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A long, long time ago, he was still a child.
A five-year-old child.
Children were undoubtedly lucky and happy. He was born in a castle and grew up in that castle. The cruelty of the outside world and the wind and snow were blocked outside by that castle. The maid who took care of him would occasionally mention the harsh world outside the castle. Babies born outside would sometimes be abandoned because of a lack of food, or even eaten by their parents to satisfy their hunger.
It was a hellish world.
When he heard these things, in his little heart, he felt more and more lucky.
He also had a beautiful and gentle mother. His mother would hold him in her arms in the afternoon, listening to her warm words telling dreamy stories, and then unknowingly falling asleep. Or on a sunny morning, his mother would play her elegant and solemn harp, playing the notes that intoxicated him.
So while he was lucky, he was also happy.
He originally thought that all of this would continue forever, that he would continue to grow up and even become an adult. Then he would let the generals who followed his mother train him, and he would become a man who protected the castle and his mother. But before this wish could be realized, a cruel reality, like a sledgehammer, smashed his beautiful past into pieces.
If he could, he would rather not go into his mother's bedroom that day.
The boy liked to play hide-and-seek. Every time he was found by his mother, he would be filled with happiness. That feeling of being valued and loved finally came to an end on that day. That day, he hid in his mother's bedroom. Although his mother repeatedly mentioned that he could go anywhere in the castle, he could not go to the bedroom. But he forgot this rule. He only wanted to give his mother a surprise. He gently pushed open the door and personally walked into the room that changed his life.
When he first entered his mother's room, the boy's curiosity quickly disappeared. Because there was nothing special about the bedroom. Apart from being a little more exquisite and gorgeous, it was similar to his own room. Until he saw a portrait. It was a painting hanging on his mother's bedside. The man in the painting looked like a grown up boy no matter how he looked at it. At this moment, his mother pushed open the door and entered. Out of curiosity, the boy asked his mother, "Who is he?"
But his mother did not answer. She, who had always been gentle, suddenly slapped him, and then ordered the butler not to send the boy his meals that day. In the end, she even chased the two maids who were taking care of the boy out of the castle. As for the boy, he was locked in his room before he could even react to the series of events.
At this moment, the burning pain on his cheeks caused pearl-like tears to flow out of his eyes. This was the first time he had cried since he was old enough to understand things, and he cried with incomparable sadness. It wasn't because of the pain from the slap his mother gave him, but more of a heartache.
He didn't know when he fell asleep. He only knew that when he woke up in the middle of the night, he was lying on his mother's lap. His mother gently rubbed his young face with her hand, and her eyes revealed a faint sadness. She asked him, "Does it still hurt?"
He shook his head furiously.
"You're not allowed to go in again."
He nodded vigorously again.
On the morrow a new maid came.
Looking after him, it was as if everything had gone back to the old days. However, the boy's smile was no longer as innocent and bright as before. In his heart, there was always an additional painting.
What did the portrait of the man who looked like him represent? Why did his mother fly into a rage because of this? These questions were like a knot that couldn't be untied, tightening in the boy's heart.
In the blink of an eye, two years passed. The boy grew taller, and his mother began to let several generals train him. He also tried his best to learn, hoping that his mother would pay more attention to him. But ever since he entered that room two years ago, the boy sensitively found that his mother's eyes had lost some of the strong love she used to have, and had gained some coldness that was never there before. His mother's change made the painting that stayed in his heart more obvious.
In the summer of that year, a maid who served him gave birth and was sent out of the castle. He didn't understand, so he went to ask the housekeeper. The housekeeper told him that no new life had ever been born in this castle, except for him, the young master. He had feelings for the two maids who served him for two years, and he heard many rumors about the outside world. He was afraid that the maid would have a hard life after leaving the castle, so he secretly took some food and green crystals and slipped out of the castle.
He found the maid and her husband in the wilderness outside the castle. After that, he would bring some things to the family every few days. Then, a week after the maid left the castle, she gave birth to a healthy baby. When the maid brought the baby to her husband and told the little new life that this was his father, the boy knew for the first time that there was a father in addition to mother.
