Chapter 111 - The Special Eyes Awaken

Sifu:

We were in a room at the village chief’s house. We had cleared the place to use it as a base while the men worked outside.

"5 DAYS! IT’S BEEN 5 DAYS, SIFU!" Lady Katherine shouted as roots began to grow from the ground around her.

"It’s been 5 days since my son disappeared! You failed as a protector!" she exclaimed.

I lowered my head, acknowledging the truth in her words.

I failed the lord… I failed to protect his grandson… I murmured in my thoughts, remembering the man who once saved me.

In the room were only myself, Lady Katherine, Lady Margaery, and Hugo. When I realized the young master had gone missing, I panicked. I started torturing the two captured soldiers. The one with the wounded belly kept repeating the same story, but the one I pursued and captured revealed something new. He mentioned that he had been hired by someone likely to be a noble from our territory. This noble had provided hideouts and transport through lands that required permits to pass. The soldier was smuggled in a caravan that departed from a noble estate, but he didn’t know much as he had been blindfolded. His job was to serve as a link between the team that attacked the village and someone with whom he was to make contact.

I was desperate when I couldn’t find young Nathan. I tied up the two men and broke their arms so they wouldn’t try anything while I scoured the area, to no avail. I immediately activated the communication device and sent a message to Lady Margaery because time was of the essence, and I needed help.

Lady Margaery sent 200 more soldiers to search for the young master. While waiting for them, I continued searching the forest for signs of horses, trying to figure out if he had been taken by a team. I found nothing. Considering various possibilities, I could only conclude that Nathan had been captured by someone skilled enough to incapacitate a thunder user and cover their tracks.

My only lead was the invading fire mage, who was likely sent to eliminate witnesses to the village attack. What I learned from the two soldiers was that they planned to continue their attacks as they moved through the region. Perhaps the fact that the farmers immediately came to us prompted them to act, eliminating any witnesses.

Lady Katherine had only just learned of Nathan’s disappearance when Lady Margaery decided to personally come to the village to join the search and bring reinforcements. We needed to act quickly, and they had even brought some maids to extract more information from the two soldiers.

Lady Margaery sat in a corner, her head lowered, deep in thought.

"I warned you years ago! I didn’t want my little one involved with nobility, and look what you did, Margaery! You killed my son!" Lady Katherine shouted.

"We don’t know what happened, it may not be that," Hugo tried to calm the situation.

The ground trembled slightly as the roots attempted to break through.

"Of course it’s that! Some unknown noble plots to sabotage the village economies, and now my son goes missing! We handed them exactly what they wanted, and now they have my child!" Katherine exclaimed.

"They wouldn’t harm Nathan, Katie. In the past, he was nobody to the kingdom, but now they wouldn’t dare touch a hair on his head. They can only act diplomatically against a higher noble," Lady Margaery tried to explain.

"THEY HAVE MY BABY! I don’t give a damn about plans, diplomacy, or disputes. Give me control of all these men, and I’ll kick down their damn door myself!" Lady Katherine demanded.

Lady Margaery bit her lip and stood up.

"Hugo! Mobilize everyone. Diplomacy is over... the good Duchess is gone. I’m going there personally, and fuck the kingdom!" declared the queen.

'KABOOM!' A thunderous sound echoed, and everything shook, even the walls of the house.

"We're under attack!" someone shouted from outside.

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We looked at each other.

"There's only one person with such loud magic," Hugo said.

"My baby!" Lady Katherine screamed, running towards the sound.

We rushed outside, anxious and worried. Part of me was hopeful, but another part feared it might truly be an attack.

Please let it just be the young master causing trouble, like always...

We found a crowd of soldiers gathered.

"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Lady Margaery shouted.

At that moment, Lady Katherine had disappeared from my sight, and the soldiers began to move aside.

Katherine Evenhart:

Margaery had arrived that morning from the castle and asked to speak with me. There was something odd about her demeanor, but when I learned the reason, my heart shattered. With guilt in her eyes, she apologized. She had sent people in search of Nathan, but he had disappeared along with a soldier. The most worrying theory was that he had been captured by a dangerous fire mage, seen in the area.

