### Chapter 354
Tracking Down Abella’s Mother.
Suddenly, a woman appeared out of nowhere.
And she could see through Kraush, realizing he was not Zodiac.
‘Surely, she just said that Zodiac couldn’t possibly be here.’
Kraush quickly caught on to what that really meant.
‘Zodiac’s biological mother.’
As that thought crossed his mind, Kraush immediately opened his mouth.
“Are you Zodiac’s biological mother?”
At the moment he asked, a fierce wariness spread across her eyes.
There was no need to clash here.
Kraush decided to defuse the tense situation right away.
“Currently, Zodiac is in Jeblam after being handed over by Wolmyo and Jinmyao.”
“…He went to Jeblam?”
Just as expected, she reacted.
Jinmyao was a mutual acquaintance of Zodiac’s real mother.
Since they were familiar enough to refer to him as her nephew, it must have been his mother who asked him to be hidden.
Kraush nodded and adjusted his posture.
“It’s a late introduction, but my name is Kraush Balheim, the Dragon King.”
It’s a bit embarrassing to say his own title, but at least it was a certain status.
His status as one of the Ten Great Lords was something.
As Kraush announced his title, the woman’s eyes widened.
Then she regarded Kraush with a surprised look.
“…Are you Kraush Balheim?”
Looks like she was somewhat familiar with him.
“Yes, I’m currently maintaining the same state as Zodiac.”
As Kraush conveyed his words, she paused, then let out a sigh.
Then, confused, she raised her head.
“Let me correct something before we talk. I am not Zodiac’s biological mother.”
This part surprised Kraush even more.
“If that’s the case…”
“I didn’t expect to meet you like this, but let me introduce myself. I’m Merzia Marygold, the Gold Queen.”
Upon hearing that introduction, Kraush stiffened.
At the same time, he instantly understood her strength.
The Gold Region and its precious mines were protected by one of the Ten Great Lords.
The Gold Queen, Merzia Marygold.
It was no wonder Kraush felt her to be a formidable opponent.
‘Is she hiding her appearance?’
Furthermore, Kraush became curious about her connection to Zodiac.
“Zodiac is the son of my younger brother.”
And with that revealed truth, Kraush looked complexly at her.
“You have a younger brother?”
It was understandable since Merzia was the only daughter of the Marygold family.
“Yes, although he was born from my mother’s affair after my father passed away.”
So, she was also an illegitimate child.
Merzia’s mother was the one who married into the Marygold family.
Therefore, after her father, who was the head, passed away, she probably couldn’t remarry.
She must have had to live forever as the head of the Marygold family.
Then, over time, she must have fallen for someone and eventually had a fling with him.
“But I did raise my brother as a servant for our family during our childhood.”
Her mother secretly gave birth to a daughter and raised her together with Merzia.
Since Merzia was in her late teens at the time, she didn’t fail to grasp her mother’s late love and cooperated in raising her younger brother.
Her younger brother grew up robustly, and to Merzia, he was almost like her own daughter.
“One day, we had a major fight.”
But it was hard for her brother to accept everything that had happened.
Not being able to call her mother “mother” or refer to her as “sister.”
Although both were born from the same mother’s womb, she had to live as if she was sneaking around every day.
Eventually, tired of that life, her brother quarreled with Merzia and left the family.
As a young girl, she headed to Cloria.
In Cloria, she started anew.
She opened an apothecary shop.
She was quite a skilled herbalist after all.
And one day, during her journey of gathering herbs, she crossed paths with a World Erosion entity.
A being covered in wounds that had collapsed after a defeat by the Swordmaster, Wolmyo, was Jinmyao.
She became Jinmyao’s benefactor and friend.
Before long, she fell in love with a man she met by chance.
That man was none other than the head of Cloria.
The head of Cloria had entered a politically arranged marriage, believing it to be essential to continue the noble bloodline.
And sick of that life, he fell in love with the herbalist he met one day.
However, he was already married.
Needless to say, it was a love that couldn’t be allowed.
But the issue was that a life was already growing in her.
That life was Zodiac.
“At first, I thought about killing the Cloria head.”
Merzia found out that information long after it happened.
At the time, the Marygold estate was busy due to the mining operations.
Above all, Merzia couldn’t bear to stop her brother.
The life given to her brother was surely a reality hard to accept.
So, she let her brother have someone by her side to quietly watch over her.
But lo and behold, her brother got pregnant.
Merzia hurriedly settled her affairs and found her brother.
Upon learning of her brother’s pregnancy, she almost killed the Cloria head.
However, she ultimately had to give up due to her brother’s pleas.
“She said she would give birth and raise the child. If this child who has to lead a life similar to hers disappears, she would vanish too.”
Her brother’s words must have pierced deeply into Merzia’s heart.
This child, who couldn’t call her mother “mother,” was just like her brother, unable to call her father “father.”
Merzia couldn’t bring herself to tell her brother to erase that child.
“And she also told me that she learned the joy of being born alongside me.”
Her brother, who was born from her mother’s affair and had to grow up hidden in the family.
After hearing her words, Merzia ultimately found herself supporting her.
“The problem was that my brother’s health wasn’t that great.”
