Chapter 110: Chapter 110: Big Brother?
"I want to talk to you, Helena," Nora Solheart stood facing the family who, without a doubt, must hate her for the betrayal the father of her children caused.
"There is nothing to talk about between us, Nora," Helena said indifferently. "The matters of the Flareheart Clan or anything related that concerns the people of that despicable clan have nothing to do with me."
"They can all burn in hell for all I care, and that includes you."
"Why?" Nora gritted her lip; her whole body was shaking. "Why do you hate me so much? Even after knowing everything that happened to me? You should know I have no hand in his betrayal. I'm also a victim here."
Sam, observing her interaction with this woman, raised an eyebrow. "Do they know each other?"
""Aunt Victoria, do my mother and this woman know each other?"" Sam sent a voice transmission to his paternal aunt.
[A/N: I will use two double quotes ("") when they talk through voice transmission.]
""Nora Solheart, as you can say from the name, Nora is originally from the Solheart Clan. Like your mother, she is a princess from the Solheart Clan's main family.""
""Long ago, we, like you and your wives, were considered as the younger generation at that time. We were the princesses and princes of the top families. As the princesses and princes of the top clans on the entire continent, we tended to have tasks assigned to us, which basically involved serving for the welfare of the continent and its citizens.""
""It was one of those days. All the princesses and princes of the top clans in the continent were assigned to defend against a beast tide. It was during that incident that William met your mother, made her fall in love.""
""During that beast tide, multiple teams were formed to eradicate the beasts and defend against cities. This Nora Solheart was one of your mother's team members. Moving past the beast tide, your mother and Nora became close friends, so close that your mother considered her like her own sister.""
Sam turned his attention back to his mother and Nora Solheart.
"Hate you?" Helena snorted with a chuckle. "Hate is a strong word. Don't think too highly of yourself. Why would I hate a person like you? I have better things to do than hating on useless things."
"Quite the opposite, really. I pity you and your children. You were really unlucky getting caught in his cold clutches," Helena shook her head in pity.
"I'll make it clear. I don't care that you are with him or that he betrayed me for you. I have long obliterated any feelings I had for that rat, and I have long forgotten that I had a friend whom I considered a sister in life."
"I have him now," Helena pointed her finger at her only son, the only reason for happiness in her life now. "I have everything I want in this life."
"I have long cleansed the river of bitter histories from my memory," her confident voice rang out like a statement made by a fairy of truth.
'Whoa, my sister is on fire today,' Lorraine thought inwardly, impressed.
After that, a silence prevailed before Nora spoke, "I see."
"It seems I came to the wrong place to seek help," Nora looked down once more at the twins, Lily Flareheart and Jane Flareheart, then at her eldest daughter, Mira Flareheart, who gave her an indifferent look.
They turned their backs to the Hailstorm family, and they left the room.
Sam stood there emotionlessly, contemplating what he should do now. 'What should I do? I previously anticipated that I would get mad at them for their involvement with that bastard when I meet them in person, but after learning that they are also victims of that rat William, I pity them. I feel like I should help them.'
'But my mother made it pretty clear that she didn't want anything to do with them. Should I maybe try to convince Mother?'
It all started when an Oracle named Iridessa made a proclamation to the Flareheart clan, stating that William would bring misfortune to the entire clan if he continued his relationship with Helena Hailstorm.
Except for two people, the rest of the Flareheart clan blindly believed this, leading William to sever his relationship with Helena.
It wouldn't have become a huge problem if he stayed with that, but he had to do more stupid things, didn't he?
On a certain eventful day, he found the princess of the Solheart clan alone, took his chance, drugged her, and forced himself upon her.
He didn't stop there; he used some kind of Soul-related curse on her, preventing her from retaliating and making her submit to him.
After that incident, he made her marry him in exchange for her life.
Just thirty years back, a daughter was born, and Nora named her Mira.
Nora had hoped that with the appearance of their daughter, William would change his attitude towards her for the better.
Unfortunately, she soon realized that William was far beyond redemption.
It would have been bearable if that scoundrel hadn't gone after Mira. However, he used her as a political pawn, betrothing her to the heir of the Cristallini Clan.
Their lives never improved.
William treated her like a mere tool, subjected her and Mira to abuse, and resorted to violence when she disagreed with him.
After Mira awakened her bloodline, her potential reached new heights.
Yet, this did not bring any solace to her life.
For unfathomable reasons, William forcefully extracted her essence blood, severely diminishing her potential.
Now, she was reduced to a shell of her former self, unable to advance her cultivation.
It had been eight years since her last breakthrough, and she remained stuck at the middle stage of the Core Formation Realm.
Once a genius, she had now become a discarded waste, maltreated by her own father, no less.
In comparison, Sam and his mother led a much better life. This significantly diminished Helena's resentment and anger towards Nora and her children almost entirely.
Regardless of how Helena feels, the fact remains that Nora and her daughters are the victims here.
It's unreasonable to blame them for what happened.
Sensing Sam's eyes on her, Helena sighed, "Son, do what you feel is right. I will support you regardless of the choices you make."
...
Nora Solheart, after leaving the Hailstorm Clan's designated area, didn't return to where her husband's family was resting. Instead, she stood at the entrance with a dejected look on her face.
"The Hailstorm Clan hates us for what the man did. It's foolish of us to expect help from them, Mother," Mira spoke in an indifferent tone.
"Well, I don't blame them," Nora replied, looking at the sky before turning her gaze to her sweet twin daughters, Lily and Jane.
"Mama, who is that big brother?" Jane's cute voice spoke as she blinked her brows.
