Okay so guys, I made a mistake I didn't realise. Her name is Lilia and it's written Lilia in the first chapter she appears as well but I don't know what I smoked and forgot I named her Lilia and instead I wrote Laila.... So her name is Lilia, not Laila. I will be using Lilia. Unless I do imaginary drugs and forget again.

>>Hael

There was this reverberating feeling inside of my chest. Like an acknowledgment. Then my gaze darted around as I processed that information. Like my entire being knew that what I had just learned was the truth.

"This is why everyone warned your mother not to fall for a human. Nobody expected his betrayal of course, but everyone stopped Hestia because elves live far longer than humans and eventually she was in for a heartbreak. Although she lost her mind because she was betrayed." She stepped closer, "Natural death wouldn't have been that bad as compared to the betrayal she got."

I blinked slowly as the reality of the situation took its place inside my mind.

...

"For life?" I asked

"Yes," She answered, "For life,"

I smiled. A feeling of elation going through my body, "That's good." I said, "I like the sound of that."

Helena wasn't expecting that reaction, "Hael! I'm not joking. It's not as good as you think. If you lose Saint Amber, you'll break."

"Well," My smile widened, "I won't lose her." It was a lovely feeling, "She'll stay with me, 'For Life'"

"..." Helena stared at me with a dumb founded expression for a moment, "What makes you so sure you'll be fine?"

"Well, I was fine when she left me two years ago."

I paused.

Well, maybe I was fine because I didn't know what I was feeling for her. And I knew I was going to find her.

She knitted her eyebrows, "She left you?"

"No," I shook my head, "She left to have some time to herself. She was always going to come back to me." I always knew I would find her.

One way or another.

"If you're that confident, why aren't you two already a couple?" She folded her arms and stared at me with an unamused look, "With how confident you sound, you both should be married by now."

"..." I stared at her, closed my eyes to blink and averted my gaze before I opened them again.

"..." She kept her eyes on me but when I didn't respond she let out a sigh, "Child, I am only worried about you." She said, "I've warned you about the thing you need to be warned about." She stepped back while turning away, "I hope you don't do anything foolish."

"Why would I do anything foolish?" I smiled

"I mean, I hope you two get along." She turned around and began to walk away, "I don't know what's taking Lilia so long. But I have to leave now. My husband is coming home after a long time."

I watched her leave and once she was gone I turned around and went back to enjoying the weather of the forest.

Hmmm

Marriage? I scratched my cheek with my index finger.

...

Marriage...

I looked up at the leaves.

Marriage...

I waited, watching the sunlight filter through the dense canopy, casting a warm, dappled glow on the forest floor. Leaning against a towering tree, I traced patterns in the soft moss with the tip of my boot.

Marriage...

The gentle rustling of leaves and the distant murmur of a babbling brook formed a relaxed environment.

I closed my eyes for a moment, enjoying the cool breeze while I thought about Aunt Helena's words.

We should be a married couple.

I liked the sound of that.

As I stood there, lost in thought, I heard footsteps approaching.

She must be here. I should have noticed her before but I got too lost in thoughts.

I turned to look back, expecting to see Lilia's familiar figure emerging from the trees. But as my eyes settled on the person who stepped into the clearing, my eyes went slightly wide due to the shock.

"I-I brought your book for you," The familiar voice brought a disgust to the ears. Her walking was a little shaky and her expressions held nervousness.

It wasn't Lilia. Instead, a figure I never expected to see here stood before me. The forest's gentle ambiance suddenly got tense, the peaceful scene shattered by the presence of this unexpected visitor.

My fists clenched at my sides, and I felt a burning heat rise within me, "Why are you here?" I glared at my mother.

She didn't immediately respond, and the silence stretched between us. What was the point of staying out here if she was still going to find me

"How did you know I was here?" I asked and then looked at the book in her hands.

Lilia was supposed to bring that. I looked back at my mother. If she's the one who brought that, that means she must have done something to Lilia.

"I followed the girl who was sneaking out." She smiled, "A mother's instincts are never wrong. I knew something was up when I saw Lilia sneaking the book out." She stepped towards me and I stepped back.

I'm not staying here. I'm leaving. I'll go and get Amber. She should be done by now. I turned around and began to gather my magic when I felt her grab my waist.

!?!?!?

