I touched my face. It had been years since I walked freely without wearing a mask, and until now, only a few women had seen me without one, and now even I don't know how badly my charm affects any woman.

I reached the familiar door of a room that held a significant place in my heart. As the door creaked open, I stepped into a space that held the stillness of memories—my mother's room.

There she lay, just as I remembered her. Silver hair framing the bed, eyes closed in peaceful repose, and the gentle rise and fall of her breath a comforting rhythm.

My heart softened at the sight, and with a sense of familiarity, I approached her bedside.

Drawing from my inventory, I retrieved a small bottle of Elixir. The mere mention of its contents brought a tremor to Sarah's voice.

"Y–young m–master, is th–that?" She trembled as she asked, her excitement and concern palpable on her face.

"Yeah, the holy water of the World Tree," I affirmed. Gently, I lifted my mother into a sitting position, and Sarah, snapping out of her daze, rushed to offer support.

"It's time to wake up, Mother," I whispered, placing the bottle on her lips and guiding her to swallow the rejuvenating elixir.

And just as she swallowed the liquid, the curse that had bound her—an invisible shackle—seemed to shudder in the face of this elixir.

The room held its breath, as if the very air anticipated the moment that had eluded us for years.

A subtle tremor passed through her's form. The curse, relinquishing its hold, yielded to the ancient magic infused within the elixir.

And then, the mother's eyes fluttered open. The room, once cloaked in silence, now bore witness to the soft gasp of a her's.

I watched with a mixture of relief and anticipation as my mother's gaze adjusted to the light, and my eyes locked with her.

Recognition flickered in her eyes as she extended her hand towards my face, but what I thought didn't happen.

*Slap*

"Y–you bastard". That's my mother's first word after years of separation.