"This mother of mine… how is she like?" Leon asked.

This question was all that was needed to turn Vadim's gloomy expressions into wide, ecstatic, and excited. He felt a little hope. That's right, the Leon he knew was closer to his mother than anyone else, if this is the way he would be convinced then…

"Your mother, you remember her name?" Vadim asked.

Leon took a short while to think but he took out the pocket watch he had and opened its cover, inside of it he saw the name.

"Annabelle." Leon said.

"Hah… so ya have that old watch?" Vadim opened his hand to receive it from Leon and looked at it in the light, "The old thing… I fixed it once."

"It is working just fine."

"That's because I fixed it once. Hehe!" Vadim returned it to Leon, "Moving on, your mother and I are friends."

"Didn't you hear that it is a bad thing to introduce yourself to a kid as his mother's friend?" Leon said innocently.

"Pffft!" Vadim spat out his vodka, "Ya damn bugger! I've worked with her once then she hired me when she got married."

"For?"

"To guard you." Vadim whipped the vodka off his mouth with his sleeve, "When you were young, I was your guard."

Even Leon had to take a halt while thinking about this. Vadim, this monster whom he can't read his status as his guard.

"Impressive!" Leon murmured.

"And why is that?" Vadim asked.

"I mean… affording such a high-end mercenary such as yourself can't be easy at all."

"Hah! Ya've got a pair of good peekers, you lil shit." Vadim was happy with the compliment despite the insult he gave out, "Anyway, Annabelle was a smart woman and getting hired by her was a good choice since my people and the Dark are practically neighbors."

"So that's who you are. My bodyguard since childhood and my mother's friend."

"That I am. And damn my bones I won't be givin' up that job anytime soon."

"The pay's good?" Leon asked.

"Bah! It is the people who matter, lad. Anna, Erielle, Eleanor, I and… well, we were all friends. Best people I know." Vadim said as he took out a knife from his side, "It meant a lot more to us than just relationships and power."

Leon looked at the knife in Vadim's hand and the irony was just all over the place. He also took the Mithril Dagger off the scabbard and compared it to the one Vadim's holding. On the other hand, Vadim's eyes opened widely.

"Ya have that too? I thought… I thought it was lost!"

The two daggers were almost a match. The same material, the same craftsmanship, the same appearance. The only difference is that of the insignias carved on their sides.

"Those are?" Leon asked.

"Our knives… hehehe!" Vadim smiled with his eyes getting a little bit tearful, "Each one of us carried one of them and each two could fit together like this."

Vadim brought the two daggers close to each other until they showed a fine pattern on the sides of the blades aside from the insignia. It didn't give off any magic but anyone can tell that there is something special about those blades.

"What do these daggers mean?" Leon asked.

"Back in the day, yer mother and I were members of the Mercenary Company. It was a famous one and we had a lot of recruits. Many Aristocrats became angry with your mother since she is a noblewoman and she joined up with the lowly mercenaries."

"What was she supposed to do then?"

"Join the Knights, of course. Common folk join the Mercenary Societies but the Aristocrats join the Knights' Hall if they want to do some fighting. That was the tradition. Your mother was the first to break the rules in public but no one could criticize her afterwards because Princess Eleanor joined as well then Lady Erielle of Skydom whom you met the other day, she used to be a Court Advisor in the time of the late king. I was a mercenary for a long time as well but I haven't revealed my identity as a Prince."

"A Prince?'

"Damn right, I am. Me ma is the Tsarina of Danadrus, an underground Empire you can go to under the mountains of Dark Duchy."

"That's impressive." Leon was a little bit humbled but still didn't care.

"Hehehe! I never hated anyone from the first glance as much as I hated Erielle and Anna." Vadim laughed when he saw Leon narrow his eyes to that one, "That was just a first impression. I used to hold some prejudice against tall folk in general, humans were alright but let me tell you this, your mother is taller than average."

