novelraw Chapter 39 : Words Never Meant for Me
Chapter 39 : Words Never Meant for Me
The door to Father and Mother’s room was closed. The crack beneath it glowed faintly with candlelight.
I should’ve been asleep. But my feet carried me there anyway, quiet as I could, pressing my ear to the wood.
Inside, voices murmured.
“Selene,” Father’s deep voice rumbled, rough with concern. “You’re pale. Sit. Rest.”
Her laugh was faint, brittle. “Rest? When my own son just taught me magic? I don’t think I could rest even if I wanted to.”
My heart skipped. She told him?
Father’s voice sharpened. “Is it that bad? Like a… light ball or something?”
“Oh, Darius.” Her sigh was long, trembling. “How I wish it were just a light ball. No… it was fire. Fire bigger and stronger than anything I’ve seen. It shook the ground. It scarred the skies.”
Silence. Father said nothing.
Her voice cracked, hushed now. “If Rooga aimed it at me, I don’t think I would survive. Even worse—it wouldn’t just kill me. It would swallow everything around me. My gravity magic, my wards, my experience… none of it could stop that flame.”
I pressed a hand over my mouth, my chest tightening.
Father finally spoke, his voice low. “…How did he learn it?”
She let out a laugh with no joy in it. “That’s the fun part. He said… in his dream.”
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There was another silence. Then her voice fell into a whisper, the kind of whisper that carried more fear than any scream.
“Darius… our son holds a spell that shouldn’t exist. A flame that erases everything. I don’t think the world is ready for him. And gods help me, I don’t know if I am.”
Her words trembled. “Rooga can kill me. He can kill you. He can kill anyone he wants. And there would be nothing we could do.”
The sound of her sobbing filled the room, muffled by Father’s arms as he held her.
I staggered back from the door, my little hands shaking. The HUD blinked faintly:
[Hidden Status: Feared by Selene Valemont]
[Note: User possesses destructive potential beyond current vessel capacity.]
I bit my lip hard, fighting tears.
I… I never wanted to scare her.
And yet, hearing it with my own ears… I knew.
Even to the strongest magician alive—
I wasn’t just her son.
I was a monster.
The corridor was cold. My bare feet pressed against the stone floor, but all I felt was the weight in my chest.
Their words echoed in my ears again and again.
“Rooga can kill me. He can kill you. He can kill anyone he wants. And there would be nothing we could do.”
Mama’s voice—shaking, breaking.
I curled up against the wall, hugging my knees, staring at my small hands. They trembled faintly, the memory of fire still lingering on my fingertips.
“…I never wanted this.”
I wanted to make her smile. To be the reason she laughed, not the reason she cried. But instead—she feared me.
The HUD flickered faintly, as if mocking me:
[Warning: User possesses destructive potential.]
[Status: Feared.]
I clenched my fists.
“No.”
The screen wavered, as if reacting to my will.
“I won’t be that monster. I won’t live just to burn and destroy. I won’t make Mama cry again.”
My throat ached, but I kept whispering to myself, like carving the words into stone.
“I’ll be stronger. But not for the Empire. Not for Valemont. For me. For them. So they can smile.”
The HUD blinked.
[New Condition Acquired: Early Resolve]
[Effect: Mental Resistance +10% | Emotional Stability Increased]
I exhaled shakily, wiping at my eyes.
Even if I was born a monster… I decided then and there—
I would be the monster who protected their happiness, not the one who stole it.