Kingdom of Vrilosean
POV Gwendolyn.
I opened my eyes and found the wooden ceiling of my cabin.
Exactly how I remembered it yesterday, and the day before yesterday, and the day before that day... and every day no matter how happy, sad, angry or empty I felt... it was the same old dreary ceiling.
[.....Does every day have to be the same?] I thought to myself with some despondency.
I got up in no good spirits, just to put on my slippers and leave my room.
"… I already woke up…." I said even though no one was home.
And there would never be again...
I did the same as always, I left my cabin, I went to the town in search of provisions for today. I bought the same food as always, greeted the same people as always and retired as usual to prepare my breakfast, lunch and dinner even though I didn't need it thanks to my rings of self-sustenance.
[I'm supposed to get through my day somehow, right?]
Plus the last time I tried to get a week out of town, a certain blonde was looking for me.
"Luckily I didn't find it... Today in particular I don't want to see her…"
Despite the words of that woman and the others…nothing gets better…or rather, I have no one else to get better for.
Today in particular is not a great day to feel alive, the inclement clouds block all sunlight, therefore, all sources of life.
[What better day to do it….]
Once I got back home, I prepared all the meals for my day, I ate breakfast, I put lunch and dinner in the freezer.
As soon as I finished my only task of the day, simply because it was a routine that made me feel a certain control over my life, I went out again in the direction of the origin of the river, next to which the town was settled, a beautiful lake in the middle of the trees .
"....." On the way to the lake, I took one last look at the autumn forest and try as I might, I couldn't find anything particularly special about them today.
In my days as an adventurer I never paid particular attention to trees, and now that I do, I can't understand why my companions were so fascinated with them on the long walks we had.
"Ah….." The shadows of their faces came to me for an instant, but I quickly dismissed them.
What is so special about seeing the leaves of the trees break off and fall to the ground? What is the beauty in something so banal and insignificant? Why did they always somehow seem to pick up their spirits when they saw the forest? How come they did it? Simply…. How….?
Unable to appreciate the beauty of nature, as soon as I was about to reach the lake, I realized that the fog prevented me from visualizing that modest dock that I always went to every day.
"How odd…."
I have never seen mist in this lake during all these months that I have lived here, much less have I heard from the villagers about it.
"Does not matter…. It's not much of a deal either… [Breeze]" Using a very basic spell, I parted the mist enough that I could see the right path.
[Hmph… the fog is pretty thick] I barely got a glimpse of the pier, but it's not like I needed to see more than that.
Finally, on the dock, I began to undress, starting first with my slippers, then my stockings, then my purple tunic, my rings, and finally my underwear, both bra and panties.
"How cold…. That's good, I guess….."
I folded my clothes, and put everything else on top of the tunic, except for the necklace that I still hadn't taken off my neck.
"..." Undecided if it was a good decision to open it to see the photo inside it, I also left it with my other belongings.
I took a deep breath… I sat on the dock and stared at my reflection.
".... That's me…."
And despite everything… I don't feel like who I am….
After losing my parents... and my sister… something inside me died.
That brave girl, audacious woman always looking to live one more intense adventure, the strongest human magician in the human continent, the youngest prodigy in written history... reduced to a sad woman who no longer knows what she wants for herself and Her future.
"W-why d-did they have to leave when I-I wasn't…..?"
I should have been there...
A couple of tears fell into the lake, distorting my own reflection, and sparing me the ugly image of myself…crying again….
Every night before I go to sleep, their smiling faces come to me, and I can't bear to realize that they're not with me anymore, so I just cry myself to sleep.
During all these months I tried to get away from everything that could remind me of them… to run away from the pain, from my life, from my friends….
Even… you could say myself.
[I don't know who I am anymore…]
"Hic…. Hic…..Sniff"
I just know that I still miss them and it hurts as much as the first day they left.
"I-I'll see you guys soon…."
And I can't stand being without them anymore…no amount of condolences will make me stop missing them, much less help me bear the pain of their loss.
I leaned on my hands…. and with a light jump I entered the cold waters of that lake.
Forgive me gods... I hope you will be merciful enough to forgive me even after committing the greatest sin of all: Refusing the gift of life.
"…"
Cold very cold…
Little by little my weight made me fall to the bottom of the lake.
"...."
I decided not to close my eyes, because I wanted the next time I did, it would be when I was in the promised paradise with them.
[I know I wasn't the best person… especially because of those… guilty pleasures of mine, but I never did anything that would make me deserve hell…]
"..."
I let the air out of my lungs to speed things up, watching the bubbles rise to the surface as the life drained from my body.
"..."
Perhaps it was because I had resigned myself to death that I didn't feel that irrational urge to breathe, much less to put up any resistance.
"...…"
Finally, after a minute, I felt how my eyes began to want to close and the forces left my body, at the same time that I touched the bottom of the lake.
"....."
[Huh…how awkward is the bottom of the lake…. I think I could have at least created a platform of land to at least die a little more dignified…. But you can't have everything in this life.]
