Soul Bonded [Claude De Alger Obelia x reader ]

7. A Mother's Love

"Iseka?"

"Hmm?" Iseka carried on with her work, with little interest in her.

Nora paused, feeling a bit hesitant. At that moment she felt a pull at her clothes and she looked down.

"You got this, Mom!"

Her child was cheering her on. Strangely, the cat seemed to be mimicking the child's action, though it looked slightly confused.

Taking a deep breath, Nora stepped into the kitchen.

"Iseka?"

"I'm listening,"

"I'm sorry."

Iseka stopped what she was doing and turned to give Nora her full attention, sensing the matter was important.

"I'm sorry, Iseka. About the things I said before leaving, I didn't mean it. You're a great mother. You took responsibility for me even though I wasn't related to you by any means. You always took care of me. I looked up to you when I was a child and after becoming a mother myself, there's no one better than you to learn from."

"..."

"To me, you're the kind of mother I inspire to be."

Iseka stared at her for a long tense minute and sighed. "It's fine. No need to be so corny. People tend to blurt out reckless things when they are stressed. But be careful. You can't be reckless when raising a child. I'm an adult, I can handle things. But she's a mere child so you can't take out your frustration on her. Got it?"

"Yes!"

Iseka frowned when Nora hugged her. "What are you doing? I'm covered in grease. You're going to ruin your clothes!"

"It's fine! I'll wash them later!"

"You absurd child.."

Iseka looked over Nora's shoulder and saw the child was covered in cookie crumbs and the cat following its new owner's action was munching on the cookie on her lap and simultaneously ruining her clothes.

Her left eye twitched.

The child smiled and waved a cookie in her direction.

"Want some cookies, Nana?"

"Children, honestly..."

Nora laughed at the annoyed look Iseka had as she pushed her away.

*****

As the night approached, Nora somehow managed to put the complaining child, who wanted to play with her new friend a little longer, to sleep.

Iseka had already fallen asleep. So Nora was left with the cleaning duties which she finished quickly.

As she was closing the window, for a moment Nora swore she saw a silhouette in the outline of the forest. But when she blinked it was gone. Her heart tightened.

Nora looked down at the sleeping child and the cat who appeared out of nowhere.

Nora made up her mind. She would protect her baby at all costs. Even if the cost was her own life. She had resorted to extreme things to safely bring the child into the world and she wouldn't hesitate to do it again.

Nora shut the window.

She won't let that thing have her way and take her most precious thing away.

****

Mist rolled up at the edge of the forest and slowly crept towards the cabin. The people inside were soundly asleep, not knowing the danger lurking outside.

A form materialized out of the mist.

Dull indigo eyes gazed at the small cabin. Her black gown shuffled with the blowing wind. The mist curled around the figure as she out a thoughtful hum.

Indigo-colored hair danced in the air as they elegantly left a finger to let a pulsing butterfly with a small horn on its head settle on it.

Red lips curled into a cold smirk.

Eyes that were bright yet eerily dull narrowed in a calculative way as they gazed at the pulsing horned butterfly.

"How dare you take the child to my home and show her what she must not know." A silky sweet voice whispered to the glowing butterfly. "My familiar, my lovely child, you have grown so bold."

Slowly her hand fingers curled around the butterfly before tightening into a fist. The horned butterfly writhed with its broken wings and body and soon stopped forming.

With a little pulse of mana, the broken corpse of the butterfly turned into dust.

She recalled the mother of the destined child's expression and snorted.

"No matter how much you flail, it's useless. That child's destiny is set in stone. The moment you made the decision to come to find me,  the moment you decided to protect that child at the cost of your life, you had doomed your child's life."

Those words echoed in the clearing. Mist snaked around the figure before they started fading away

"It's just a matter of time before Fate comes knocking on your door, child..."