Artus was whisked away as soon as the lady had seen his face. She had just grabbed him into her pert warm bosom and ran past the church officials while ignoring everyone. He could do nothing as his precious gruel was wasted on the ground.

It felt unreal to him as he was a grown man inside. He was in a daze before he realized that he was in the body of a small twelve years old kid.

Of course, a grown woman could kidnap and carry him away easily.

He was on a wagon before he knew it with his wrist gripped tightly in between a woman's soft hand. Tears dripped from the lady’s determined face before she wiped it away. She had stayed in silence until they reached the gate by the wall, and the guards there didn't even spare a second look at him.

Maybe to their eyes, he was just a beggar kid the woman had taken fancy off.

But he knew better than that. No one else should know the given name Artus, but his two mothers. She took off after they had passed the gate, hurrying the thick furred animal pulling the simple wagon. The worry on the woman's face was obvious.

She only slowed down when it was closer to noon and much further away from the city. The brown-haired woman was a lot calmer by then and she had stopped checking their back every now and then. It was a good time for him to ask her.

"Mom?" he queried, still unsure of the recent events. "Is that you?"

The woman almost jumped on her seat because of that question. She hugged him out of the blue until the wagon slowed down to a stop. The woman gave him the usual quick kiss on the lips and it felt familiar. Tears flowed down his eyes as the boy inside cried.

It was damn confusing.

"Yes, Artus, this is mommy," she said while trying to hold her bursting feeling. "I've been looking for you for many Terra cycles already, where have you been?"

The simple reveal had sent his mind reeling. He recalled that the Terra cycle meant month.

"But I've only woken up, maybe, a few days ago," he said as if he was correcting her.

"No, you went missing almost four cycles ago, just one week before my indenture ends. We can ask Cornelius if-"

Artus ripped his hand from the lady as soon as he heard that name. The whole Terra and Solar cycle issues in his mind were forgotten.

He didn't care even when her nails had scraped some of his skin off. He would have turned and run away from her if the puzzled look on her face. She could be in it too if all he knew.

"Cornelius J. Reed, short gray hair, blue eyes," he said to make sure.

"How did you-"

"He is the one who kept me locked underground, mom," spat Artus. "Even kept a journal about me and all his other exploits with Lord-father Bashker."

The color on the woman's face changes a few times as she puts things together inside her head. Artus never thought that the fierce brown-haired woman in the journal was referring to dear mommy.

Only now he realized that whatever preparation for the [Soul Search] spell formation took longer than he had assumed. Or the ritual alone took a long time to complete. He knew nothing about it but the two had kidnapped him and the Cornelius guy might have kept dear mom in check by dating her, maybe?

"Do you sleep with him, mom?"

"Artus!" yelled the woman at him. He almost got a heart attack because of it.

'I'll take that as a yes,' he sighed.

"I'm sorry to tell you this, dear poor mother of mine," stated Artus. "But I'm not that naive boy you know any more, not after what they had done to me. I’ll just go if you don’t believe me."

He slowly backed away and got down from the wagon as her head was too busy for her to reply. Her eyes were still darting from side to side while looking at nothing. The pretty lady sure had a lot of things to sort in her life.

His plan was still the same, to get as far as he could from the city.

Sure, he could hide in plain sight, but what if the generous lord-father had a magical way to track him? He could die in his sleep for all he knew. The only problem with the plan was the transport, which he might not have anymore.

The rustle of leaves behind him made him pause on his feet.

"Artus, please... I, I didn't know," said the voice. “You have to believe me.”

He turned around in relief. She still could be lying but the kid inside knew better or wanted to believe that he knew better. The little Artus believed that she had no idea about the arrangement, but the old man inside him was too skeptical to believe her.

The old man inside admitted his defeat. He still didn't fully believe her but it would be troublesome to part away with her.

"I could use the ride," he said to dear mommy.

A big smile grew on her face as he walked towards her and before he knew it, he was already in her bosom once again. It would be a habit at this rate. A good one.

"I'll never let you out of my sight ever again," whispered the woman as she squeezed him.

She kissed him again as if she couldn’t have enough of him.

He tried to keep an open mind because this place was not Earth.

And once again they continued their journey after the woman carried him up onto the wagon. The ride was too quiet for comfort and he also needed to fill in the gaps in his memory.

