CHAPTER 74: HE ONLY GETS SLEEPY?

But the warm moment was cut with a sudden realization that flashed across Charlotte’s face as her eyes narrowed.

"Wait...if using his abilities is that extraordinary...why did Mika say earlier he was just ’tired’ after using them? Why does he always get sleepy afterward? That doesn’t add up."

Yelena’s smile faded slightly, and she let out a quiet sigh.

"That..." She said. "...is something I’ve wondered about, too."

She crossed her arms, looking at the glass again.

"Mika always says he gets tired after using his abilities. Says it’s because his mind has to enter something called the Lucid Realm or Lucid State, his mind’s private world, a place where he can operate faster, more precisely, more efficiently."

"It’s apparently a mental state that allows him to restructure mana at a hyper-accelerated rate. Every time he activates it, it burns through his mental energy like wildfire."

"Lucid Realm...he mentioned that before." Charlotte blinked. "He said he gets sleepy every time he uses it. I thought he was just being dramatic."

"He wasn’t. It’s real. And it’s extremely tedious." Yelena nodded. "Restructuring raw mana isn’t just complicated, it’s mental warfare. He’s not just activating something that’s already there, he’s creating an entire spell from scratch in real-time."

"Reconstructing the very building blocks of the universe inside his own mind...That sort of precision is exhausting even once. And he does it over and over again."

"I see...I get that Mama, I get that he gets his mind drained after using his abilities. But is there really all there is to it. "Charlotte’s brows furrowed in confusion, as she realised that something didn’t add up. "I mean, if he’s doing all that, shouldn’t there be more side effects? Like...I don’t know, brain damage? Body stress? Instant ageing?"

"...Anything that, you know, effects him in a negative manner that could be detrimental to his life."

"So, you think that as well....Well, to tell you the truth, that’s what worries me as well." Yelena nodded slowly, indirectly saying that she had the same concerns.

"Wait, worries you?" Charlotte sat up straighter. "You’re not reassured by the fact that he only gets tired?"

"No." Yelena said bluntly. "Because I don’t believe that’s all there is to it."

Her expression turned grim.

"I think he’s lying to us."

"Wh-What?"

Charlotte gasped, while Yelena’s gaze was heavy, serious now.

"You see, your Aunt Fauna, has run dozens of tests on him. Scans before and after he used his abilities. Monitoring everything from heart rate, mana levels, brain activity, cell regeneration, you name it."

"But no mattee what tests were done, no matter how many times they were conducted, nothing shows any long-term damage."

"He’s perfectly healthy. No drops in vitality. No signs of physical deterioration. He’s like a flawless machine."

"Then...?"

"That’s just it." Yelena said quietly. "He shouldn’t be fine. Not with what he’s doing. If even the most powerful supercomputers in the world were tasked with replicating what he does with mana, they’d fry themselves within seconds."

"And yet he...just gets sleepy? I don’t buy it. I think he’s hiding something. Something he doesn’t want us to know. Maybe because he doesn’t want us to worry."

Charlotte fell quiet. The weight of the conversation sat heavy in her chest.

"So...what do you think it is?"

"I don’t know." Yelena admitted. "But I know my instincts. And my gut tells me that there’s more going on in that brilliant little head of his than he lets on. Maybe there’s a cost to his power that hasn’t appeared yet. Or maybe it’s something he’s already suffering through...silently."

Charlotte stared at the flickering fire, feeling both awe and a strange fear rising in her chest. Not fear of Mika.

Fear for him.

Because no matter how powerful he was, he was still human. Still a boy.

Still...Mika.

And the idea that he might be bearing the weight of a god’s burden alone, it made her heart ache.

Yelena sighed once more, then added with a bittersweet smile. "But knowing him...he’ll never say a word. He’ll just keep smiling. Keep pushing forward. Even if it kills him."

Hearing this, Charlotte’s eyes flared slightly, her voice cutting through the heavy air before it could sink into silence again.

"He won’t do that." She said quickly, firmly, eyes sharp and unwavering. "Mika’s not the type to recklessly hurt himself. He’s not stupid enough to push himself beyond what he can handle. He’s...smarter than that."

Yelena looked at her daughter with an expression caught between curiosity and disbelief. And then with a raised brow, she leaned forward.

"Really now? And what makes you think that, hmm?" She asked, her voice tinged with dry amusement. "Mika is exactly that kind of person, Charlotte."

"He’s the definition of someone who shatters his own limits just to see what lies beyond them. The kind of person who’d rather collapse from exhaustion than accept that there’s a wall he can’t climb."

Charlotte paused...then slowly, she nodded.