[A/n: If you are having a Deja Vu, don't worry, Leon won't be 7 feet tall like some Nord half-giant from a different book I wrote.]

"Still, Lady Erielle is extremely tall."

"You usually used to call her aunt."

"I am not going to call her that."

"Whatever!" Vadim looked around and found a jar of pickled olive so he stuck his finger in and picked a few so he can eat while he drinks, "I remember your mother being taller than average when she joined in the Society back in Dark. Some complications were going on in her life and I wasn't really much of a leader back then but she was a gentle soul. She can sometimes get more terrifying than Eleanor but that's when she's provoked."

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"So that gentle soul decided to leave her son in the mercy of those animals and just never ask about him in years?" Leon's question turned the warm atmosphere around Vadim's heart into a raging burst while he casually picked an olive from the jar.

"ANNA WOULD NEVER DO THAT!"

And the outburst of Vadim was just effective. Leon was biting on the olive in a very calm manner looking at Vadim as if he beat him in some contest. Sure enough, Vadim thought he could get to Leon through the topic of his mother but look how it turned the other way around. Seeing Vadim with pain in his eyes, Leon blew up the olive's seed in his fist and casually pointed to himself as he was the one abandoned and the living response to his words.

"Scary little bugger!"

Vadim snatched the untouched liquor cup beside Leon and drank from it. When Vadim gives vodka, it usually means he's good with someone but when he takes it back, he's not feeling that good anymore.

"Yer ma wouldn't have let you go for the world, lad. After you left… she… she never walked again." Vadim spoke with agony in his voice.

"…" Leon could sympathize with a woman losing her child since a child losing his mother is a pain he is familiar with.

The mother he knew, her smile, her scent, the pain she endured, and the shit she went through. It is what made him wake every morning searching for a place to fill that void. A pain he endured for a long time he almost became his only friend.

He was angry at a world a few knew. A man shall always be a boy until he loses his mother, when it happens, he just… becomes aged, old, miserable.

That woman lost her child in a way as well. He may have been alive until a month ago but now, he can't be called alive anymore.

"I am sorry, Vadim." Leon apologized, "Guess I shouldn't have said that."

"Yeah… ya should have never." Vadim took his anger at Leon and didn't back down, "Anna… that little girl had nothing more important than you and your siblings. You were the youngest, the weakest. She endured the ridicule and hate and protected you. She'll still will if you give her the chance. Let's sneak out at night, I'll take you back to the duchy, you don't need to…"

"It seems you haven't noticed something I told you just a moment ago." Leon cut his words, "That Leon you think you're speaking is Dead. I am not kidding! I am someone else and I don't care about you Princes and Lords do each other. Go fight each other and leave me in peace."

"Leon… this your family." Vadim felt like losing his way to reason with Leon this time, "We really need to keep you safe. The Duke of Dark may have taken you from your mother once but…"

"But you can't stop him if he comes once again, can you?"

"…"

"Can you? Answer me?"

"… We will do everything…"

"Is that so?" Leon folded his arms, "I am the younger person in the room here and I will tell you to be realist for a moment. Unless you can guarantee my absolute safety and unless I am happy with where you are going to take me, I am not going anywhere. I'll just leave the damn town, wait a few years while keeping my head down and live my life while you people sort your problems."

"…"

"Why so silent? It is a win-win for both sides here. You get to have your struggle against the monarch or whatever with my out of the equation as their hostage and I get to live my life happy, safe, and pretty much in peace."

"Don't ya at least have any desire to know about the memories ya lost? To know those people who smiled at ya, who watched ya grow up? Me, Erielle, Eleanor, Annabelle, Alice, Lance, Lara…"

"I swear to you, man, I don't know half of the people you're talking about."

And it was just sad. Vadim hanged his head in bitterness. Neither the vodka nor the olive would make his mouth taste so bitter even if he drank a barrel of dwarven oil.