"Mom, how did you become a maidservant?"

The woman turned towards him in surprise. "I don-" the woman sighed before her eyes unfocused. She took a while to gather the words to be said.

"My team borrowed a lot of money for our dive, but we screwed it up," her grip on the leash tightened. "I'm the only one who was able to return. I had nothing to pay back the debt, and so, I had to pay with my body," she winced, probably cursing inside. "I have to become an indentured servant for fifteen years."

"But you still look like you are in your twenties, how is that so?"

"I'm still pretty, am I?" she giggled and dodged the question.

"Yes, you are still very pretty," he agreed with her.

'But pretty is underrating. She is gorgeous in the way wild apex predators are gorgeous. Mommy even feels dangerous. Long brown hair, sharp eyes with a luxurious sexy body to match,' the old man in him said.

"I guess, now is also a good time as ever," she sighed in regret. "I looked young because I took care of my [Core], even during my time in servitude. I keep using up my mana and refilling it whenever I can without anyone knowing. You have your status up, right?"

"Yes, that's how I knew my name even when you had kept it from me."

"But, Artus, I did that-"

"I know," he stopped her. "My memory has gaps, but I know what would happen to someone like me if I had blurted out a name. But I got a feeling that you two didn't just pick this name out of the blue, right?"

"Yes, you will be Artus, the third, after your grandfather and great-grandfather. Your grandfather had died but your great-grandfather is still kicking asses. Somewhere out there."

"Oh, cool," he said, if not a little surprised. "Don't tell me the old man still looks like he is in his twenties?"

She chuckled as relief washed over her. "Of course, not. There is no single black hair on his head anymore."

"Good to know," he quipped. He hesitated to ask but he had to know anyway. "Mom, can you remind me of your name?"

The lady gasped at his question. She stared long into his eyes as the animal in front ambled its way forward. He noticed that her knuckles became white from her own grip. Artus could tell that she was promising pain inside her head to someone who was already dead.

"My name is Nusia, love," she said while still gripping her fist hard. "How did you escape?"

"I oiled the stairs and waited. He fell for it, literally."

"Is he?" The woman paused. "Is he dead?"

"Yes, and I don't regret it," he told her the truth. "I'm not the first, mom, and I certainly will not be the last."

"Cornelius, that bastard," she added with a mumble. "He said that he may have a lead about you. He said he'll do anything to bring you back to me. That's why he made frequent trips to the city."

Classic con-man tactic, but Nusia was talking to herself rather than talking to him. A wide yawn escaped his mouth.

'Man, I'm getting sleepy all of the sudden. Maybe because I'm still a kid? But don't kids have bundles of energy?' Another yawn attacked him before he felt the caring hand that brought his head to a comfortable and warm lap pillow.

It felt like forever he hadn’t slept in such a comfortable place.

 

-

 

"Thanks, mom," the boy muttered before he passed out.

His simple words melted her heart. Nusia held her son's head to her womb. She let her tears flow as she promised herself that she would do anything for him. Unlike other times her tears felt deep inside of her.

God how she wished she could twist the neck of that man herself and turn him to dust. Limb by limb. To think that she used to pour her heart out to the man, it made her want to puke.

She felt so dirty now after hearing the words spat out by him. Artus really hates those men's guts. Good for him. They deserve to be hated.

'Do the two of them have plans for me too?' the cruel thought came suddenly to her.

She knew that Bashker wanted to keep her forever if he could. That was why he went out of his way, tried and failed to make her pregnant, and maybe that's also why he had experimented on Artus.

The awful man needed Artus to be talented enough so he could keep her as a concubine? Even the mere idea made her want to empty her stomach.

Nusia knew she was pretty, but she also knew that she wasn't even close to those hauntingly beautiful ladies Bashker got his hand on. His first wife’s smile alone could make common men lose their heads. They would kill each other if the vixen had asked.

Why the man had tried everything to keep her in his leash was beyond her. He even had tried to curry her favor and treated her like no other maidservants. Well, other than demanding her to sleep with him. He would want to have her every single night if no one had anything to say about it.

"God, that man is really annoying!"

Suddenly she felt like wanting to wash and scrub herself clean all over again. Her fall from grace was nothing but shameful, but at least, she got someone irreplaceable out of it. His birth and his return felt like fate to her.

No. It is Fate who wanted them to be together.