Concern

"Can you tell me what happened?" already having picked up on something from his sister's questions, Dokuma's face became grave and he asked.

"One of my shadows rebelled" Filling with anger again just by remembering what happened, Sujin continued " She killed the other shadows that were protecting Seojun and then helped an unknown person impersonate one of my son's servants."

"Hisss~" Taking a breath of cold air, Dokuma's pupils shrunk to the max and she lowered her gaze to the pills in her hand deeply, knowing full well what this means "Of these 8 pills, 3 of them have negative effects, the others are just numbing to mask the true effect"

"What are the effects?"

"This pill turns off your pain receptor" Taking a gray pill, Dokuma continued taking another yellow one "This one reduces your saguineum flow"

"And the last one?"

"This is the worst" Picking up a red pill, Dokuma squeezed it between his fingers sighing, causing a small larva to appear from inside "This one contains a Wu worm egg, one that was specially created by me. The egg hatches inside you and positions itself in your brain, allowing the worm's controller to control the infected person... it has the ability to even control the righteous faction leader for a short time if he doesn't notice it when she eats it, its potency is my greatest pride"

Shrinking her pupils to the maximum, the aura around Sujin rose even more vigorously, causing strong winds to start spreading everywhere as the entire area around her disappeared and transformed into a fine dust.

"You need to calm down" Frowning slightly, Dokuma quickly stepped away from her sister and spoke to her seriously "We don't know who planned this, and you'll only endanger your son if you act blindly."

"How do you want me to calm down?" Wrinkling her nose in disgust, Sujin's voice became even colder as the destruction around her grew ever more, only to shout with such force, that her sister had to back up several feet "Some idiot tried to put a damn worm in my son's brain!"

"Tsk" Feeling the strong wind and seeing the cuts it caused on her skin, Dokuma snapped her teeth in annoyance and her an aura of an intense green color appeared around her, to then continue speaking seriously "You are my sister and I will respect your decision, even if right now you want to massacre the whole cult, I will help you. But you have to keep in mind that we are not immortal, and even if we are both great powers, the cult is strong enough to push us back. We can afford to escape and come back another day to finish the job, but do you think your son can survive the trip? Even more so if you have to escape from those old raisins hiding underground?"

"..."

"Don't be impulsive, don't make a mistake you may regret forever."

"*Sigh*" Instantly making her aura disappear, Sujin put a hand to her forehead and sighed thoughtfully, then closed her eyes and muttered "What do you propose?"

"*Sigh*" Letting out a sigh of relief, Dokuma appeared next to Sujin and thought for a few seconds, then spoke "All powers in the cult are suspicious, after all you assumed power very recently and it wasn't in a very friendly way, it's normal that you haven't been able to cement your influence... for now we just have to increase security with your son and I will personally take care of following the clues of this cunning insect that had the nerve to deceive both of us."

"That's your wonderful idea? Do nothing?"

"It's the only thing we can do now" Shrugging off her sister's anger, Dokuma continued "Unless you captured your rebellious shadow or that man who disguised himself as a servant. If you did, it would be so much easier."

"..."

"But since I know you, I know that neither is still alive" Shaking her head, Dokuma continued "That's why I have no choice but to follow a trail that doesn't exist, since it's very likely that the servant who took your signed petition to me has disappeared from this world"

"I'll have to change the seal" Shaking her head knowing how complicated the situation was, Sujin took out a wooden cylinder from her clothes and turned it into dust.

"How did they even manage to steal it from you? Clearly that seal I saw had your aura."

"The shadow that betrayed me was my third in command Turning her gaze to her back, Sujin continued "She was recommended by the former cult leader, and since I was short of trustworthy people, I simply accepted."

"You gave him too many chances."

"There's nothing I can do."

"Maybe if the prince of the northern palace were still alive-"

"Don't talk about him again" Instantly losing all warmth in her voice, Sujin frowned deeply and continued "Don't make me say it again."

Staring at her sister, Dokuma sighed again and shook her head, then tucked the pills away in her clothes and spoke "Now go back to your son, he must be scared about everything that happened. Don't worry, he should have some clue when the sun comes out again."

Turning her gaze to the cult in the distance, Sujin was silent for a few seconds as the look in her eyes constantly shifted between hesitation, anger and worry, until after a few minutes of thinking, she simply sighed with resignation and nodded.

"Here, give these to Seojun" Tossing 4 pills to Sujin, Dokuma continued "They only have calming and sleeping effects...if the child is too scared about everything, give him that so he can calm his mind"

"Thank you" Taking the pills, Sujin sighed and thanked, then quickly disappeared from the place.

