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The books told him about a patch of fungus that could help people heal their wounds. However, the animals told him where to find this patch of fungus easily. What he should do to live inside the woods and not fell prey to the predators, all this was taught to him by the animals.

He knew but never applied it to his life, until tonight. The sky was illuminated by the radiance of the two big moons. The woods were not pitch dark and he could easily move through them. Soon, Valerian found himself at the edge of a small stream. Looking around, the boy found a big boulder and sat down on it.

Valerian has been walking for most of the day, and as much as he did not want to admit it, he was tired. On the way, he had collected a lot of fruits, so he was not hungry for the time being. Gazing at the moon, he thought about Diligentia, today was his birthday, usually, the lady would be having a meal with him and quizzing him on the knowledge he had absorbed from the books.

His thoughts broke when he heard a clicking sound behind him.

...

Diligentia was pacing around in the lobby of the orphanage. She had been restless ever since Lady Grace had visited her and told her about what was happening at the door. She could not help but think of even more horrid events that could happen to Valerian outside the shelter.

.....

The whole town would avoid Valerian like he was a plague, so she was certain that he will not be provided any help, which meant trouble in survival. She wanted to go out and check on him but did not know where to find him. And she was the head matron of the orphanage, going out at this hour was not a sound decision, after all, someone needed to watch over the place.

Stuck in the quagmire of responsibility, Diligentia decided to return to her room and pray to the Deity of Life, Vita, so that she looks over the child, and protected him from any trouble. Her prayers were disturbed when the door of her room was knocked.

Frowning, Diligentia stood up and opened the door, she found Gloria standing in front of her door with an ecstatic smile. Diligentia looked at her and sensed her guts turning over. She asked, “Gloria, what brings you here this late?”

Gloria did not mind her calm and composed speech and replied, “The curse has been lifted. That jinx died.”

Diligentia felt her world crash. She asked, “What do you mean?”

Although her voice was calm, her eyes were visibly ready to break out in tears. Gloria seemed to be high on the drug called joy, she said, “What I mean is, some of the hunters found that Jinx by the stream in the woods, and they asked him to leave and not to contaminate their stream. However, that Jinx, did not listen and tried to drink water from the stream, hehehe, the hunters killed him.”

Diligentia covered her mouth and took three steps back in shock. Her world had collapsed, Valerian was not just the first child she had watched over, but he was the only child she had ever personally taken care of.

When she arrived at the orphanage, she picked up Valerian from the gates, however, before she could settle down in her roles and duties, the previous head matron passed away after she fell from the stairs, leaving her the eldest of the staff. So, she stepped up and took the reigns, simultaneously watching over Valerian, she never had the time to take care of any other child personally.

Valerian was more than her own child. At this moment, everything that she has ever worked hard for, all the sacrifices she made, and more than that, every time she forced herself to be averted from the child was flashing in her brain like a movie on the loop. All the dreams she had for Valerian’s future had come to an end.

This pain was hurting her more than anything she could ever imagine. Pushing it all aside, she rushed forward, shoved Gloria to the side, and dashed straight to the stream where she was told the incident had taken place.

She did not care about being barefooted, she just wanted to see Valerian. She could not believe what Gloria said. Her heart was filled with the instincts of a mother, and how can a mother neglect the pain and troubles of her child.

When she was out of sight, the excited Gloria calmed down and a sneer appeared on her face, she mumbled, “Oh poor, head matron.”

...

Diligentia ran through the town in the dead of the night, only patting sounds were echoing in the streets as her feet fell on the cobblestones. It took her a full hour to reach the stream. On the way, her feet were pricked by thorns, and twigs, yet she did not care about anything.

Upon reaching the stream she looked around, the moonlit shore did not seem beautiful to her, she was busy looking around for her child. The shore was covered in pebbles, all big and small. Her wounded feet treaded over the pebbles, leaving a bloody trail of her sacrifice.

She spotted a black figure near a big boulder and rushed over with her feeble steps. She called gently, “Val, Val, is that you, my child.”

