Dear Mother

It was on a gray afternoon, ominous dark clouds rolling by the gloomy sky, that the funeral for the seventeenth generation Emperor was held.

Mournful souls in black clothing, muffled sobs of those grieving, a sombre atmosphere wafted of devastation and misery, and a graveyard drowned in weeping - it was a day like no other for the empire of Aristia. The life of a benevolent ruler cut short by an unascertained assailant had been commemorated in a wreath-laying ceremony. Beneath the dreadful facade layering over the burial ground, however, there was a different stir of emotions, an incongruous contrast from the grim ambience. Made obscure by the lamenting outcries was the imperial family's apathetic guise.

"Have you seen the wife?"

"The prince never left her side, how could we not?"

"The lady of the prophecy is so young."

"What a beauteous woman, indeed."

"Will the empire's future be assured at such small, frail hands, though?"

"Don't think too far ahead now. Look at how she looks."

"Such marvelous features are unbefitting of that steely mustering."

"It's just a loveless marriage, after all."

"Even so, a wife had to feel something about a husband's death, at the very least."

"She didn't even shed a single tear since we started."

"Like a glass doll with the heart of stone."

"The air of an ice queen."

"Hollow beauty."

"And an iron widow is she."

Everything didn't fall on deaf ears, not for the soon-to-be-crowned Empress nor her step son. Even then, however, the two just held their grounding and continued their indifferent display. Today may not be like any other day for everybody else, but for them, this was no special occasion. For the widow, the smell of death hanging in the air was something she longed to take a whiff of. The prince, on the other hand, only stood there with no recollection of any moment spared by the deceased, expression far from a bereaved.

"Mother, don't you feel sad?" Noah started, voice little and barely audible.

"Is there any reason to be?" Venus answered, expression unfeeling.

"I'm not talking about Father. I already know you're the one who did this."

She then glanced at his direction, still mustering an unappalled front. It wasn't his confession that caught her off guard, though. She didn't mind if an illegitimate child of royalty found out, anyway. Nothing could ever faze her at this point, not her own crimes or the darkness of this world, for she had already turned into a demonness herself - murdering her own husband, slandering countless noble houses, ravaging the name of the imperial family, pillaging and plundering. The gravestone was simply a step away from her most desired ascendance, so not even the forlorn disquietude could make her tears fall, nor could his revelation make her stand on cold feet.

"You're the century's genius, Your Highness. Of course, you do," Venus remarked after a brief pause.

"Mother, what I want to really ask is... Do you feel sad that you're now going to take that man's place?" Noah continued, making her eyes widen in surprise.

"What are you saying, child? Why else would I do this?"

"I just... I always felt like the throne wasn't really what Mother was after."

It's a hunch, a mere ungrounded inkling. Venus knew it. Noah may be a prodigy, but he couldn't possibly crack the code, and he really didn't have to. It's not like his words would make any difference either. She already set the future in stone, just like when the prophecy did hers. The reason why he said that was probably because of his desire to escape his palatial lifestyle. He's just seeing himself in her at the moment since he's supposed to be the one to inherit the throne if she had not appeared in the picture.

"There's also something I want to ask of Your Highness..." Venus trailed off before turning to him, a hand stretched out.

"...Will Your Highness stay by my side even then?"

At any day, Noah would not hesitate to take her hand. He would even beam at her and reply something along the line that it goes without saying. But this time, things were no longer under the same circumstances as before. He knew her true colors now. He's aware of how she'd sleep in a pool of blood and rapined luxuries every night when the whole castle's asleep. Even then, however, he decided to continue holding onto that faint thread of hope. He decided to keep believing that those things weren't really what his mother was after.

For the reasons that he's still craving for such motherly affection and he wanted to save Venus, he reached for her hand and mustered the same sunny smile of the boy she came to know about.

"Of course, I will stay with you, Mother."

And for years, those words remained the truth. That's all until he finally realized that she's already beyond saving.

---

Groaning, Noah slowly stirred awake before feeling his whole body burning. A drilling ache then racked his head and made him shut his eyes tightly in pain. That's when he realized that he's having his once-in-a-blue-moon fever. He just silently cursed at this as he despised this kind of feeling the most. It's not only because he felt ninety percent less useful than usual, but it's also because the fever always reminded him of a past he worked hard to forget.

"Really... This is the worst..." he muttered to himself, utterly peeved.

That's until he felt something in his hand.

Surprised, Noah swivelled his head to the side, only to find Eli taking a nap with her face buried in her folded arms. She was holding his hand, or more like he seemed to be the one who first grabbed it, albeit unconsciously. Either way, he doesn't know what to make of their current position. He tried to recall what happened prior to this, but everything only came out like a hazy mess in his head. Then, as he continued to figure things out in vain, Eli suddenly woke up and jolted in her seat, catching him off guard.

"Noah?!" she exclaimed, surprised at seeing him finally awake.

"Geez, woman... You're gonna make my ears bleed."

"Are you feeling fine now? Do you need water? Food? Oh, wait, I made you a soup. You've been asleep for hours now so you must be really hungry. I decided to borrow the cooking lab earlier since the cafeteria's already closed-"

"Wait, it's closed? What time is it?"

"Uhhh... Almost seven?"

Noah then blinked at Eli in flummox. It's already an hour past the end of after school activities, yet she's still here. What's more, she'd been taking care of him all the time. She even cooked for him, and judging by how exhausted she looked at the moment, he also probably gave her a lot of trouble. Hal and the others did tell him how he'd usually act out of character whenever he's in this state.

"Why would you that?" Noah coldly questioned, evading her gaze.

Even with his unfeeling tone, however, he knew he's already at the brink of giving in. He knew that the walls were slowly crumbling. This wasn't the only occasion when Eli treated him like this, after all. There were the tea that she made, the kind look she always gave, the soft smile and the warm hand, her expressions of gratitude, and her unyielding will to know him more despite the amount of hate he's throwing at her in return. She could've just stayed silent by Hal's side if she only wanted to survive the convulated predicament she'd been placed into, but she still went through all that trouble. Nobody asked her to do it. None of them was even happy when she appeared in the picture one day.

"I can't just leave you be, of course. You're always exaggerating your fever like this. You act as if you're already at death's door," Eli gently chided, crossing her arms and pouting at him.

"Always? Why do you talk like you know me so well? What do you even know to begin with?" Noah scoffed, eyebrows furrowed in miff.

"Because I do know you, Noah. I'm your mother."

Then, he froze.