"Well..." Turning her gaze to the cult, Dokuma stared at the sunset and chuckled "Good to know I won't have to be bored for a good while."

***

"*Sigh "*

Staring at the child in her arms, Sujin couldn't help but sigh with worry.

In a fit of anger, Sujin simply didn't think about the consequences of her actions, causing her to end up crushing the idiot who tried to touch her son in one fell swoop.

After talking to her sister and returning to the cave, she found Seojun rubbing his skin over and over again in an almost crazed manner, causing his skin to noticeably redden while his face was chillingly green.

How could she not understand what was happening to him right now?

It's not uncommon for his reaction in children who join the military and have to make their first kill, but that doesn't take away from the fact that seeing her son do it breaks her heart.

After giving Seojun all the pills Dokuma gave him and after hugging him tightly for a good while, he was finally able to fall asleep and throughout the night he has been totally clinging to his mother even in his deep sleep.

While this would usually be a reason to rejoice, now it simply causes Sujin nothing but worry and even panic, something she is curiously only experiencing for the first time in her life.

She seen many cases like the one Seojun is now experiencing, and has seen many cases where the person never recovers, these being mostly men.

"Shadow... what should I do?" without taking her eyes off her son's pale face, Sujin focused her attention to her side and asked "I'm thinking of going to look for the Buddhist's life mantra, they say it has a great calming effect and makes your mind unperturbed."

"With all due respect... that would lead us into a direct war with the Buddhists, it's their most sacred treasure."

"Since when does it matter to me? I just want my little boy to be able to sleep well, there's nothing more important than that."

"Even so it wouldn't do the little master any good... keep in mind that Buddhists have a very different lifestyle from ours, full of limitations and hardships" 

"*Sigh*" Rubbing the bridge of her nose, Sujin closed her eyes and asked "Any other ideas?"

"Honestly anything I say is banal" Shaking her head, Shadow continued "You're the one who knows your son best, and anything I say would just be empty and unfounded ideas"

"Never mind, just propose something random" Waving her hand in irritation, Sujin continued "You're the second smartest person I know, don't let me down"

"..." Remaining silent for a few seconds, Shadow replied "Why don't you fulfill your son's dream? Maybe that will make him forget this bad experience."

"Fulfill his dream?" frowning slightly, Sujin asked "What dream would a child have? He doesn't even know what life is."

"Even children have dreams, no matter how small" Shaking her head, Shadow continued "It might be a good idea to take him on a tour of the market, you know how much he wants it."

"That would be too dangerous, it's not possible" Instantly rejecting the idea, Sujin continued "They just tried to harm him, I won't expose him to any more danger"

"That's why I think this is the perfect time for you to fulfill your dream. Just think about it, they would never expect you to sneak him out of the cave, let alone covertly roam the market."

"..." After a couple of minutes in silence as he analyzed the idea, Sujin finally shook his head "It's not a good idea. You and I know perfectly well that it's bread and butter for a fight to break out in the market and it's not uncommon to stumble upon a corpse or two. Not to mention that the smell is suffocating and the noise of the place might stress him even more."

"I can't think of any more ideas."

Caressing her son's soft face, Sujin was silent for a few long minutes and sighed with resignation "*Sigh* I hope a gift will help him calm down, I don't see any other option."

***

Slowly opening his eyes, Seojun blinked in a daze and slowly turned his head sideways, while his brain felt strangely dazed and his eyes were still cloudy after several seconds later.

Closing his eyelids tightly, Seojun yawned and slowly sat up in bed, then scratched his back and mumbled in a daze, "My mouth is dry..."

"Here" Suddenly appearing beside Seojun, Sujin stretched a bowl of seemingly cloudy water towards her son and spoke with concern "It's fruit juice, they say it helps."

Trembling slightly at the unexpected appearance, Seojun instantly awoke from his daze as memories of the previous day flood his death, causing his face to instantly turn pale as his stomach churns.

Instantly noticing her son's pallor, Sujin's eyes filled with worry as her hand trembled slightly, feeling for the first time in a long time, a useless one.

"..."

"..."

Staring at the bowl in front of him, Seojun kept repeating the previous events over and over again for a good amount of time, while his mother never for a second turned away from him.

After what seemed like hours, Seojun closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, then smiled stiffly and took the bowl while whispering in a hoarse voice "I told you I wouldn't hug you again if you brought more blood."

"Would you believe me if I told you that I was forced?" feeling as if a mountain is rising from her chest, Sujin finally smiled as she replied with the same word game they had a while ago.