After an immeasurable amount of time, Liam's body ceased to feel its own worth. His consciousness was adrift…
He hadn't paid attention to what he was truly feeling or thinking, but he knew that sensation, no matter how satisfying, wasn't a good sign.
Still, a void surrounded his consciousness as, for an eternity, he found himself traveling. The absence of sound quickly transformed into a gust of wind with the waves of the sea, swaying the flames of a bonfire confined by stones.
Soon, only the wind remained…
The whistle of the absolute element…
Humming, instead of an angelic chorus, for the one who, though superior to all, had met death.
The whistle of the wind gathered in Liam's ears; at times, it was sucked in like the creation of a vacuum.
Suddenly, that whistle turned into whispers… distant murmurs carried by the wind until, in a single instant… they exploded into clumsy voices.
"Pós tha iremíso?! O gios mou den anapnéei!" ("How will I calm down?! My son isn't breathing!")
The honey-amber eyes of Camille, the young Duchess of the Lawrence Duchy, darted across the room. They met with despair as they noticed the expression of the nurse—a stout, wrinkled woman who, for the first time in her career, felt fear for not knowing what to do.
That night was supposed to be marked by the birth of the second son of the Lawrence family under the magical event; the Blood Moon that bathed the sky in its most splendid crimson.
"Ellen!" Shouting in despair, Camille turned to a second nurse. However, this one was the youngest on the team.
Camille held her lifeless son in her arms…
Only at birth did Ellen realize the child had no pulse.
The young nurse crossed her fingers and clasped them at her waist, trembling as she didn't know how to respond to her mistress.
Liam heard the screams but couldn't understand the language. The language of Egon—equivalent to German—seemed as distant as the language of Mikoto—equivalent to Japanese.
Even straining, he couldn't form a single syllable. Mainly because the voices were as distant as the sky.
Moving her arms abruptly and clutching her son tightly, Camille broke into tears.
Yet, at the same time, Liam felt practically crushed. A pain he had never felt, not even in a life of wars and deaths. His skin was fragile, and his nerves were on alert throughout his body.
Liam's first and most instantaneous reaction was to curl up, trying to hug his knees as a spontaneous sob escaped his mouth.
Camille sniffled and held back her tears. She was stunned…
Was she going mad, or had her son just moved?
The tight embrace around the baby's body brought unbearable pain to Liam.
He could do nothing but cry out with a throat-tearing scream.
Ellen's hesitation suddenly died.
"Laídi Camille…" ("Lady Camille…") Ellen said, a forced smile spreading across her face.
Marta, the robust nurse, knelt at the foot of the bed and thanked her God for giving life to the Duke's son. Not because he was nobility, but because he was an innocent child who deserved to live.
What she didn't know was that the soul that brought life to that body was so stained with the blood of death that even erasing its memories wouldn't restore its innocence…
"Eínai kalá, dóxa to Theó... Tóra, écheis ónoma gia aftón?" ("He's fine, thank the heavens... Now, do you have a name for him?") Marta asked with satisfaction and gratitude in her heart.
"Naí. Tha eínai o Theo!" ("Yes. His name will be Theo!") Camille replied, not taking her eyes off her son.
A tear slid down her delicate face.
"Kalós írthes ston kósmo gie mou…" ("Welcome to the world, my son…") These were Camille's first words directed at her youngest child.
Shortly after, she broke down in tears.
Not knowing whom to thank, she simply whispered something to the heavens, which was soon consumed by her sobs.
"Mamá, eínai xýpnios?" ("Mom, is he awake?") A child asked, appearing beside Camille on the bed.
With Camille's blonde hair, the girl slipped her arms around her mother's shoulders. However, her blue eyes, inherited from Duke Lawrence, met her newborn brother.
"Naí" ("Yes"), Camille said, sniffling and smiling.
Thays, a seven-year-old child, looked at her younger brother and gently stroked his nearly hairless head.
The crimson glow of the Blood Moon streamed through the open window, bringing the chill of that night to the forefront.
The baby's vision was limited, seeing nothing but a show of blurred and distorted lights, but something else captivated him…
Camille's genuine and pure smile, upon seeing her son well, transcended the physical limits of Liam's new body.
A smile he had witnessed only a few times in another life…
A gesture capable of calming the little one and making him stop crying, to appreciate the maternal embrace.
After holding her son for a while, Camille had the newborn taken from her arms so she could rest. Meanwhile, the Young Master Theo was placed in the crib to sleep.
Liam's thoughts couldn't help but be basic: What's happening? Why is my body, my vision… my senses so inferior?
He felt pain even from the embroidered cloth that touched him, as if his skin was still adapting to the environment.
But even with his blurred and obscured vision, Liam could feel the endless cold of that night invading his room as a crimson light bathed his body.
The same crimson glow Liam had seen in the final moments of his life. By pure intuition, the former general of Egon determined it was the Blood Moon phenomenon.
Agonized by his inability to see himself, let alone speak, Liam squirmed in the crib for hours.
The moon was at its peak in the sky, marking midnight.
At that moment, Liam had grown tired of trying anything. He had reasoned something he didn't like…
The former general, though living in an empire that believed only in heaven and hell, had been in contact with the general of the Xin Empire, the noble Minghua.
'That wretch… Don't come preaching your religious teachings again!'
A human without regrets, but with unresolved matters in their soul, will never rest as you desire, Liam… Heaven, hell, or… eternal rest… These are rights claimed by men after death. But for you, who sinned so much and repented nothing… What do you think you'll have?
Liam wished for a black screen, in sounds or thoughts, for all eternity… An eternal rest. But this situation he's in… There's only one answer for it.
Stressed by this, he was almost concluding when something caught his attention.
A gentle movement suddenly removed the cloth that served as a mosquito net, covering the crib of the newborn.
Suddenly, a woman as pale as the moon, with black hair, placed her eyes above Liam.
While a flood of thoughts invaded his mind with questions like: Who is this person? Why, even with all the limitations of this body, can I see her so clearly?
"Oh, forsaken by fate… I would like to lament your situation and beg for your forgiveness… But it was necessary for me to do this."
With her right thumb, the woman stroked the baby's cheek as if admiring him.
"For now, stay quiet, alright? Just serve as a soul to make this body develop consciousness, and live behind the eyes of my child… I must thank those two for allowing your passage…"
A purple aura enveloped Theo, emanating from the woman's thumb.
"My little golden child… Theo Augustus De Lawrence… Welcome to the world."