Chương 160: Chapter 150 - The Lost Child

Amber - Several Minutes Prior"I swear I'm not cheating on you with other babies, Amber," Chelsea said with a giggle. She looked exhausted. Several loose strands of hair clung to the side of her face. Belle rested against her chest while Aurora slept against Auntie A, wrapped tightly in a blanket.

"Oh, gods, Chels. You have babies now too?" Fiona quietly exclaimed. Amber barely paid attention to her mother's reaction. Her focus remained on the two tiny girls. She knew it was strange, considering her own circumstances, but she desperately wanted to hold one. They looked impossibly small, even from her current perspective.

"I do. It's a sad story, how they came to be mine, but they are." Chelsea nodded toward the sleeping baby.

"That's Aurora, and this is Belle." She looked down at Amber.

"And before you say anything, no, I'm not creative. I needed solid princess names." Amber tried to laugh, but the sound came out as a wet gurgle. Chelsea's smile widened.

"Seriously. Speaking of which, I have something for you, Amber." She gestured toward a stack of books near the side of the room.

"I know you hate studying, but you're a baby who can literally read. I doubt a baby toy will keep you entertained. These are the seven basic schools of magic, along with basic magic theory. Before you say anything, Fia…"

"I'd prefer she didn't," Fiona interrupted. Amber looked up at her mother. Why was Fiona against magic? Was it simply because her entire life revolved around following Freya's teachings? Amber understood that her parents valued strength and direct combat, but refusing to let her learn about an entire part of this world seemed excessive and downright stupid.

"Hear me out," Chelsea pleaded.

"I get that you're trying to help, Chelsea, but no daughter of mine is going to be a do-nothing mage."

"Not a mage, Fiona," Chelsea said, desperately trying to reason with her.

"Let her get a grasp on aspects of this world while she's literally doing nothing." Chelsea had a point. Amber couldn't walk, talk, or even sit up without help. Reading was one of the few productive things she could actually do. Though, the thought of becoming an all-powerful mage also sounded incredibly badass.

"Chels, I love you. I love what you're doing. I even love how passionate you are about it. But no. Mages are just cowards who hide behind flashy spells and run when faced with any real threat." Chelsea rubbed at her eyes.

"Fine. Fine. But put something in front of her, and not just tales of Freya and the Valkyr. Something of substance. Something she can learn. A profession? Something?" She gestured weakly toward the books.

"Take them, at least. You don't have to give them to her, but have them available as an option. Talk to Dewey. Or maybe even Talk to my Mother. Adriane Wixx? You know, the Silver fucking Sword, who doesn't run away from anything and uses fucking spells!" Belle stirred against Chelsea's chest. Auntie A remained silent while she watched the exchange. Chelsea stopped and looked down at Belle. She gently rocked the newborn until she settled again.

"Sorry," Chelsea whispered to Fiona.

"You didn't deserve that. Today has been an incredibly stressful day, and it's getting to me."

"I understand. I almost killed Dewey those first few days. I love him, but the man snores like a boar in heat." Fiona studied Chelsea's face.

"You're the Holy Empress, though. Are you going to get some help at night? Maybe a wet nurse?" Chelsea scoffed.

"I wish. Nope and all thanks to these things." Chelsea lifted her right breast through her clothing and let it drop.

"Pure-blooded elves have to nurse from someone who follows a completely vegan diet. Elf wet nurses aren't a thing, since elves give birth so rarely. Guess who lactates and has a completely vegan diet." Chelsea raised one hand.

"The gods I've spoken to don't believe fate is real, but Bodarex is. I'm starting to think that asshole had something to do with all of this."

"Amber is still not going to be a mage, Chels," Fiona said. Amber stared up at her mother. She appreciated Fiona gathering the books, but her refusal to even consider magic was becoming irritating. Amber was trapped in a body that couldn't speak, and the two of them were discussing her future as though she weren't present.

"I never said mage. Edgar is a spellblade, and he's A-rank in both the Adventurers' and Assassins' Guilds."

"Start her with something light, like necromancy, and work her way up." She snickered quietly to herself.

"That was a joke. Don't start her on necromancy."

"Can I offer you any help with these two?" Fiona asked. She picked up the books one at a time and pushed them into her bag. Amber watched each one disappear, amazed by the magic of the bag and relieved that her mother hadn't rejected them entirely.

"Yeah," Chelsea replied.

"Question. How do you get them to sleep longer?" There was a light knock on the door. Chelsea looked over, along with the others. Aurora? The one Auntie A was holding… began stirring. Chelsea called out quietly, "Come in." The door opened and two people stood in the doorway. The first, the fairy girl from the entryway of the cathedral, bounded in excitedly. She approached Chelsea.

"Oh gods, they are so adorable wrapped up in blankets." She said quietly. The other girl hovered at the entrance for a bit. She was doing some sort of stretches… which was… weird. She looked too young to have back pain.

"Can I hold her?" Samantha asked Chelsea, completely ignoring everyone else in the room.

"Of course, I could use a break." She passed the baby off to Samantha as the other girl approached.

"Mom, this is Samantha" What was the other girl's name again? Mira? Too many fucking names. How did Chelsea keep up with them all?

"And this is one of the ones I was telling you about. This is Knight Princess Kira Wixx." Kira! That was it. Amber noticed something interesting. Kira had a weird resemblance to Auntie A. Same hair color. Same nose. Similar browline. Their eyes were pretty different but the rest was crazy. If Amber didn't know better, she'd think the two were sisters or something.

"Kira and Samantha." Chelsea said, breaking Amber's train of thought. Chelsea started doing that lovably cringe royal British voice "This is the great and powerful Adriane Wi…" She stopped and Amber felt her mother breath in deeply. Auntie A was watching the girl but her necklace was doing a weird glowy thing. Chelsea dashed across the room and pull Kira into a hug. Spinning her in a circle. Auntie A watched with a smile on her face as the necklace dimmed and went out.

Chelsea finally put the girl down halfway across the room and put both hands on her cheeks.

"Wow. Wow wow wow. I'm an idiot. Holy shit. Look at you."

"Did I do something wrong?" Kira asked.

"Nope. You're perfect. You're… You're beyond perfect. Chelsea put one arm around the girl's shoulders, turning to the rest of the group.

"Hey, Aunt Fia, do you mind holding Aurora for a minute?" Amber just noticed something. