"Child, please open your eyes!"
A woman's pained sobs echoed in a thatched hut.
The fires hissed as they encroached the sanctuary of a mother, burning the leaves to a crisp and scorching the ground black.
Once they touched the wood, the flames soared to the sky, filling the surroundings with smoke.
"Child!" A drop of tear slid down the woman's cheek but before it could hit the floor, the sizzling temperature vaporized it away.
These were no ordinary flames. And to endure such heat at that distance, neither was the woman.
And yet, she looked no better than a normal mother who lost her child.
"Not you too…"
The boy was just three years old.
She raised him in a secret world, far away from the rivals who kept an eye on her every move.
The same people who killed her husband also killed every child she had with him.
Even if she used the life treasure to have his children…they kept killing.
How many?
Just how many did she lose already?
Five? Ten? Twenty?
Was it because she stopped bearing children through her own body after the tenth for their safety?
Was that the reason she was punished?
"Why?" She pressed her forehead against the cold skin of the sleeping child. There was a peaceful smile on his face.
Even though he's so young, he never troubled her. Today was one of the 'promised' days she would come and play with him.
He must've been looking forward to it, right?
"Sorry…" Her throat hurt as she choked out an apology. But her heart hurt more. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect you.
I'm sorry I couldn't protect your siblings. I'm sorry I couldn't let you see this wonderful world. I'm sorry for selfishly bringing you into this world and putting you through so much hardship."
The flames swallowed up the house, burning everything to ashes.
She let the flames wash over her body and held the child in her arms. As the flames bathed her, she let down her defense, deliberately making herself defenseless. Even then, she couldn't go die. As a rank 9 time awakener, her body was beyond what these flames could destroy, even if they're one of a kind.
They couldn't kill her but they could hurt. And she let them.
Inch by inch, her skin was burned. The scorching pain assaulted her in all directions, from every nerve ending in her body.
It hurt.
The woman wanted to cry, to scream, to run away from the agonizing pain.
But she gnashed her teeth, held the child and sat in the middle of the flames.
The flames seeped through the gap between her arms and burned the child. They melted his skin, seared his flesh and charred his bones.
The boy, the smiling prince, the obedient son, the cutest child in the world burned into ashes.
The fire died down after an unknown time. By then, the home and the garden were all burned to the ground.
Only the woman remained in place with ashes in her arms. A gentle breeze blew, blowing away the remains of the child.
The mother stood up blankly, her blistered skin horrifying to even look at. The pain her body endured would've driven people to insanity. Yet, the woman didn't seem to care.
With burnt eyes that could no longer see, she turned to the sky.
The ashes dispersed across the world, away from her, never to return.
The woman raised her hand to catch back the ashes but reluctantly withdrew.
A glowing cup floated in front of her, a single drop left in the treasure.
This was the last child of her late husband she could have. It was their deepest wish to see the crystallization of their love. The treasure was at its limit. If she didn't bear the child, it would die off in a year.
"I…" The woman bit her lip, tears flowing down her cheeks.
"I…will save you…" "Even…if I have to…sell…my…soul…"
"I don't need your soul."
A man's voice rang from the clouds, startling the woman.
Before she could even react, a force washed over her. All her injuries vanished and she returned to her peak.
The woman raised her head in shock, catching a glimpse of a silhouttee she never dreamed she'd see.
"G-God Emperor!" Her knees gave away and she knelt in respect, awe and fear. Even though she was in no emotional space to do these things, her body and soul bowed to their deepest instincts.
"I will keep your last child alive." God Emperor's voice rang, blowing away the clouds and shaking the land.
"I…I am…" She tried to speak, to thank him, to pray.
But she couldn't. She was brave, braver than almost everyone she knew. Her reputation was built up by defiant acts when she went act against authority figures, confronted well established leaders and broke age-old customs.
But now, she couldn't even utter a word. She tried hard, willed it to happen. But her body remained shut, frozen like a doll. More frightening was her soul, which remained unresponsive as if it was frozen in time.
The mind of a genius tactician was like a blank board, unable to come up with even a single thought.
"Don't force yourself. Not everyone can speak in front of me. You're not even a divine ranker." He said in a light tone but it carried heavy weight.
"As I said, I'll keep your child alive. But not with you. If you want to meet your child, then you have to work for a wish of mine."
God Emperor's eyes seem to bore into her body as he offered. "What do you say?"
"I…."
Eshala Starlight opened her eyes, sweating heavily as she looked around in panic and horror.
"C-Chi…" Her words turned into a sigh and the princess suppressed her bubbling emotions.
While she's grappling with loss in power, an adverse political situation, a despairing message reached her.
It was from a calculative old man she's always wary of.
[I gave your daughter a commission to kill Varian. It's been a thousand years. She did not return.
Varian is a beast. I can't even imagine what she had to go through before her death. From what I gathered, none of his enemies met an easy end.
It's a pity to see that little girl suffer so much.
With a broken heart,
A kind old man.]