"Hahahahhaha!"
A sinister, evil laugh resounded in a dimly lit big lab. The lights flickered—and a creepy, almost sadistic smile came into view as the flickering stopped.
"Hahahahah!"
The smile belonged to an elderly man; his eyes were hidden behind green glasses, and he was wearing a crisp white lab coat without even a speck of dust―his hair had turned white from age, and wrinkles adorned his face. He stood in the middle of the lap.
The lap was huge, considering he was the only person who ever used it. Crusted and dried blood with a lot of equipment littered over, a testament to not being cleaned for a long time.
Strange creatures with their guts cut out and their eyes plucked out lay on stretchers; they looked so hideous that one would find even looking at them nauseating.
Cylindrical glasses with a blue liquid were lined up behind the stretchers. Inside them, similarly grotesque species floated.
But…
Thump… thump…
They were alive, tubes connected to them giving them oxygen and nutrients to sustain them. Their hearts are beating, their mouths stitched together so they don't emit even a single whisper.
It was agonizing, beyond anything one could imagine, because the liquid inside constantly forced their bodies to change their structure. They too were once a normal animal, human, or even any other species.
Yet…
Here they were being experimented on by the madman. The one responsible for all their miseries disregarded them all, instead focusing his attention on a cauldron—his laughter continuing.
Plop!
Inside the cauldron, an adhesive orange liquid was situated, bubbling up and popping as it was being heated by a heater below the cauldron. He stirred the liquid with a glass tube.
His eyes gleamed with excitement and… something deeper, something more menacing and ominous behind those glasses of his, but even with them, one could feel it just by listening to his laughter.
As stirring and heating continued, he started to add more things to the liquid. The sticky liquid morphed and changed colours; if before it was gooey, it now turned smooth like water.
The transformation didn't end there, as its colour changed perpetually, turning from orange to green, green to cyan, cyan to blue, and blue to purple.
Finally…
Poffff!
Vapour rose from the liquid, covering the entire place with a thin veil of mist. Waving his hand, the mad scientist's smile grew wider, and the volume of his laughter rose to a higher level.
He was ecstatic about the results. In front of him, inside the cauldron, a white, crystal-clear liquid rested. But… If one looked closely, there were perpetual changes, like small snowflakes falling, the fire burning, or even a vortex sucking them all. They were tiny, minuscule… yet they looked profound.
"Hahahah! ..haa… I did it."
In that misty lap, the madman's voice resounded in silence.
***
Liam had resigned himself the moment he was caught by the knights. How could he not resign himself?
Wasn't it like he could smash them? Of course, if he wanted to, he could, but… which boy who isn't even 6 would be able to handle adults who trained their bodies and swords for decades?
It would be outrageous! Ridiculous. That's why Liam just surrendered himself to his fate and let the knights guide him to the supposed 'mother'.
Liam gritted his teeth just at the thought of that witch being his mother.
'…Never, it would be an insult to my mother.'
Even if it was for the sake of play, his stomach churned just at the idea of—and it was for a good reason…
'…She lied to me and… and… her tentacles.'
Only imagining those poor souls who died by her tentacles sent a shiver down Liam's spine. Snapping him out of his reverie was a voice. The voice was calm and cold, yet there was a tad bit of softness in it.
Liam looked to his side with the corner of his eye. A poised man, the colour combination of his armour and body was quite comical; still, even that was not enough to hide the raw power emanating from him.
'Strange…'
For some reason, he felt familiar.
As if Liam had seen him before… But—he couldn't quite piece together where he had seen him. The vague painting had already started to form in his mind, only missing a crucial part.
Then…
'Ahhh…'
Liam looked into his green eyes, which shimmered like an emerald; looking into those green eyes, a sudden scene formed in his mind. It was dark, the room illuminated by the silver glow of the moon―standing in the room were several figures surrounding Samantha and Julie.
They were cloaked head to toe, but then again, one of them stood out when they had faced trouble. Heads and other cloaked individuals snapped at him, and he looked at them with those same green eyes.
'The kidnappers from last night!'
Anton was sensitive to gazes. Whenever someone gazed at him, his instinct would always shoot up; it was not like he was always like that. He just adapted; years of constant fights with monsters on the outer walls of Liora—he came to develop it to survive.
And right now, his instincts were acting up.
Turning his head, he looked at Liam, who was staring at him intently, his poor mind going on another ride to Lala Land.
'…W-why is he staring at me? Did I do something wrong?'
Questions were reeling in his mind about whether he had done anything wrong, but no matter what, he couldn't find anything, so he decided to ask.
"Did I―"
"Look, look, they came out."
"Right!"
Anton was just about to voice out his thoughts when he heard murmurs from the gathered crowd. They were excited and looking forward to some gossip and to having a look at the princess's child.
"Look this way! Please look!"
Click!
Flash!
It was not an opportunity that they would give away. Some even dared to come close and take pictures; the knights didn't stay idle as they blocked the crowd and made for Anton and Liam to pass through—after an arduous struggle, they passed them and plopped down on the seat of the carriage.
'Phew… they sure love drama.'
The horses started to pace, and they moved toward the central tree. Throughout the travel, neither Liam nor Anton talked, creating an atmosphere around them. Liam didn't dislike the silence; in fact, he was quite happy.
'Ahhh… this peace is nice.'
But…
'Why is he not talking? Is he perhaps upset with me… No, no, I need to do something.'
Anton was freaked out but didn't dare do anything.
***
Extra content.
After returning from the banquet, the mood within the Rysen estate was affected, but there was one who didn't seem so affected…
"Hey! What are you doing?"
It was Alina. She knew how strong her master was, and after reading the letter, she was even more confident that nothing would go wrong.
Right now, she was having a headache just watching Novu not doing what she told her.
"Huh! Why should I listen to you? Where is Nightmare?"
Seeing the stubborn fool, Alina lost her patience and…
Boing!
Smacked him on the head.
"That should do it."
With a triumphant smile on her lips, she looked satisfied as she looked at Novu's unconscious body.