Reincarnated As The Villainess's Son-Chapter 420: Reason for War [4]

[The Next Day.]

[Yennefer’s House.]

"...."

The sun shone on the beautiful and comfortable house.

Flowers that lined up in the yard bloomed, yet the inside of the house remained glumly.

Yennefer blankly stared at her hands, quietly cleaning up the dishes.

Her ember eyes remained unfocused as she remembered everything from yesterday.

The talk with Himmel and... the argument with her daughter.

"...."

It pained her to even think about what she did.

But...

Yennefer would kill a thousand more if it meant keeping her daughter safe.

A sudden sound of the door opening made her turn around.

She blinked as she found her daughter walking out of her room, fully dressed.

"Where are you going?" Yennefer asked, washing her hands.

"Somewhere." Zenith replied, her voice stoic.

Yennefer dried her hands slowly with the cloth near the sink, eyes still fixed on Zenith.

"Zenith?"

"I don’t want to talk," Zenith replied, moving toward the door.

"You’re still angry," Yennefer said.

Zenith stopped. Her hand rested on the doorknob, fingers tightening slightly.

"I’m not angry," she said flatly. "I just don’t want to see you right now."

Yennefer’s throat tightened, but she kept her composure. "Alright, but have your breakfast."

"I don’t have the appetite—."

"You are not going anywhere without your breakfast." Yennefer said, her voice firm. "Come back."

Zenith’s hand trembled on the doorknob, but she didn’t open the door.

"Zenith—."

"What do you want?" Zenith interrupted, turning back around.

Yennefer looked into her eyes. "Are you angry?"

"I am not."

"You are angry, aren’t you?" she asked, walking towards her. "It’s because of Himmel, isn’t it?"

Zenith looked away, her lips pressed into a thin line.

"It’s not about Himmel," she muttered.

Yennefer stopped a few steps away, watching her daughter carefully.

"Then what is it about?" she asked softly. "Help me understand."

Zenith’s shoulders stiffened. "You wouldn’t understand."

"I’m trying to," Yennefer replied.

A silence lingered between them for a while.

Yennefer let out a sigh. "It’s Himmel."

Zenith finally looked at her.

"Fine." she whispered, glaring at her. "It is about Himmel."

Yennefer looked into her daughter’s tearful eyes.

There was so much pain in them, but Yennefer couldn’t understand why.

"You like him." she whispered. "Himmel, I mean."

"...."

"Are you mad because he said he loved me?" Yennefer asked, taking a step closer to her.

Zenith’s breath hitched.

She looked away again, wiping her cheek quickly as if hoping her mother hadn’t seen the tear.

"You think I’m that shallow?" she said, her voice low. "That I’d get angry just because of that?"

Yennefer stayed silent, watching her carefully.

Zenith let out a shaky breath. "It’s not about him loving you. It’s about you pretending like you didn’t know."

"I didn’t—"

"You did." Zenith’s voice trembled. "Maybe not at first, but later? You knew. And you kept letting him stay close to you like it didn’t matter."

Yennefer took a small breath, her voice soft. "It wasn’t like that."

Zenith stared at the floor. "Then what was it like?"

Yennefer drew in a deep breath.

"He is like a son to me." she replied. "I care for him like I care for you."

"...."

Zenith had no words for her.

She just kept on looking at her mother like she was hoping for a response.

"What about his proposal?" she meekly asked, "Are you going to accept it?"

"What?" Yennefer frowned. "Why... No, never."

"...What if it makes you happy?"

"Then I will sacrifice my happiness." she replied, raising her hand to touch her face. "Anything for you."

Zenith didn’t pull away when her mother’s hand touched her cheek.

It was warm. Familiar.

Her lips trembled. "Why do you always do that?"

Yennefer tilted her head. "Do what?"

"Put me first like I’m the only thing that matters." Zenith’s eyes watered again. "It makes it harder to stay mad at you."

Yennefer reached out for a hug. "Because you are the only thing that matters."

Zenith grumbled something uncorrected before accepting it.

She whispered once again. ".....You don’t love Himmel, right?"

Yennefer remained silent for a while.

"I do. I love him a lot." she finally replied. "But not in a way you are thinking."

Zenith’s arms slowly loosened around her mother as she stepped back.

"But he does love you," she murmured. "In that way."

Yennefer gave a faint nod. "Yes, and I don’t know how to handle him."

Zenith just smiled. "I will take care of it—."

Knock!!

A sudden knock on the door had them both turn to the door.

Yennefer quickly grabbed Zenith and pulled her behind as she opened the door.

"Hmm?"

There was no one there, only a letter on the floor.

Yennefer picked up the letter.

She looked at the name, only to pause.

Zenith frowned. "Who is it?"

Yennefer looked at her. "It’s Himmel."

---

[Tamriel Kingdom, Alfheim.]

In the empty room of the broken palace, a lone elf sat on a reclining chair.

Her almond-shaped eyes blank as she looked at the ceiling without any emotions.

Long golden-blonde hair blended with olive, flowing behind her.

"What a shitty life this is."

Nerissa mumbled to herself as she took a glass of wine from the table beside her.

She stared up at the cracked ceiling. Her lips curled into a small smirk. "A shitty life indeed."

She took a slow sip, the bitterness of the wine washing over her tongue.

Sometimes Nerissa wondered what would happen if she married again.

Would she live more happily?

Maybe have more happiness in her life?

She wasn’t sure, but there was one thing she was aware of.

"Ragnar wouldn’t have let him live." she whispered, her voice bitter. "He would kill him."

Nerissa was aware of how fragile that man’s ego was back then.