My heart tightened upon hearing those words. The last time I saw Nathan was in the village, when I let him go with Sifu on a reconnaissance mission. Fear consumed me, and the worst scenarios raced through my mind... Nathan was dead. Images of his death, torture, or even his abduction spiraled uncontrollably. He was a thunder mage, but even that couldn’t calm the despair growing inside me. Noble kidnappings were common, and I feared everything from my son being sold to criminals to him being killed.

Even though he was a high noble, my heart found no peace. The situation worsened when we learned that corrupt nobles were involved, and only one person came to mind. It felt like my world collapsed in that instant. I had allowed my baby to leave, and now he was in danger.

'KABOOM!' Suddenly, a deafening thunder echoed through the air.

"We're under attack!" one of the soldiers shouted from outside.

Margaery and I exchanged looks, fear taking over us.

"There's only one person with such loud magic," Hugo said.

"My baby!" The words escaped my lips before I could contain them.

Without hesitation, Margaery and I ran with all our might, shoving aside anyone in our path.

My son! It has to be my Nathan!

"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Margaery yelled, her voice cutting through the chaos.

The soldiers were on high alert, swords drawn. Some stared confusedly at the horizon.

"Did you feel that?" one of them asked, his voice trembling.

"My whole body shivered, a sign of danger," another responded, equally unsettled.

When they realized Margaery and I were approaching, they began clearing a path. Everyone was frozen, staring at the edge of the forest.

"What’s happening?" Margaery asked, visibly irritated.

"We don’t know. There was a loud crash, and a light appeared between the trees," a soldier explained, not moving a muscle.

"And why haven’t you gone to investigate!?" Margaery snapped, furious.

They exchanged nervous glances.

"Something... wouldn’t let us advance," one of them replied, his voice filled with fear.

"What are you talking about?" Hugo asked, confused.

"Nathan!" I screamed as I saw my son emerging from the forest.

"Mom!" He ran towards me, his arms wide open, and I held him tightly, my heart racing.

Nathan was soaked, but I couldn’t think of anything else other than checking every inch of his body, making sure he was okay.

"What happened, Nathan!? Where have you been?" I asked, looking at that small person who had the power to make me feel immense happiness but also deep sorrow if anything ever happened to him.

"I’m never going to lose anyone again," he said, hugging me, his eyes welling up with tears.

I understood that in that moment, I should just hold him because that was all I wanted to do in the world.

Hugo Riverclimb:

"Nate, you gave me a huge scare, you know that? I thought... I thought I’d lost my nephew," said Lady Margaery, hugging both Katherine and Nathan.

I looked at Sifu, who let out a sigh of relief. Some soldiers were around us, equally relieved.

"Nate! What happened?" Lady Katherine held his face in her hands, visibly worried.

"It can’t be..." Margaery murmured, her eyes fixed on Nathan.

"What is it?" Sifu asked, noticing her sudden concern.

Lady Margaery turned to face the soldiers, her expression hardening.

"Leave! Return to your posts!" she shouted, and suddenly, ice began to form, surrounding us in a frozen dome.

"What’s going on?" I asked, activating a bit of fire mana to warm myself against the sudden chill.

Margaery then approached Nathan, locking eyes with him.

"Blue... your eyes are a beautiful shade of blue," she said to him.

"My son... your eyes have awakened."

So it happened... and to think it was real. The young master is the first to have one of these in decades.

"What do we do? By the kingdom’s law, we should notify the royal family. Do we tell them about Nathan’s Special Eyes?" Sifu asked, his voice heavy with concern.

"No!" the queen exclaimed firmly. "This must remain a secret within our family. No one can know he has one of these."

We agreed without hesitation. It was far too dangerous to expose this information.

"Are you okay, Nate?" Katherine asked. "Can you see properly?"

Nathan scratched his head, a bit hesitant.

"There was... another problem when these eyes awakened."

"What problem? Are you in pain? Are you hurt?" Katherine asked, the tension rising again.

"No, mom... it’s better if I show you."

He stepped back a little, and the air around him began to pulse. Suddenly, a sphere of blue, chaotic sparks appeared, floating around him.

"This is my Thunder element..." he explained.

Then, another sphere formed, this time in shades of gray.

"And this is my Wind element..."

His eyes glowed a light blue, and suddenly, more mana spheres appeared around him: a blue one of water, a brown one of earth, a red one of fire, a yellow one of light, and a green one of plants.

"My Special Eyes... have given me the power to control all the elements," he said.

"HOLY SHIT!" we all exclaimed in unison.