Chapter 9: The day of the fateful meeting part 4
'Let's go home, Lawrance. Mother is waiting for us.'
I could not suppress my shivers as I heard the word 'mother.'
A mother was someone who gave birth to someone. Who nourished and took care of someone. Someone I had to have. connection with to acknowledge such a relationship.
A person I should feel safe and cared for.
None of those emotions emerged inside my mind at these words.
All I felt was a deep-seated feeling of fear that was not of my own making.
It was then that I realized that it was not I who was afraid but my body that was responding to those words.
Because you see, I had a complicated relationship with the word 'mother.'
I never actually knew my biological mother even in my real world. The woman who had adopted me used to be in an abusive relationship and later died in my youth.
To say that I had no 'memorial' relationship with a mother figure in my life would be a lie. But it was not the kind of 'memorial' I wanted for myself.
"Huh, what's wrong Lawrance? You are shivering quite badly. Did the poison cause a fever to spike? Let me check."
I tried to jerk away but my body had no energy to make the action possible.
"You're still a little hot. Katie, come here and take my brother to the car. I will clean this space up."
Edward's voice was strong and confident as he called upon his aid.
Katie Jones. Of course, I knew who she was.
How could anyone who reads this novel not know of her existence? She was the main female member of the elder protagonist's harem.
You see since this novel had 2 main leads, naturally, there were two separate harems for them both.
And Katie Jones was one of the primary female leads in Edward's harem.
"You finally called upon me and for this? I'm beginning to think that you like Patricia more than me. I am hurt by your discrimination."
The female that appeared out of thin air could only be called a goddess.
If the earth's most beautiful woman were to stand beside her, they would all fail to overpower Katie's beauty.
The novel had described Katie as an enchantress with the 'perfect' figure that could lure any creature in her charm as long as they were capable of being attracted to her.
Even I was not unaffected by her charm.
Her short brown hair just touched the nape of her neck and looked soft and shiny. The breeze flowing through them made them look like curtains of brown silk.
Her golden eyes looked like a tiger eying their prey. I got a feeling that if she could, she would have eaten me alive.
Just the intensity of her attention would have caused me to pop a boner in my previous life.
So I was entirely grateful that my body was not mature enough to give off that reaction.
My mind was attracted to her and so were my hormones. But my body was not ready to reciprocate.
And thank God I was not old enough to be taken seriously or I would die.
Brother or not, anyone who tried to lay a hand on the protagonist's girl died in this novel.
"Katie, stop fooling around and do as I asked. Patricia is out there clearing out the other trash so don't talk like she's not doing any work."
Edward's voice could not be called offended. It sounded more frustrated than anything else.
"Sheesh. Calm down. I know you like Patricia but you don't need to get your panties in a twist over a little teasing."
Katie sounded offended. Her hands on my body felt just a little bit uncomfortable but I decided to take what I could.
After all, when will be the next time I get to be in the arms of such a beautiful female?
As far as my character 'Lawrance' was concerned, he was a bit of an oddball and generally was not mentioned to have a companion.
That meant that if I were to follow the role I chose, I might not get to have a lot of traction with other characters in this world.
"Anyway, did you do what I asked you to?"
"Yup, all done. We captured everyone we could find. By the way, this gang only had adult members in it, right?"
Katie seemed to be stalling and I could not understand why till she asked the last question.
"Yes. That was the information we got. Is something wrong with it?"
Katie looked worried and I got a bad feeling about what was going to happen.
"That's the weird thing. These people swore that they had a kid with them but our investigation did not seem to indicate anyone like that."
"I don't know whether to believe them or not. Our sources did not indicate the presence of a teen in the opposite fraction."
Everything they said went over my head. What did Cain's presence have to do with anything?
"I see. This does complicate things for us. We cannot allow anyone to know our incompetence. We'll need to kill that teen as well."
Kill Cain? Was Edward on drugs?
Cian was the main protagonist.
Main protagonist!
How could he be killed off in such an off-putting manner?
"D-Don't. He helped me out."
I felt like I had a death wish. But still, I had to speak out.
For my survival and the survival of this world, Cain had to live on.
"You don't get to speak in this matter. You've caused enough trouble already. Now go to sleep and we'll talk more about things once we're back home."
I did not want to 'go to sleep'. I had to stay awake and make things right. I had to make sure both protagonists survive this so that I can commit suicide in peace.
But when had the world ever heard my pleas?
It had actively tried to end my life ever since I could remember.
So it was only natural for me to lose my consciousness at such a critical time.
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"So, will you help me out now?"
Patricia observed the teen in front of her with a curious look.
He was impressive and seemed to have a drive for working hard.
