Chapter 76 - 76: Edward Gates (1)
"Mother… their food is getting cold. Just where could Albert be taking them?"
Paris and her mother-in-law were currently inside the guest hall. They have been waiting for Victoria and her friends for quite a while now and yet they still have not arrived. They were so excited that they even told the servants to prepare a meal, putting the snacks on another table.
Paris even set up rooms, just in case Victoria's friends wanted to sleep over for the night. This might seem over the top, but for Paris, it wasn't even enough. This was the first time that Victoria would ever be bringing and introducing her friends to them.
She wasn't even sure if Victoria had any friends to begin with. And now that this moment has come, Paris would make sure that her friends would be taken care of with the utmost care as much as possible.
"...Maybe they did go to the forest?", her mother-in-law let out a deep breath as she placed her hand on her chin.
"Mother, that is impossible", Paris shook her head as she let out a tiny sigh, "Even if it's Victoria, I am sure she won't bring her friends to Edward as soon as they arrived"
Paris nodded her head a couple of times as she convinced herself. Even if her daughter was a bit of an airhead, surely, she won't put her friends in danger… right? Sure, she could be reckless, but even she should have limits.
"Madame!"
It was then that a servant knocked on the door, "Madame Charlotte!", she shouted as soon as she entered the guest hall.
"What is it!?", the old woman, Charlotte, quickly stood from her seat as she looked at the maid.
"Some… some of the gardeners said they saw Victoria earlier", the maid stuttered, "She and some other students entered the forest!"
"..."
"M… maybe they are just taking a stroll in the forest?", Paris could not help but let out a nervous chuckle. "Surely they won't--"
"Graah!"
Before Paris could even finish her words, a thunderous roar coming from outside whispered into their ears.
"..."
"P… perhaps you should go, mother?", she then said as she looked at her mother-in-law.
Charlotte could only click her tongue in frustration as she rushed out through the window, breaking it into a thousand pieces as she jumped out of the mansion.
Paris could not help but let out a deep sigh as she looked at the maid who came bearing the news, "Can you have someone replace the window before our guests arrive?", she casually said.
"...We're out of windows, ma'am", the maid said in a low voice.
"...Order more"
"Y...yes, ma'am", the maid stuttered respectfully before bowing her head and leaving the guest hall.
With her left all alone in the room, Paris once again let out a long and deep breath as she let herself fall to the sofa, her body sinking in slowly. She then looked to the broken window and whispered, "What kind of family did I marry into…"
Her husband was always out exploring and was only there whenever there was an important event. Paris could not help but slightly furrow her eyebrows as she remembered him being late when Victoria was born.
Her son was always hungry.
Her daughter does whatever she wants without even thinking of the consequences. She thought that once she was older and already a teenager, she would slightly become normal. But the only thing age has done to her was to make her even more reckless. What's worse was that she wasn't even speaking to her that much.
And her mother-in-law. "Ugh", Paris could not help but let out a grunt as she once again looked at the broken window.
Her mother-in-law was always in isolation most of the time, barely even spending time with her grandchildren. She dotes on Victoria, sure. But she barely even talks to her since she was somewhat afraid that she would hurt her, she hasn't even held her grandchildren once, even when they were born.
She was too strong. Abnormally so. Paris felt somewhat sad for Charlotte because of this, but she also could not help but feel frustrated that whenever she steps out of her isolation, she destroys something in the house.
Paris had to take care of everything as soon as she married into the family. Expenses, repairs, disputes… everything.
She wasn't really complaining, though. She was just… frustrated.
It was…
It's a lonely family. Paris thought as she once again sighed. It even almost felt like she lived in the house alone with the servants.
If only Edward would revert back to being a human. She was sure that he would be the most normal once of the bunch.
When she gave birth to Edward, Paris didn't want to let her go as he was too cute. And when Edward let out a tiny hiccup, she wanted the embrace to last forever, to protect him from everything. But of course, her body was too tired, forcing her to close her eyes as she slowly lost consciousness.
And when she woke up, she couldn't see her baby anywhere in the room. She screamed and started to panic. Her mother-in-law, Charlotte, tried to calm her down.
She begged and begged that she wanted to see Edward, but Charlotte was not allowing her to see him. Countless thoughts were racing in her mind. Was he hurt? Is… is he dead?
The only thing that Charlotte told her was that something happened, and Edward needed to be locked in a room. But Paris insisted, she wanted to see her child at all costs.
And so, even though her body was still weak and her legs weren't able to carry her, she rushed into her baby's room, crawling.
As she opened the door to where Edward was being kept, nothing was out of the ordinary. There were only the servants, who were shocked to see her come into the room. They tried to stop her, but she was damned if she was going to let herself be stopped.
And right in the middle of the room, was a crib. Paris' eyes started to glisten as she slowly lifted herself up from the floor. Approaching the crib, even as she staggered. Her face was so excited to see her baby once more…
But when she saw what was in the crib, she almost let out a scream. But she didn't let herself do so and covered her mouth.
She knew… she knew that the one sleeping in the crib was her baby. He looked so different now. But even so, she knew he was her baby and she didn't want to wake him up.
And in her eyes, he could only be beautiful.
She slowly and gently lifted him up, even with his 6 limbs and disproportionate body, even with his head that wasn't that of a human's, she hugged him and let him feed on her milk.
Because no matter what Edward looked like, he was her baby, her newborn son.
She later came to find out that day that Edward unlocked his System too soon. Just a few minutes after Paris lost consciousness Edward started to transform.