Chapter 124: A Mother’s Curse (1)

Ayen assumed they were already used to this. There was no need to feel concern. Thinking so, he focused again on the scene.

Aegi’s mom was still running towards the direction of the association building. She ignored the place where large-scale destruction was happening and continued without stopping or looking back.

The child in her arms was very sensible; he did not utter a word and silently hugged his mother’s neck. Occasionally, his eyes would dart around before he closed his eyes firmly.

He could feel the despair and resentment in the air, making him tense. The mom thought the child was afraid, and so she tightened her hold on her son and patted his back reassuringly.

Once they arrived at the association building, the woman stopped. She bit her lips and bypassed everyone surrounding the building. She ignored the curses and shouts directed at her.

Walking inside, she found that the building was almost empty. She sucked in a breath. Everyone must have left the building. Some might be fighting alongside the espers, and the staff left because of the crowd.

The woman did not leave.

Ayen could see how the woman’s gaze wavered as she glanced at her child. She walked deeper into the association building and entered one of the guiding rooms.

It was familiar. The one that he and Devion used.

She could have just left, but whether here or outside, their end was set in stone. Fighting was futile.

Did she give up? For herself, yes. But, for her child… She found herself reluctant.

Ayen fixated his gaze on the mother’s expressions and her actions. He didn’t understand why he was so curious about her. Perhaps because he grew up in an environment where parental love was practically nonexistent.

They could even abandon him in a heartbeat.

He had not experienced it before, so he could not understand. This scene was too unfamiliar to him, and it was harder for him to connect. That should be so.

And yet, why could he not take his gaze off them? Why was he wondering how far the woman could go for his child? Was it truly possible for any parent to love their child more than their own?

Ayen expected the worst. Despite the indifference in his expression, his gaze was intense, waiting for something to happen.

The helpless cries had reached their peak outside as the monsters breached the walls. Someone from the crowd had also lit up a fire to burn the association building.

The woman and the child inside the room were like isolated souls. It was as though the chaos inside did not affect them in the slightest; the cries and shouts did not permeate inside the room.

It should be a helpless scenario, and yet why was the mother comforting the child? Or the mother intended not to make her child despair in their final moments.

“Aegi… my baby…” The woman brushed her son’s hair, smiling at him. The child looked up at him. The woman’s mouth opened, but no sounds came out. However, it was clear that he said something to the child as he smiled at her.

Ayen frowned and tilted his head. He did not know why it was so. He did not turn to ask the child and let everything unfold.

Her gaze lingered on her child; the deep affection in her eyes was obvious and gave a long-lasting impression. At least, for Ayen, he could not take his gaze off her.

He was simply mesmerized.

How could a loving gaze be so pure and beautiful?

Ayen felt his heart shaking; his perception was being overturned.

Ah, so it was possible. Motherly affection truly exists.

“Mom’s sorry.” The woman kissed the child’s forehead and caressed his cheek. “I can’t protect you anymore.”

Despite her eyes gleaming with tears, she did not let them fall. The smile on her lips, though filled with unwillingness, did not waver.

“Why?” the child then asked. The woman touched her child’s right ear with a tender gaze.

She did not answer the child. She stared at him for so long, as if etching the child’s appearance in her soul.

“Mom?” The child called again.

The woman’s eyes glimmered, and she embraced a child so tightly but still so carefully as not to suffocate the child. Her lips trembled, and she looked up, suppressing the tears from falling.

She could not cry, or her child would be even more sad.

Ayen bit his lips; watching the scene tugged something inside his heart. Was he sad? Why? They were strangers to him. Ayen could leave behind anything without looking back once disaster struck; he did not bother to stop despite the sad cries of the children.

He was not softhearted or easily saddened by tearjerking stories.

Why… his heart felt like bursting with emotions watching this sad parting of a mother and child? There was such despair everywhere. Yet, what made them so unique?

The woman took a deep breath; she appeared to be having a battle in her mind. Gradually, her expression became firm. She finally made a decision.

She withdrew from the embrace, but her arms remained wrapped around her child. She stared at the child and leaned to kiss his forehead, then both of his cheeks.

“My baby has grown up so cute and handsome,” the woman complimented in a gentle voice. Usually, the child would giggle and kiss his mom’s cheeks in response to such compliments, but he did not do so.

He only stared back at his mother, sensing something amiss. The woman was not discouraged, and instead, her grin widened with a proud expression.

“And so smart too.” Her other hand stroked the child’s hair and patted his head softly. “I wonder how handsome you’ll be when you finally grow up. I bet you’ll make a lot of girls… or boys, fall helplessly for your charms.”

“Mom…” The boy tugged at his mother’s clothes, not understanding what was happening.

His senses might have been more advanced than those of ordinary people, and he was smarter than children his age. However, he was still a child. He felt the sorrow within those seemingly beautiful words from his mother’s mouth, but he could not tell where it was coming from.

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