And when he was about to give me eternal rest.
"? ….?!"
A gigantic shadow…. Nope…. A boat? It blocked my view of all the dim light I had access to
".....!!!!"
Serious mistake... the impression was more than enough to activate my survival instinct, and now I could feel the horrible sensation of drowning in all its splendor. So I ended up swallowing a considerable volume of water before saving my skin.
"[BUBBLU]"
With a spell called [Bubble] that barely saved me, I was able to breathe for a few seconds before the trapped air inside the bubble made me rise to the surface before it exploded serving its purpose.
"BLUUUUUAAAARRGGGGGHHH"
Vomiting up the water I accidentally swallowed, I didn't have time to try to cover my nakedness or teleport away from the spot.
"Yuck! Cough! A-Ahhh!" I brushed my hair to the side, so I could see that thing that suddenly blocked all view when I was about to sleep with the fish.
"W-what? W-why….?"
[A golden ship?!]
And my first impression when seeing it was….
It was a floating treasure!
Entirely made of gold, or more likely gold-plated, this vessel was half the size of the lake.
"What kind of joke is this….?"
There were kings and emperors with delirious desires to make their fantasies come true, and at the cost of many lives and their own, they would achieve such an end... but a ship like the one my eyes saw, was something of a value equivalent to that of a castle... No... . That of an entire feudal territory.
The vessel not only shone with the unmistakable color of gold, but precious gems were embedded throughout its structure
Amethysts, diamonds, pearls, emeralds, rubies... of all sizes in perfect harmony, proportion and beauty.
Why the heck did something so valuable suddenly appear?
I teleported to my clothes, used [Evaporate] on myself to dry myself off even if it meant my hair would end up being a mess, put on my panties first, then everything else.
"Perhaps some wizard they fired did this?"
Afraid that some group of mages from some foreign nation would show up to retrieve what was surely a national treasure at the whim of a king or emperor, I braced myself for the worst...
But nothing happened.
"….. This makes no sense…." I shook my head without understanding the reason for the ship before my eyes.
I waited longer... But nothing happened... I couldn't even feel the slightest hint of someone watching me.
"..." I looked carefully at the ship, ignoring the fact that the deck was absolutely empty, I could see how there was a golden lock in which someone had left the key.
Maybe I should at least check it out?
"I guess this is the novelty I've been longing for…. [Mana Vision]" I inspected the entire structure, but at no time could I perceive any flow of mana within it… which doesn't make much sense.
[I understand that gold and gems make it expensive, but adding an inner layer of metal to counter mages is a bit of a stretch, isn't it more convenient to imbue some gems with counter espionage spells instead of using something as rare as anti magic metals in this caprice?]
I turned the matter over in my mind a lot more, and tried to find some logical explanation for the sudden appearance of the ship at this time. However, finding no answer, I decided that investigating on my own was the most sensible thing to do.
"[Fly]" I took to the air until I was on the deck area, and gently landed in front of that door.
"…Why am I doing this?" I stopped my hand for a second before turning the key on the door.
With that question in the air, my mind went blank for a few seconds before I gave up again in the search for inner wisdom.
[…. Well… if it's a death trap, at least she was already ready to die]
Click
I turned the key. The padlock simply disappeared with a little flash, the door opened and I saw nothing but darkness except for a small golden cradle illuminated mysteriously in the middle of the room.
"…. This is definitely a trap…" Despite my remark, it ironically didn't change my intentions in the slightest.
[Something inside me…. Something that I don't know how to explain with words… something like an impulse…. He asks me to come in and at least look at what's inside the place.]
I took a deep breath, clenched my fists and took a step forward.
"…. Hello…? I opened one eye expecting some event, which never happened.
After a few seconds of total uncertainty, I took a step... and then another... and another until I was a meter from that golden cradle.
[Spooky…]
I tried to peer into the darkness of the room for some demon waiting to pounce and snatch my soul. Instead, I only saw the deepest darkness that I had never dealt with.
Almost as if looking at the abyss, it looked back at me, telling me to get away from it never to return.
And as soon as I set my sights on what was in the crib….
"...?!"
[A-A baby…?]
There was a baby… in the golden cradle, inside the golden boat, who appeared in the middle of a lake in the middle of nowhere, just as I was about to kill myself.
[…W-What is going on here…?]
"Mhmph…" The baby, who was sleeping peacefully in his golden cradle, with golden silk sheets that wrapped him warmly, began to shake his head as a sign that he was beginning to wake up.
"A-Ah…"
[S-So c-cute…]
The baby adorably widened his eyes in some confusion, as if searching for something when he noticed my presence.
"..." His eyes widened upon meeting mine, as if he was surprised by my presence.
"E-Eh… H-Hello b-baby…" I giggled as I waved my hand at the baby not knowing what to do to break the awkward moment with the little human.
[W-Why the hell do I wave him like he understand what I'm doing? I-I'm an idiot!]
"…Heh"
"…?!" This time it was my turn to widen my eyes in surprise.
