"What do you know? I just want to make sure he is alright. You focus on the food. Don't overcook it." Elena scolded her.
She then looked at Eric worriedly, tears appearing in her eyes as she said in an apologetic tone, "I'm sorry, son. It's because I'm an incompetent mother and couldn't move to the middle city. If we had been living there, this might not have happened. I'm sorry you had to suffer because of my incompetence."
"Hey, what are you talking about, m... mom? I didn't suffer at all. Those nobles just wanted me to help take care of their garden because their original gardener was sick. Stop crying, okay? I'm perfectly alright."
Seeing Elena cry and blame herself, Eric hurriedly found a random excuse. He believed she would believe him since he didn't have any injury that might suggest that he suffered before.
However, contrary to his expectations, when she heard him, she started bawling even more loudly, "I'm sorry, son. I'm really sorry...."
While crying, she suddenly fainted.
Whoosh!
Eric held her and brought to the bed before gently placing her on it. He then wiped her tears away and covered her with a blanket.
Just then, Riya came running at him and angrily asked. "Stupid Eric! Why did you say you were perfectly fine?"
"What was I supposed to say if not this?" He asked, looking at her if she was an idiot.
His look incensed her completely. In her anger, she pulled his ears and said. "You don't know, but after mom saw your cracked pendant, she seemed sure that you suffered even though you don't have any injury or even a scratch on you. She cried for a long while and continued saying that you suffered because of her."
"Cracked pendant? How can it crack?" Eric mumbled in confusion before pulling out the pendant he wore around his neck since birth.
The pendant was very simple. It only had a cloth string and a dull-looking gem connected to it.
A few years ago, when they didn't have enough food to eat, he had asked Elena if he could perhaps sell the gem to buy some rations, but Elena had scolded him badly and told him, 'No matter what happens, you should never think of selling it and always keep it on you.'
He was curious why she was being so obstinate about it. Maybe because it was something special? But no matter how he looked at it, it seemed ordinary.
However, as time passed, he realised that there was indeed something special about it. No matter what he did, hit it with heavy stones or threw it in the fire or anything else, the gem never suffered any damage.
But right now, the never breaking gem had many cracks on it and it looked as if it will completely break apart if it suffered any blow.
"How is this possible?" Eric exclaimed in surprise.
'Did it crack when those people were beating me? Or maybe when that demon was torturing me?'
After he moment, he stopped thinking about it because he didn't really care when and how it broke. But he now understood why Elena thought he suffered even though he was perfectly fine. It was because of this cracked pendant.
Realising this, he smiled bitterly. Glancing at the angry Riya, he pinched her adorable cheeks and said. "It's alright. I'll console mom when she wakes up."
"Hmph!" Riya slapped his hands away, snorting cutely. She then returned to the kitchen.
...
Eric and Riya had eaten the dinner while waiting for Elena to wake up, but she didn't.
'Sigh!' Gazing at her pale face, Eric sighed. 'Her concerns about my safety, coupled with the pressure of not having any work, must have really taken a toll on her delicate body.'
He then clenched his fist. 'Don't worry, mom. After my system starts working, I'll soon become strong and will take you and Riya to the middle-city or someplace even better where you guys can live your lives without any worry.'
"Hey, Eric, should we wake mom up so she can have her dinner?" Riya asked. She was sitting beside him, looking at Elena with a worried look.
"No. Let her sleep for a while more. She must be too exhausted." Eric said. He then glanced at her. Seeing the sleepy look on her face, he smiled. "You can sleep now. I'll heat up the dinner for her when she wakes up."
"No. I will also wait." Riya shook her head.
"Alright. You can rest your head on my shoulder until then." Eric smiled.
"Okay." Riya nodded and put her head on his shoulder. After a few minutes, she dozed off. Seeing this, he chuckled lightly and mumbled, "Weren't you going to wait with me?"
He then gently lay her on the bed.
After another two hours, Elena's eyelashes fluttered gently before she slowly opened her eyes.
Immediately, she looked around and when she saw Eric sitting there, looking at her, a relieved smiled appeared on her face and she asked, "You didn't sleep?"
"No. I was waiting for you to wake up." Eric said with a gentle smile while standing up, "You wait here for a while. I'll heat up the dinner for you."
"It's alright. You go to sleep. You must be tired. I can..." Elena shook her head and tried to stand up.
However, Eric walked up to her, put his hands on her shoulders, and made her sit again. "You are the one who is tired. So, just sit here and wait for a while, alright?" He sternly said, looking deep into her beautiful eyes.
"O-Okay." Seeing his expression, Elena nodded, a cheerful smile appearing on her face.
"Good." Eric nodded before walking back to the kitchen. He quickly heated up the dinner and brought it to her.
Although there was only rice and some vegetable broth, she ate it as if it was the most delicious meal she ever had.
Seeing this, Eric couldn't help but feel pain in his heart and his resolve to become stronger grew strong.
After she finished eating, they started talking about what they had experienced in these past two months.
Eric stuck to his lie and said that he didn't suffer at all and only worked as a gardener before they let him go. As for how his pendant cracked, he simply said that he didn't have any idea.
Although Elena suspected he wasn't speaking the truth, she didn't pursue it, seeing how stubbornly he denied it.
When it was her turn, she repeated the same things that Riya had already told him about, such as why she had been kicked out of her previous job and how she was now trying to find another job.
After a while, both became sleepy.
Elena looked at him and asked expectantly, "Eric, how about you sleep with me tonight?"
"W-What?" Eric became flustered when he heard this. If she had asked him this when he didn't know she wasn't his mother, he wouldn't have felt anything wrong with it. But now, it was different.
"You don't want to? Ah, I see. You've grown big now and have started to feel embarrassed to sleep with me, huh? It's alright. I won't force you." She acted as if his hesitation had hurt her.
"I-It's not that." Eric defended.
"What is it then?" She asked, a teasing smile playing on her lips.
Seeing that she didn't want to let him go, Eric gritted his teeth and nodded, "Alright. I'll sleep with you."