~ Chapter 63: Abandoned by them… ~

[Leonidas' point of view]

 There was no way I could avoid telling my family the truth behind my Blessing. Well, actually, I could bend the truth and squeeze out more lies if I wanted to, but I didn't want to do that. I wanted to know that within this life of mine, I had the support of my family, that I could rely on my parents and my sister not worry about whether or not they will stab me in the back.

I could still remember from my past life on Earth how there were characters in stories with similar circumstances as mine, but I always saw their lack of trust towards their loved ones as a part of their flawed personalities. Certainly, there were cases where the lie was better than the truth, but I didn't see mine as being one. At least, as far as I had seen and if the gods were really on my side, then the thing I feared the most would never come to be.

“Son, what does your Blessing do?” father asked with his facial muscles tensed and his eyes narrowed, focused on me, ready to spot the moment I tried to lie to him.

“We won't force you to say it if you don't want to, just knowing that you have something to defend yourself with is enough for me.” mother reassured me in a calm and gentle tone of voice.

“I want to know. I want to spar with brother properly!” declared Cassandra.

Well, to each their own...

I looked at everyone here and carefully thought about what I wanted to tell them. My words now could either destroy my happy life or reinforce it.

It all comes down to if I tell them a lie or a truth... I thought and then allowed a sigh to escape my lips.

Yet, it was funny how I still struggled with my uncertain emotions even after I had declared in front of those gods what I intended to do.

It was simple.

It was easy.

But I was afraid...

“I-I...” my lips parted, but only a few sounds made their way out of my throat.

I closed my eyes and clenched on the bed sheets. For some reason, it was scary!

“You shouldn't force yourself, my son.” father told me when he saw me struggling like this.

His gentle hand patted the top of my head.

I opened my eyes and looked at father in surprise.

It was clear to them that what I held was something I perceived as being a big secret, but none of them could guess what it was. I was still just a 10-years-old child, my natural fears seemed to act on their own to prevent me from telling them the truth, to prevent me from... suffering.

Although, if this was my fear from before coming to this world or from this one, I couldn't tell. I thought it more as a child's fear. From the point of view of my adult mind, I had nothing to fear... for the most part. Even if they weren't by my side, I knew I could still manage to survive somehow on my own. I was nearly immortal, nukes were probably the only things I feared right now, but still... this wasn't normal.

While I was struggling like this, sister jumped on the bed and sat on the edge, staring right into my eyes. She was frowning.

“Brother Leonidas is no coward! I saw it! You fought the evil man and saved me like a princess would her knight!” she said, but there was something wrong in that line of hers.

“What are you afraid of, my son?” mother asked me with her gentle and calm voice, while looking at me with worry in her eyes.

I looked at her, then at my sister, then back at her.

I gulped before I told them “Abandonment...”

They all looked with big eyes at me.

“Abandonment? Who of whom?” mother asked furrowing her brow.

“You... abandoning me...” I replied in a low volume, close to whisper.

“Why would we ever abandon you, brother?” Cassandra asked tilting her head in confusion.

“Because... b-because I'm weird...” I said.

The words flowed out on their own while in my mind I kept trying to prove myself with arguments that I was wrong. Fear often makes even the most wise of men act in stupid ways.

“Son, there are nobles out there who prefer men over women, but if you get a good concubine, you can get yourself as many handsome young men as you like!” father said and showed me a wry smile.

His words stopped the gears in my head from working for a moment. They simply creaked and came to an abrupt stop like some old machine that suffered from too much rust.

Maybe he was trying to help in his own way, but whatever he thought about when I said 'weird' went completely in the wrong direction and straight on the Nope Train towards Creepy Forest. It gave me a chill worse than that maniac Damascus ever did.

Mother, sister, and I looked at father with our piercing cold gazes. It was a combo X3 attack on this old man who just said the most absurd of things to his own son!

“My dear husband, does my body not please you anymore?” mother asked a rather inappropriate question in front of her 10-years-old children.

Father burst into a cold sweat. He knew he had just stepped on one hell of a landmine.

“N-No! Of course not! I'm not tired of your body! I do very much enjoy embracing you when you sleep or when we bathe, and didn't I go through so much trouble just to get you that special nightgown?!” he blurted out, trying to find some means of digging himself out of the hole he tossed himself into.

“Dear?” mother asked with a smile.

“Yes?” father replied.

“Too much information for our 10-years-old children.” she scolded him.

“Yes, my love.” father bowed his head in shame.

“What special nightgown?” Cassandra asked while tilting her head to the left.

“That's adult stuff, Cassy. Ahem! Now then, Leo? Are you feeling better now?” mother asked me.

I nodded in reply, completely ignoring everything that was said since father opened his mouth with the intent of sharing his 'wise advice'.

“Before you decide whether or not to tell us, know that we are your family and that we would never think about abandoning you no matter what!” mother told me with a gentle smile on her lips.

“That is exactly what I fear... to be abandoned by all of you...” I said and then thought I don't want to feel that pain again...

“Oh, my sweet child!” mother embraced me and then said “We will NEVER abandon you! What ever gave you that thought in the first place?”

“Your mother is right, my son.” father agreed.

“Brother may be weird because he doesn't like blood drenched battle armors like other boys do, but he's not weird in any other way!” Cassandra said something strange again.

After mother released me from her embrace, I wiped off the lingering tears in my eyes and then looked at my family with a smile.

“Alright! I won't be afraid... I'll tell you what I know about my Blessing... and mutations.” I looked at them with a smile.

For them, that last word was a bit of a strange one, but I did end up explaining them in their words what it meant. The one thing I didn't tell them about was my past on Earth, just that I could remember things from another life and that Sapherya helped me as a soul find my way to my current family.