I'm the Mother of the Heroine? (Book 1)

Chapter 49

A/N: This will be a chapter wholly dedicated to Leonard/Leo. It's his backstory and therefore I will not be putting in any side POV's. Another thing is that it may be a bit shorter than the previous chapters because it'll be just a skim of past events of his life. I'd like to point out that he won't be telling his story from the different ages but at an older age and looking back. So if it seems weird that he's forming coherent thoughts, this is why.

Leo: (His father passed when he was 4 years old and this chapter progresses until the time he meets Nathaniel. Which means I won't exactly be listing his different ages along the way.)

It had been the middle of Summer, the sun hanging high in the sky pushing back the chill that the trees created within our Nest, when someone arrived at our door. My mother had gone into the Market to buy things that we may need or maybe find some bauble she'd enjoy. One of the only servants my Father had brought with him to serve from the House of Caddigan had answered the door. What had surprised the man was that on the other side stood a Warrior wearing a similar outfit of my fathers. 

He'd held in his hands a pile of bloodied clothes which stated his business without words needing to be said. That day was the day my world had turned upside down in a sense. Before then I had been rather studious and enjoyed learning everything there was to know about the duties my Father took on. 

Our servant had taken the clothes from him with shaky hands and gave a slight bow in the thanks before sending him off. I'd watched all of this happen from the archway leading towards the sitting room where we received guests. When I looked more closely at the bloodied clothes I realized how utterly destroyed they were and it surprised me that they had found them at all. Or that they had removed them at all to return them. 

Later we found out that the reason for the clothes instead of a casket was because the body had been half eaten, with parts missing, so they gathered the scraps of clothing they could scavenge to give us 'a piece of mind'. 

Mother arrived home and had been pulled into the sitting room immediately before she could put down her purchases. She'd taken one look at her servant and turned pale at the grief stricken face peering back at her. When the scraps of bloodied clothing were given over to her care it was as though all the light sucked out of her. I knew then that my father wasn't going to be coming back home. Not now, not ever. 

Days passed and as the seasons changed the money that had been saved up began to dwindle. It was first seen by the many maids and servants slowly recede from the confines of this home. Two years later and the only ones within were merely those who had followed my Father out of loyalty, they stuck by that loyalty even after his passing. 

Mother hadn't known what to do, especially when she had realized the money that should've sustained them if anything unfortunate happened to her husband was given to the main household. We had gone to them in hopes of even a small reprieve but instead were doused in snide remarks. I'd watched mother leave the room with my uncle in hopes of dissuading him of these actions as I waited in a separate one. 

Hours later my mother returned looking worse for wear and in my feeble mind all I could attest was that she'd been hurt in some way. It wasn't until years later I begun to realize how damaging these monthly visits were and that's when I started changing. I was no longer found within our library or secluded in my pursuit to follow my father's footsteps. I'd begun to take on a different attitude of someone frivolous and regaled my mother with foolish prattle in the hopes that she'd smile a little more. 

It was all in vain though but I never gave up. My mother deserved the world and yet was given hell instead. Having to see my uncle's disgusting leers and the way he manhandled her had nearly set me off the edge on numerous occasions. The only thing that held me back was my mother's pleas for me to not worry and not to do anything that could kill me. 

Imagine my thoughts when I noticed a boy my age had already unlocked his magic and was already a 5 star user. My outlook on how much I'd given in had nearly knocked the breath from me. I could've ended this madness far sooner had I been a little more hard working. Maybe I could've ended my mother's suffering but instead I chose to, in a sense, look the other way. 

This made me decide to throw myself out there and befriend the strong boy and seek guidance where he'd attained it, for surely it was by someone skilled. 

Now that I was able to work towards my end goal I wasn't going to allow anything to get in the way. No matter how much my mother begs me, in the end I will end my insufferably disgusting pig of an uncle. That's something I look forward to. 

In the meantime, it's nice to be close to such a beautiful and kind woman while I walk the path towards my revenge.