Stuck together; Amelia and Sophia

"Why would Amelia be here?" Eric found himself face-to-face with a man and a girl. He recognized both of them. The man was Amelia's husband and the girl was her elder daughter.

While he isn't familiar with all families of his township, he did start frequenting Amelia's household a lot of time once he discovered her. The redhead had a desirable face and was extremely feisty in bed. These attributes quickly made Amelia rise through the list of women he was used to fucking.

Not only that, as it turned out Amelia's son was actually quite talented. Having made some inquiries on his behalf through the capital meant Eric was quite a lot acquainted with the family.

For all these reasons, Jeff and Ruby didn't have to wait for long when they requested an audience with the town chief.

As soon as Eric answered their question, he felt something has gone wrong. He can tell that just by looking at the concerned faces of the father-daughter duo.

"But.." Ruby hesitated. "Tell me freely, young girl." Eric can tell the redhead was a little overwhelmed by his disposition, as such he handed her the glass of water with a pat on her head.

Jeff let his girl narrate things since he had little to no interaction with his wife in these few days. "My mother.. from the last three to four days she had been spending the night out."

"When I asked her about it.." Ruby took another pause to charge her breath. "She told me she was staying at your place." "My place..?" Eric was stunned. He recalled observing Amelia putting a stop to their kids' scuffle. Later, he visited her to bring Nana back and that was the last interaction he had with her.

"Did she tell you she was with me?" Eric questioned back, making sure to tone down his naturally intimidating voice. Ruby in turn glanced at her father then shook her head.

"She didn't explicitly told she was with you, but we assumed that." Eric gave a nod. Things made much more sense this way. "So you are telling me it has been more than a day since she got back?"

"Yes, that was her new schedule. She will always get back in the morning, then leave after spending some time with us. By this routine, she should have dropped by yesterday itself." Ruby knew the blonde man was fully capable of helping them out, thus she didn't hold anything back from him.

"Hm.. okay. That's indeed a concern." Eric mumbled. Over on the other side, Jeff sat motionless, not sure how to address this situation. "We waited for a day, just in case. But when we got no news, he came here." He added.

This had been his worry all along. Amelia was just too reckless when it came to two things. First was her ungodly levels of libido and the second was her stupid desire to add to her family's income by any means.

A combination of these two characteristics had always caused a headache for Jeff. Alas.. his wife was totally cynical, never taking his advice seriously. Recalling the last kiss he shared with the woman, now he can only hope for her well-being.

Eric nodded. "You did the right thing." After some thought, he directed his servants to thoroughly search the entire mansion property as well as an inquiry about Amelia. Her unique hair would have surely attracted a few gazes if she would have stepped into this place.

"Both of you should return. I will personally look for her as well." Needless to say, both of Amelia's kins were rather happy at the announcement. What can be better than the town chief himself stepping up to look up for their family member?

"Thanks a lot.. chief. You are a lifesaver." Jeff greeted the man, followed by Ruby. Seeing the two persons leave, Eric fell into thought. "Three to four days eh.." This was the same time frame when he met that woman from outside Korua who reminded him so much of his mentor.

"Chief.. Dark Wings branch manager is here to meet with you." It had only been a few minutes when another messenger banged on his door. "Bring her in." Eric replied and pretty soon a maroon-haired beauty can be seen walking in his direction.

"I bring you news, chief. Important news." Seeing two maids following the woman, Eric offered them a seat but Talia refused it. "We won't sit, chief and I don't think you should either."

Talia came straight to the not interested in wasting any time with the man. "I am sure you are familiar with Sophia. This lady here is her foster mother."

Eric got up on his feet once he got to know the news concerned Sophia, his mentor's adoptive daughter. Noticing she had the blonde man's attention, Talia continued. "Her name is Dorothea and Sophia had asked her to accompany her to the capital."

Eric didn't butt in, carefully listening to the woman. "They were supposed to depart yesterday, so Dorothea waited for her. When Sophia didn't come by, she returned empty-handed. When she could not get hold of the girl today as well, I intruded on your plantation and found her hut empty."

Talia narrated the whole issue in a single breath. Eric's face instantly fell. Whether Sophia had a foster mother or not was not his concern right now. The girl was the reverse scale for his mentors and by the same logic, she was the most cherished person in his own life as well.

"This.." Talia can tell the agitation in his stiff expression. "Either you know where she is right now.. or I reckon we got a mess in our hands."

Eric's agitated state can be discerned by the waves of mana blasting out from his body. His anger had surpassed anything. Who in town had become so daring to nab Sophia? Did they not know of his wrath?

