"Godfather!"
Baden quickly ran over as soon as his subordinates told him that the ominous aura covering the devil's forest had disappeared.
The man sitting on his knees by the bedside slowly turned his head. But his face wasn't one that Baden knew.
The godfather Baden remembered was a mysterious man who never aged and remained the same from when he was a child till even decades later. But the youth of his godfather seemed to have disappeared overnight. His godfather was no longer a young man. Whoever saw him now would say he was obviously a middle-aged man.
"Baden."
"Is...is it really you...godfather?"
"Say goodbye to your mother."
"Huh? Mother...? Mother!"
Baden rushed to the bed and broke down wailing. Cael stood up stepped aside a little, waiting for Baden to sufficiently say goodbye to his mother.
When Baden proposed building his mother's grave in this place, Cael shook his head.
"You should take her with you. If you make your mother's grave here, no one will be able to check on her and it will soon be abandoned."
"What about godfather..."
"As you can see, time has begun to flow for me."
Baden swallowed hard. His godfather was aging quickly as if he was paying the price for maintaining his youth for so many years. When Baden saw him this morning, his godfather looked like a middle-aged man in his later years but in just a few hours, he looked like he had added 10 more years.
"I will escort you. Please come with me."
"No. My grave will be here."
"Then I should also..."
"Go."
"Godfather."
Cael placed his pendant in Baden's hand.
"This pendant is connected with your mother's soul. If your descendants ever find themselves in a crisis, it will be a great help to preserving your legacy."
Baden took the pendant carefully and put it in his pocket, like it was very valuable. His godfather was a unique individual with a very mysterious set of ability that the average person couldn't even imagine. A gift from his godfather would not be an ordinary thing.
"I have a request to make."
"Yes, please. You can ask anything, godfather."
"Don't leave any word about me to your future generations. I don't want to leave any trace of my existence behind."
"...Yes."
"Today will be the last day you and I see each other. Don't ever come here again."
"Godfather. To me, you were both my teacher and my father. A child abandoning his father is an unfilial act that I cannot consent to."
"This is my last request. I do not want to show my end to anyone."
"Godfather..."
Baden's eyes were filled with tears like he would burst out crying at any moment and from his expression, Cael found the mischievous little boy who used play around him. Evangeline and Baden were miracles that occurred in his dried up life.
In this unpredictable huge world order, he was nothing but a weak and feeble existence. Out of everything he had pursued so desperately, this was the only truth he had gained.
He gave Baden a faint smile.
"Perhaps I am the same. I wish you were my son, Baden."
Baden bawled like a child.
* * *
Baden didn't want to leave at all but he had to quickly deal with his mother's body, so he had no choice but to leave his godfather's mansion.
When the funeral was over, about ten days had passed. Baden went back to the mansion but the huge building had collapsed and turned into sand. In addition, there was no sign of his godfather anywhere.
Baden felt so stunned that for an entire day, he merely sat down, looking at the pile of rubble.
Time passed and the curtains rose to a period of upheaval. Hundreds of divided forces destroyed each other, or swallowed the other up, growing bigger and bigger and unifying to create a country. Baden made a name for himself as a meticulous subject in the founding of Xenon and was bestowed a title and land. In this new country, Baden created a new family that carried his name.
This was the beginning of the Baden family.
{THE END}