"You’re right, Mama. Absolutely. He’s definitely someone who pushes boundaries, someone who wants to make the impossible possible. If there’s a law of the world, he’ll try to rewrite it. If there’s a limit, he’ll try to surpass it."

Her voice softened, though, as her thoughts turned inward.

"But...at the same time, Mika knows how much he means to us." She added gently. "It’s not just me. Or you. He has so many people who love him. My sisters, your sisters, friends, he knows how loved he is. How important he is."

"And because he knows that...I just know he won’t do something reckless. Not when he understands how sad we’d be if anything ever happened to him because of his abilities."

She looked up, meeting her mother’s eyes squarely.

"He’s not alone. And that’s why I believe he’ll be okay. Even if he’s going through things we don’t understand, even if he’s carrying burdens he hasn’t shared, I truly believe he’ll come through it."

Yelena stared at her daughter for a long, still moment. And then slowly, her shoulders relaxed, her body almost visibly exhaling a tension she hadn’t even realized she was holding onto.

Something about the conviction in Charlotte’s voice, the way she spoke with that quiet faith, made something inside her settle.

That had been her fear all along. That Mika would carry his pain alone. That he’d suffer in silence.

That, one day, his power would break him, and no one would notice until it was too late.

She’d even considered confronting him, demanding he stop using his abilities entirely. It was terrifying to imagine what might happen one day.

But now...hearing Charlotte say all that.

It felt like a massive weight had lifted from her chest.

Yelena’s lips curled into a bright, almost mischievous smile. Then, without warning, she reached over and tugged gently on Charlotte’s cheek.

"Ow, hey!" Charlotte flinched back slightly, rubbing her cheek. "What was that for!?"

"You really are my daughter." Yelena said with a fond, teasing grin. "So clever. So wise. Hah...such a smart girl."

Charlotte giggled, puffing her chest a little. "Of course! I mean, I am your daughter, after all. It’s only natural I’d be this amazing."

Yelena let out a short laugh and held her arms open. "Come here. Come get cuddled by your incredibly proud mother."

Charlotte’s face lit up at once, excitement sparkling in her eyes. "Really!?" She exclaimed, hopping up from her chair with a sudden burst of energy and plopping herself onto Yelena’s lap, just like she used to when she was little.

The moment her daughter sat down, Yelena let out an exaggerated oof, blinking in mock surprise.

"Whew! You’ve really grown up, haven’t you? I swear, you’re heavier than before. My legs almost gave out there."

"Moooom!" Charlotte whined, her cheeks flushing in embarrassment. "Don’t call me heavy!"

Yelena giggled and wrapped her arms tightly around her daughter. "Of course not, of course not. My precious little girl could never be heavy." She said sweetly, her tone dripping with maternal affection.

But then, with a playful smirk, she slipped a hand under Charlotte’s shirt and began to grope Charlotte’s plump breasts to her surprise.

"Well...except maybe here!" She teased, wiggling her fingers lightly across her daughter’s soft chest. "This is where all the weight is hiding, isn’t it?"

Charlotte squealed. "M-Momma! I’m ticklish! Don’t touch me there!" She laughed, squirming in her mother’s lap, trying to push her teasing hands away. "That’s unfair!"

Yelena just laughed harder, pulling her daughter closer, and planting playful kisses on her cheeks.

"You’re the best daughter a mother could ask for." She whispered warmly. "My smart, brave, wonderful girl."

And just like that, the two of them giggled together, locked in a loving embrace that seemed to melt away all worries and fears.

But neither of them had any idea that while they basked in that comforting warmth, Mika, who was supposed to be asleep in his room, wasn’t in his bed at all.

In fact...he wasn’t even in the house.

Nor anywhere on the estate.

Instead, he was sitting on the boat they had used to come here, legs dangling lazily over the edge, staring out at the endless sky. From his vantage point high above, he looked down on the massive rift, the same one that had caused the plane crash earlier, its violent, jagged edges pulsing faintly with a dangerous glow, like lightning trapped beneath the surface of the world.

It looked volatile, terrifying, something that would make most people flinch even from afar.

And right there beside it was the team of Blessed that had come to subjugate it, preparing themselves with urgency.

Mika, on the other hand, merely stared at the entire scene with a tired, bored look on his face, as if none of it impressed him in the slightest.

He looked like someone who had been dragged out of bed for a task he didn’t care about, someone who would much rather crawl back under warm sheets and sleep.

Like a child brought forcefully to some tedious chore he couldn’t escape, his gaze held no awe, no fear.

Only utter exhaustion and annoyance, as if he engaged to punch the face of the person who brought him here...