Chapter 426: Complications
Northern sat with his legs crossed, silently waiting for his mother, Lady Henai, to talk.
She also stayed silent, her face however was a mixture of anxiety and uncertainty.
Northern decided to fold his hands and be patient with her, deciding to give her time to speak.
After a couple of minutes passed, Lady Henai finally raised her head. She looked passionately into Northern's face and said:
"Can't we let it be in the past? You're alive and that is all that matters. We can start a new life in Luinngard. You'll live a peaceful and silent life with your mother, me."
Northern's expression folded as he heard her words.
This was it. This was one of the complications he had feared.
"No," he responded sharply. "I have no intention to stay in Luinngard. I had a life before now, in the Central Plains, and I plan to go back to that life. When I discovered my mother was a princess in this nation, I just had to see what she looked like for myself. I'm sorry, but I don't expect anything from you."
His words were like sharp thorns, deeply shredding her heart.
But she understood very well the point he was trying to get to her.
Lady Henai probably wanted to claim her son, the one she had waited over fifteen years for. She never wanted anything to separate them again.
But she also had to come to terms with the fact that her son was nurtured and cared for by other parents.
Which, by the looks of how Northern before her eyes had turned out to be such a stern boy at the age of fifteen, with the tone of a man to his person, have done a great job indeed.
But still, she didn't want to let her son go a second time.
"You don't need to tell me if you don't want to," Northern said to her.
His expression was calm and gentle.
"But I need your help."
Lady Henai's face lit up immediately. "I'll do anything for you, my son," she responded with elation.
Northern nodded with a soft smile flashing across his face. He lingered for a second and said to her:
"I need to go back to the Central Plains. I don't know if you know, but I happen to be one of the students from the academy that was suddenly brought into this desolate continent. I've had to survive through storms and fire for the past ten months of my life. Now, a window to go back home has appeared."
He paused and stared deeply into her eyes.
"Mother, please can you help me go back home?" Northern sounded genuine and serious, staring into her eyes unfazed.
She lingered after his request, slowly shifted closer to him and said:
"Don't you want to spend some time with me? I could introduce you to your uncle. My brother is the Emperor of Luinngard Empire. I'm sure his sons, they may not be the best of characters, but I'm sure they'd be glad to have you around."
"Would they?" Northern smiled. "Look, I appreciate the hospitality, but I believe there is something much more important that I need to do."
His mother's tone rang with surprise. "And what could that be? You can talk to me, son."
Northern looked at her blankly for a couple of seconds, his mind dividing through some of her words. 'Can I trust her? Of course, I can trust her. But wouldn't it be dangerous to bring her into all of this?'
Raven was planning to flood the entire nation greatly in her desperate plan to escape this Desolation.
And it looked like all the survivors were with her on this one. Even the ones from Sloria, except Zephyr and his subordinates.
Braham's location was also unknown. As far as the news went, Afkon was dead, but no one spoke about it, neither did anyone even confirm it.
However, for Northern, the fact that Raven came back alive was enough proof.
For a moment, he wondered, 'How does she even get out alive in a fight with an Ascendant, or are they not as powerful as the rumors claim?'
Northern felt Ascendants were supposed to be powerful, incredibly powerful, and the only thing it took to defeat them was an Ascendant.
Or maybe five Sages could pull it off. It was simply impossible for a Savant.
Which was what brought him to suspect that Raven had a very dangerous trump card that ignored the importance of ranks, take his Chaos ability for example.
He could even destroy a Paragon if he wanted.
Belatedly discovering that he was getting distracted, he brought himself back to the scene and sighed.
"I'm sorry, mother. I just have a lot on my mind." He uncrossed his legs and sat down on the ground, leaning backwards on his hands.
He looked at his mother one more time and raised his head up, admiring the architecture work of the ceiling before bringing his head back down to speak.
"Mother..." 'Damn, I sound almost weird,' Northern's mind shrank from slight cringe, but he continued anyway. "I just need to leave here silently. I know it might not be possible tonight, but I'd like to leave first thing tomorrow morning."
Lady Henai leaned her head closer to him, determination radiating from her beautiful face.
"If so, can I follow you?"
Northern's mouth fell from her words.
"Why?"
"I never want to lose you again. I will never let you out of my sight."
Northern observed her for a moment, then leaned away from his hands, placing them gently on her shoulders with care.
He smiled and assured her, "You will not lose me again, and I am going to make sure I come back to see you. I promise."
She looked at Northern's eyes with a crumbling expression. A smile curled up the corner of her lips, simultaneously causing a tear to drop.
"You really do take every one of my physical features. I'm glad it turned out like that."
"I'm glad too," Northern smiled. "You are astonishing," he complimented.
"Thank you."
Silence fell between the two for a few moments before Lady Henai asked a complicated
question.
"Now that you know you are a prince of Reimgard, do you plan to go there?"