<50 minutes before >
"Lady Cynthia, there is an urgent report sent by the Lord from the frontlines!"
A female knight handed the letter to a golden-haired woman. After reading the report Cynthia (William's mother) had a solum face, but those who knew her better can say that she was angry.
Cynthia instructed the female knight to bring the messenger. After a short while a knight in lightweight armor stood in front of Cynthia and saluted her. He had a haggard appearance since he rode the horse nonstop to deliver this letter.
Cynthia asked after the knight drank some water.
"How much time do we have?"
"Judging from its speed and direction, it'll arrive in 40 minutes!
But the more pressing point is that we will not be able to capture the spies who have brought that egg into the territory in time and they might flee to another region.
Most of our manpower will be divided to fend off that dragon, And I'm afraid the reinforcements that the lord had requested from the capital would arrive late!"
"Sigh"
Cynthia sighed as she found this situation troublesome. There was no time to evacuate the citizens. They can't ask for reinforcements from the frontlines either, as it would give an advantage to the enemy.
'Perhaps this is what the kingdom basterds wanted all along. They wanted to create a tense situation where the soldiers are worried about their families. If there are more civilian casualties, the morale of the troops might fall.'
I have to use my magic to put an end to all of this quickly'
'Sorry, my love. I'll have to break my promise.'
With a determined look, Cynthia said to Tina the female knight.
"Prepare for the evacuation and inform the Chaos knights about the upcoming fight with the dragon"
"Yes, my Lady!"
•
•
•
I opened the door of my room where I found William watching the fight between the dragon and the Chaos knights. William seems happy.
'Well, the kid does not know what kind of danger a dragon can pose.'
But then, he glanced downwards. The dead bodies of some unfortunate victims, whose bodies were stuck under collapsed buildings, and bodies of the people who were trampled upon by the others when the commotion happened were on full site.
I wanted to close his eyes, seeing this devastation at this age was not good for his mental health. But when I saw his face it was full of remorse. Those small eyes contain warmth and sorrow for the people who died.
I embraced him from the back.
"William! I know one day you'll be a kind and gentle person who'll love and care for everyone. But even so, having a kind heart without the power to fight is meaningless. So please!"
I grabbed his shoulders and turned him around to face me, I can see my reflection in his eyes which were ruby red like mine.
"Be strong!"
A teardrop fell from my eyes but suddenly, William hugged me tightly and with his small hands wiped my tears.
I faintly smiled at that cute gesture and said
"You don't want to see your mother cry, do you?"
With William in my arms. I stood up gently, went to my drawer and grabbed a bottle of mana pills, and took three at once.
'I think the side effect would last for 3 hours I suppose'
"When I become unconscious, please take care of William for me and do not let anyone near him. Also, he might need milk so ask the head maid for further instructions. Maybe... No never mind..."
I was flustered by what I just thought but composed my emotions and spoke to Tina who was standing outside the door.
"Yes, my lady!"
William was still looking at me, his eyes watching me every time.
'Was he searching for tears in my eyes? But even so, he was cute. I wonder when he grew up would- he look like me or his father?'
Thinking about his Father, I came out of my stupor and looked towards the dragon. A dense mana circle with RUNES from the DESTRUCTION SERIES formed in front of me. I looked toward William who was in my arms. I wanted to laugh because William was making a funny face that I have never seen him make before.
His eyes and mouth were opened wide as if he was a person who was living under a rock seeing magic for the first time.
'O wait! Yes it's his first time, I think I'm a bit stupid'
I wanted to capture this moment in my memory and also wanted to show it to him. I cast ᚲᚨᛈᛏᚢᚱᛖ from ILLUSION SERIES to take the picture of this moment. It took a toll on my body as the simultaneous casting of RUNE magic was a foolish idea, which only I an ETHERIC rank wizard could do. But after some time I thought it was a truly...truly foolish idea. As after casting it, I spat out a mouth full of blood and there were tears of blood coming out of my eyes.
'I'm becoming weak again, if it was before it would have only cost me mana but...'
I looked toward Willaim who was crying, my blood was on his face. It was painful to watch, at the same time my magic circle was completed. I aimed toward the dragon with my eyes and fired through my mental command.
A lightning bolt which was as thick as the magic circle blinded the surrounding area and shot straight toward the dragon. The chaos knights who anticipated this large-scale attack scattered in different directions.
The dragon's neck was severed and his lifeless body fell towards the ground. Cynthia also fell to the ground like a doll whose strings have been cut but William was suspended in the air. Cynthia before collapsing used her last vestige of mana And casted a normal wind spell so that William shouldn't fall.
The door opened and Knight Tina came in, she grabbed William from his armpits and gently put him down. William on the other hand was looking at his mother with deadpan eyes and came near his mother. Tina also came near Cynthia to inspect her state and took some mana pills to feed Cynthia. After doing the first aid she looked down on William who was beside her the whole time, he had an unreadable expression. Tina couldn't tell if William was crying or angry or both at the same time, but the tears in his eyes and the blood on his face told her something.
She only hoped that this event should not make her young lord a mental patient.