After Li Jing left Syra, she went back home.
She was constantly thinking every moment that had passed about what Syra had told her earnestly.
"This is weird… really weird. Why can't I get him out of my head?! "
Li Jing's thoughts have been echoing through Syra's earnest and lovely voice, preventing her from sleeping through the night until morning.
Li Jing woke up tired and haggard. She got a pair of eye bags due to it.
"I hate this! I hate this! Why am I like this? I am way too old for this crap! Stop it, you useless thoughts of mine! "
Then, out of nowhere, her mother, Li Na, appeared in front of her room.
"What was it?" Curiously, Li Na glared at her daughter.
"!"
Li Jing was startled by her mother's sudden appearance!
"Mother!"
"You… Where were you and what did you do last night?"
Li Na has felt some disturbance from Li Jing, so she speaks a bit bitterly and frowns at her.
"Well, the thing is..."
Li Na walks up to her and gazes upon her with the intent of punishing her.
Li Jing sensed it and got shocked and scared.
"I guess there's no point in lying once she gets serious." She looked away from her mom while her thoughts were afraid to face her mother's wrath.
"Well... Last night, I visited some people I met in the forest."
"Some people, you say?"
While talking to her mother, Li Jing sensed a dreadful sound and a ferocious gaze. Even though she isn't looking, she knows her mother is enraged right now.
And thus, she continues to speak; however, her voice gets panicky and her eyes roll due to her mother's frightening gaze.
"Y-y-yes mother… I tried to talk to them regarding what it looked like to live outside of this forest. But when I thought about it, how could I do that when all of them were sleeping at night? However, fortunately, one of them was widely awake. A guy who is fairly neat and wise..."
"So... what happened next? I assume it's not smooth talk, is it? "
Li Jing didn't respond but instead got flustered and blushed, remembering what Syra had said to her.
As Li Na saw her daughter's unusual reaction, she immediately got bothered and looked at her closely.
"What exactly happened last night, Li Jing?"
"Well..."
Li Jing was scared and afraid with her mother's face close to her. So she averted her eyes from her mother.
"After answering all of my questions, he confessed his love to me, despite the fact that he knows I have a child."
Li Jing shyly hid her face from her mother, with her face fully red through her ears.
"So what did you do after that?" When she saw that her daughter fluttered, Li Na became even more serious and twitched.
"Well… I kind of ran off back home without replying to him. But, of course, Mother, I have no intention of saying 'yes' to him! I assure you, mother, I will not! "
Although she said that, her flustered voice said otherwise.
Li Jing's so flustered that her emotions are so mixed up that she's unable to show the truth.
Li Na, who notices Li Jing's face is still a little red, was unable to fully convince herself of what her daughter was attempting to demonstrate to her by saying it alone.
So she asks calmly.
"Is he a nice guy?"
"!" Li Jing got startled for a moment, hearing an out of nowhere question from her grandmother.
"Is he polite?"
Li Jing didn't reply with words, but instead she just nodded to both questions.
"If he can respect you… and enough wouldn't leave you. Then it's worth seeing him, isn't it? "
Li Na's voice is so earnest and genteel.
"Li Jing… If that man has no ulterior motives towards you, then it's fine. However, I advise you to talk to your kids before accepting him as their new father."
Li Jing calms herself down, collects herself, and answers her softly.
"Mother... it's not what you think it is."
"Hmm...? What do you mean, exactly? "
"It's just that I don't know this feeling that I have right now. He's a nice guy. He's so earnest enough to fluster anyone he speaks to. But it's just that I am not ready yet to love another person without first confirming if my husband is alive or not. I'm not sure why, but his voice seemed familiar even though it was my first time meeting him. Perhaps it's because he's a prince. "
"Wha-what did you say?"
Stuttering on her words, Li Na was surprised and moved away a little from her daughter!
"He's a prince from the so-called Naviel Empire. He's the son of Emperor Sariel Ezekiel Tear Regnier. His full name is... Syra Regnier. 4th prince at that. "
"He's a prince from the Naviel Empire, you say...? Li Jing!!!"
Li Na grabbed Li Jing's shoulder and yelled out her daughter's name.
Disturbed and confused, Li Jing looked at her mother in shock.
"Li Jing I know I already said it's OK, but forget everything about what I just said! It's best for you not to get involved with that man again. "
"Eh?"
"I know it was my mistake that I never said this to you all this time, but they're the people who tried to kill you all this time!"
"W-what?! Why?!"
From the sudden confusion and loud noise,
One of her sons, Li Qing Long, shows up in front of the door, half asleep.
"Mother? Is everything OK? We heard a loud noise from Grandma. "
Li Jing looked at her son, surprised and worried.
Although she tried to collect herself and respond to her kid, her voice was a bit bewildered.
"Ah?! Yes, son... Everything's OK. What brings you here? "
"It's just that I am hungry... and Grandma's yell made us wake up early. "
"Ah?! Is that so? I am sorry. Mommy will be down the stairs in a minute. So can you and your brothers wait for us for a moment? "
"Ok~"
As her son left, Li Jing hurriedly got up from her bed.
Li Na, on the other hand, has started to get anxious and tells Li Jing.
"We'll talk about this later, after we eat, and tell your kids to train themselves."
"Ahh... I understand, mother."
Li Jing hurriedly goes down the stairs, being followed by her mother behind.
At the kitchen, where the kids are already waiting,
Li Jing started to cook their breakfast as fast as she could.
As moments go by, after eating, Li Na and her grandkids head outside and start to train.
While Li Jing is cleaning the dishes, her grandmother comes back moments later, sits down on the chair in front of the table and then speaks.
"Li Jing, come sit here for a moment."
Her voice is a bit anxious as she calls out to Li Jing.
"Yes, Mother."