Not that he learned anything from his mistakes, he still has it.

Nerissa was sure he would come to ruin her life.

"Not that I can love anyone else." she whispered grimly.

The goddess’ biggest joke on her was elves rarely fall in love, but she did.

She fell in love with a man who cheated on her without a second thought.

And now she was throughly broken.

Nerissa let out a sigh.

Maybe she could have made some allies if she had another marriage.

But...

The one thing that Nerissa hated the most was whoring herself out.

There was nothing that could make her do it—except maybe one.

A sudden knock on the door made her glance at it.

"Come in."

The door slowly creaked open and a girl walked in.

With her red hair touching her knees and eyes as golden as her grandmother’s, with the same spiral pattern.

The only thing that made her not appealing was the mark on her face.

...The mark ’that’ boy gave her.

Nerissa didn’t move from her seat.

She only raised an eyebrow as the girl walked across the dusty marble floor.

"You’re late," Nerissa said, swirling the last of her wine.

Nymeria stopped a few steps away, her back straight and her face composed. "I was talking with Pasithea, mother."

"Are you disappointed with my decision of making you a general?" she asked, staring at her.

"No." Nymeria shook her head immediately. "I would love to make you proud."

"...."

Nerissa stared blankly at the girl.

She was fully aware of how much Nymeria needed love.

How much her daughter was craving her acknowledgement.

Nerissa herself wanted to help her daughter, but—

’God, those eyes. I hate them so much.....’

Everything about her reminded her of Ragnar.

Unlike her son Liam who looked like her, Nymeria took every awful feature of a Segyal household.

And Nerissa didn’t like that one bit, how her daughter resembled that man.

She felt nauseous just by looking at her and there was nothing she could do.

Nymeria stood still, trying not to show the hurt in her eyes.

She had long learned that showing emotion around her mother rarely led to anything good.

"Is that all?" she asked after a pause.

Nerissa set her empty glass down, the soft clink echoing in the quiet room.

"No. Sit down," she said.

Nymeria hesitated, then moved to the nearby chair.

"What I am doing is for your own good." Nerissa said, "I want you to become as strong as possible."

She leaned closer toward her. "Far stronger than Ragnar."

"...."

Nymeria looked at her mother without any words.

"There will come a time when he will come to kill you." she said, her voice breaking. "And only you can stop him."

Truthfully, Nerissa had given up all her hopes of protecting her daughter.

She wasn’t strong enough to face Ragnar—worse, she was the weakest Head of the Akasha household.

A broken smile formed on Nerissa’s lips.

"You need to live." she said, looking at Nymeria. "No matter what, you will survive."

A tear trickled down her cheek.

Nymeria instinctively reached to wipe it off.

Not because she cared, but her OCD kicked in, forcing her.

Nerissa looked away. She hated crying in front of anyone, especially her daughter.

It was surely the worst pair of mother and daughter.

Nymeria looked at her hands resting in her lap.

Her fingernails were chewed, chipped.

She never had the time or peace to care for them.

"Mother." Nymeria whispered. "I have something to ask."

"Go on."

"I... Lady Elife talked about a new world—."

Bamm!!!

The door slammed open before she could finish her words.

They both looked at Daina who stood there, huffing for breath.

Daina raised the letter in her hand. "It’s Himmel."

---

[Unknown island, Lumina.]

It was an enormous chamber made out of nothing but the strongest material in the world, a girl moved around.

Her long silver hair flowed behind her while her crimson eyes stared at the dummy target in front of her.

She materialised the scythe in her hand and moved it in a gentle arc.

BOOM!!!!

A shockwave shook the chamber as the dummies placed a hundred metres away were cut in half.

Shyamal blinked at the target.

"Not so shabby." A voice made her turn around.

A woman with platinum hair looked at her with her lifeless grey eyes.

"You are growing faster," Esmeray commented coldly. "Soon to be an Eternal."

Shyamal lowered her scythe, brushing her silver hair back with a casual flick.

"You scared, mother-in-law?" she asked with a slight smile. "Don’t worry, I will kill you in the most gruesome way."

"You are still too early to dream about that," Esmeray replied, looking down at her. "Focus on surviving your next awakening."

Shyamal tilted her head, a sly grin curling at her lips. "You say that like you don’t think I’ll survive it."

"I don’t." Esmeray’s voice was calm but cold. "You were supposed to die long ago."

"Yet."

She raised her scythe and pulled it back.

"Here I am!"

Shyamal threw the scythe at her with all her might.

Esmeray didn’t flinch as she looked at the incoming weapon.

She barely took a step and grabbed the scythe by its hilt.

"Like I said, you can’t kill me," she said, lazily swinging the scythe. "Everything goes as I want, even my own death."

The chamber’s door opened up as soon as she said that.

Adaliah walked inside with a serious look on her face. freewebnøvel.coɱ

Esmeray looked at her. "What?"

"It’s Azariah," Adaliah said, her voice serious. "He is gone."

The room fell quiet.

Esmeray’s expression didn’t change, but her fingers tightened ever so slightly on the scythe she still held.

"Gone?" she repeated. "What do you mean gone?"

Adaliah stepped further in, her boots echoing across the chamber floor. "He left during the night. We don’t know where."

"Then find him, goddamnit!"

Esmeray yelled, looking at her.

"Get the entire organization, but find him. Now!"

Adaliah flinched visibly as she never saw her this angry. "Yes, my lady."

Buzz!

A sudden message made Shyamal look in her pocket.

She took out her phone only to find a message that made her smile.

...From Himmel.

---

I will be gone for a while.

Love you.

---

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