Pargoina Empire.
An empire ruled by humans, it is a historically rich place with a solid foundation in this world.
Even in a world with different races that are inherently more powerful than humans, the Pargoina Empire can be said to be decently powerful on the scale of power in this world.
But that was not always the case; even a few years ago, this empire wasn't this powerful.
It all changed when a single woman decided to become the Duchess of the empire.
And that woman is my mother, Esmeray Noah Aljanah.
"Did you sleep well last night?" Esmeray
asked me as she sat on the head chair at the dining table.
Even early in the morning, she looked extremely beautiful, as if she wasn't even human...
Her silver hair reached the ground as she sat on the chair, while her lifeless gray eyes looked at me.
'Clam down, clam down, don't yell at her.'
I quickly took deep breaths to calm my burning heart.
After breaking my rib bone, she had the audacity to ask if I slept well?
"Yes," I replied simply, not wanting to cause any problems here. I couldn't risk my life now.
"Hmm, go see a doctor after you are done eating," she ordered me as she drank a sip of her coffee.
Yeah, there are doctors in the castle, far more doctors than required, but it was important.
Because I needed them to be present here.
"Yes, mother," I replied as I took another bite.
But again, I didn't taste anything.
It was bland without any taste, as if I am eating rubber. I couldn't feel any taste.
"So," I looked at her as her lifeless gray eyes lay on me as she asked, "did you reflect on what you did yesterday?"
'Yeah, right, yesterday.'
At the party arranged by the royal family, Azariah insulted the princess in front of all the nobles of the empire.
Yeah, right, Azariah fucked up big time yesterday.
"Yes," I replied, stopping myself from trembling in fear as I tried to avoid making eye contact with her.
Those lifeless eyes, no matter how much I tried, I couldn't look at them.
They were frightening to look at.
And....
I am truly afraid of this woman, and I have every reason to be afraid of her.
"Hmm," she kept looking at me without saying anything as I continued to eat the food that was served to me, even though I didn't want to.
"What happened to your hands?" Again, that woman asked as she continued to look at me.
"Nothing, I got hurt," I replied as I hid my broken knuckles under the table.
"Azariah." As I tried to eat quietly, she called me again with a cold voice.
"Yes?" I asked, flinching, looking at her while avoiding making eye contact.
"How long do you plan to let her live?" She asked me as her gaze moved behind me.
I looked behind as well, and the maid who was assigned to me stood there.
Her head hung low while her body shivered from time to time.
"I don't plan to drink for a few more days," I replied as if I didn't value her life, returning to my eating.
But she kept looking at me.
'Did she felt something wrong?'
I felt my body temperature increase as my breath became shallow, feeling like I was the prey and she was the predator, gazing at her prey ready to devour it.
'Clam down!'
I bit my tongue tightly as the pain helped me come back to my senses.
Azariah feared her mother more than anything in this world.
But he never tried to shrink in front of her, and that means I can't shrink in front of her as well.
"Did something happen? You seem..... Different, Azariah."
My heart started to hammer against my chest as those words left my mother's mouth.
A sense of dread crept over my body as her lifeless gaze fixated on me.
"I-i am f-fine."
Stop stuttering, damn it.
Fuck..
I quickly glanced at her, feeling like I was making myself obvious that something is wrong with me.
And the way she was looking at me.
It clearly says that she really is suspicious of me now.
She kept looking at me as she took small sips of her coffee.
I tried to behave normally, continuing to eat my food while keeping my head down and trying to ignore her, but the beads of sweat forming on my forehead made it hard for me to act normal.
"Azariah." As time felt like it was moving slowly, she called me again, this time her voice feeling a lot colder.
I slowly lifted my head as I looked at her.
"What happened to you?" She asked in a cold voice, her gaze fixed on me.
"Nothing," I replied, standing up as I finished my food.
The only thing on my mind right now was to run away from her.
"Huh?"
For a moment, everything seemed to blur and shift, the very air around me warping and distorting. And then, in the blink of an eye, it was done.
The next instant, I was kneeling before her, my eyes wide with shock and confusion as her hand closed around my neck with an iron grip.
"Argh..Cough.."
My breath caught in my throat, my heart pounding in my chest as she tightened her grip on my neck.
"Who are you?"
Her lips parted as she asked, looking down at me.
"I am Az—argh."
Before I could even reply, she tightened the grip on my neck, cutting my words.
"Don't lie. I know Azariah more than anyone. The way you held the fork, the way you gestured with your hands, the way you looked at me—it was all wrong. You are not him."
With every word she spoke, the grip on my neck kept tightening as her lifeless eyes bore into me.
"I will ask a simple question that only Azariah knows. Answer me properly, got it?" She said as she shifted in her chair, now facing me.
"At the age of five, what was the thing that I gifted you?" She asked as she lightly loosened the grip on my neck.
"A...protec...ion... barrier." Trying to breathe when she loosened her grip, I replied.
"Argh.."
Again, she tightened the grip on my neck, making me choke on my breath.
My vision blurred as blood started to drain from my brain, making everything hazy in my mind.
"What do you fear the most?" She asked, and again she loosened the grip on my neck.
"Gasp...you...gasp."
Gasping for air, I replied as I looked at her, my vision blurred so I couldn't see her expression.
"Last question, who is like a mother to you?" She asked as she tightened the grip on my neck.
"Aunt....belly."
Crack.
Her grip tightened so much that I felt a cracking sound.
Maybe it was my nerves that burst or maybe another bone of mine fractured, I don't know.
But even when I answered all her questions, she didn't loosen her grip but kept looking down at me with her lifeless eyes.
My vision started to blur again as I started to lose consciousness, making it hard to breathe.
Again, death felt so close to me as my eyes slowly started to close as well.
"Looks like you are under the weather," she mumbled as she loosened my neck, and I stumbled to the ground.
"Gasp... Cough... Cough..."
As air filled my lungs, I took deep breaths as I coughed violently.
The sensation of feeling death this close again wasn't pleasant.
But more than anything...
"Argh..."
Suppressing the groan that I felt from my neck, I stood up even when my knees felt like giving out.
Never...
Even if I had to die...
Even if the world turned against me...
Even if I lost everything....
I would never kneel in front of her....
"Go see the doctor."
Ignoring my struggle, she said as she stood up from her chair, walking out of the room.
"Fuck.."
A low growling voice left my mouth as I took a seat on a nearby chair.
I hated that woman as much as I feared her.
I hate her because she is one of the reasons why Azariah became so broken and twisted.
And I fear her because she is the one who killed Azariah in the game....