Lackey's Seducing Survival Odyssey

Chapter 1444: H-He is... cursed!

"Different? How so?"

Sandra slowed her steps, turning slightly as the word left her lips.

"Yes," Aria replied, her brows drawn together. "She seemed to be acting like she had a fight with Aether or something."

Aqualina nodded slowly, "Yes, Mom... Even from a distance, I saw her. She was acting like she was remembering old things. Like the time she was surprised to learn about Kai, and even Selene." She lifted her hand and pointed lightly toward Selene, whose eyes widened for a moment before she frowned.

"What do you mean?" Sandra asked.

Aria shrugged, "We don’t know exactly. She didn’t explain anything. She just felt... off. Like trying to remember you all"

Helena spoke next, "Also, Aether hurt Empress Mary before Lia. That alone would have been enough to enrage her. Combined with everything else, it explains why she reacted the way she did."

Everyone halted their steps at once.

Now it made sense.

Not completely... But enough for the pieces to begin aligning.

As they resumed walking, Aria added softly, "But I gave her the Engagement Invitation. If she comes... I think we will finally get our answer. One way or another."

Maelona’s lips curved into a weak, conflicted smile. "For that to happen, Aether needs to wake first." She exhaled softly. "Honestly, I am thinking of postponing the Engagement. The only reason I am hesitating is because I will have to face the Elders. They will not stay silent if Aether is absent. They will question everything, and they will not be kind about it."

The group fell into a heavy silence.

Faces that once carried ease now hardened with worry and restraint.

Sandra finally spoke, "Anything else?"

Those who had gone to the Void exchanged glances, their expressions darkening as unspoken memories surfaced.

"There is new technology," Aqualina said at last, her tone grim. "Things we have never seen before."

"They are building castles with it," Aria added, her jaw tightening. "Not structures of stone and tradition, but something metallic."

"Everything looks different," Raven said, "Too different."

"It is obvious," Helena said, her eyes narrowing. "They are linked to the Terra."

Sera, Sandra, Dora, and Xara nodded in unison.

None of them liked where this was heading.

They needed a way out of this mess. Or at least a way to understand it.

Once that metallic thing began to speak, they might be able to gather fragments of truth from whatever it revealed.

Sandra turned toward Aria, studying her carefully. "Tell me something. You know Aether’s language, right?"

Aria nodded slowly. "Not fluently. Not like him. But... I learned enough. Enough to recognise and write it."

"That will do," Sandra said, her voice firm. "Once that thing wakes up, I need you ready. Prepare the words we need to hear. The right ones."

Aria nodded again, her expression thoughtful.

"I will help her," Maelona added quietly. Then she frowned, a question surfacing at last. "Where is your mother, Kaelen? I have not received a single word from her."

Kaelen gave a weak smile, "I do not know."

As much as he wanted to say that they were connected to Aether and talking together easily, unlike him, who could only hear directly.... but he shut his mouth.

They continued walking until they reached the room ahead, where two unconscious figures were inside.

Sera looked around at everyone, "I will check on him," she said, lifting her hand slightly to turn the knob when,

"HUH? The fuck!!"

Every woman shouted in unison, voices overlapping in pure disbelief and outrage, the sound echoing through the corridor before Sera could even take a step forward.

Dora chuckled under her breath, shaking her head in quiet amusement. She knew it was impossible for them to control themselves, not when curiosity and worry were burning this fiercely inside them.

Especially the younger ones. They were barely holding themselves back. Look at their restless bodies, tense as if one word away from charging the door.

Sera let out a tired sigh and glanced at Sandra and the others. Their expressions said everything. The girls had worked hard, pushed themselves beyond reason, and denying them now would only earn resentment that would linger far longer than it should.

After a moment, Sera nodded weakly in resignation. "Fine," she said. "I will go first. Then, one by one, you can come inside. Slowly. Okay?"

Everyone nodded furiously, eagerness written all over their faces.

Thud.

Sera reached for the knob and turned it. As the door parted and her eyes adjusted to the room beyond, her face froze mid-step, surprise flashing across her features.

"Oh?" she murmured.

The others leaned forward instantly, trying to peer past her shoulder.

"What?"

"Mine?"

"What happened?"

"Did he wake up?"

"Husband~!"

However,

Inside the room, Liora stood near the bed, her posture tense as she held Delphine in her arms. Delphine had awakened, but only barely.

Her body looked fragile, drained, and trembling with lingering pain.

When Delphine’s weak eyes fell upon the others, her lips parted with pain. Her expression twisted, pain and fear flickering together as she forced out a few broken words.

"H-He is... cursed," she whispered, her voice barely audible, strained by pain and fear.

Her body slackened immediately after the words left her lips. Whatever strength remained vanished at once, her head falling against Liora’s shoulder as she fainted again, completely unconscious in her arms.

Everyone pushed forward without a hint of hesitation or restraint. The first to move was Helena, who shoved Sera aside with blunt urgency, her reaction purely instinctive.

She did not even spare Sera a glance as she rushed deeper into the room, eyes fixed on Aether, who was still covered under the quilt, only his face.

Sera staggered back a step, staring blankly at Helena’s figure, momentarily stunned by the sheer force and lack of warning.

She had no time to react before the others followed.

"AETHER!"

"ARRH!!"

Everyone started screaming when they saw his dried body... and tears and cries spread.

They tried grab him, but Sandra halted them, saying, "Do not disturb him... He is weak now"

Everyone halted and cried even more, surrounding Aether without disturbing him.

This was their first time seeing... Aether was so weak and powerless!

"These girls..." she muttered under her breath, half exasperated, half resigned, as Dora quickly reached out and helped her regain her balance, pulling her upright with a firm grip.

"Mother? What are you doing here?" Kaelen asked, his voice edged with genuine surprise as he turned toward Liora.

She was holding Delphine carefully as she lowered her back onto the bed, making sure her head and shoulders were supported.

Liora answered with a calm tone, "What? I cannot visit my husband?"

Kaelen managed a faint smile and immediately stepped back, instinct telling him not to linger. He could sense it clearly now... Clam? Fuck! His mother was angry!!

Definitely not at him. Still, that distinction did not matter.

He had no intention of standing in her way or risking her temper as he joined others to see his father.

Maelona asked softly, "What happened? When did you arrive? Did Delphine wake up at any point?"

Liora shook her head slowly. "I came hours ago. I was watching my husband when she suddenly woke up, crying and calling out for our husband. She tried to stand on her own, but her legs gave out, and she collapsed, so I caught her... Then you all arrived"

Emberlyn blinked, "Wait... hours? Does that mean you were staring at him the entire time?"

Liora turned her gaze toward Emberlyn, "Is there a problem?"

Emberlynfrowned, finally noticing the barely restrained rage simmering beneath Liora’s composed exterior, as if it were pressing hard against a fragile wall.

Sensing the shift immediately, Maelona placed a gentle hand on Liora’s shoulder and spoke softly, trying to ground her.

"He is fine. Okay? He just needed rest. His body endured too much at once."

Liora’s eyes trembled despite her rigid posture. She bit her lip hard, struggling to maintain control.

The image of her husband’s severed yet living arm burned into her thoughts, as though mocking her helplessness.

Her chest tightened with horror when she remembered his pale, dried skin. It had looked lifeless.

As if death had already claimed him and simply forgotten to finish the task.

She nodded slowly. Then she asked, her voice turning cold,

"Who did this?"

No one spoke.

They did not know who was responsible.

Sera, who was kneeling beside Delphine and carefully channelling her healing ability into her weakened body,

"Only she can tell us the truth now."