After giving birth to Zodiac, Merzia’s brother soon fell ill.
Although Jinmyao, who was living at her home, cared for her, her weak body faded after giving birth.
Ultimately, soon after, Merzia’s brother passed away.
Following that, the Cloria head came searching.
He had received her brother’s letter too late, hurriedly coming.
He didn’t even know that she had gotten pregnant.
He simply left one last message not to come near the apothecary and moved away.
A love that was never meant to be, to begin with.
He assumed that if she were avoiding him, it would be her will, so he decided not to chase her any longer.
But after receiving her letter and realizing there was a child, it was too late.
The woman he loved, whom he had been unfaithful to, was gone.
“The head of Cloria adopted Zodiac as his second child. He put him in the registry as second despite his wife’s opposition.”
Seeing that, Merzia also suppressed the anger born from her brother’s death.
At least her nephew, Zodiac, would be able to call his father “father.”
Kraush then felt like all the keys related to Zodiac finally unlocked in his mind.
He also understood why Zodiac could become strong enough to belong to the Sky Generation.
‘Because he is of the Gold Queen’s bloodline.’
Until Merzia was born, there hadn’t been anyone in the Marygold family who could show outstanding prowess.
They had merely utilized their inherited wealth to form the Golden Knights.
However, at that time, Merzia’s marriage was to a woman who excelled greatly as the leader of the Golden Knights.
The one born from her, who inherited that talent, was the Gold Queen.
Consequently, it was only natural for Zodiac, who was of the same bloodline as the Gold Queen, to possess natural martial skills.
‘For Jorval Cloria, this must be a rude awakening.’
Given that he gained outstanding prowess thanks to his mother’s bloodline rather than his father’s.
It must be truly shocking for Jorval.
Kraush finally understood the entire situation.
But separate from that, there was a doubt in his mind regarding Merzia.
“Lady Merzia, why are you here when Zodiac is nowhere to be found?”
Especially dressed up as she was.
The fact that she dressed up meant there had to be a reason for coming here undetected.
Moreover, she had approached him when he was about to knock on Ardelju’s door.
This clearly indicates there was some connection with Ardelju.
Upon Kraush’s question, she pointed at the door.
“There is someone here who helped my brother when he opened the apothecary.”
Saying so, she opened the door.
What lay within was a well organized room, unlike outside.
The space seemed much larger as well.
‘Magic at play.’
It must have been a space created by inviting a wizard.
Kraush thought that as he followed Merzia inside.
Inside, he found a middle-aged woman lying there with vacant eyes.
She emanated quite an unpleasant odor.
It seemed she was unable to move at all.
“She called her ‘mother’ when she was still alive.”
Although she could not call her own mother “mother,” she had spent her time here with her mother.
“Since that day, she has remained like this.”
The one whom Merzia’s deceased brother referred to as mother.
Even so, one could hardly ignore that fact.
“At first, I thought about taking her to the Marygold estate, but she refused to leave. So, she’s been lying here every day. Just look away for a moment.”
Merzia, quite used to it, changed her clothes.
Then she turned back to Kraush.
“So now I want to ask you.”
She tilted her head, regarding Kraush.
“Why are you really here?”
Kraush knew it was because he was impersonating Zodiac to act as bait for Ixion.
So, why was he here instead of being in Cloria?
Upon hearing her question, Kraush stared blankly at the woman.
“…There is a magician named Abella who is helping Ixion.”
Kraush gazed at the middle-aged woman while saying that.
“And she is Abella’s mother.”
“She had a daughter?”
It seemed even Merzia wasn’t aware of that fact, as her expression turned to one of surprise, glancing at Ardelju.
As Kraush kept watching, something came to mind.
Then he glanced back at Merzia with a face that hinted at a possibility.
“…Do you know when she collapsed?”
“According to my brother, it was…around 16 years ago, I think.”
Kraush’s expression hardened.
“Abella is 16 years old this year.”
Then, as Merzia fell silent for a moment, her eyes began to widen.
“No way.”
“Ardelju might have collapsed because Abella was born.”
“Wait, that’s impossible. My brother, who lived with her mother, didn’t even know that she was pregnant!”
Her statement was right.
If she were pregnant, there should have been obvious signs.
It was something any living being could not escape.
There would have definitely been visible changes.
But Merzia’s brother was oblivious.
Kraush couldn’t be sure about this either.
‘No, more importantly.’
Abella was registered as a resident of Cloria.
‘If Ardelju gave birth to Abella, and the reason she lost consciousness was also due to Abella’s birth, then…’
Who registered her as a resident?
Kraush frowned.
A sense of unease washed over him.
Something felt manipulatively off.
‘If it’s not a coincidence…’
Just then, Kraush turned back to look at Ardelju.
“…”
Kraush stepped closer to Ardelju.
Then he raised his hand.
“…Lady Merzia, perhaps I might be able to awaken Ardelju.”
“What?”
The moment Merzia looked shocked, light began to gather in Kraush’s palm.
The essence of that light was none other than Black Hood.
If her loss of consciousness was not merely physical and had a separate reason,
‘It might be possible to retrieve her.’
It was worth a shot.
[Target: Ardelju]
Kraush activated the Black Hood.
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