377 Five Years Ago (1)

Bloed's biological mother was the queen of the Kingdom of Alterna. And as the queen of the biggest human kingdom, the place where she stayed when she was in Academy city was worthy of her status.

It was an enormous mansion in the north of the city, even bigger than the mansion where Bloed stayed when he just arrived in the city. Moreover, it was filled with luxurious and expensive decorations worthy of the residence of a queen.

In the end, Bloed and the queen decided to meet for a dinner, so when Bloed arrived, it was already evening.

Three other people came together with him. Regina, Eve, and Eres. Regina and Eve came as bodyguards, and Eres came to accompany him.

When the group arrived at the mansion, they were received by a maid that led them to the dining room.

To Bloed's surprise, the maid was at the peak of A-Rank.

In fact, Bloed noticed around twenty people since he entered the mansion, and none of them was weaker than the A-Rank.

'As expected of the entourage of a queen, huh. None of them is weak.'

To be honest, Bloed was not confident of escaping from this mansion if he came here alone.

Fortunately, Regina and Eve came with him, so he did not need to worry about being captured or attacked.

After all, these two were among the most powerful beings in this world. Even a powerful nation such as the Kingdom of Alterna would have trouble defeating the two of them.

When Bloed arrived at the dining room, he saw a beautiful woman waiting for him with a nervous and anxious expression.

She was the queen of the Kingdom of Alterna, Soraya Dora.

"You are here." Soraya's eyes lit up as soon as she saw him. She hurriedly walked towards Bloed and tried to touch his check, but Bloed frowned and stepped back.

Seeing that, the queen's expression dimmed in disappointment. She hurriedly tried to hide it, but the sadness in her eyes was not easy to hide.

"Come, I have ordered the chef to prepare a special dinner tonight." She said.

"Thank you for your invitation, Your Majesty," Bloed replied in a respectful tone, however, his voice sounded noticeably cold and distant.

The group sat down at the table with the queen across them. The two demigods that Bloed saw two days ago were standing behind the queen respectfully.

Regina was standing behind Bloed just like them. She kept an indifferent expression, but the cold glint in her eyes showed that she was ready to release an attack at the slightest sign that something was wrong.

"You must be Miss Regina, right?" The queen said while looking at the silver-haired Valkyrie. "I heard that you have been taking care of my son. Nice to meet you. My name is Soraya Dora. I'm Glenn's mother."

"Nice to meet you," Regina replied curtly, not even bothering to look at her.

In fact, judging by the well-hidden disdain in her voice, it was obvious that she did not recognize the queen's claim of being 'Glenn's mother'.

Regina's attitude bothered the two demigods behind the queen, who frowned in displeasure. However, the queen glanced at them to indicate that this was alright. She then smiled awkwardly and looked this time at the golden-haired fox girl seated beside Bloed.

"Miss Eve, it has been a while since the last time we met. Thank you for taking care of my son."

"Long time no see you, Your Majesty." Eve's expression was sleepy. But in the next instant, her eyes turned sharp. "You don't need to thank me. Bloed is a friend of mine and a member of Moonlight Glow. It's normal to help him."

Queen Soraya was startled. As an experienced politician, she could understand the veiled threat behind Eve's words.

'He is one of us. Don't think about harming him…'

The queen's expression turned complicated.

On a side, she was happy that her son managed to win the recognition of someone as powerful as Eve Moonglow. But on the other hand, she was sad when she felt the hostility in Eve's words.

In fact, it was not just Eve.

When the queen tried to greet Eres, she realized that her daughter did not even bother to return the greeting. She just glanced at her before looking away with a clearly impatient expression.

For a while, an awkward silence filled the dining room, and Soraya was unable to start a conversation.

She wanted to ask her son, Glenn, about many things. About his life during the previous five years, about how he managed to acquire mana (the queen did not know that Bloed did not have mana yet), about the reason why his hair and eyes had turned blue.

However, no matter how she tried to start a conversation, the four people in front of her did not bother to follow it.

Fortunately, the servants brought the food at this moment, helping the queen to diffuse the awkward atmosphere.

"The dishes here have been prepared with the best ingredients, son. This meat is from a peak A-Rank monster, and these fruits help with the circulation of mana. Why don't you try it? I'm sure that you will like it."

But even with the food, the atmosphere did not improve.

Instead, Bloed frowned and looked at the woman in front of him coldly.

"Your Majesty, I will be honest with you. I don't want to be here, and I'm not interested in tasting your food. So, hurry up and tell me what you want to tell me, otherwise, I'm going to leave."

"S-Son, that…"

"Stop. I'm not your son. I stopped being your son when I was abandoned in the Exiled Lands."

Queen Soraya's expression paled. Hearing the rude tone in Bloed's voice, her eyes opened wide.

Then, she put on a self-deprecating expression.

"… Yes, I think that it's normal if you think like that."

Bloed did not reply. But the cold glint on his eyes showed that he was getting impatient.

Sighing softly, the queen looked at her son and smiled bitterly.

"Glenn, do you think that I wanted to abandon you? I didn't want it… But... I did not have another option."

"My name is Bloed, Your Majesty. Glenn died five years ago."

"Died, huh..." The queen's expression was bitter. "I understand. And I understand if you hate me… Yes, you have all the right to hate me… But, can you please listen to my explanation? Just this time, please."

"… Do speak." Bloed spoke up after a brief moment of hesitation.

The empress nodded and started her story.

About what happened five years ago.