Creak!
The dark figure opened the wooden door and casually disabled its safeguard formation with ease. Then, an icy cold breeze quickly flowed into the room, making little Myah involuntarily shudder.
"Achoo!" He sneezed.
With his tiny spoon, Myah scooped another spoonful of delicious congee and clumsily ran to the door, thinking that his mother was back. However, the next second he stood frozen on the spot.
The figure standing at the door wasn't his mother. Instead, it was his father, William!
With a gentle smile on his face, William slowly walked inside. "Myah, don't you miss me? We haven't seen each other for a while. Come here and let me have a good look at you."
Shaken, like a scared cat, little Myah instinctively swirled around and ran to the bed. He covered himself with the blanket and wanted to hide from sight.
The warmth and darkness underneath the blanket always make him feel safe and comfortable. But upon hearing the sound of footsteps ticking closer and closer, he couldn't calm down. Myah's heart was loudly slamming against his chest, and his breath shortened.
Danger!
'Mama...mama, where are you...' Myah doesn't know why, but he felt scared upon seeing William, and his stomach ached severely. This feeling was weirdly familiar, and it was as if he had experienced it before.
Unable to endure the pain, Myah curled his body. He hugged his knee and started sobbing. "P-please... come back..."
Seeing how Myah reacts toward him, William smile coolly. He had already expected it. 'Consider the event that transpires two years ago... it would be strange if he weren't afraid of me.'
But William didn't come here today only to scare this son of his; he has an important task to accomplish.
"Don't be shy, don't you always want to play with father? I'm here, so let's play." William effortlessly lifted the blanket and threw it aside despite Myah's attempt to hold onto it.
Suddenly exposed, Myah wanted to run, but there was nowhere else to go! The hard wooden wall covers the three sides of the bed, and the way out is blocked.
With William's dark shadow looming over his tiny body, Myah was terrified and broke into tears.
"Now now, don't cry. Father will take you to a fun place." While using his right hand to catch hold of the back of Myah's shirt, William effortlessly lifted him like a piece of luggage.
"No! let go, let go!" Crying, Myah struggles in his father's grasp as he wiggles his tiny body left and right with all his might. Be it punching or kicking, the little guy tries them all, but nothing is working.
William's hand was like a hug iron pincer, tightly gripping on the back of Myah's teddy bear shirt, rendering all struggle futile.
Hic!*
"Let go!... Mama, mama, where are you!..." Shimmering tears droplets kept on swelling in Myah's clouded eyes, they continuously streaking down from his cheek. The unbearable painful sensation in his stomach intensified, making him vomit out the congee.
"Your mother... she won't be back anytime soon and stop moving so randomly." William was angered. His robe was stained from the disgusting vomiting.
"It hurts...mama... save me..."
Myah wailed pitifully, and his face slowly lost its color as his heartbeats were spiraling to a dangerous level. Then, with the last bit of strength, Myah weakly threw the spoon in his hand to William's face, unintentionally angering him further.
"How useless!"
Annoyed, William nocked Myah unconscious, and the struggle stopped as everything fell silent.
At that moment, the servant girl from previously quickly rushed over after hearing the commotion.
"Sir William, madam Hannah is not here at the moment; you can not take Myah away without her knowledge!" She exclaimed, standing in front of Wiliam and stopping him from his track.
William was triggered. Since when has his status in this family stood so low? Even a servant girl dare to go against him!
'Laughable.'
With a light laugh, William said coldly. "You are getting in the way." Then, he swung his hand and slapped the servant girl's face, not wasting any time. An immense force instantly sends her crashing into the wall as it crumbles.
There was no room for retaliation!
The servant girl's strength was only a Four-star Elite. She could not contend with William, who is a One-star Master.
She wasn't even worthy for him to summon his War Soul.
"Know your place and remember. If this happens again in the future, I won't be so merciful." William stated before averting his gaze from the crumbling wall. With the unconscious Myah in his hand, he disappeared a moment later.
...
Meanwhile, inside Thoran's office, Hannah suddenly felt restless and uneasy.
'What is going on?' She wondered; an ominous feeling flooded her heart. It was as if her instinct were foreboding her of something terrible.
Noticing the change in Hannah's expression, Old Jack put down the stack of the document and asked casually, "That child... Myah, right? How is he?"
The sudden question caused Hannah's thoughts to be distracted.
As the image of Myah flashed in her mind, she smiled softly and replied, "He's fine, healthy, and happy..."
"That is good; the boy should be happy... I'm already too old, and there are so many children being born every year that I couldn't remember anymore." Old jack nodded and continued. "Don't be too agitated for the upcoming meeting. The road to the future is endless, and if the boy's fate is meant to be. There's always a way out."
Hannah remained silent for a long time, and she didn't say anything to reply to the Old Jack's words.
'I should calm down; feeling too anxious won't be of any help.'
The meeting yesterday didn't end well, now that Myah's talent has shown only to be C-grade. The Clan Elders won't delay anymore, nor would they hold anything back.
'I...' Hannah heaved a disheartened sigh. She felt heavy and couldn't calm down no matter how much she tried.
After a moment of silence, Old Jack shook his head and thought to himself, 'What a pity, judging from the time... Aiiii.'