Chapter 24: Departure

Two women were sitting on wooden benches inside some kind of makeshift training room with several wooden dummies with several arms and multiple types of practise weapon on the walls.

Verda sat against the wall with her tanned skin filled with sweat. Since the day she picked up Vincent, she would train to the limit so she could protect both him and Milla.

"Hah... You've really improved, Milla. I think you'll be one of the rising stars in your knight group. Just make sure you keep doing this training when you leave me, okay?"

She tied her hair with a white band, the curly hair bushed out like a squirrel. Her white training shirt almost see through with her sweat.

Verda was ferocious during combat or training. However, at other times, the most important thoughts on her mind were her two children. Vincent was more trouble for her due to him being much weaker than his sister.

"Hah... Hah... This every day? I'll die, mother!" Milla said with a weak, breathless voice.

Now that her daughter now used mana effectively, sparring with her wasn't as simple as in the past, which caused her to break into a sweat.

Milla was lying against the wall behind the bench, half dead. Her mother never held back during training. She had countless bruises and cuts that slowly healed thanks to her mother's shimmering blue mana healing her wounds.

"Mother, do you think Vincent is going to be home today?"

She was very clingy to her brother because of how he used to protect her in the past. Their mother was very busy and spent many hours out of the house and sometimes thieves would attempt to steal from their clean home.

Verda looked at her daughter with a bitter smile. She could see her son was growing up rapidly, both as a warrior and man.

She felt conflicted because she wasn't his true mother and worried about how to approach him since he started puberty.

Her soft eyes looked towards her clingy daughter, shaking her head.

"Ah... He's a grown man now. We can't keep holding onto him forever, Milla."

Milla's eyes widened in shock as she felt a harsh blow. Her ideal was to have Vincent eventually come to the capital and live with them after his school finished.

She also felt her mother was acting strange. However, her mind was more focused on Vincent and how to spend longer with him. For a moment, she considered not joining the knight squad.

'That can't be... He promised to be with me forever!'

She felt a mix of countless emotions, some of them she didn't understand. The only thing that was clear was she didn't wish for him to leave her forever.

'I have to go find him before we leave. Tell him he should come see me in the capital! What if he's hurt somewhere alone? He needs me, I'm sure of it!'

A rough hand grabbed onto her shoulder, holding her in place before she could get up. The moment she turned around, a harsh blow struck her stomach, winding her as she flew back several metres.

"MILLA!"

"Argh... Kuhak.... Hak...!"

Verda was looking at her daughter with a stern face. Yet inside her mind felt anger towards herself for being a terrible mother. Unable to convince her own daughter to mature or move forward.

"M-mother... Why?!?"

Milla crawled to her knees and glared at her mother. She couldn't understand why her mother beat her. Her eyes widened, seeing how serious her mother was.

"Do you think that endlessly chasing him is the right choice?"

"Can you not believe in him?"

"Is he really that useless to need your help with every little thing?"

She slammed the wall with her fist, sank deep into the wall, causing it to crack and convulse. Her blood began seeping from her clenched fist.

"He is not some pet for you to control!"

"His life isn't ours to choose! Stop holding him back with your selfish desires!"

"Isn't it enough that I will be with you? Is a mother not enough to ease your loneliness..."

An image of her brother flashed in her mind. Cuts and bruises filled his entire body after he killed a man who had tried to rob their home years ago.

Before she could even use mana, she was weaker than her brother. The thief saw her looks and wished to violate her. As the man pushed her down and fiddled with his belt. Vincent entered, holding a knife and hammer.

'My brother fought so hard... He still has some scars from that night...'

He flung himself at the man in a rage. His small body used anything he could strike at the thief. Until his knife to slit the man's throat. The thief's blood covered her face as she didn't even have the strength so scream anymore.

Her eyes turned to Vincent, only to see him watching the bleeding man with a blank face and a faint smile.

'My brother was so emotionless it scared me. However, he never left my side after cleaning my body and disposing of the corpse. If I remember, this was the start of my twisted relationship towards my brother...'

His soft fingers stroked through my hair as if to soothe me. I who could do nothing but cower in fear! I wanted to be strong like my brother, so that I would never be like this again.

He saved my life with no regard for himself, then comforted me despite his body bleeding profusely and countless broken bones until I slept. He stayed by my side.

The feeling that appeared that day is clear to me now. I began seeing him as Vincent the male, not Vincent, my brother after that day.

That's why I began forcibly using mana. Only by luck did I not explode and die!

'Mom was right. I need to join the knight's group. The important thing for me now isn't to pester my bother. My priority should be to improve and one day shock Vincent. He will always be alive and besides that. We aren't blood related, so the law is on my side.

The day I become a fully fledge knight I'll confess my honest feelings to him! Until then, let's be the perfect sister. Wish him the best at school. Send him off with a smile!

Milla rose to the bench slowly after she came to this realisation. Her mana seemed to flow smoother and her mind relaxed. She no longer felt the strange, messy feeling in her chest.

'Mom wanted to stay with Vincent too... I was too selfish thinking only I was going to suffer when we left.'

Verda felt a deep frustration within herself. She didn't want to be parted with her son, yet couldn't say it out loud and affect his plans.

He finally started looking forward, no longer filled with despair, and apathetically live his life.

'Why did I take my own feelings out on Milla... When did I become such a horrible mother? Dear... Please give me the strength to move forward.' Her mother berated herself mentally.

She felt a soft hand grasping hers as a warm green mana filled the wounded fist as it healed slowly. Verda looked at her daughter, who had taken her own out hysteric outbreak with a strange look on her face.

'Strange, it feels like she's no longer in a rush... What happened? Did my punch make her crazy?' Verda thought.

"Mom, let's get our things ready. We leave early in the morning, right? Don't worry, I won't let you be alone like Vincent or dad!"

Milla rushed into her mother's embrace, throwing a quick left hook into her solid abdomen, causing her mother to recoil and gasp for air. Her face had a cheeky grin after she got her revenge.

Verda felt her daughter's improvement and nodded, feeling at ease about letting her join the Lazarus Knight group in the capital.

'I must be old... My daughter can cause damage to me.'

"Hey Milla, if you become a fully fledged knight. I won't stop you if you decide to chase Vincent as a man. If you thought I didn't know both of your feelings for each other. You're actually retarded."

"Giku!"

Her daughter's body shuddered as she gave a soft chuckle looking into the sky. Although she wasn't a perfect mother, she would do her best for both of them. Even if one day they both fly from the nest.

'Dear, our daughter is just like you. Once she gets a goal, she'll never forget or give up. In the future, Vincent will be your actual son! Make sure you watch down on him and keep him safe while we're gone. He's too reckless... Not to mention all the beautiful women who seem after him, yet he's oblivious.'

As the two were holding each other and began laughing. The door upstairs slammed heavily as both their eyes lit up.

"He's home!"

"See, I told you he wouldn't forget your departure!"

Normally, Milla would rush to her brother. However, today she helped Verda clean the gym and training room before they headed upstairs.

'I will try my best to mature, mother!'

'Milla, mother will do her best to make a home for us all in the capital.'

The two began singing a joyful song that played on an old magical radio together as they moved in complete sync.