Whatever technique he had used to pull off that last trick seemed to have drained him of his remaining energy and magic. But he was still far from being defeated.
He had a drive Patricia liked and appreciated in a person. He would go far if he got the right guidance.
She wanted to cultivate it and see how far she could push him.
"Yeah sure. You said you know where the prince Lawrance is? Lead the way. But I don't think we'll need to interfere any longer. I'll get in trouble if I don't report back."
It was cute to see Cain look confused at her words.
"You ticked me. You knew prince Lawrance was going to be alright. Why did you lie to me?"
Cain had a look of betrayal on his face. It gave his face a mature look that oddly suited the teenager.
"Believe me when I say that it was for your good. You were holding yourself back too much. Don't you feel better now?"
Patricia held her grin back at the enraged look on Cain's face.
Now that she thought about it, it did look quite like Prince Edward. They both had that 'no-nonsense' look.
Even their facial features looked similar. Their black hair looked to be about the same shade (but that was quite common) and their eyes held the same intense look in their grey depths.
And maybe the lack of sleep was finally taking its toll on her.
"What are you planning on doing with me? And will prince Lawrance be ok? You know, with his habit of trying to die and all."
And there went any familiarity Patricia had felt toward the teen.
He seemed to have received back into his timid counterpart but had he lost his mind as well?
"Excuse me? Can you repeat what you just said once more?"
Patricia was sure she had heard wrong.
Either that or her ears were ringing.
Or maybe she had overestimated Cain's intelligence. Thinking back on it now, Cain did not look like the brightest bulb in the pack.
Yeah, surely that was it.
Because how could he call prince Lawrance if all else suicidal? That child was worse than a cockroach at staying alive.
Had it not been for a fairly public health record, Patricia would have sworn him to be cursed to not die.
And that was why she broke out in laughter at the accusation.
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Cain held his scream back as he faced the frustrating female.
Everything hurts. Moving was difficult. And to focus on the conversation was next to impossible.
The hyper mode was seriously the last straw in his bag of tricks.
[Mission successful. Exp gained +500]
==========================
User information:
Name: Cain Miller (E rank) [500/3000 -> (D rank)
Age: 15 (M)
Occupation: Unemployed
Skills:
[Mana recovery: E ranked (upgradable)]
Boost the mana recovery rate by 2%
[Hyper mode: D rank (Fixed)]
Boost your body's overall performance for a short amount of time. But beware of the drawbacks. You might not be able to move for some time.
==========================
Cain observed the female in front of him with a careful look.
There was no doubt that she was beautiful. Her beauty was something that could not be doubted under any circumstances.
Even Cain felt somewhat attracted to her face and body.
But her attitude was seriously pissing him off.
As soon as he had told her the truth about Lawrance, she broke down laughing.
It seemed to be getting louder and louder by the second as well.
"T-That guy? And suicidal? Let me tell you, that guy has the worst survival instincts I've seen but his will to live is too strong. I doubt the cockroach will die anytime soon."
The more Patricia spoke, the more nervous Cain got.
What if someone overheard their conversation and decided to tell this to the royal guards. Wasn't this treason?
Patricia might get away with a simple slap on her wrist due to her position but Cain would be killed.
"Please stop laughing. I don't want to die by treason."
Cain pleaded and it caused Patricia's laughter to worsen.
"You don't have to worry about dying from treason. You will be killed for being in association with these bandits anyway."
Cain paled at those words.
And then he went red in the face.
"What the hell? If I was going to die anyway, then why did you torment me so much? Was this a game to you? Why did you tell this to me now?"
Cain felt betrayed by his emotions.
Every time he thought he could trust this female, she proved him wrong.
"Nononono. Don't be mistaken. I'm telling this to you because I want to help you. I don't want to see a talented person such as you die for no reason."
"And that is why I'll present you with a choice now."
Cain held his breath.
He knew that Patricia wanted him dead then he would be dead by now.
"You become my apprentice and enter the central academy. Then come and work for crown prince Edward. Won't it be a relaxing life?"
The offer was tempting. It was so tempting that Cain found himself thinking over it.
But he could not see Patricia had him. She was an S-class mage who could have anyone under her.
Why him of all people?
"Why me?"
Cian finally gathered his courage and asked.
"Why not you? I like you and you have strong magic. I think you'll be. A perfect fit in the royal guard unit."
Cain had mixed feelings about it. Did he want to give his life for such a purpose?
==========================
New mission available:
Become an S-mage's apprentice and enter the central academy.
Award: 1500 exp.
Accept -> yes/no
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Cain looked up from his system to Patricia's face and back to the system screen.
And then he made his choice based on the information he had.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone