Chapter 24: Awaited Moment

[91st day of 1021 at 9:07 PM]

All of them had already finished eating their respective food and the only sound that can be heard within their surrounding was the noise of the wind brushing through their skin and the crackling of the burning wood.

"Mama? Rubick…sleepy." is the only noise that destroys the silence in the night.

Mary had clearly heard what her son had told her and she immediately went beside her son without any hesitation.

A few seconds passed and she successfully arrived at where her son had been sitting, of course, she also took a sit beside him. For a while, she gently caressed the face of Rubick and after that, she laid him down on a thick piece of cloth that she already had prepared earlier and immediately covered his body with a piece of cloth that can be called a "blanket" in this era.

"Good night and sleep well, my baby." She said directly at Rubick and she additionally kissed her son's cheeks gently.

"Good… night… Mama." Rubick's reply to his mother's lovely words, and he closed his eyes.

After seeing her child closes his eyes, she immediately turned her head towards Yusoph and said "Yusoph? let's also take a rest."

"You can take your rest, Mary. I'll prioritize our safety first." his response to Mary's words.

"Ah, okay, I'll be taking my rest then." Mary said to her husband and she immediately went back to where she had been sitting before approaching her son.

She looks at Priestess Isabelle who already had fallen asleep while sitting, her position was quite odd but she empathizes with the Priestess at the moment.

Mary walks to where her best friend had been sitting idly while unknowingly had fallen asleep and she guided the Priestess's body to lie down on the cloth that they prepared a while ago. Mary had also covered a blanket to the Priestess the same way she covered her son.

For Mary, Priestess Isabelle is not just a friend but she is also a family. When they were just little kids in the past, they had been always together no matter what happens.

When Mary unconsciously reminisced about the past, she was unknowingly happy and at the same time, she was sad. She was happy because even though they were already adults, they did not forget a single thing about each other. She was also sad for the reason of, she cannot possibly turn back the time to experience the feeling once again from the very beginning. Mary had realized something, childhood days had been the happiest stage of her life while being an adult was the best, and it was because she already had her own family and one of them was Priestess Isabelle.

After a short moment of herself reminiscing something, she finally returned to where she originally had been. Mary laid her body down on the piece of clothing and she fell asleep as peacefully as stagnant water. As for Yusoph, he had started being vigilant as possible in regard to their surrounding environment.

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In the unknown, a white-colored hair and a tan-skinned man with a grey-colored iris in his eye had appeared out of nowhere and he was floating within the "nothingness". The illuminating man reaches out his hand at the little boy named Rubick and he gently caresses the little boy's face. Rubick unconsciously opened his eyes just to see that they are in complete darkness. He can also clearly see all the significant parts of the naked body of the illuminating man who had accidentally awakened him within his unconscious mind. Rubick had been astounded at the presence of the man in front of him, the man's exuded a powerful aura but at the same time, it was as gentle as a dog in front of Rubick.

Rubick abruptly opened his mouth and said "Who are you?"

The illuminating man didn't even dare to reply at the question that Rubick had thrown at him, instead, he just left a handsome and gentle smile at Rubick and slowly fade like a cloud of dust combined with a cloud of smoke.

After the man had disappeared, Rubick had fallen down into the "nothingness" until he unconsciously woke up in reality. The poor three-year-old kid had woken up estimated within five of the morning. Rubick had also begun breathing heavily and a visible huge bead of sweat had started to appear on his forehead.

"Huff…Huff…Huff…" is the sound that had come from the mouth of the poor little boy.

Rubick immediately looks at where his mother and his father had been positioned as he can remember, and when he saw them, they were all asleep. When Rubick had been staring at his father for about a few seconds, his father had opened his eyes slowly.

"Huh? I had fallen asleep? How?" Yusoph had silently grumbled at himself without knowing that his child had been looking at him at what he was currently doing.

After a few seconds of Yusoph talking to himself, he finally felt that someone had been watching him. Yusoph quickly looked at where the gaze had come from, and after looking at the certain place, he saw his child looking at him awkwardly.

Yusoph had been busted! He thought that his son had already begun judging him from the inside, and it was for a specific reason. A specific reason about "Protecting them!" instead of "Sleep with them!". Yusoph immediately stood up from where he had been sleeping while sitting and he approaches his son who had been looking at him.

"Rubick, why are you already awake at this time?" he asked his young son directly and it was because of the embarrassing thing he just did earlier.

Rubick didn't give an answer to his father's question, and instead, he lay down again on the piece of clothing and closes his eyes. Yusoph saw this and the only thing he can do was to exhale heavily, after that, he immediately went back to where he had come from.

"What was that earlier? Was that a dream? Or a nightmare?" Rubick's running thoughts inside his head.