Leon too wasn't feeling good… or bad. And that's the problem. He is not the person they want. He wanted to get information about but he just discovered a bunch of people may be as lost as he is.

"Yeah." Vadim nodded, "It is unfair for us to ask ya to care."

"Listen, you all sound like great people and I am sure the person who used to be me would have loved to reunite with you but… there is more to lose more than what we can gain here. I am not much for taking risks despite my reputation."

"Yeah… It is just we all live in that shitty big barrel since that day and it doesn't stop rolling around." Vadim drank again, "That arsehole of a father you have was the one who put the shit in the barrel and pushed it down the hillside… he's the worst thing that happened to Anna."

"Yeah." Leon nodded just to play along. Still, Vadim's next words almost sat him on fire.

"When he beat her that day… you were being taken. I was held down by knights. She ran after you… he just… he just grabbed her by the shoulders and tossed her at the stone stairs… poor Anna never walked well."

"He what?"

And as if hell found its way out of Leon… not this Leon… a dark one.

"He was beating her…"

***

"He was beating her again… no, don't let the kid walk in."

"Mama!"

"Stop the kid."

And he walked in.

In his young heart, nothing felt as painful as seeing the only person in his life hurt like that. She was sitting on the mattress they could barely afford by last month's money and she was being nursed by two women from the neighborhood.

"Mama!" He spoke with tears running down his young cheeks.

"Shady?" She replied almost taken that her son came in like that.

She was in bad shape yet she still laughed and hid her bruise with her hair.

"Honey, how was school?"

He was afraid to come to her and hug her. He was still 10 but he knew that her body would always hurt from work and the beating this pig of a step-father would give her.

She opened her arms for him, he slowly walked in and softly hugged her. She was thin, badly fed, and weak.

"I am sorry, mama."

"You did something wrong, dear?"

"I did… I… I shouldn't…"

"Shush? My sweet boy, you always listened to your mother. You never did anything wrong."

"But *sob* … you should have given him the money. It is bad… *sob* don't keep it from him again." The boy cried holding his mother's dress.

"No, dear. This money is for you… You need it to do good in school." She said while holding his little head up.

"But I don't want him to hurt you."

"Shush, Shady!" And she was beautiful when she smiled, "I am proud of you."

NOOOOOOOOOO!

And she slipped away!

She slipped further!

The room around him shifted! Twisted! The day became night! He was in a dark place, a tight place. He was hiding between the table and the kitchen board, shivering, hugging his knees together.

"Where's the money? Where did you hide it? WHERE IS THE MONEY!"

"No! Stay away! AH!"

"… m- mom…"

And it was horrible.

"I said take it out! TAKE OUT THE MONEY, YOU BITCH!"

"You're… stop… stop… you're choking me!"

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

"Snap out of it, man! Don't beat the woman!*

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

And every noise in this damn hateful world was overwhelming him.

His breath was haggard and all over the place. He felt light in his head and his body was burning. He didn't know what kept happening around him with all the noises.

And it snapped.

*Clink* *Clink*

And the devil played his game.

Amidst the confusion in the bustling scene, one frail kid was enough to dramatically alter the view. He picked the kitchen knife that fell and walked with it.

Stabbing was never easy but he didn't need to put any force in with the dynamic motions were in his favor. A 10 years-old boy wouldn't understand that but a natural killer… he was just given everything he needed.

And he just delivered the stab with optimal precision.

Nothing was too hard.

"No! No, Shady, no!"

And as the body fell down, his mother rushed to him with blood covering her.

And he snapped back.

"What…"

Just like those movies on TV, it felt like he was just watching something unfold and it wasn't real. He just imagined it would happen… and it happened. His first trance.

But the door burst right open… and many people saw what befell.

"I did it! I did it!" And she kept shouting something he never really managed to react to.

He was so sluggish to the point that when he called for her, she was already being taken away.

"Shady!" She called once, "Shady!" and once again.

He saw her face and still has that beautiful smile.

"I am proud of you!"