Chapter 28: The Unveiling and the Unsettling

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“Ugh, I’m so full, Mother. I can’t eat another bite.”

Despite fretting that she hadn’t prepared a proper meal, his mother had served him a mountainous portion, enough to burst his stomach. Any attempt to refuse would darken his mother’s expression, leaving him with no choice but to accept more food, even as his stomach swelled to bursting. Eventually, he resorted to hiding his bowl behind his back, hoping to escape Lauren’s watchful eye.

“You seem to be eating less these days.”

“It’s more, Mother. My stomach is about to explode!”

Lauren chuckled brightly at Emil’s childish antics, a sight unchanged from the mother he remembered.

Whenever the memory of those cries of passion resurfaced, Emil would forcefully try to banish them from his mind. Though a lingering discomfort remained in a corner of his heart, Lauren was still the family he loved most in the world.

“By the way, where have you been?”

“Ah… I just went for a walk up the mountain for some exercise.”

In a fleeting moment, a small question sparked in Emil’s mind: ‘Should I tell her Yanis is decorating the wedding venue?’

He suspected Yanis would want to surprise Lauren. Emil offered an easy smile, deflecting the question with a vague answer, unwilling to spoil Yanis’s plans.

Lauren, whether sensing his true thoughts or not, simply nodded.

“Don’t go too late at night, dear. It’s dangerous.”

“I know, and I’m not that young anymore.”

“Still, you could get into trouble.”

“Haaah.”

The memory of Yanis helping him resurfaced. That night, he had lost his way, wandering aimlessly in the dead of night, only to encounter Yanis on the mountain. Emil had mistaken Tag’s sounds for a wolf’s, while Tag had perceived Emil as a suspicious stranger. Had Yanis not intervened, Emil would likely be sporting scars from Tag somewhere on his body by now.

Fortunately, Lauren seemed unaware of that incident.

“Alright, Mother.”

Indeed, if Lauren knew he had nearly gotten into trouble climbing the mountain in the middle of the night, she might forbid him from ever going out after dark. Worse, she might tell him not to even set foot near her house, insisting she would visit him at the church instead.

No matter how much Emil asserted his adulthood, to her, he was still her small, adorable child.

As Emil obediently nodded, Lauren smiled and affectionately stroked his hair. Emil playfully scowled at Lauren’s treating him like a child.

“I’ll be a priest soon, Mother.”

“I know, Emil.”

Despite her words, Lauren’s tone remained that of a mother doting on a baby.

A profound sense of peace settled over him. Throughout his time at the seminary, Emil had yearned for this very tranquility. After his father’s passing, Emil and his mother had lived alone, yet he never felt unhappy.

His mother, who had given birth to him at a young age, was closer in age to an older sister in most households, and they shared an uncommonly close bond. While the villagers’ disdain was often hard to bear, and his mother occasionally caused trouble by setting household items ablaze or starting fires in the night, within a few days, the two of them would often joke about it.

On his first day back from the seminary, had Yanis not been there, Emil would have been reminiscing about their past in such a warm and amicable atmosphere with his mother.

“Oh, that’s right!”

Lauren, who had been smiling tenderly, suddenly rose as if something had just occurred to her.

“Emil, there’s something I want to show you.”

“What is it?”

With a shy smile, Lauren walked into the sunny room where her bed was. A soft rustling sound drifted from within. Moments later, she returned, her arms laden with something, and stood before Emil once more.

“Come look at this.”

“What is that—… Oh.”

His mother held a long, white dress. The pristine fabric bore no distinct patterns, but its skirt flared out gracefully from the waist, cascading to the floor in a truly beautiful sight. A delicate, flower-pleated embellishment adorned the deeply V-cut neckline.

“Is this, perhaps…”

“What do you think of it?”

His mother’s voice, brimming with an almost childlike excitement, echoed his question. He recognized it at once: his mother’s wedding gown.

“I made it little by little. It’s been a long time since I’ve sewn a dress myself, so I even got some help from the villagers… Does it look alright?”

Lauren, her face flushed with shyness, asked Emil for his opinion. Traditionally, a bride prepares her gown with her sisters or mother. But Lauren had no other family; she only had her son, and she longed to hear his honest thoughts on the dress she had painstakingly crafted, pricking her fingers along the way.

Emil meticulously inspected the dress. Though the stitching was uneven in places, betraying an amateur’s hand, it was fortunately not too noticeable. Emil imagined Lauren standing beside Yanis, wearing the dress. Truly…

“It’s beautiful, Mother. It will certainly suit you well.”

‘Even though she had committed an act of infidelity.’

Unlike the excited Lauren, who was proudly showing off her wedding dress, Emil could barely focus on her words. The memory he had tried so hard to erase had resurfaced. The image of his mother’s languid cries of passion seemed to superimpose itself upon her cheerful face.