Li Jing obediently responded and sat on the other side of the table.
Looking at her mother in front, Li Jing starts to feel odd and freak out about what her mother meant by her earlier statement.
Then..
"Li Jing… Remember the time you gave birth to your kids? "
"Yes, mother… what about it? "
"Of course I remember it... that's the start of me raising kids again." Li Jing's thoughts
"Well, your husband returned the time you were unconscious for days. Although I never liked him for leaving you while you were giving birth, at least he came back, so I felt relieved for a moment—or so I thought. However, "
"However, what mom?"
"He talks to me, that he's sorry for being unable to fulfill his promise to you, that he has to leave and come back to his family. He also said he didn't regret meeting you. He said he's truly sorry. "
Although Li Na said it emotionally, Li Jing found it confusing.
"…Mom. Can I ask something?"
"Sure... What is it?"
"I don't know why, but... what has this got to do with the royal family that wants me dead?"
"The thing is, there are rumors that there is a bounty on your head sanctioned by the Royal faction."
"What? Isn't it a bit over the top for such rumors? Besides, why do they want me dead in the 1st place? " Li Jing replied, bewildered.
"Well… Your husband is the first prince of the Naviel Empire and also the heir to the throne. Or it should be. "
"Should be? What is that supposed to mean? "
"He committed suicide in front of the castle the day he abandoned you."
"Why would he do that?!!!" In shock, Li Jing's voice has been raised.
"Well, there's a strict rule in the royal family... A prince must marry a noble. Any member of the royal family who dares to disobey these rules will get punished in the highest order! "
"Then... Why does he have to kill himself? Wouldn't it be better if he left his status behind?!"
"He sure did; he exchanged his status for you, but unfortunately it didn't work out."
"How so?"
"His father, the Emperor, forbade him... Your husband is the most powerful man of his generation. He's a truly gifted person. Knowing he's special, the Emperor never wanted him to leave the royal family. So he's locked away... or so they thought. After escaping from prison and with his pursuer behind him, he came back here, injured and tired. Unfortunately, you were unconscious at that time. So he talked to me and explained what happened to him, and he thanked you and your kids for how grateful he was that he had met you. Then, after that, he left once again. From that moment, I followed him from behind all the way to his kingdom. And then, as soon as he returned, the Emperor was waiting for him. And that's where everything escalated quickly. "
"What do you mean, mother?!"
"Your husband is a wonderful person. Although he knows that convincing his father to accept his request wouldn't work, he still begs for mercy to spare him and let him free. But of course he's been refused. After that, things got worked out... a bunch of royal guards and special corps tried to detain him. "
"…So did he fight back?"
Li Jing's voice is so demise.
Li Na just answered in her troubled yet calm tone.
"Yes he did... He fought so hard that he almost killed everyone who attacked him. Unfortunately, he reaches his limits until his father, the emperor, faces him..."
Li Jing, who was listening to her mother, was starting to get tears in her eyes.
"Eh?! Why am I crying?! Is it because of the body?!" Long Jiang's thoughts as her eyes, Li Jing's body, suddenly became teary, despite the fact that he himself felt nothing.
"If you followed, then why didn't you intervene, Mom? You could've saved him!!!"
Frustrated, Li Jing shouts!
"No! Why am I acting this way? I felt nothing towards the guy, but why was my body and my mind thinking on their own!? " Inside, Long Jiang was talking to himself about his body, Li Jing, talking on its own.
"I tried to. But before it happened, he talked to me via telepathy and told me this was his last message: 'Thank you for everything. Please tell her I'm sorry for not being a coward! ' Then he chops off his head!
"!" Hearing the last message that her mother said to her from her husband's last message, Li Jing felt an ache in her head as her memories rose up and remembered a moment where a young man and herself were fighting a monster that far exceeded her husband's strength!
Then Li Na continued to talk.
"He knows I was there… But he didn't let me want to intervene in his personal matters between him and his father. He sure is stubborn, but he's sure no coward. "
She makes hick* and sob* sounds when her emotions rise.
"So... he's already dead? Then why didn't you say anything till now? Now how could I tell his kids what happened to him? "
"What exactly am I saying?! How come I can't control my emotions right now? " Long Jiang's thoughts as he's confused and anxious within himself...
"Well, I wanted to, but since you never mentioned him after waking up from exhaustion due to the labor for your kids, I thought it would be best if I never mentioned him at all. But I never thought you would totally forget about him after all these years have passed! "
"!" Li Jing is shocked, then speaks softly.
"I didn't completely forget about him; I just couldn't remember his face."
"You can't remember his face?" puzzle and wary, Li Na speaks.
"Yes… mother, I couldn't. I don't know why, but every time I try to remember him, his face in my memories is all blurred. I thought it was normal due to labor, but at the same time, I realize it's all weird. So I tried to ignore it all these years when I frequently remembered something. "
Li Na was surprised and looked at her daughter for a moment, bewildered and worried.
"Did that guy cast a spell on my daughter to erase himself from her memories? If this is the case, then it all makes sense why she can't remember him, let alone mention him all this time! " Concerned, Li Na thought something was strange.
"Li Jing, come here!"
"W-what is it, mother?"
As she wipes away her tears, Li Jing stands up and moves away from her chair, walking towards her mother.
"Lower your head for me."
Li Jing responds without knowing what's going on.
Li Na puts her hands on her daughter's head and immediately puts Mana!
Li Jing felt a sting on her head, as if a thousand needles were puncturing her mind!
"Mother, what are you doing? It hurts!" Please stop! "
Li Jing tries to move away from her mother's hand. However, Li Na didn't let her.
As Li Na sealed her movements with magic and spells, Li Jing is startled.
"Mo-mother!" In pain, Li Jing yelled!