That day, he returned to the castle a bit late, so he didn't dare to enter through the main gate. Instead, he slipped into a small path that he often used. When he entered his bedroom, he found that his mother was already waiting for him. He looked at his mother with some panic, but she didn't blame him. She only told him that next time he went out, he should bring a general with him. This was the first time in two years that he felt that his mother still cared about him. Perhaps because he was too happy, the boy became a bit more courageous. He blurted out, "Mother, where is my father?"
Then the woman who was about to leave suddenly turned around, her face was cold like never before. This made the boy feel strange and at a loss. The woman asked, "Why do you ask?"
The boy said hesitantly, "They say that everyone has parents. Don't I have one?"
The woman's face showed a painful expression, but it disappeared in a flash. She said, "I am your mother. As for father, he went to a faraway place when you were very young. "
"When will he come back?"
The woman immediately became impatient. After saying, "Don't ask anymore", she slammed the door and left.
The boy didn't know if he was scared or sad, but he just sat there for the whole night. Two days later, when he went to a general to see the maid, the general told him that there was no need to go. Under his questioning, the general told him that the woman was dead. Including her children and her husband. The boy suddenly realized something. He found his mother and asked her for the first time in his life, "Why did you kill them?"
The woman he called mother also replied coldly, "Because they said something they shouldn't have."
That very day, the boy did.
He felt a little resentment towards his mother.
Another year passed, and one day, the woman left the castle. She told the boy to stay in the castle and wait for her return. The boy didn't know where she was going, but he still agreed. This was the first time that his mother wasn't by his side. He was both uncomfortable and excited. Without his mother, the castle was like his kingdom. For the rest of the day, he ran around the castle like crazy, as if he had returned to his childhood.
That night, he stumbled upon a room. It was a room in the depths of the castle, and there was even a wall in front of the room. If it wasn't for the hole in the wall, if he hadn't chased a foxcat here, if the foxcat hadn't crawled into the hole. If it weren't for these ifs, he probably wouldn't have discovered this secret. But everything seemed to be predestined. Three years ago, after he walked into his mother's bedroom, he walked into a room that he shouldn't have walked into.
Out of curiosity, he used a tool to pry open the wall and walked into the hidden room. The boy was surprised to find that the room was surprisingly spacious. It wasn't a room, it was more like a hall. After he lit a fire to light the hall, he found many strange machines, and the floor was filled with all kinds of cables. For a young man like him, it was very strenuous for him to walk in this hall.
But the boy's attention was soon attracted by the hall, and he found that the machines that he couldn't name were still working. In the depths of the hall, he found a row of bucket-like utensils filled with an unknown liquid. The liquid emitted a faint purple fluorescent light. When he leaned closer to look, suddenly an eye inside looked at him. The boy was shocked and stepped back, only stopping when he hit a machine behind him. At this time, he found that there was a small figure in each of these bucket-like utensils.
The boy didn't know what was in them. At this time, he was actually a little scared and wanted to leave the room. But the machine he had just hit seemed to have inadvertently activated some kind of command, so on the screen of the machine, some pictures and sounds began to appear. The boy was attracted because he heard his mother's voice. At the same time, the figure of his mother also appeared on the screen.
"Today is the 78th day of the experiment, and everything is going well. Embryo number 14 has grown to the fetal stage, and I am confident that this time, it will be a success. But just in case, I have prepared another five embryos, and they are also growing smoothly … "
"On the 103rd day of the experiment, although for the Baltic's incubation period, the formation of the fetus is a little slow. But all the signs of life are normal, and it should be born smoothly soon … "
"… On the 147th day of the experiment, this day has finally arrived. All the waiting and expectations have paid off. He is my child, that's right. I created this child based on the various characteristics of the creator, and I will watch him be born and grow. When he grows up, perhaps I can find some comfort in his figure. As for the other fetuses, there is no need to continue cultivating them, but just in case, let the life-support machine operate. Next, what should I name this new life …? "
"Since he is a life I created to commemorate the creator, then let's call him … Naber!"
(End of this chapter)
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