The Warning
"The guy tricked your grandpa that, for him to avoid being noticed by the government officials, he had to learn a skill from him that would not only protect him, but also the people that he loved and cared for."
Pausing for a moment Natalie continued.
At this point, Jean already had some answers in his head. Even so, he still waited for Natalie's explanation.
"That was the time, the guy offered to teach your grandpa the technique to imbue the connection with the mysterious spot into his bloodline and other people that he cared for. By the time your grandpa was doing this, he didn't know that he was going to share a connection with the mysterious spot. This was because, he didn't know of its existence. He only came to know of its existence after the powerful guy gifted him the forest section and left.
The strange thing was that, the spot couldn't pose any danger to your grandpa, but still, he could sense it whenever he was around it. Since your grandpa seemed to have believed the guy's words, he decided to go ahead and imbue the same connection to his family members unknowingly. And that's how we ended up with the connection in our bloodline."
With a satisfied smile plastered on his face, Jean nodded his head in acknowledgement. Although he didn't like the act of his grandpa getting tricked, he believed that he could have felt for the same trick in case he was in the same shoes as his grandpa back then.
"I must say that the powerful guy was a sly individual for him to pull out such a trick with a precise timing. I can't lie, I admire the guy."
Jean said nonchalantly as a spark of curiosity flashed across his eyes.
Just as he was about to ask another question, Natalie spoke.
"I would like to clarify on something."
As soon as Jean heard Natalie's statement, his ears perked up as he increased his concentration.
"I know you must be wondering why your grandpa chose to stay around the forest even after discovering that it harboured such a dangerous spot. But all you need to know is that, your grandpa was assured of his safety as long as he stayed around the forest. This was because, he had already inherited the forest, and if someone else could inherit the place and maybe allow powerful individuals access the forest, the spot might be discovered and since he was the initial owner of the forest, he would be automatically linked to the spot and thus risking his life. He believed that by staying around, he would have a better chance of reducing the chances of other people knowing about the existence of the spot."
Nodding silently, Jean heaved a sigh.
At this point, he was exhausted and this could explain how long their conversation had been. The discussion had surprisingly taken more than four hours. Albeit Jean was not done with his questions, he still felt the importance of having a break. Despite him not being sure if his mom with offer him another chance for him to ask her about the same matter sometime other time, he still found it necessary to call-off the discussion.
Letting out a tired yawn, Jean glanced at Natalie with a tired expression.
"Mom, I think I am done with my questions for today. I hope I shall get another chance some other time to ask you my remaining questions. I just feel that I should at least give you a break. After all, you have sacrificed a lot to spare your precious time to attend to my questions.
The moment Natalie heard Jean's statement, she couldn't help but let out a bright smile.
'A sign of a good mother. I must say that I have played my part well to raise such a caring child.'
Raising her chin with a grin, Natalie lingered.
"Thanks for being compassionate towards your mother. I appreciate that."
Natalie spoke in a friendly tone.
Nodding his head silently, Jean grinned as a spark of happiness flashed across his eyes.
Natalie's statement had boosted his mood. Although he was already tired, the statement seemed to have rekindled the lost vigor in his muscles though by a smaller margin.
In the next moment Natalie continued.
"Now that the discussion is done, I would like to have a little chat with you before we call it a day."
Shifting in his seat, Jean narrowed his eyes.
"You have to remember one thing here. Never for once will you ever share the information from this conversation with someone else. This way, you will be preventing yourself from running into trouble."
With a gulp, Natalie continued.
"I think you have noticed that people that you interact with rarely talk about the powerful individuals. The reason is very simple. The government might suspect you for having a relationship with the guys in case they find out that you have some information about them. You could say that you got the information in novels from your school library, but the information there is very shallow to the point that, it is hard to understand it fully. It is no different from fairy tales from the past."
Jean listened to Natalie's explanation with much keenness. From all that she said, one thing didn't escape his mind. And that was him not sharing the information from their private discussion with anyone else.
Since the warnings from Natalie had become too much, Jean decided to not engage his grandpa (Natalie's father) in the discussion about the powerful guys. Although there were some chances that this act of his won't pose any kind of threat to him, since he would be discussing with one of his family members, he still found it important to push the discussion aside.
He valued his peace and happiness. He didn't want to complicate his life by poking his nose in discussion that didn't involve him directly.
'After all, I am just a mundane.'
"Just avoid the topic for you to enjoy your peace. I care about you and I shall always choose the best for you. Additionally, what you need to know is that, the moment you raise this topic out there, it won't end with you. Since most people are naive when it comes to this matter, they will go ahead to ask somebody else in case you don't offer them the answers they seek. This cycle might progress until this information falls in the hands of the government. When this happens, they might be triggered to trace the source of the information. And when they get to you, you might not like what will happen to you."
By the time Natalie was finishing with her statement, the boy had already decided in his mind never to share the information with anyone as instructed not to talk less of raising the topic about it.
"I have heard you, mom. And thank you for your advice. I promise never to let you down on this."
With that statement, Jean immediately got up from his seat, let out a yawn and did some stretches.
"You want to leave, now?"
Natalie asked in a smooth tone.
Jean was jubilating in his heart for having seen this other side of his mother for almost a whole day. This was a rare occasion since the two rarely spent a whole day together. Even if it happened, never for once had Natalie been this gentle to the boy.
Nodding his head, Jean gazed at the clock on the wall before replying.
"Yes, I will just have a nap before I come back to prepare our supper."
It was already 5PM, a clear indication that the discussion had taken so much time. The discussion was mixed with emotions and reactions that also led to the whole thing taking so much time.
Immediately Jean was done with his statement, Natalie too got to her feet.
"Then let's all head upstairs since we have the same thing in mind."
With a nod, Jean started heading towards the stairs as Natalie followed suit.
As the two were moving towards the stairs, Natalie cleared her throat. Turning back almost instantly, Jean slowed down.
As Natalie walked and caught up with the boy, she glanced at him and smiled gently.
"For the matter of supper, leave it to me. It is my turn to beat your culinary skills and presume my position as the best cook in this house. "
With a jerk, Jean gaped. He wasn't believing how sweet his mom had become. Although he enjoyed cooking, he still found it satisfying to enjoy his mother's meal because it had been a while since he did that. Most of the time she was at work and would always come back late. And the only time she could cook, was when she was.on leave like this moment.
The reason to why she had allowed his boy to always prepare their family meals even if she was free to do so, was because of just one reason. Jean's culinary skills were exceptional and they seemed to be improving with every meal he prepared.
It was not that Natalie was a bad cook, in fact she was the best. But now that Jean had prepared a meal that seemed to have beaten her best meals, she was eager to challenge his son on this.
"You can't beat me this time around. "
Jean replied with a raised chin.
"Wait and see."
Natalie responded as the two made their way towards the staircase.
As the two reached the upper floor and entered their rooms, Jean's mind was clouded with numerous thoughts.
As he laid in his bed on his back and gazed at the ceiling, he dived into a sea of thoughts.
'Could the government's restrictions be the reason to why mom didn't want to share this information for all this while? If that is the case; Ate there some chances that mom is hiding some information from me for the fear of my safety. The risk of us being linked to the powerful guy might be the reason to why mom and dad were against the idea of relocating to this place some years back.'
Jean contemplated on the matter as he tried his best to dig out some extra information about the mysterious spot basing on the discussion they had.
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