*Crunch* Eric's bone cracked as his mama sense spanned as far as we possibly can. His hands and feet invariably caught on a crimson flame, exhibiting his distressed state. He was unable to trace the girl.

"Thanks, Ms. Talia. I will take over from here." The man didn't even wait for a reply as his body levitated off the ground and flew outside.

First, it was Amelia now even Sophia had gone missing. Can these occurrences be related? Flying across the sky, Eric's heart palpitated. For some reason, he felt these events were connected in some way.

"Is this the start of something?" He might have to wait a little longer to conclude anything. In his vision, he can see the plantations below. Hopefully, all this is an internal matter and not related to these evil beings, he hoped.

***

"Are you feeling alright now, aunt?" Still stuck in a dark space but now with a comfortable bed, Sophia had Mrs. Amelia's head in her lap, stroking it. "I am feeling better, my girl. Thank you for the hospitality."

Although still suffering from a severe headache, Amelia didn't want to concern the young lady anymore. She might start panicking, hence the redhead kept her condition to herself.

"Did Jim hurt you?" Amelia had just woken up some time ago. Thus Sophia had to enquire about what led to her situation.

"Yeah, pretty much." Amelia clicked her tongue as if disinterested in talking about the boy. "I.. I don't know what came over him. He was a jerk all along.. but to think he will drop to such a level.. I still can't believe it."

Sophia had spent a lot of time with the boy when they were still young. It was only natural, considering the closeness of their parents. She did feel bad for rejecting his advances later down the line, however, she never anticipated he will choose such a disastrous path.

Paula might have helped Jim accomplish the deed, but she knew how uncle Eric was going to react once he learns of these developments. Strangely enough, even at a time like this, she was worried about the boy. Else, it can also be said she was worried more about Eric and Nana.

"Well, initially even I had a hard time believing what was right in front of my eyes. But now, I don't have any more doubts." Hate flashed in Amelia's glowing red pupils, still unable to forget the threat Jim made about her son.

Her insides were agitated, almost as if her internal organs were set on a low burning fire. For obvious reasons, she blamed Jim for this suffering as well, unknowing that the boy actually had nothing to do with this.

"Why will you say so? Did he do something to you?" Sophia asked with a frown. "He didn't try to force himself on you, did he?" Owing to these latest developments, it won't really surprise her if the boy even tried to do something so despicable.

Amelia turned her head and caressed the girl's face with her hands. "I might have excused him even in that case, but the boy said the absolute worst thing you can say to a mother."

With their eyes meeting, Amelia said something that acted as a rude awakening for Sophia. "He told me he will kill my son with his own hands.."

Sophia's face fell like a rock sinking to the bottom of the lake. Ryu was a no-go area for her. Unbeknownst to both herself and the boy, she had begun attaching the same importance to him as she did to her foster parents.

Nothing needed to be said anymore between the two females. Jim was way past any redemption after this point. There was no use for Amelia to lie to her. This meant the boy did say such a nasty sentence.

Sophia looked down at the shackles around her ankles. If not for these things holding her in place as well as devouring her mana, she would have definitely smacked Jim's face into the ground herself.

"I can vaguely guess his reasons to do this to me, but.. why in the world he carried you over as well?" Sophia wondered once her anger simmered down a little. "Is it only because he wants to get back at Ryu?"

She very well knew about the clash between the two boys. Ryu even got his ribs cracked in that very fight. Now Sophia regretted listening to his words that day. Had she jumped in and smashed the boy's head, he would have never dared to concoct this devious plan. Now not only her, even aunt Amelia got stuck in this sticky situation.

"It might be that.. but it can also be because of his severe mommy complex." Sophia didn't get the hint and Amelia chuckled on self-derision, taking the time to explain what had transpired between her and Jim over the period of last month.

"Had I known the boy was this vicious at heart, I would have never poked my nose where it didn't belong." Amelia sighed but there was no use lamenting her decisions anymore.

She never had any affectionate feelings for the boy. Whatever feelings she had can be blamed on her motherly instincts rippling inside her, which caused her to take a sympathetic view of the boy, that's all.

Who could have guessed the boy will read her intentions wrong? She was a married woman for goddess's sake..!! Amelia wanted to pull at her hair in her frustration.

"This.." Sophia was at a loss for words. Jim did come off as an extremely narcissistic bastard, but this narrative from Amelia painted him as nothing but a foolish kid.

"Don't worry, aunt. Things will not remain hidden for long from uncle Eric. Nothing will happen to Ryu and we will be rescued very soon as well. Just take this as a distasteful prank from an idiot."

Jim's favorability had dropped to unprecedented levels in Sophia's e

yes. Now she simply can't stand the sight of the boy. He was an immature bastard who can't take a loss.