"These scars, they look so beautiful," While observing the woman ahead of him, Oliver remarked as she used soap to cleanse the sweat she generated from her workout session with her cherished son.
"You think so? Well, I'm happy to hear that from you of all people, Oliver," Victoria wore a subtle smile that adorned her face, observing her adorable son appreciating her battle achievements. To her, every scar held a memory, a testament to her experiences.
Oliver kept massaging her head while applying some soap to get rid of the dirt that might collect on the scalp, and he suddenly asked an unexpected question from Victoria.
"Will I ever get beautiful scars like this, Mother?" Victoria's expression turned slightly contemplative as she continued to enjoy the soothing sensation of Oliver's fingers on her scalp. Her mind drifted back to a particular moment, a memory she held close to her heart. It was the memory of how painful her first battle scar was and she was thinking about whether she wanted her son to experience something like that.
"Most of the women in this kingdom will say no because men are supposed to be weak and soft by the rules of society-" Victoria paused for a minute and looked at her son, who was looking at her with an innocent and excited look. Observing the distinctiveness of her child compared to others was something that came quite easily to her, and at times, a sense of genuine concern would wash over her.
"But Oliver, I want you to live freely without being tied up by those rules, I want you to be a true bloodborne, who would break everything that tries to stop you from doing whatever you want, be a tyrant if you want, but don't bow your head," While her words may have been overly severe for certain children, Oliver couldn't suppress his admiration for the woman before him. She was the very reason he didn't conform to the mould of typical men.
He knew it was a dream from his childhood as he kept looking at his hand while waiting in the prison cell, but Oliver couldn't help but desire to relive that moment with his favourite person in this whole world. The memory was etched into his heart, a source of strength and determination even in his darkest hours.
He remembered the way her eyes sparkled with fierceness whenever she spoke of breaking free from societal norms. It was as if a wildfire burned within her, a wildfire that had ignited his own spirit. Victoria's beauty was not just in her physical features, though she was undeniably striking and easily the most sexy and beautiful woman Oliver met. But it was her strength, her courage, and her unwavering resolve that truly mesmerized him.
She was what people call "Femme Fatal" since even the most women-hating men wanted to be her husband because of how popular and alluring she was.
The way she had earned her alias, the "demoness of the battlefield" and the "Iron wall of Behemothia Empire," spoke volumes about her prowess. Oliver admired her for her fearlessness, for the way she stood at the forefront of battles and protected her kingdom with unyielding determination.
As he leaned against the cold stone wall of his cell, Oliver's mind raced back to that fateful day. He recalled the warmth of his mother's hand on his cheek, her touch both gentle and strong. He could almost feel her presence beside him, her voice resounding in his ears once more.
"I don't care if you're a reincarnation of whatever that corrupted church made you be, I see you as my dear son and I love you, I don't care about others, I will protect you," Victoria was the first woman to accept Oliver for what he is, and this really caused Oliver to look at her like a goddess, who had been protecting him with her holy wings.
In the present, the weight of his circumstances pressed heavily upon him. The oppressive walls seemed to symbolize not only his confinement but also the societal norms that his mother had passionately urged him to defy.
"I quickly need to find a resonance, the more I stay here, I won't be able to meet her again," Oliver thought looking at his hand. He didn't want anyone else to know about his true resonance, so most of the people even his sisters knew that he had the same exact resonance as their mother.
Victoria had a rather powerful resonance compared to the previous generation of the Bloodborne family, which is said to be on par with the first member of the family.
<
An ominous resonance, reverberating across the entire empire, struck fear into the hearts of all. Possessing an unparalleled blend of danger and extraordinary talent, this resonance held the potential to dismantle entire armies should its user choose to unleash its full might.
Oliver looked at the red hue that kept leaking out of his hands with a look that showed desire. "Another 24 hours, I can use her power for another 24 hours and then-"
He couldn't even imagine how sad it would be to not have this comfortable feeling of her resonance inside his body, so Oliver wanted to protect it more than anything.
While he was lost in his thoughts, he suddenly noticed a bowl of food right in front of him. This surprised him, as it came as a shock to him. Then he saw Isaac, who wasn't supposed to be talking or engaging with him, pointing his food bowl towards Oliver.
"I'm full, you can have this," He said with a voice that sounded timid, and went back to his place leaving his bowl of food with Oliver.
Gazing down into the bowl, Oliver observed that half of his dry bread remained untouched. He understood that the man expected him to return after witnessing Morgana discarding his food. Since the other silent girl wasn't with them, Oliver had more freedom to act as if she knew there weren't any ears listening to him.
Without entering into an argument, Oliver quietly began consuming the food in the bowl. His eyes remained fixed on the man, who seemed to disregard his gaze. As soon as he finished his meal, Oliver made up his mind to initiate a conversation with this peculiar man. The fact that he had endured problems within this prison for an extensive duration intrigued Oliver greatly.
He quickly got up from his position and went up to the man with the empty bowl and kept it near him.
"Thanks for the meal, Issac," Oliver said without showing any anger toward him.
Issac nods his head with a guilty look on his face, and finally, he looks at Oliver and says something unexpected.
"No, it should be me, I should thank you for saving me, Uhhh~" Issac was looking at Oliver like he was hesitating to ask something.
"You look like you want to say something, what is it? I would like to know why you look so guilty?"
Hearing his words, Issac decided to talk without trying to be annoying to Oliver anymore, as he genuinely wanted to thank Oliver for everything.
'Did that woman do anything to you after I ran away? It-it wasn't my purpose to run away, I was just scared, I didn't know what I was doing, please forgive me, It wasn't my purpose," Issac suddenly started to cry like he was letting out all the frustrations he stored inside him, as Oliver kept looking at him while Issac kept talking.
*Sigh
"She didn't- but I guess you running away was a little bad if you look at it-" Oliver didn't hold back instead he decided to take advantage of the situation.
"I'm sorry, I'm really sorry," Issac said hoping Oliver won't hold back things against him. Despite his noble hating behaviour, Oliver could easily see that Issac was not the strong man that he pretended to be. Oliver could easily see that he is someone who will feel guilty even after taking a single piece of bread from someone else without asking.
He couldn't help but wonder what kind of a crime he did to be here, but he got some clues from Morgana as he heard about him being another noble killer which gave him few clues.
"Is it common for them to harass you like that? Does that happen every day?" Oliver asked as he wanted to know how he survived in this harsh place. Oliver could understand why he could survive in this place as he was different from the other males, but Issac was the typical type of man who belonged to this world.
"..." Issac hesitated to answer, but finally he decided to tell the truth. "Yes, but I need to take it all because I don't want them to get violent with me, I can't die yet, not until I-"
Abruptly, his words trailed off, a distant look in his eyes as if lost in thought. Oliver recognized the need to shift gears, sensing that Issac's reddening face indicated he was teetering on the edge of going insane.