The book was thrown somewhere on the ground,"Don't!" Her grip around me was tight, "Listen to me, Hael!" I wasn't expecting her to latch onto me, "I know what I did was wrong! I know!!!"

"Let me go," I grabbed her hands and tried to release myself but as soon as started overpowering her strength she used her magic

!!!?

A red glow binded her arms together, making her bones magnetic and they stuck together, unable to let me go.

"Listen," She said, "I know! I know I shouldn't have done that!! I know!"

I put my magic on hers, trying to unbind it as I gritted my teeth, "If you knew." I placed my hands over hers, my magic clawing at hers, "Then you should stay away from me,"

"I wanted to meet you again. I- I'm sorry, let us be a family again!" Her voice shook, "I'll do anything for us! So please," I released her magic and threw her hands back. She fell back on the ground and I walked ahead without sparing her a glance, "Hael," Hearing her call out my name made me angry, "Don't abandon me." But her words made me pause, "Please," She begged, "Please, Hael. You're my one and only son." Whatever she was saying made my pupils shake in anger as I stood there, frozen in displeasure.

I had my back to her. My fists balled as I tried to keep my emotions calm.

They were rampaging.

They never do this. Never except for these two people.

"Abandon you?" I spat, the bitterness of those words stinging my tongue. "Me?" What did her words even mean? How could I do something she had already done?

The pain of my childhood came rushing back, memories flooding my mind. I remembered the cold nights spent alone, the gnawing hunger, the desperate longing for a mother who never returned. the days I waited by the door.

I could see it all so clearly: Looking at you through the edge of the doorframe, looking at other happy families. Having to face your realities as a kid.

"I remembered the night you abandoned me,"

"Look," She crawled to my legs, "I am to blame! I did everything wrong!!" She grabbed my legs, "Please, give me a chance."

"You—" I began, but the words caught in my throat, I felt a pain inside of that, a pain too raw to articulate. My fists clenched at my sides started to turn white. I felt like the words were pointless, so I tried to move again but she held onto my legs.

"Please, Hael. Don't leave me." Those words trigger a worse memory inside of my mind.

Out of all what happened, that is the part I despise the most. Remembering that made me pause again.

'Don't leave me,'

Those were the words that I used when I was begging her not to leave me with those mercenaries.

I turned my face to look at her, my jaw clenched.

She was looking at me, her eyes pleasing and brimming with tears. . "Please, we're family. We can make things right. We can—"

"Family?" I interrupted, the word tasting bitter on my tongue. "If we were family, you wouldn't have done that to me." Why am I even saying this to her? I should turn around and teleport. I can do that so easily.

So why?

What am I doing, standing here?

"I-" She looked away and seeing her cut her gaze off triggered something in me. She knew what she had done, yet she was here in front of me.

I felt like my chest was burning and my thoughts were on fire.

Looking at her made it difficult to breathe right. Something that was too powerful to contain seemed to gush out, leaving me in a state where I couldn't think straight.

There was so much of it and all of it surged within me, demanding release.

"Let me go," I said in a calm voice, "I don't want to see you again." I suppressed my memories.

"Please," She was the one begging, "Don't leave me," Yet I heard my own voice echoing in my mind. A voice from the time when she left me in that camp, not even sparing me a glance as she disappeared in the forest.

And suddenly I felt my mind crack.

My hands reached out to her. She seemed to misunderstand my actions and smiled. Thinking I was offering my hands to her, she reached out to me but I crossed them.

Closing the distance between us as I crouched down, my hands shot out and wrapped around her throat, squeezing tightly. Her eyes widened in shock and fear, and her hands came up to claw at mine, but I didn't loosen my grip.

"H-hael!"

She gasped for breath, her eyes pleading, but I couldn't stop. This abhorrable feeling inside of me suddenly came bursting out.

I hadn't felt like this, ever. Nowhere except when I see her.

I was consumed by it.

The forest around us seemed to blur as I lay her down on the ground and continued my assault.

"I have thought about what I've for you for years. All what you did to me. All what I had to go through because of you."

The light in her eyes began to fade but she still tried to tap her hands on mine, indicating me to let her go.

"No matter how much time passes, even the thought of you makes me angry." I said, "So I never thought about you, or that time I spent outside Aurelia."

"H...ae...l" The last bit of her oxygen ran out and her already pale skin started getting lifeless.

"I despise everything about it,"