Soul Nexus. Volume 2: The beginning of the forced adventurer

32

Continent of Axal, Border between the realms of Anton and Haiza. Year 1838. Winter.

Roef: 『 ... 』

Veronica: 『 ... 』

Shun: 『 ... 』

Lidia: 『 ... Did you know?... Mrs. Arden, did you know? 』

Veronica: 『 ... When I was tasked with caring for you, I gradually learned of several of the pacts the King had made with the Kingdom of Tikalt, but... who told me about this arranged marriage was your mother, she herself told me how 'happy' she was to have arranged it. 』

Lidia: 『 My mother...?! 』

Happy to have arranged it? So she agreed to it?! My head was spinning, confusion overwhelming me, and it felt like I might vomit at any moment. Truly, I couldn't say how I feel; in my chest, I sense a great pain that sharpens with each passing moment, and I have a terrible urge to cry. The story of Mr. Willems had left me so distressed and sensitive, but what affected me most was learning how my mother used to be.

Having learned that she was the best healer in the realm and she helped many people made me feel proud, but what made me even happier was knowing that she was a strong and determined woman, brave and unyielding, even against a corrupt king. It was a bit difficult for me to imagine her like that. Honestly, it seemed more like a joke than the absent-minded and distracted Queen Mireia I knew was, in reality, a woman who could inspire trust, a very bad joke. However, the way Mr. Willems spoke of her with such admiration and nostalgia in his words, as he remembered her, expressing how much he missed that time, told me it wasn't just a fabrication. And that was what caused me the most pain.

All this time I thought my mother didn't care about me, that her shameless and candid behavior was just an act. But I was wrong, that was how she truly expressed affection, in a very clumsy and even embarrassing way, but she loved me..., she loved me..., and I... I wasn't... So why...

Lidia: 『 I-I don't understand. If my mother was against it and hated Narek so much, why did she eventually accept the agreement? How did she change so much from one day to the next? 』

Veronica: 『 I don't know. I only saw how the frank and determined woman I once knew disappeared. She left her work and secluded herself in the castle. Every time I saw her, her expression was completely dull, and lifeless, as if her soul had left her body. But as soon as she held you for the first time, for a moment she was herself again and regained her smile. However, her memory became disturbed, she could never remember who she really was or what she did when she was a healer. She suddenly became a scatterbrained and distracted person, as if she had reverted to being a hyperactive child who didn't understand what she was doing. 』

True, my mother behaved almost like a young child. She enjoyed arranging tea parties, making rag dolls to play with, and strolling through the garden to "whisper" with the plants as if she could converse with them and they would respond. It was not the typical behavior of someone in their forties. Her childishness must have had some explanation. Perhaps it was the result of an event that left its mark on her. I don't know, maybe something or someone induced her to behave like this; this sudden change in personality she underwent didn't seem normal to me.

Lidia: 『 But then, something must have happened to her, right? What caused her temperament to change like that? 』

Veronica: 『 You see, Lidia− 』

Roef: 『 When your mother performed the absorption spell on Countess Anush, her behavior began to change. Suddenly, she had constant headaches, nervous attacks, anger, and hallucinations; she said that the voices in her mind wouldn't leave her in peace. There were times when she did not recognize herself in the mirror. It took her a long time to regain some semblance of sanity, but when I last spoke with her, I knew that the wise and firm woman I served was no longer the same. Then the King seized upon this change in personality she had to convince her to accept the union agreement between Haiza and Tikalt. The war ended, and you were born, Narek had his son, and it was only a matter of time to conclude the pact... Hmph, but I suppose we didn't count on an Aarden continuing to cause trouble around here. 』