2 Prologue
cp1
Fernando Venhorst's point of view
Fernando went to his room and, upon arriving, found Ceto, his most trusted man. He served as administrator of the Plain Castle and, curiously, also served as the Venhorst family's butler. At his side were two women.
The castle's head maid welcomed her lord, and soon after, the witch gave Fernando a diagnosis of the lord's wife's current situation.
Catarina suffered from an abnormal condition, her cells age very quickly and when they are renewed, the new ones also seem worn out and age even faster than the previous ones.
To keep the mother and baby alive, Fernando had to spend a lot of effort and money, the good thing was that he was lord of a territory, but by maintaining this consumption for 9 months, the territory's finances dropped a lot.
To maintain the vitality of both, Catarina consumed an average of 10 cores every day during the day, during the entire pregnancy she spent 2700 cores equivalent to 60% of the annual income of the entire territory, of course, Fernando did not care about money when it came to taking care of his family.
A core is a sphere the size of a child's fist, in which a large amount of energy with unique properties is concentrated, it is extracted from an evolved beast that condenses all power and energy into a sphere.
The cores were on a magical matrix that was a very well-designed and distinct pattern of magical circuits that had the power to alter energy priority patterns and interfere with matter.
These matrices were very volatile and difficult to operate, requiring the proficiency of a wizard trained in the area of magical nuances. As a warrior, Fernando did not have the necessary skill to operate such a matrix, so he was forced to hire the wizard who was present in the room.
The salary of the three mages operating the magic array during these nine months corresponded to 10% of the annual revenue that the territory produced annually.
Given Catarina's condition, it would be best if she couldn't speak to save energy; the life force that circulated in her body was provided by the magic matrix.
"My lord, the envoys from the capital have arrived."
Ceto informed Fernando.
"Very well, I will welcome you personally."
Fernando kissed Catarina's forehead and asked the magician to continue her work and that if she heard anything happening the head maid should inform him immediately.
Fernando and Ceto welcomed the envoys from the capital, to Fernando's delight he was a long-time friend, Mr. Geremias.
"Mr. Geremias, welcome."
Fernando gave a greeting with the style characteristic of the kingdom's nobles, there was sincere but heavy joy.
"Lord Fernando, it is very good for this son to finally be able to meet you again after so long."
in this way corresponding to Fernando's greeting by adopting the same gestures as the nobility.
"True old friend, after all it's been 10 years since we last ventured out together, I believe I've sent out several invitations since then, but I'm happy to have you here today."
said Fernando as he invited Geremias and his men into the castle.
"It's not like I don't want to come see you, it's just that things are a bit turbulent in the capital and the arcanist societies won't leave me alone for even a second."
Jeremiah said with an apologetic tone.
What Jeremiah said was pure truth. Things in the capital had not been easy, especially for the society of arcanists. As a disciple of a prince who was acclaimed throughout the kingdom, Jeremiah could barely focus on his own research.
" All good"
said Fernando, indicating that he understood the situation, after all he had several reports from his father who remained at the family residence in the capital.
Passing through several corridors inside the castle, they quickly reached the room where Catarina was. They barely had time to catch up, after all, there were 10 years of events to be reported on both sides.
" Catarina! What happened?"
Jeremiah exclaimed when he saw Catarina's current state. In the past, she was a beautiful young woman full of vitality, but now she could barely be recognized, she had aged so much.
Fernando explained what had happened to his old friend. It took two hours for Fernando to convey everything, as well as present Catarina's entire situation during the 9 months of her pregnancy.
On the fourth day of Geremia and her men's stay at Venhorst Castle, Catherine's water finally broke and the child was finally born.
"Strength... push and breathe."
"Strength... push and breathe."
"Strength... push and breathe."
"Strength... push and breathe."
The midwives repeated the same words over and over. Meanwhile, Fernando operated the life-giving womb and wiped the sweat that ran down Catarina's face. Breathless, but with a tired smile, she repeated the same words as she looked at him.
The previous matrix could no longer be used due to the increased demand for vital energy to sustain the high-risk birth, this was the fundamental reason for the presence of Jeremias and his men.
To operate such a matrix, 10 people were needed, including Fernando, due to his high power, as he was not a magician; he was guided by Geremias, only providing his spiritual power in the process.
"Our son.... Ours. He is going to be born."
"Our son.... Ours. He is going to be born."
"I can feel it. He's coming. Our son."
Fernando had a mix of complicated feelings. For him, it was his first time being a father, he didn't really know what to say, he could see his wife's suffering.
"Fernando"
seeing the situation worsening, Jeremiah communicated something subtly
Nothing could go as expected, after all the future was unpredictable.
Suddenly complications began to appear, the vitality in Catarina's body began to be absorbed at an even faster rate than before, the matrix could not keep up with the wear and tear.
Fernando's face turned sour and he could feel the color draining away.
quickly. What Fernando feared most finally arrived at the moment of decision.
The life of his son or his wife, he was between a rock and a hard place.
End of chapter