Chapter 13: A Mother’s Hope
[Isabella von Celestial POV]
I opened my eyes slowly, blinking against the soft, dim light of the mana-lamps. For a mont, my mind was a complete blank. I stared at the dark ironwood ceiling of my room, wondering why my chest felt so heavy and why my eyes stung so much.
Then, the mories ca rushing back like a flood.
I rembered the sheer terror I felt when they told
Leo had collapsed. I rembered the doctors talking about "soul damage," a phrase that sounded like a death sentence. And then... I rembered seeing him today.
He didn’t co in shouting. He didn’t co in demanding money. He just looked at . And for the first ti in years, I saw sothing in his eyes that I thought was gone forever—warmth.
I rembered how I had broken down. I, the Duchess of the Celestial family, had wailed like a child and clung to him. I rembered the way he held
back, his touch so careful, as if he was afraid I would break. I must have cried myself to sleep right there in his arms.
I slowly lifted my body, sitting up in bed. The room was quiet, except for the sound of steady, rhythmic breathing.
I turned my head toward the side of the bed, and my heart skipped a beat.
Leo was there.
He hadn’t left. He was sitting in a chair he must have pulled over, his head resting awkwardly against the edge of my mattress. His arms were folded, acting as a makeshift pillow. He was sleeping so peacefully.
I leaned closer, my heart swelling with a mix of pain and love. In the soft light, he didn’t look like the "Scum" or "Failure" the world talked about. He looked like my little boy again. The one who used to follow
around the gardens, tugging at my dress and asking
to show him how the flowers blood.
I reached out a trembling hand and gently ruffled his hair. It was soft, just like it was when he was a toddler.
Why did things have to change so much, Leo? I thought, my eyes tearing up again.
I rembered how he used to smile back then. It was a bright, honest smile that could lt the coldest winter. But after his core awakened as a B-Rank... that smile died. He started pushing us away. He started hanging out with the wrong people, drinking, and acting out. Every ti he got into trouble, I told myself it was just a phase. I kept telling myself he was just in pain.
But as ti passed, we grew further and further apart. I kept trying to reach him, kept trying to protect him, but he only looked at
with resentnt or indifference. It broke , bit by bit, until I started to believe that I really had failed as a mother.
...Yet here he was. He stayed by my side all night.
As I ruffled his hair again, his eyelashes fluttered. He groaned softly and began to stir. I quickly pulled my hand back, feeling like a thief caught in the act.
Leo rubbed his eyes, blinking up at . He looked a bit dazed, his hair ssy from sleep. Then, his eyes cleared, and he looked straight at .
"Mom?" he whispered, his voice thick with sleep.
Hearing that word again made my breath hitch. He hadn’t called
that in so long. Usually, it was "Mother" said with a sneer, or he didn’t call
anything at all.
"Ah... sorry, Leo," I said softly, giving him a small, apologetic smile. "I might have woken you up."
He blinked again, then realized where he was. He sat up straight, yawning loudly and stretching his arms over his head.
"Ah, nah. It’s okay," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I shouldn’t have fallen asleep like that anyway. How are you feeling? Do you need anything? Water? Are you hungry?"
I watched him, almost in a daze. He was asking
if I was okay. He was worried about my needs.
"I’m fine, Leo. Truly," I said, reaching out to squeeze his hand. His skin was warm. "I should be the one asking you that. You stayed here the whole ti?"
"Yeah," he nodded, looking a bit embarrassed. "Dad ca by earlier too. We talked for a bit, then he went to finish so work. I figured I’d stay until you woke up."
I felt a lump in my throat. This was the son I had prayed for every night. I didn’t care about his rank. I didn’t care about his power. I just wanted my son back.
"Thank you, Leo," I whispered. "For staying."
_
We talked for a while. It was simple talk—things about the estate, how the weather was, how I needed to eat more. But to , it felt like the most important conversation of my life. I found myself watching his expressions, morizing the way his face moved when he talked.