Lauren seemed quite excited about the wedding. It was understandable, as she had married young and never had a proper ceremony. She then pulled out the jewelry Yanis had given her.

“This is a gift from Yanis. Do you think it matches the dress?”

“Ah, yes. It’s lovely.”

The sapphire earrings and necklace perfectly complemented Lauren’s blue eyes. As she held an earring to her ear, urging him to look closely, Emil leaned in, forcing himself to feign interest. The dress, the jewelry… none of it was truly Emil’s concern, yet there was no one else in the village Lauren could share such things with. Even fewer were close enough to care about her personal affairs.

“Right? When I asked Jack about it last time, he said the sapphires were too big and didn’t suit me.”

Jack!

Emil’s eyes snapped open at the mention of Jack’s name from Lauren’s lips. The relaxed tension in his body abruptly coiled tight. His head throbbed, urging him to bombard his mother with questions: ‘Why does Jack visit Mother so often? Why does he know more about her affairs than Yanis? And why did she show the wedding dress to Jack, who isn’t family, before anyone else?’

“Emil?”

“…”

Yet, he remained silent, gazing at his mother’s clear, innocent face as she called his name. His mother looked so genuinely happy. Moreover, it was hardly cause for suspicion. Jack had interacted with Lauren for a very long time, and Lauren, too, naturally accepted his visits. It implied a certain bond between them. While he had inadvertently witnessed a suspicious circumstance, it was a tale too awkward to utter himself.

If his suspicions proved false, he would be nothing more than a man who had entertained utterly inappropriate fantasies about his old friend and his own mother.

“…I just imagined how well it would suit you, that’s all.”

“Oh, my.”

Lauren smiled shyly, seemingly pleased with Emil’s fabricated excuse. The gentle curve of her smiling eyes made her appear, for a moment, like a young girl.

“When I was making this embellishment here—!”

“Mother!”

Boom!

Just as she was about to recount an anecdote, pointing to the adornment on the neckline, an explosive sound rent the air, followed by a small detonation.

Emil sprang up, quickly pushing his mother against the wall, then stomped on the fiercely burning embers. The embers, however, proved stubbornly resistant. ‘Should I pour water on it?’

He worried the flames might grow in the interim. Lauren appeared shell-shocked by the sudden explosion, gazing blankly at the spot where the explosion had just occurred, her expression rigid.

As Emil quickly scanned his surroundings, contemplating how to extinguish the fire, a soft hiss emanated from beneath his feet, and the flames gradually dwindled. Once the embers were no larger than a candle flame, Emil stomped on them, and the fire immediately went out completely.

“…”

Water slowly seeped from the spot where the fire had been. It was the residue of melted ice, his power having manifested unconsciously in a moment of crisis. The ice he had created to put out his mother’s fire had melted away. Emil’s eyes wavered.

He cautiously shifted his gaze to check on his mother. Lauren was now pale, as she examined the dress. Feigning a few stomps, he discreetly spread the pooled water, attempting to erase the trace, then grabbed a cup from the table and poured its contents over the remaining dampness.

“Haaah, it’s out now.”

“Emil…”

“Are you alright, Mother? Are you hurt anywhere?”

“I’m fine, dear, but…”

Lauren lowered her head, a hint of dejection clouding her features. Her gaze rested on the dress she had so proudly shown Emil moments before.

“What about the dress?”

Emil followed Lauren’s gaze, slowly inspecting the entire dress. Thankfully, there were no signs of scorching or damage, save for a slight singe on the very tip of the embellishment she had so proudly displayed moments before.

“Ah, dear…”

“This much… it’s fine. I’ll manage somehow. Actually, I wanted to make it a bit more elaborate. I was hesitating whether to rework it, so perhaps this is a blessing in disguise.”

“…”

“I don’t know why this happened so suddenly. It hasn’t been like this for days… It shouldn’t have exploded all of a sudden.”

Lauren murmured to herself, her face etched with profound disappointment.

“My powers had been quite stable recently…”

“Don’t worry, you’ll be fine soon—”

Just as he was about to put his arm around his mother’s shoulder and pat her back, as he normally would, he was struck by an inexplicable sense of unfamiliarity. For an instant, he felt utterly disconnected from his mother. His fingertips trembled uncontrollably. This was distinct from the emotional chasm he had felt regarding her immoral behavior. His hand refused to offer comfort. It was as if two magnets of the same pole were repelling each other. Clenching his fists, he forced himself to embrace his mother.

“…You’ll get better soon. I’ll pray for you, too.”

“Emil…”

His mother sobbed softly against him, embracing him tightly. Emil, however, found no tears in his own eyes.