Birthright

Prologue

There was something cathartic, in lying in bed and waiting for the end to arrive. It was close, so close. She can feel the flow of her blood slowing as her heart weakens beat by agonizing beat. It won't be long before the end she has foreseen will finally come to be.

It had been painful, forcing her injured body to walk back to the carriage on unsteady steps without making it obvious that she was harmed by some unforeseen threat during her gallivanting in some small village by the border.

Even if she had managed to survive after this, she knew that her husband and son would not allow her to take even a single step outside of the mansion's front gates, with or without supervision.

But Jour knew how this would go. She did not have any special restorative power that would save her from the brink of death. Nor did she have access to any healer of considerable ability. The mages, priests, and doctors could only go so far before they realized that there was no way to possibly heal her.

Humans did not have the power to restore a broken plate. And Jour had split hers in half to achieve her final goal in this life.

"Mama..."

A tearful voice is cut off by an errant sniffle as her precious baby boy steps closer to her bedside. His shaking hands reach out towards her bloodied one and hold it close to his chest.

Smiling hurts.

Smiling hurts, but Jour still curls her lips upwards. This is her son, her beloved Cale. No matter how much pain she is in, her son will always be her first priority.

Her body's too weak. She tries and tries and tries but her body fails her. How pitiful she had become. Jour could no longer caress her son's cheek and comfort him like she used to whenever her baby came crying.

Not for the first time, Jour questions her own choices. Was this really the right thing to do? Was it really worth it if her Cale loses a mother in the end?

When she found out that her son's Rings were warped in the way only a Variable could be, she had resolved herself not to look any further.

But...

She had looked into Deruth's future and saw him happily sharing a meal with another woman and two brown-haired children. Her husband found happiness after her death. That was one of the reasons why she had split her soul in the first place.

Her Deruth will get over her, will find someone else to share his life and love with, and he will be happier for it.

But all she knew of Cale's Rings was his warped future...

Jour looks into her son's teary eyes and activates the future-seeing half of her Ancient Power one last time.

What she sees next horrifies her.

"The Young Master was drinking all afternoon."

"I feel like I was attacked with a barrage of swear punches!!"

"Tsk tsk. The poor Count. To have such trash for a son, I sure pity him."

"Young Master-nim threw bottles at the tavern patrons again."

"Hah! Cale Henituse, you audacious bastard. You really think a Trash like you deserves to attend gatherings like this?!"

"Aiya! Compared to Young Master Basen, that Cale is nothing but a waste!"

"Young Master-nim, the Count wants you to have breakfast with the rest of the family."

Clang!

"It's shit! The food tastes like shit! It shouldn't be called food at all! Get that distasteful swill out of my sight!"

Glug! Glug! Glug!

"Haa~ You annoying bastards don't know when to keep your filthy traps shut, huh?! Didn't I say not to annoy me when I'm drinking?! AH?!?!"

Shatter!

"Hurk!! The Trash is throwing things again!!"

"Cale Henituse? What about him? That brat is nothing but the disgrace of the Henituse Family."

"That Trash!"

"Disgrace!"

"Unfilial brat!"

"Annoying bastard!"

"Don't you think the rest of the family would be better off without you?"

Jour freezes as that last, damning statement rang in her head.

...What?

"Mama?!" Cale's horrified shout wakes her from her trance. Only then does Jour feel the tears falling down her face.

Her baby...

Her poor baby...

She'll be leaving her baby alone with those monsters?!

No...

No, she can't!

Her Cale...

Her Cale won't be safe here!!

Deruth... Why didn't Deruth--?!

(She had looked into Deruth's future and saw him happily sharing a meal with another woman and two brown-haired children.)

Cale wasn't with them.

Why did she only realize this now?!

Cale, where was her Cale in Deruth's future?! Where was their son?!

"Mama..." Sniffle.

Jour looks back at her crying, worried son and comes to a decision.

"Cale, Honey..." She whispers into the space between them. Cale sniffles and shuffles closer to hear her better.

"In my b-bedroom... A box... In t-the draw-er... Just— Ergh! Just a drop... Of blood." Jour rasps tiredly. She needs to say more. She needs to tell Cale how to open the box. It hasn't been sealed with an age limiter yet. He can still open it without having to wait for his coming of age.

"Find that box...." With the last of her strength, Jour grips her son's hand tightly and wrenches out the last half of her Ancient Power from deep within her soul.

With a whispered, "I love you, Cale." Jour Henituse neé Thames passes on her Ancient Power to her only son, Cale Henituse.

Her eyes close.

They never open again.