Chapter 990: Her Side
Vatyra was a simple woman.
She cared about her son, even though he wasn’t really her son. But she also cared about his safety to the point where she would sacrifice anything she had if that meant he would be safe.
In this case, she knew what kind of person Rael was. Not only from the time they spent together, but also from the time they spent apart. Most important was obviously the time they spent apart.
So now, she felt like the only reason he was back was to take advantage of Uriel. He had settled down and even married Solenne, an arch enemy of Rael.
Letting out a sigh, she quickly crossed realms, making sure to remain undetected as she went from one place to another, then eventually exited in the middle of the universe, a place far, far away from where Uriel actually was.
Then she carefully traveled along a galactic pattern that she had made herself. The only reason she was being so cautious was in case any enemies were following her. After all, appearing directly on Uriel’s planet would leave some residual mana.
That residual mana could be used to track Uriel and Solenne. After all, while they might be different people now, during the time of Rael’s disappearance, both Uriel and Solenne had played a massive part in the war that had happened.
For one, Uriel’s impressive strength grew by leaps and bounds. If he was already one of the strongest fighters in the universe before Rael left, within just a few years, when he had grown into his angel-like adulthood, he was a full-on god.
A god who would even be able to defeat Vatyra in a one-on-one fight. She trusted him a lot, and yet there existed one more being who could topple every single other being without issue. That being was none other than Gaia.
The two had met briefly, talked about the war, and then parted. Uriel and Gaia had talked a little more, but Vatyra was always excluded from those conversations, as she wasn’t as relevant in the grand scheme of things.
After all, while she might be powerful, if there was a Grade 10 being somewhere, they would be able to kill her in a heartbeat.
Had she actually focused on herself during the time she was sleeping, she wouldn’t have been such a burden. Alas, nothing she could change now.
She thought a lot on her way to Uriel’s planet, and once she got there, she realized he wasn’t staying in the same place anymore. Instead, he was underground.
Not to mention, there were plenty of mana traces all around the place. If she had to guess, Rael was the one who had left this many.
So before going down to Uriel, she went ahead and cleared up all those traces. She even erased all the other traces that were even remotely close to this planet or this galaxy.
It took a few hours, but once she was done, she went back and entered the sewers where Uriel was staying, eventually appearing in a dwarf-like village. Realizing that the dwarves were rather perceptive, she chose to move faster than they could even process, practically making herself invisible through sheer speed.
She was especially careful, since she knew that if she moved too fast or did something overkill, the whole planet would combust. After all, moving at light speed was no joke, and it could definitely be catastrophic if she wasn’t careful.
Like that, she moved into Uriel’s home, and after making sure it was safe, she reappeared in the kitchen, right where Solenne was conveniently brewing some soup. Spotting Vatyra, Solenne didn’t seem particularly surprised.
“Hello, mother. What brings you here?”
Vatyra sighed. “Rael is back. What did he say when he visited? Did he force you to invite him to dinner?”
Solenne shook her head and let out a chuckle. “He’s not a very nice person, but no, he did not force us to do anything. We invited him out of the kindness of our hearts.”
Vatyra couldn’t believe it. Had he messed with their minds or something? The man she knew would never do something that would actually make others like him. So what was this?
“Do you want me to get Uriel for you? He’s taking a nap after working a bit,” Solenne said, a proud look appearing on her face. “Today was his first day practicing blacksmithing. He made this kitchen knife here, in fact.”
She pointed to a shabby knife with a misshapen handle. From the juices on its blade, it was clear that Solenne had used it to cut some tomatoes and even a whole chicken.
It was nice how, despite her origins, Solenne could act normal.
Vatyra was glad that she had suggested they live a normal life, instead of some kind of powerful life. It was the best — peaceful, and filled with nothing but genuine emotion.
At least, that was how one of her copies lived her life. She seemed happy. Too happy.
“No need. Let Uriel rest, and if you can, don’t tell him I was here,” Vatyra said.
Solenne raised a brow. “Are you sure? Isn’t that a bit cruel?”
She was already visiting only once a year, so something like this was a bit out of the ordinary. After all, Solenne knew just how much Vatyra actually cared about Uriel.
Though…
“It’s fine. I’ll be there tomorrow. Or I guess, since I spent so much time getting here, it’ll be tonight. You’re having dinner with Rael, correct? I’ll join you, if that’s possible.”
Solenne smiled. “Of course. You always have a place at the table, mother. In fact, that’s why I prepared so much food — I knew there’d be more people.”
Not only that, she pointed at the fridge, a much wider smile on her face. She knew Vatyra well, very well, to the point where it would be strange if she wasn’t prepared.
“I’ve also prepared a turkey, just in case. So rest easy, mother. We’ll all eat together.”