"Oh, sweetie, that big brother is..." Nora smiled helplessly as she patted Jane's head.
"That big brother played with me," Lily quickly said. "I remember very well."
"That big brother played with you?" Nora kneeled down as she patted Lily.
"Yes, that big brother is very fun. I want to play with him again," Lily hopped on the floor stubbornly.
"Yes, yes, Mama, I want to play with that big brother too," Jane also joined her twin sister, hopping on the ground excitedly.
"Sweetie, do you remember when that big brother played with you?" Nora asked Lily, holding her in place so she wouldn't fall down from excessive jumping. It had happened before.
"I don't remember," Lily held her chin as she tightened her lips. "I think I met him after I fell asleep one time."
"Oh, I see," Nora understood what happened. 'It seems Lily used her innate ability to contact him through his dreams.'
Nora looked at Mira, who also looked back at her mother. "Sweetie, did that big brother say anything else?"
Lily tightened her expression as if thinking too hard. "I don't remember."
"Mama, will you ask that big brother to play with us?" Jane asked excitedly, pulling at her clothes.
"Sweetie, that big brother is very busy, but I will surely ask him, alright?" Nora patted Jane's head.
"Of course, I will play with them." Nora, surprised by the sudden voice, turned to see Sam standing behind her, looking at the twins with warm smiles.
"Sam," Nora muttered.
Ignoring Nora's surprise, Sam walked forward and knelt before the twins. "You guys are so cute."
Sam patted their heads with each of his hands. Both of them were identical twins, with crimson hair and green eyes.
"Big brother, you came to play with me again?" Lily pulled his hand.
"Yes, Lily, your big brother will play with you all day." Sam lifted her into his arms as he replied. 'So it's little Lily who has been pulling me into dreams? I wonder how she's able to use her innate ability despite not having awakened yet.'
"Big brother, are you the one who has been playing with my sister without me?" Jane pouted, seemingly a little jealous that this handsome big brother only played with her sister.
"Aww, don't pout. Your big brother will surely play with you too," Sam chuckled.
He really liked these two little twin girls. He found them adorable and wanted to squish their cheeks, but he held back.
"Are you my big brother?" Jane blinked confusingly. As far as she remembered, she only had her twin sister Lily and big sister Mira.
"Yes, I'm your big brother. See here." Sam pointed at his head. When the twin sisters looked at his head, they saw his white hair turning into crimson, the same color as their hair.
"Now you see, I'm your big brother, so I will definitely play with you from now on."
"See, I told you, Jane, big brother will definitely play with you too," Lily smirked as if she had won a bet and hugged Sam's hands.
"Big brother!" Jane pouted and hugged his other hand possessively.
Sam turned his attention to Nora. "I can't leave you guys to suffer at that man's hands anymore. I don't want anything to happen to these two little pancakes."
"Thank you, but what about your mother?" In Nora's mind, the harsh words Helena spoke were still as fresh as ice.
"Don't worry, my mother won't oppose my decision to look after you, especially not after seeing these two cuties," Sam smiled and replied.
"I wanted to ask, why didn't your father do anything? He is the patriarch of the Solheart clan, isn't he?"
"I don't know. As far as I know, there's some kind of agreement between the Flareheart clan and Solheart clan, or else they wouldn't have let me get married to him in the first place," Nora said, gritting her teeth.
'Looks like it's not just the Flareheart clan; even the Solheart clan is involved in this evil plot they've been scheming. I guess I only have to wait until the battle begins,' Sam thought.
"Is something wrong?" Nora asked, seeing that Sam was deep in thought.
"It's nothing," Sam shook his head. "This place will soon become unsafe. I want you to take the twins and get the hell away from here and go to the Hailstorm clan."
"Why? What's going on?"
"There's no time to explain. My battle with Tomas Wishura will commence in a couple of hours. It's enough time for you to get away from Nightingale," Sam continued.
"After the battle, the old men from the famous clans, including your father, has formulated a plan to do something very bad."
"You wouldn't happen to know that your father is part of the Eldritch Council, would you?"
"This... I have no idea."
"Anyway, you will learn everything soon enough. Now listen to me, and take the twins and fly in the direction of the Hailstorm clan," Sam spoke in a tone that sounded more like an order than an instruction.
"I-I understand, but I can't leave this place. That bastard William put a curse on me. If I leave without his permission, I will be instantly poisoned," Nora said, touching her chest.
"A mere curse dares to stand in my way?" Sam snorted. "I will remove it from the roots."
Sam placed his hands on her chest. "Don't resist my energy."
"Devour the curse." A blood-red energy in the form of liquid began to invade her body. It soon came in contact with the curse, like a prison holding her soul hostage.
'A curse to imprison the soul? I wonder where that bastard got this curse from. Eldritch Council, maybe?' Sam thought.
Once the curse was completely devoured by his energy, Nora's soul finally got released from the prison.
'He...he actually removed that curse from my soul?' Nora was shocked, surprised, and impressed at the same time.
Sam was actually able to remove a soul curse that she, a great sage, couldn't. 'It seems that the Hailstorm clan's rise will be inevitable.'
"There, no curse anymore," Sam said. "Here, take this."
He handed over a silver token with the Hailstorm clan's symbol engraved on it. "It will help you once you reach the Ancestral Manor."
"I understand." Nora quickly placed the token in her storage ring.
"Just for safety, I asked a friend of mine to protect you from the shadows. He will make sure you and the twins are safe and sound."
...
[A/N: If you enjoyed this chapter, please consider supporting it with a few Power Stones. And if you absolutely loved it, you can even contribute a Golden Ticket. Your support means a lot to me! Thank you very much! - Arigato! 🙏]
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