He seed so much more... grounded. Like a man who had finally found his feet.
But then, the atmosphere changed. Leo took a deep breath, and his expression turned serious. He looked
in the eyes, and I felt a sudden chill.
"Mom," he started, his voice steady. "I have sothing I need to tell you. I’ve already talked to Dad about it, and he’s given his permission... but I need to tell you myself."
My heart skipped a beat. A feeling of dread started to pool in my stomach. "What is it, Leo?"
"I’m going to enter the Path Awakening trial," he said.
The words felt like a physical blow. The blood drained from my face. My hand, which was holding his, started to tremble uncontrollably.
"No," I whispered, the word coming out before I could even think. "No, Leo. You can’t."
I knew what that trial was. Everyone knew. It wasn’t just a test of skill; it was a gamble with your soul. If you failed, you didn’t just lose the trial—you lost your life. Your body would beco an empty shell, a corpse with no spirit.
"Mom, listen—"
"I won’t listen!" I said, my voice rising as panic took over. "Do you have any idea how dangerous that is? People with A-Rank and S-Rank cores die in those trials! Your core is... Leo, it’s too risky! Please, don’t do this. You just ca back to . I can’t... I can’t lose you again."
Tears were streaming down my face now. The mory of him as a sick two-year-old, nearly dying in my arms, flashed before my eyes. I had sacrificed so much of my own power to keep him alive. I had spent seventeen years protecting him from every shadow.
How could he ask
to let him walk into a place where I couldn’t follow? Where I couldn’t save him?
Leo moved from the chair and sat on the edge of the bed. He took both of my hands in his, his grip firm and grounding.
"Mom, look at ," he said, his voice low and calm.
I looked at him through my tears.
"I know it’s dangerous," he said. "I’m not stupid. I know people die there. But Mom... I can’t stay like this. If I don’t do this, I’ll never be able to protect anyone. I’ll always be the ’Scum’ everyone looks down on. I’ll always be the son you have to hide away."
"I don’t care about that!" I sobbed. "I don’t care what they call you! I just want you alive!"
"But I want to live too," Leo said, and there was a sudden flash of steel in his eyes. "I don’t just want to exist, Mom. I want to live. I want to be soone you can be proud of. I want to be strong enough so that you never have to cry because of
again."
He leaned in, looking at
with such intensity that I stopped sobbing just to listen.
"I have a plan. I’m not going in there to die. I’m going in there to win. Dad is opening the treasury for . I’m going to learn a new breathing technique, and I’m going to train until I’m ready. I promise you, on my life... I will co back out of that trial. I will co back to you."
I looked into his eyes, searching for the boy I knew. But the boy wasn’t there anymore. In his place was a young man with a mountain of resolve. He looked so much like Noah in that mont—the sa stubbornness, the sa iron will.
I wanted to keep fighting. I wanted to scream and forbid him from going. But seeing the look on his face, I realized that if I stopped him now, I would be killing the spark I had just seen return to his eyes. He was finally trying to be the man he was ant to be.
"You... you really promise?" I whispered, my voice breaking.
"I promise," he said, and he gave
a small, confident smile. "I’ll be back before you even have ti to miss
too much."
I pulled him into another hug, burying my face in his shoulder. I was still terrified. The fear wouldn’t go away until I saw him walk back through those doors. But for the first ti, I felt a tiny spark of sothing else.
Hope...
"You better," I whispered into his coat. "Because if you don’t, I’ll go into that soul-realm and drag you back myself."
Leo laughed, a warm, genuine sound that filled the room. "I believe you, Mom. I really do."
He stayed with
for a little longer, making sure I ate so of the food the servants brought and making
promise to get more rest. Even as he left the room to go prepare for his training, I sat there, watching the door.
He was changing. My Leo was really changing. And as a mother, all I could do was pray that the world was ready for the man he was becoming.
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