Her voice was shivering, the lady was on the verge of breaking down. Valerian had taught her the meaning of maternal emotions and made her a better person. He was the catalyst of her evolution. Suddenly, the news of his demise, made her insane.

Diligentia reached the dark spot and leaned down as she said, “Val, my child, talk to me. Please, tell mother that you are alright. Wake up, baby.”

However, despite her crying tone, Valerian did not reply. She reached out to touch the figure with her shivering hands. Just as she was about to touch the figure on the ground, the person sat up.

Diligentia flinched and retracted her hand. She exclaimed, “You are not Valerian, who are you, what have you done to my child?”

The person sighed and said, “Luminare.”

A blob of white light illuminated the surroundings, and Diligentia saw the person in front of her. She shivered and gasped, “Father Emundatio.”

Emundatio was like a silent monk, he never left the derelict temple of Mercy in the town, until today, when he was finally told about Diligentia’s indulgence with a cursed child.

Emundatio came here to search for the cursed child, but then he heard someone on the shore. This was their plan, Gloria would direct Diligentia to the shore and then, in her opinion, Emundatio will purify her soul.

The man stood up from his position and looked down at the Diligentia in a condescending manner. He sighed and said, “To think that the Head Matron of the orphanage, a person who represents the good in this twisted society, to be indulged this deep with a cursed child. Such a shame.”

Diligentia said hurriedly, “Father, he is just a child. He has never even hurt an ant. He cannot speak and cannot even cry if he feels any pain. Please tell me, why is he cursed.”

Emundatio said with an indifferent tone, “The reason he cannot speak or shed tears is that he has incurred the wrath of the gods. Do not try to reason with me, such an abomination deserves to be cleansed from this world. As for you, who sheltered that thing for so long, you will suffer even worse.

It is said that your eyes are a window to your heart, and I see your eyes filled with concern for that thing. So, your heart shall be cleaned.”

Diligentia spoke up again, “You can do whatever you want to me, please tell me where is Val? Where is my child?” her eyes were brimming with tears.

It would be a lie to say that she was not scared. Her heart was beating so fast that should feel it reverberate throughout her body. However, she was more worried about Valerian, the child was out here in these dark woods, all alone, with blood-thirsty people behind him.

How can a mother rest easy when her child was out there suffering? Even animals cared about their offspring. Let alone a human.

Emundatio sighed and said, “Even in your last moments you seek to be with that cursed being. If you had begged for forgiveness it might have been different.”

He raised his hand and pointed his index finger at Diligentia, he said, “Flamma Innocentiae.”

It was a fire-type spell, meaning, flames of innocence. This spell was used by monks and priests to cleanse the unfortunate things, but not animate objects. That was a taboo, one must never cast this spell on a human or a beast while they breathe.

Sparks of amber emerged from the tip of the index finger. The rain of the sparks covered Diligentia and she wailed in pain. One could not even imagine what the pain would be like, she wriggled and twitched on the pebbles as the sparks burned her skin and body one tiny spot at a time.

When the pain reached its peak, the woods echoed with her distorted wails and cries. Even after all this, she did not beg for mercy, the meaningful sounds from her mouth formed a sentence, “My Val is not cursed but you are. You all are cursed. I condemn you, you and your accomplices will suffer ten times the pain. If all these years I have done a good deed, I curse you, damned wretches, to the depth of hell and eternal pain.”

At the end of this curse, her tongue had been burned along with her vocal cords, most of it seemed to be just a thought in her mind. Emundatio sighed as he stopped the spell. He mumbled, “Bitch, consumed so much mana.”

Then shaking his head and muttering curses he left the place. After he vanished from the sight, the blob of white light began to slowly dim out and a person walked out of the woods.

“I did not expect him to do this, I really did not know, forgive me Diligentia. Please forgive me.” The speaker was Gloria.

Diligentia still had a breath left in her, yet she was unable to speak or see anything. Her eyes and voice were gone, yet she could hear Gloria. Her burned body shivered. However, Gloria heard a sound behind her and turned around to see what it was.