Bab 19: The Past(2)

After ditching the future foot licker Lyra Winter, the young Cassius spotted a woman with silver hair and purple eyes standing in the corner of the ballroom.

Despite never having met the woman before in his life, he recognized her instantly. After all, she was the only person in the entire empire besides him who had purple eyes.

"Mother!" Cassius screamed excitedly, running into her arms and hugging her tightly. He looked up at her expectantly, "Are you here for my awakening ceremony?"

The woman looked a little stunned by his actions, but she just smiled softly and patted his head, "Of course, son."

Cassius felt really happy, he didn't even care that this was the first time his mother had visited him. After all, there must have been a reason why she didn't visit him all this time.

"Mother, why did you never visit me before?" Cassius asked innocently, perhaps, she was out fighting the (imaginary) demon king like in the adventure stories Anna read him?

My mother must be a hero

He started wondering if his mother managed to defeat the demon king or not, hopefully she failed. He wanted to be the one to defeat the demon king.

Cassiu clenched his fist a determined look on his face. He was definitely going to be the one to slay the (imaginary) demon king when he grew up.

I'm going to be a hero and everyone will love me. I will go down in history as the greatest hunter of all time.

But what if his mother already slayed the (Imaginary) demon king? Then who was he supposed to slay when he grew up?

Ah, nevermind. The demon crown prince would be demon king by then. He could just slay him.

Cassius's eyes glinted with excitement as he pretended to fight the demon king, before stabbing him with his sword.

"What are you doing?" The woman laughed.

"Mother!" Cassius snapped back to reality, and pulled on the edge of her cape impatiently. "Did you manage to defeat the demon king?"

"Excuse me?" His mother furrowed her brows in confusion. "What demon king?"

"That's why you couldn't see me, right? You were out fighting the demon king!" Cassius smirked, his mother was obviously acting confused because it was confidential, but he was smart enough to figure it out.

"Right." His mother chuckled, "I have slaid the demon king."

"Woah!" stars formed in his eyes, " How did you beat him?"

"Hmm," she held her chin, "It was a dark and stormy night, me and the demon king were standing face to face in a dark alley, and as the demon king was distracted giving his villain monologue I pulled out my staff and shot a fireball through his chest."

"But wouldn't the rain put out the fire ball?" Cassius retorted, "Besides, why would the demon king be in some dark alley? He's the demon king! Not some random street urchin."

"PFFT-" The woman held back her laugh, "You make a very good point. However, a little rain isn't enough to stop me, the greatest mage in the empire. As for why the demon king was in an alley, well, obviously, he was trying to hide from me."

"WOW! Good job, mother!!" Cassius giggled, crescents forming in his eyes. "Did you know it's my birthday today?"

A cold look glazed over her face, ".... How could I forget?" It disappeared as fast as it appeared, replaced by a bright smile leaving Cassius wondering if he had imagined the whole thing.

Despite that, the young Cassius felt that his mother wasn't too happy for him. "Mother, are you upset I was born?"

She stayed silent for a few seconds, "... Of course not." She smiled, patting his head.

That answer took a little too long for Cassius to feel at ease. Nonetheless, he decided to be satisfied with it.

Cassius noticed his father gesturing at him to come over. It was time for his awakening ceremony. "Mother, can we go eat Anna's cupcakes together after the awakening ceremony? They are really good. I already ate one today, but we can eat more later."

"Of course," She knelt down and hugged him. "I would love to."

"Alright then! Please wait for me, 'kay? " Cassius smiled brightly as he waved goodbye while running towards his father who was standing by the door to the awakening hall.

"I'll be waiting for you." His mother waved back, smiling softly.

That was the first and last time Cassius ever met his mother in his first life.

Inside the awakening hall, the young Cassius stood still for a short while, before recalling that his father said it was okay to sit in the pool and sitting down.

An hour passed as he sat on the floor. Then, another hour passed. He didn't have a way of knowing how much time had passed so he thought maybe it felt slower because there was nothing to do.

But then another hour passed.

At this point, Cassius was sure that the hour was up. Was there perhaps something his father forgot to mention?

If not, then, why was there no system in front of him?

Mother is waiting for me. Why is this taking so long? I just want to get this over with so i can go enjoy cupcakes with her.

Cassius stood up and he began considering getting out of the pool, but he wasn't sure if that was allowed and he didn't want to get in trouble.

He stood standing in the pool for another half hour. He was too nervous to sit down again and was too eager to leave. He stared at the door waiting for his chance to get out.

'Can I swim in the pool? '

Swimming would be much funner than staying still, but the liquid may be too shallow… Oh, right. There was also the fact he was never allowed to learn how to swim. Not that it stopped him from learning it secretly.

I guess swimming is not an option.

That's when the door swung open.

"Cassius, what are you doing still standing there?" His father asked, "Come out, your awakening ceremony is already over."

"But father, where is my system?" Cassius asked worried, he had waited so patiently for this moment where he'd finally get a system. Yet, it was nowhere to be found.

The nobles who were standing behind the Duke began whispering at his words, "The young lord doesn't know where his system is?"

"Did he not awaken?"

"Was the Duke mistaken?"

"So, is he just like any other illegitimate child?"