Chapter 180: A Mother’s Gift

Aurelius had already expected that Elena would have begun to suspect something.

It was not only the matter of the Players arriving this morning. He had been acting strangely ever since he awakened his memories.

Even if other people didn’t notice it, believing that their Young Lord was simply playing around again, Elena was bound to notice something.

She was his mother, after all. She knew him better than anyone.

However, Aurelius had expected that Elena would try to beat around the bush until she got the answer she wanted.

He never expected that she would ask him so straightforwardly, questioning whether he was an Awakener.

Staring into his mother’s eyes, which seemed certain despite the fact that she was only asking a question, Aurelius hesitated briefly.

Then, he nodded his head.

"Yes."

"I managed to obtain a Class Item and used it to advance a few weeks ago."

The moment he finished speaking, Aurelius noticed a slight change in Elena’s eyes.

But before he could observe those changes any further, she had already concealed her emotions.

"I see..." she whispered.

"It’s no wonder that you started acting strangely a few weeks ago."

Elena smiled and joked.

"I have long noticed it. I originally thought that someone had unknowingly replaced you. Now, it seems that I’ve been worrying for nothing."

Her words nearly made Aurelius choke.

Although he could see that Elena was joking, his real situation was not much different from what she had claimed.

He knew that his changes didn’t happen because he had become an Awakener.

Rather, it was because he had awakened the memories of his past life.

Of course, he was wiser than to say this to Elena.

His mother didn’t know what was going on inside his mind.

Seeing him remain silent, she looked thoughtful.

She tapped her fingers against the desk and continued speaking.

"I was previously worried that your visit to the Imperial City would be fraught with danger."

"But since you’ve become an Awakener, you should be able to keep yourself safe as long as you make adequate preparations."

Elena paused briefly.

"Is your Class a spellcasting Class like a Mage or a physical one like a Warrior?" she asked.

"A spellcasting one," Aurelius answered, though he was puzzled.

He couldn’t understand why she didn’t simply ask the name of his Class. At the same time, he couldn’t understand why it mattered. ℴ

Soon, however, he had an answer.

Elena rose to her feet and approached one of the many bookshelves.

Her fingers tapped on several book covers, precisely and swiftly as though she was playing the piano.

Each tap let out a faint clicking sound.

When the final one landed, the sound of gears turning echoed throughout the study room.

Under Aurelius’ stunned gaze, a mechanism was activated. A secret compartment was revealed behind the bookshelf.

Elena reached inside the opening and retrieved an item.

The moment she took her hand out, the hidden compartment closed.

She gave Aurelius no time to ask any questions.

She directly tossed him the item.

"While I was young, I was lucky enough to stumble upon the corpse of a Rank 4 Awakener. Unfortunately, I don’t have the necessary qualities required to become an Awakener."

"The inheritance has been sitting there, gathering dust."

"Now, it can finally be put to use." Elena’s voice echoed in Aurelius’ ears, though he barely managed to pay attention to her.

His eyes were glued to the item in his hand.

The moment his fingers touched it, Alchemy’s Touch activated on its own.

He immediately knew that this was an extremely valuable item.

In simple terms, it was a Relic!

And quite a powerful one at that!

Even without examining it carefully, he could already sense the extraordinary power contained within it.

Just as he was planning to inspect it further, taking a look at its description, Elena spoke up again.

"Go back to your room and study it."

"You should know not to reveal its existence to anyone."

"Also, summon the leader of the guards to the study room. I have something I need to talk to him about," Elena added.

Although curious, Aurelius didn’t say anything.

After putting the Relic away, he nodded and left the study room.

The moment the door closed behind him, the study became silent once again.

Only Elena remained.

She didn’t pick up the book she had previously been engrossed in.

Instead, she reached into the desk’s drawer and took out a small, leather-bound notebook.

It was a diary.

Yet judging from its appearance, it didn’t seem to belong to the present era.

The many traces of time on it revealed that it had existed for centuries, its pages messy and mottled.

Elena touched it carefully.

She used her fingers to open its cover, her gaze landing on its first page.

Then, she focused on the very first entry.

"The Snow family has been cursed!"

"Bearing the wrath of the Gods as the losers of the Divine War, they and their descendants have been cursed to never possess extraordinary power again!"

"The path to becoming Awakeners has been forever cut off!"

Below these lines were several more entries, all with the same handwriting.

But Elena ignored them.

As her fingers traced along the dried ink, she could sense the blood coursing through her veins boil, as though the bloodline she bore was being stimulated.

Given her identity as a mortal, she couldn’t personally see it.

However, the earlier generations of the Snow family had already described the phenomenon.

Elena knew very well that in the depths of her body lay a lock built by Divine Power!

Unless another being of the same level interfered, that lock would forever prevent her from becoming an Awakener.

Not only her, but even her descendants!

Elena’s eyes flickered. Countless thoughts rushed through her mind.

She slowly closed the diary.

Just as Elena was thinking, footsteps approached from outside before a knock came at the door.

She didn’t immediately respond, first putting the diary back into its place and securing it.

Then, she spoke up.

"Enter!"

The door opened.

If Aurelius were here, he would see that the person who arrived was the leader of the guards, the person he was planning to strengthen in the future, and the person he had just summoned.

"Madam!" The guard bowed respectfully upon seeing her.

"There is no need for such pleasantries." Elena motioned for him to get up.

She went straight to the topic.

"I summoned you today to talk about how to deal with this morning’s matters. I wonder what your opinion is."

The guard thought for a moment before answering.

"I believe this matter has something to do with the Young Lord."

"I believe that Madam must have also noticed the recent changes in Lord Aurelius. I think we should start by investigating these first. The Young Lord might be in danger..."

The guard continued speaking.

From his words, it was obvious that he wished to help the Sol family deal with a potential danger.

He had no ill will toward Aurelius.

Rather, he wondered whether his Young Lord had been tricked by someone and went down the wrong path.

If that were the case, they would have to act!

Listening to the guard and sensing the clear concern in his voice, Elena nodded her head.

After several seconds, she abruptly changed the topic of conversation.

"Darian, how long have you been following me?"

"It’s been 19 years, Madam. Darian responded without hesitation, "Back then, the Earl requested that I follow you to Blood Sun City."

"Since then, I’ve been working as the leader of the guards."

"Then your understanding of Aurelius must be very deep..." Elena spoke.

"Indeed! I’ve watched Lord Aurelius grow up! There are few people more familiar with the Young Lord than me."

"I see..." Elena whispered before she shook her head regretfully.

"That’s a pity."

These words were cryptic.

Darian couldn’t understand Elena’s meaning.

But the next moment, his pupils dilated.

A silver dagger flashed behind him and ruthlessly pierced through the left side of his chest.

Although he tried to struggle, Darian found that he couldn’t.

The dagger seemed to be devouring his blood, leaving him helpless.

Darian’s strength rapidly disappeared.

He wanted to speak, but no words came out.

His vision gradually became blank.

In his final moments, the only thing he saw was Elena playing with a silver dagger.

Its tip dripped with fresh blood.

A whisper echoed.

"Unfortunately, you know too much."

"My son is still naive and has yet to destroy the evidence."

"Since that’s the case, I can only help him as his mother and prevent all future troubles."

Her expression remained calm.

There was no anger or hesitation in her eyes.

Saying this, Elena rose to her feet.

Stepping over the lifeless corpse, she walked out of the study room and found one of the nearby maids.

"Go and summon the guards at the entrance. Ask them to come to the study room. I have something important to talk to them about."

The maid bowed.

Elena watched her leave before adding:

"...Also, post some recruitment notices."