[…Did the baby just make fun of me….?]
Somewhat stunned by this, it took me a second before I noticed how the baby extended his little hands towards me, while he opened and closed them with the most innocent look in the world.
"Gwhaaaa" The baby made a cute sound as his smile became more and more cheerful.
"E-Eh…" For a moment I didn't understand why I was doing that when an epiphany hit me.
[T-The baby wants to hug me…]
Despite not responding right away, the baby didn't stop smiling at me, instead just moving more cheerfully to get my attention.
"Bahh! Gwhaa! Mwahh!"
[…..]
Despite his obvious intentions of wanting my warmth… I didn't want to hug him… no…
His tenderness dazzled me for a moment…. But soon that feeling of total emptiness returned to me….
No... actually it's worse...
"I'm sorry…." Scared, I took a step back.
[N-No… don't be silly Gwendolyn… y-you know what will happen if you take him in your arms….]
"W-what the heck am I doing here? I-It's not even my business!" I shook my head forcefully, and despite the tremor that was beginning to take over my body, I walked with determination towards the exit.
[S-Someone will come for the baby, n-no one would be so cruel to leave him to his fate, N-None of my business! I-I shouldn't have even gotten involved to begin with!]
"Gwwwaaahhhh?" The baby made a strange sound, but even I could tell he was confused by his tone.
"I-I know what you're trying to do, A-And it won't work! S-Speak no more!"
I covered my ears, not wanting to hear how soon I would start crying.
No baby can survive alone… as soon as he realizes I'm gone, he'll start crying. And even if I fly away, I would hear his sad cry in the distance.
That's why I covered my ears immediately.
[I'm sorry! I-I don't want to hurt you! P-Please don't cry! I-I don't want one more burden on my heart before I die!]
After it happened to my family, I couldn't stand someone else... especially a life as vulnerable as the little infant.
[I-It'll be fine, I-It'll be better with whoever it is as long as it's not with me… Y-You are young! Y-You can handle it!]
The strength began to leave my legs with each step I took to get away from the crib, but that was not what scared me the most, but having to listen again to the heartbreaking cry of another soul in pain.
[I-I can barely handle mine… W-Why would I have to carry someone else's right now?!]
The sadness of every night before bed hit me at the thought of them.
[I-I'm sorry… I-I'm sorry… I-I should have been there… I-I'm sorry! M-Mom! D-Dad! I-Ilya!]
My tears began to flow, like a tributary, without being able to stop.
I completely forgot about the baby, the place, or what could happen, at that moment I couldn't do anything but cry to remember, regret and accept again the fact that everyone I had loved the most in my life... was dead without any remedy.
"I-I-I-I'm sorry….!" I yelled trying that, if they were looking at me right now, they could see how much I regretted not having been there for them.
I don't know how long it happened, nor how many tears I shed… I just know that when they finally stopped, the pain was still present, but not so intense anymore….
[But how pathetic…]
I looked at the ground below me to find that it was soaking wet…. But at that moment I realized that my hands had left my ears.
"T-The baby!" I got up immediately, to look for the little boy who must have been terrified by my heartbreaking crying.
But as soon as I saw him again.
"E-Ehhhh?" I blinked in confusion at seeing him so calm, one could even say with a look of sympathy mixed with melancholy.
Any baby would surely have joined the crying or instead be scared…. After all that's what babies do, cry...
But the baby who looked at me with his beautiful eyes that seemed to see through my soul, did none of that. One could even say that he understood what he was going through.
[How….?]
"Bwha!" A few seconds after meeting my gaze, he extended his arms to me, now with a determined look.
[…What a strange baby]
And despite that thought, something inside me made me accept his whim, and imitating his action, I stretched out my own arms towards him.
By the time I knew it, I had him in my arms, to which the baby just smiled in delight before yawning and slowly closing his eyes tiredly.
[It is…. so warm…..]
"[Fly]" Very slowly I rose to leave the ship, and even more slowly I descended towards the dock, to avoid waking up the little creature that was now sleeping peacefully in my arms.
"…." Walking home, I couldn't help but memorize every little feature of the baby I had just found.
Especially those violet eyes of the same tone as mine, like her black hair that had a slight shine as in the nights most sweetly illuminated by the soft veil of the full moon.
As soon as I was a few meters away from the pier, I remembered that I had not yet explored the mysterious ship that suddenly appeared, so I turned back somewhat flustered with the intention of going back and getting some answers…. But….
[...!!!]
"It´s gone…." I whispered so low that even the sound of a leaf falling onto the grass would be more audible than the subtle movement of my lips.
That pompous ship was nowhere to be found, just like the dense fog I had run into when I came here to kill myself….
There was no noise, no flash, no vibration or even the slightest flow of mana.
"….." I looked at the baby who was sleeping peacefully in my arms, with the most relaxed face I had ever seen in any person in my life.
[…. Did you have this planned?]
I quickly dismissed that thought from my mind.
[It doesn't matter… I just know that now…]
"You are in my care" I said sweetly before continuing to walk