CHAPTER 28: RUMORS OR ...

As the daughter of the Count of Raksa County, Amel was used to being admired—envied even—by nobles under her father’s jurisdiction, and fawned over by commoners.

That was why Langga’s open disregard for her noble status from county stung. More than that, though, his words now filled her with a growing sense of fear.

She had heard the rumors that Langga’s father was from the devil race, but they always felt like baseless gossip.

Even now, after years of unity, people were expected to coexist with other races. But the shadow of the past still lingered. To humans, the devil race remained a nightmare.

Long ago, all races were locked in endless wars. Humans didn’t just hate the devils, they hated every other race. But the devil race had a reputation for being the most menacing. They fought with deceit, used seductive magic, hypnosis, false alliances and then betrayed everyone.

Over time, mothers began to scare their children into behaving with stories of devils kidnapping naughty kids. Those tales stuck, passed down generation to generation, and even after a century of the Bumi Kingdom’s rule, the fear hadn’t truly vanished.

Among all the races Amel had encountered, she had only ever met one devil. He was the official envoy of the devil race assigned to Raksa County, though he rarely stayed long. He mostly traveled between the territories under Raksa’s control.

Every time Amel saw him, she froze in fear. His skin was blood-red, his eyes a terrifying mix of crimson irises and black sclera, and a pair of short sharp horns rose from his forehead. He always smiled, but never kindly, only menacingly.

The memory alone made Amel shiver. And now... maybe it was a trick of the light, or just her imagination, but she swore Langga’s irises had turned red for a moment.

Panic surged through her.

"Don’t come any closer! Please... I’m sorry!" Tears streamed down her cheeks. "I was wrong! I thought the best way to win over a man was to sleep with him. That’s what everyone said. So I slipped an aphrodisiac into your drink back at the office. I’m sorry!"

Her whole body trembled. Her legs gave out, and she collapsed to the floor.

Langga stared down at the sobbing girl with a cold, sharp gaze. Whatever pity he might have felt was gone.

He opened the office door and headed to the long corridor, slipping something from his pocket, a crystal ring.

Bringing the ring to his mouth, he spoke calmly but clearly. "The daughter of Count Raksa has poisoned me. I expect compensation. If not, this incident will spread to every noble house surrounding Raksa County, and the Altas Duchy will cease all cooperation with them."

...

Meanwhile, Gara sat cross-legged, working on a list of herbs and their known properties when he heard the front door creak open.

His mother had returned. The cloth pouch she carried which earlier had held only a few coins was now bulging.

"Mom," Gara said with quiet resolve, resting a hand over his belly. "I’ve decided. I’m keeping this child."

Wina nodded, eyes warm and gentle as she looked at her son. "Whatever you choose I’ll support you."

She had bought plenty in town. It was her first time returning there since arriving in this village sixteen years ago. So much had changed. And maybe that was why, without realizing it she’d ended up buying everything she could.

For the past sixteen years, she had only spent money on the bare essentials, either food, fabric to sew clothes, basic furniture, and a few household necessities.

It was fair to say she had quite a bit of savings.

And even though she wasn’t a Liner, she had lived among the druids which was known as masters of plants and herbs for years. That meant her herb fields almost never failed, unless there was extreme weather.

She pulled out what she’d brought from town: a bundle of fine dark blue cotton, several colors of thread, sewing needles, a few herbal plants which was unfamiliar for Gara, and sweets made primarily from coconut, palm sugar, or both. At the bottom of the bundle was a small object wrapped in a handkerchief.

"Mom’s going to make you a new outfit," Wina said with a smile. "I’m sorry I haven’t paid more attention to how you dress. You’ve been wearing those worn-out clothes for too long. You must’ve felt embarrassed seeing others in nicer fabric when you went to town, right? Back when I served Lady Vita, she never let us wear rough cloth, even as servants."

Every time she mentioned the past, her voice would waver and her eyes would shine with tears. Before she could cry again, Gara quickly cut in.

"It’s really okay, Mom. Most people who came to the ceremony were villagers too, so we all looked about the same."

Wina finally managed a small laugh.

"Oh, right. Gara, what’s your Bloodline and Talent?"

"Elemental Bloodline and Unlimited Water Talent, Mom" Gara answered, partially telling the truth.

"Wow, that’s incredible. So you take after your father, huh?"

"You said my dad was a noble, right? Do you know where he’s from, Mom?"

Gara didn’t really know how large a province was, but he figured that since humans only lived in Swargaloka Province, finding it wouldn’t be too difficult if he ever wanted to go there.

But Wina shook her head. "The alliance talks between humans and druids were always handled privately by the druids. Servants like me weren’t allowed in the meeting room. And after we ran away, we avoided your father’s territory on purpose, it would’ve made it easier for them to track us."

That was fine. Gara wasn’t particularly curious about his father’s noble lineage. Noble houses were full of schemes and power games. He didn’t want to get dragged into that mess.

"Oh, by the way, Mom, do you know what Bloodline and Talent my biological mother had? Or maybe any typical traits of druids?"

To be honest, he was deeply curious about the druid race. He wanted to better understand the part of his heritage that came from them.

...