Chapter 17: Edmund and Erin
*Knock knock knock*
The sound of knocking at the door disrupted his train of thought. "Brother, there's a man in strange clothes lurking around the house," the voice shattered his thoughts.
"The sorcerer has finally arrived. Mother, we have a special guest. Get yourself ready," Alex left his room to welcome his guest at the very moment he emerged from the door. The amulet, adorned with the image of a bird and responsible for transporting his soul to the past, glowed with a brilliant golden light. The Book of Magic on the table moved toward the amulet, responding to its energy. The entire process took mere moments before everything returned to its normal state.
Alex headed towards the door and, before opening it, he paused to stare at his mother. "Mother, what are you wearing? How can a bride receive her suitor dressed like this?"
"Who is the bride, Mother? Mother... Mother... Mother," Angela continued to call out to her mother, but there was no response. His words struck her like a lightning bolt, even though he had mentioned it before. However, this time, the shock was intensified because she had assumed his words were just heavy jesting. Her silence persisted for moments before she exploded in his face.
"Damn you, you little fool! What have you done now? Damn it, who is this stranger you brought? Damn you... damn you... damn, what am I going to do with you... damn."
Alex faced his mother's wrath with a smile and retorted, "There's a lot of 'damn' in your words, even in front of the little one..." At that moment, the man in the cloak burst into the house. It was evident he had heard everything from outside, but he was not alone. He didn't merely open the door and enter; he gazed at them. "There's only one person I know who curse like this. Even after all these years, you haven't changed. You're still repeating the same word every time you get angry."
Mrs. Erin's expression changed upon hearing the guest's voice. She closed her mouth, afraid that she might scream from the surprise. Nevertheless, her eyes betrayed her, shimmering with tears.
"Impossible, it's really you. This is your voice, indeed."
The man was taken aback by her words and upon scrutinizing her face, he noticed her disability. "Erin, what happened to your eyes? And what about your cultivation? How is this possible?"
"Mother, why are you crying?" Anxious, Angela clutched onto her mother's dress tightly and shot angry glares at the guest who was unsettling her mother. When the man entered the house, he noticed the little girl, of course, but this time, facing the big brown eyes and brown hair, he observed something that would change the course of his life.
The mother wiped her tears and hugged her daughter, saying, "My dear, this man is your father."
The Fontaine family is one of the oldest noble families, known for their white hair and green eyes. Most family members are skilled fighters, categorized as either "Warriors" or "Weapon Masters." In each generation, a member with a unique and powerful form emerges, known as the "Armed Fighter."
Fontaine Irene possessed a different and distinctive form, known as the "Priestess." She had a high-level magical healing ability. At the magic institute, she fell in love with a young man from a well-known family and was engaged to him. However, her life took a drastic turn when a member of the Hamilton family laid eyes on her. The Hamilton family was the ruling family at the time. They fabricated charges of treason against her fiancé and executed him. The Hamilton family then pressured the Fontaine family for her hand in marriage.
After weeks of marriage, a shocking truth emerged. A young woman claimed to be the true daughter of the Fontaine family, revealing that she had break to the Fusion Realm .
The best way to deceive an enemy is to deceive your friend first. The Hamilton family fell into the trap completely. Erin was never from the Fontaine family. She was an ordinary girl with white hair who was adopted by them. The real daughter was hidden carefully.
While the Hamilton family planned to marry Erin and produce a powerful heir with the rare "Armed Fighter" form, the Fontaine family revealed the truth. Erin's husband, feeling deceived, attacked her, leaving her injured.
The Fontaine family used the incident to stage a coup and seize the kingdom. Everyone believed Erin had died, but with her priestess abilities, she managed to escape with the help of a loyal friend, giving up her sight in the process. She settled in a quiet village and gave birth to her son, Alex.
Years passed, until one day a wounded man brought a baby girl in his arms, claiming she was Edmund's daughter. He entrusted her to Erin's care.
With these words, the man disappeared into the darkness of the night. Days and months passed, and no one inquired about the girl. Erin attempted to contact her acquaintances to help her find the girl's father, but they kept insisting that the man had been dead for years. In the end, she succumbed to the idea that he had lied to keep the girl with her, and that the little one had no connection to the man she had once loved.
Despite Erin's poverty and her loss of sight, she didn't hesitate to care for the orphan, embracing her with tenderness and considering her as her own daughter. After the outbreak of war, Erin's sole aim was to escape to a safe haven far from the horrors of the conflict and away from the Hamilton family's watchful eyes. To make matters worse, Alex disappeared and was assumed captured.
Hartley Erin, her first husband Hamilton Aaron, was the eldest son of the ruling Hamilton family at the time. The orphaned girl became a pawn in the power struggle between two families for control of the kingdom. Eventually, both sides abandoned her to keep her away from the conflict. She adopted the name "Hartley" for herself, her family's original name, and that was all she knew about them.
After losing her sight and strength, Erin lived only for her son and the adopted daughter left on her doorstep. She didn't expect gratitude or reward, but Alex felt it was unfair, thinking to himself, "She did what was right. An unruly son inhabited by the soul of a strange child from the future, and an adopted daughter with a perfect mother. She deserves children of her own blood and a righteous husband to compensate for her suffering." Angela clenched herself and hid behind her mother, holding onto her dress.
"Daughter..." Tears could be seen falling from Edmund's eyes. They were tears of joy, mixed with laughter and smiles. Finding his daughter ignited his desire to embrace her, but the frightened girl hiding behind her mother made him turn and hug Alex with all his strength.
The latter was surprised by his reaction, but he didn't resist and simply commented, "Man, if you hugged the little one with that force, you'd break her ribs."
The man wiped his tears, apologizing, "I'm sorry, happiness overwhelmed me and emotions carried me away. Thank you for taking care of my daughter."
Alex smiled and looked at him, saying, "She's my sister. The only way for you to regain her is to become a member of this family, or else you'll have to forget about the matter."
"Alex."
The mother yelled out to her son, prompting an immediate response, as if he anticipated it, "What? Are you going to let him take Angela away from us?"
Then he gestured to Edmund, "And you, from now on, have one goal: to make them happy. If you fail..."
He trailed off, his thumb brushing against his neck, hinting at a murderous intent. Edmund Graves, who had faced death multiple times before, was not a man who easily cowered. Nevertheless, he couldn't suppress the shiver that ran down his spine. He thought to himself, "He's not joking about killing me. How could a child radiate such a strong aura of death around him?"
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