1470 Unchanging

Nothing made sense.

This woman had betrayed her when she trusted her the most. And even when she knew she was hated, she was sacrificing her life to save her little sister she barely knew.

'Why?'

Why did you do what you did?

Isadora partially took over Enigma's senses, causing her eyes to turn into a familiar red.

Those hating, confused eyes started straight into Serenthia's loving eyes and asked again and again and again.

'Why?'

At her incessant questioning, a small chuckle left the duchess' lips.

The memory of a young girl following her everywhere by gripping the corner of her sleeves flashed in her mind.

Having lived on a planet her entire childhood, Isadora didn't know a lot of things. So, even at an age of 14, she was as curious as a 6-year old.

She would keep asking until she got all the answers.

'Mom, why are butterflies so beautiful?'

'Mom, why are the ants circling each other?'

'Mom, why is the founder of cake not given the best Palarian award yet?'

Like a little bird chirping, her cute voice would ring across the gardens of the duchess' mansion.

Her cute voice had changed. It had grown softer, lady-like and sounded like the music of an instrument. Her tone, even in this state, was graced with royality.

'Ah, she has indeed grow into a fine young woman. Alas, I could never see her get married.'

The Duchess' eyes flashed with memories and her face began to slowly disintegrate, like grains of sand slowly being chipped away from a sand castle.

'Why? Why did you betray me? Why are you saving me?'

Isadora's outburst rang in her mind.

'You tried to kill me! And now you save my sister you don't even know! What is this? Why are you doing this? What do you even want?'

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The explosion of treasures accelerated with the weakening of the duchess. The dukes were now stopped only the last line of her treasures.

'Ahh, what do I want?' Serenthia's eyes began to lose focus.

Life flashed in front of her eyes and everything she went through surfaced up.

She loved a man dearly. When her parents opposed on the grounds that he was a spiritless and wasn't suitable for a noble lady like her, she was ready to forsake the family and position.

Then, a family elder, Duke Micheal, held her lover in his hands.

'Lady Serenthia, a spiritless like him is not worthy of love. These guys look like us, sound like us and act like us, but they are not us.

We are the true palarians. They are just failed imitations.

It is not just wrong but also disgusting to feel any tender feelings towards these creatures.

Behold, I'll show you the weakness of this creature called Spiritless. See how it'd break under just a little pressure.'

And then, he went on to torture that poor man.

Tearing out limb by limb, healing him back and then punching every part of his body into mush, turning him back to normal and doing it over and over and over again.

The radiant youth, the ever smiling, gentle, carefree man who stole her heart was treated worse than an animal.

He broke.

Alive, he remained, but there was no more light in his eyes, no smile on his lips, no wisdom in his presence.

'See, he's so pathetic.'

With a snap, his head cracked and he died.

Brushing off his hands, Micheal grinned at her as if he had done her a favor and walked away.

Serenthia didn't forsake her family position. She didn't throw fits. She didn't argue with anyone.

Everyone thought she understood the true way. Only she knew, deep inside, that it wasn't just her lover, she too was broken that day.

From that day, she made it her life mission to fix this broken world before she died.

For that very reason, she kept scouting for talents. Talents who could become crown prince and manipulate the Anvil.

Talents who could become the King and govern the Kingdom properly.

Talents who could reach heights she could not reach and do things she could not do.

That's how she met and adopted Isadora. But the transactionary intentions were pushed back as she grew increasingly attached to the daughter life gave her.

Everything was going well until one day, the topic came up.

'What? Decreasing talent of geniuses so that spiritless can awaken? No mom. That's a bad idea! The kingdom will be in ruins!'

'But Isadora, look at how they're treated. They are looked at as worse than animals.'

'It's a real pity. But mother, didn't you say it yourself, this is how Palarian society has always been. When I become the ruler, I'll try to increase their rights and at least protect their lives.'

'…What about after you? The next generation? And the next? There is a chance to save everyone and you refuse to pick it?'

'It leads to too much chaos, mom. I won't do it.'

Isadora, the one who's set to become the ruler of the kingdom, the one who was supposed to fulfill her dream became the obstacle.

Serenthia didn't have forever to live. If Isadora took reigns, she'd never be able to materialize her dream.

So…

She betrayed her own daughter.

'Ahh…you…you mad woman! Why did you? I was stubborn, I was stubborn at that time….but I didn't know it was so important to you…'

Glimpsing into those memories through her soul power, Isadora shouted in a heartbreaking voice.

'We…could've fought and argued. But we could've made up. But Mom…is that dream so important to you that you tried to kill me? You loved me…and you tried to kill me…did you never love me at all? Was I just a tool for you?'

As Isadora voiced her deepest fears bare, Serenthia's eyes lost light.

And as they did, a final memory, one kept in the depth of her soul surfaced.

It never occured to Isadora because she thought it somehow happened.

But that fateful day, Isadora killed most people. Yet, by the end when she was severely injured and exhausted, there were still over a dozen powerhouses left in the dark.

When they tried to kill Isadora, a sudden attack struck them all and ended their lives.

Serenthia sobbed as she watched her unconscious daughter and placed a restriction on her powers.

Isadora would survive. But her powers would be restricted for a great while. Since there was only a weakened Centaurus here, she would wake up eventually with some of her powers, a memory loss that would persist for a while and survive without difficulty.

The Duchess wanted her daughter out of the way but not dead.

But she didn't know that Isadora's origins were already suffering due to the lack of order and chaos powers.

This battle forced her into a long coma, leading to the awakening of Enigma and Sia.

The plan went awry.

But in that dark moment and this, some things remained unchanged.

The final thoughts of Serenthia as she was watching the injured Isadora and the final thought of Serenthia as her eyes lost focus were the same.

'I'm sorry but…Stay safe, child.'