The sun rose above the horizon, lighting the world with its warmth, Free's eye twitched and slowly opened only to see the ceiling like always.
Grunting in his bed, he took a glance outside, the birds on the trees chirping outside with their soft, soothing voice.
Warm breeze entered through the window, making his hair sway gently.
He took a deep breath and recalled last night's incident, the glow, the warmth and his sudden dizziness.
Free clenched his tiny hands and thought–
'Last night was great'.
Staring at his right hand and raising it as high as he could, but it was hard as his body was still too weak.
'Come on, at least i should be strong enough to move my hand properly'
After struggling for almost 5 minutes, he eventually gave up.
'i-i still am not able to move'
he thought, gasping for air.
Birds outside chirped softly and took flight from their place. Inside Free stared at the ceiling and let out a small sigh.
'I'm bored...'
...
...
'Maybe i should use that magicagain? Okay let's do it'
He thought, focus shifting to his hand.
'Oo goddess of light, cleanse our friend and foes wounds and suffering, light heal'
His hand slowly glowed green , a giggle escaped his lips.
A few minutes passed, but the light didn't fade away unlike last night.
'Woah! it didn't vanish!'
He thought.
"gah!"
He chirped with joy.
Another 2 minutes passed. Then 3 and eventually 5 minutes until the dizziness took over and the glowing light flickered once, twice, then thrice and vanished, the world around Free started to spin and he slowly lost consciousness.
Meanwhile downstairs, Hina and Lina cooked breakfast, humming peacefully, until Hina suddenly felt a pressure upstairs, she tilted her head and glanced toward Lina, who was already looking toward her.
"lady Hina, did you feel that too?"
She asked, looking at the ceiling from where the sudden burst of pressure came.
Hina faintly nodded, slowly looking up to where her room should be.
"Yes"
She answered, uneasiness and fright creeping in.
"Let's go check"
Lina advised, reaching for the knife near the table.
"Y-yeah"
Hina agreed, turning to the door and chanting a spell.
' Oo goddess, please receive my respect and my faith in you from the bottom of my heart, grant me your blessing, fire ball!'
she completed her chant.
Slowly both went upstairs stopped in front of Hina's room.
Lina gestured Hina to prepare the attack if she is ambushed, slowly Lina placed her hand on the door knob, and dashed inside.
Silence...
"No one's here"
She informed, Hina walked inside and looked around, the room was filled with so much mana it was hard to determine where the intruder might be hiding.
Hina opened her closet and Lina opened the cupboard, they even looked under her bed. Yet, the intruder was nowhere to be found.
Hina sat on her bed, scanning the whole room, there was nothing unusual, no signs of someone entering, she looked outside at the garden only to see the flowers in the garden.
She exhaled deeply until Lina's voice came.
"L-lady Hina...."
Lina's shaking voice reached her ears, she turned behind and Lina was pointing at Free who was soundly sleeping.
Hina looked confused at first, but then, her eyes widened in disbelief, her breath hitched
"I-is this mana coming from...."
she paused and walked close to Free's bed.
"...Free"
Hina muttered in terror, sweat sliding down her neck, it was impossible yet...yet, the mana was leaking out from Free.
She shook her head and pushed the thought away from her mind.
"No! No!..hahahaaa. it can't be, yeah! It isn't! i am just hallucinating!"
Hina tried brushing the thought off but the mana in the room was undeniably coming from her son.
"La-lady Hina? are you sure we are hallucinating"
"Both of us can't hallucinate together"
Lina replied, staring between Free and Hina lowering the knife she was holding.
"I mean? young master is already above average from a normal baby at birth in terms of mana..."
she said.
"But this.... This is greater than that of 5 court mages combined"
She added.
"No! I-i mean....we're just tired today!"
Hina insisted, storming out of the room.
"Lina! W-we should cook breakfast before Philip returns from his morning training!"
Her voice came from downstairs.
"yes!"
Lina responded, walking to the door, but her hand twitched slight.
'... ?... '
Lina glance behind her one more time and looked at Free, she stared at his sleeping figure on the bed, then left.
Afternoon arrived.
Free had just finished eating, or specifically finished drinking milk, Hina only fed him breast milk.
