"I'm home," Red said as a hand immediately slapped her face, causing her down on her knees. "You sl*t. Where have you been when your mother is right here dying?!"
"Where's the money?! How can we cure your mother now?! " his stepfather said, and Red smiled sadly.
Red smirked at his stepfather's reaction. Rather than being concerned about her mother's health, he worried more about the money.
"My mother will die eventually, even if we try to save her. The money you requested almost made me die in the Emperor's hands. You sold my soul to the Emperor, didn't you?" She asked what made his stepfather shut up.
Somebody told them to work for the Emperor, yet it was his stepfather's trick to sell her soul when she entered the Emperor's Empire for work.
She was caught by the guards and was locked down in the dungeon for a week without food and water, yet her determination to go home and see her mother is much stronger than her starvation as she tricked the guards and escaped the dungeon.
"So let me ask you again, Where did that money go? It's only been a week?" She asked again as her stepfather got pissed by her actions.
After all, her stepfather already got the compensation the moment she was captured.
"You have no right to ask me such things! I did what's best for the family!"
"By selling me out?"
He was about to slap her again when Red caught his hand and broke it the instant.
She then went to her mother's room, where she was lying there looking like a corpse.
"I think you deserve such a life since you chose a pathetic lover over my father's kindness," Red said as her mom's eyes started crying.
"Your lover killed my father, and now your lover is getting rid of me, too. I hope you will have a wonderful death. In the future, I will marry in exchange for my escape to see you again. Too bad you might not be around by then to see me get married." She said coldly.
"Cure me, Redence. Help me, I'm in pain," she said as Redence smiled. "I can't. The gods won't let me use my power on a person who was once a healer," she answered.
Red's mother is also a healer, yet that power was taken away from her after he used it all on his lover. Red's stepfather killed her Dad and he also stabbed him.
Two bloody men are in front of her mother at that time. One is her husband, and the other is her lover, yet she chooses to save her lover instead and becomes a normal human being with a weak body.
"And I hope you die immediately, too, so you can meet up with my Dad and say hi to me." She added as she started walking outside.
She sighed as she exited the village, and her tears kept falling.
She hated her mother for choosing her lover. She hated that she had to live a miserable life just for her selfish happiness.
"This is pathetic, " she whispered. "Hmm, I didn't expect you to cry like that, Red," Gabriel said as her mark lightened up.
"You've been with me the whole time?!" She asked as Gabriel appeared in front of her and smiled. "The highest priest can save your mother. Why didn't you help her?" He asked as he sat down on the grass with her.
The highest priest's blessing will cure her mom's sins as she will repent for the rest of her life in exchange for a healing and new life.
Watching the peaceful village as people start working and living life happily.
"She deserves to die, I don't think saving her was worth it. Saying that is a bad thing, right, especially when it comes to her biological daughter, yet even if I tell her to ask for the highest priest's blessings, if it means losing my stepfather in the process, then she would choose to die instead." She said as Gabriel gave her a handkerchief with the Celestial Empire embroidery.
'She's saying that she wants her mother dead, yet she's mourning right now because of pain. How can she hate someone and be kind at the same time?' Gabriel asked himself as Red took the handkerchief.
"Thanks. Are you here to take me back?" She asked as Gabriel smiled. "You still have a year to do what you want. I must finish something for the Empire's preparation for the new heir." Gabriel explained.
"The Emperor Veron" Red murmured as it caught Gabriel's attention. "I haven't seen his face at all. Yet he was a talk in the crowd. They say that he is someone scary who could kill you with just his presence. A lot of people are avoiding him as they are all afraid to die. Sometimes I ask, does being at the top make him lonely to the point that he's planning to have an heir?" Red asks as Gabriel is stunned by her question.
She was too innocent not to know that the man before her was the Emperor.
"I should be going back now; if you forget about me, I'll surely drag you back to the Empire for you to remember." He said as Red sighed.
"Can't we just do this sometimes? Talk and get to know each other? How could I marry a royal guard without knowing their backgrounds? " she said as he smiled.
'Is she suggesting to meet with me again?' Gabriel stared at her.
"Do you want to meet me again?" he asked as Red smiled. How could I not? You're my soon-to-be husband, right? I want to improve my healing magic before I come with you, " she added, smiling at him.
"Do you want to be enrolled in the healing academy to improve your skills?" He asked as Red smiled and nodded.
"Yes, but that academy is expensive, " she answered as Gabriel patted her head. "Show your handkerchief in the Academy, and they will accept you with warm smiles, " he said as he stood up since it was time for him to return.
"Where are you going?" She asked as Gabriel smirked.
"I told you that I should be going now." He answered. "I-In my graduation, please come. I will excel in my Academy and make you proud, Gabriel. Being at your side and bearing your child will be worth it, so please don't find another wife. I don't want to be in debt with you forever!" She said since she's a woman with her words.
"I see. I'll keep that in mind, " he said as he leaned into her and kissed her on her lips. "That's just a parting kiss since we won't meet for a while, " he said as Redence blushed and nodded.
"See you soon, my Red..." as he disappears before Red. Red then starts her journey towards the Academy.
On the other hand, Gabriel arrived at the Celestial Palace, and Baste was furious because he'd been looking for him everywhere.
"Emperor Veron! Where have you been?! Did you go outside the palace alone?! You know you can't do that, right?" Baste asked as Gabriel sat down on his throne.
"Speak your concerns, Baste," he said as Baste sighed.
"The Hydras will come to visit the Celestial Palace. You should be prepared for the upcoming first as the Hydra's will represent their muse for your possible choice of bride." Baste said, reading the note as it disappeared into his hands.
"I told you that I will be marrying someone in a year from now. Cancel their visit, as I will ensure these Proposals vanish in the Empire." Gabriel said as Baste knotted his eyebrows.
"What are you saying, Emperor Veron?! There is no other match for you than the other Empire Dragoness! If you marry a normal being, then she will surely die!" Baste claimed as Gabriel smiled at him.
"Well. I think you were wrong about that." Gabriel said. "Still, it is too late to decline the offer, Emperor Veron, the Hydras are already on their way here," Baste said as Gabriel smirked.
"I see, they want to be rejected face to face, huh?" Gabriel said, smirking, thinking of fun ways to decline all the proposals one by one.
On the other side, Red arrived at the Academy safely as lots of healers were coming inside and out of the Academy.
"Where do you think you're going, Miss?" Flora, the head of the Academy, asked, as she was responsible for looking after the Academy's potential scholars and healers.
"I am here to learn. A friend told me that the Academy would welcome me with a warm smile just by presenting this handkerchief." Red said as she showed it to Flora, making her eyeglasses break.
'It's the Emperor's Handkerchief the one and only handkerchief made in the city of golden threads and silver buttons. This only means that the Emperor sent this woman here to study, and refusing her means being killed,' she thought as her hands shook in fear.
She smiled warmly as Red lightened up.
"Welcome to the Healing Academy."