He looked, left, then right and sensing nobody was around, he prepared to chant his spell.
'Nobody is around again.....let's try again
He thought, and took a ddeep breath.
Oo goddess of light, cleanse our friend and foes wounds and suffering, light heal'
His hands softly glowed.
And only glowed brighter as more time passed, Free stared at his hand, 10 minutes passed, but this time the glow didn't fade.
'Wait, stop! Before someone comes!'
He panicked, the glow in his hand lit up brighter and brighter the more he tried to stop.
'Stop! Stop! stoappp!'
Panic started to settle which made it only brighter.
'Stoppppppp! Wait, maybe i should relax! yes! relax! relax....'
Free's body relaxed, mind slowly calming down, and to his luck, the glow started to fade.
'Yes! it's working! '
He thought, as the glow faded completely.
During that time, downstairs–
Creakkkk!.
Thud!!.
The door burst open, Philip barged inside while sliding his way on the floor and stopped till the living room door, sword in hand.
"Yess! i slayed 7 goblins before lunch!!!! "
he declared proudly.
"Shut up Philip"
Hina came out from the kitchen cleaning a cup with a towel.
"Wash your hands and face before touching the food"
she told, still wiping the cup with slight irritation.
"Welcome home, Lord Philip"
Lina spoke from the dining.
"Thanks!"
He replied, placing his sword in the corner.
And entered the bathroom to wash his hands and face.
But in the dining room...
"Lady Hina, it is coming again and this time it is higher than before"
Lina said, gazing upward to where Hina and Philip's room is.
Hina entered in the dining room, placing the plate of food with a loud thud on the table, ignoring Lina's words.
"Lady Hina you can act, but you can't hide the fact that this immense amount of mana is coming from young master"
Lina spoke in a serious tone.
Hina stayed silent, trying to ignore the pressure and Lina's words.
Philip entered in the dining room, after washing his hands, and sat down unable to sense the atmosphere of the room.
He grabbed the fork from the table and stabbed it in the meat, then took a big bite from it.
"Delicious as ever!"
He praised, biting the meat of Orc he and the adventurers hunted yesterday.
"Y-yes, thanks"
Hina responded, sitting down and taking her own bite.
Philip paused, now sensing the tension in the room.
"Honey? Are you feeling well?"
He asked, Hina flinched and flailed both her hands and shook her head.
"N-no i am fine, i-its just that i feel like i'm hallucinating"
she answered, forcing a smile on her paled expression.
"Maybe you are sick..."
philip added.
"Rest for today, I don't want you to get sick, right Lina"
He said, glancing and Lina who gave a nod while still staring at Hina.
Philip smiled and took a big bite from the meat.
"lord Philip can you sense a pressure in this room"
Lina interrupted as she set another plate of orc meat beside him.
Philip paused, then closed his eyes and thought for a moment, then–
"No"
He replied, trying to sense anything using physical pressure.
"L-Lina please go and take Free from his room, it's time to feed him"
Hina interrupted, changing the topic.
Lina nodded, and walked out of the dining room.
'Young master just finished eating, though? '
She thought, but obeyed because she had some matters to finish.
Inside the room Free was smiling as he made the green glow appear and fade again and again wwithout struggling anymore.
'This is so fun'
He thought when he suddenly heard footsteps.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
The footsteps starts to approach the door and Free quickly deactivated the healing magic and pretended to sleep.
Lina entered inside the room quietly.
"Young master it's time for food...."
Her gaze lingered at the sleeping child, her heartbeat racing, she swallowed, then her hand moved toward his neck and stopped a few inches away from it, the tension was heavy.
'T-this is the only way'
She thought, her hand almost grabbing the infant's neck, as she was about to choke him, Lina saw an image of Hina crying and Philip grieving.
Her left hand stopped the right, and after a few minutes Lina retreated, the thought of killing Free vanished and she gently picked him up from the bed.
She paused and stared at Free for a second.
'I can't...'
She thought, walking down the stairs with Free in her arms, who pretended to be asleep.
'What was she trying to do?'
Free thought, never knowing that he was just about to be killed by the maid that served his family.
To be continued....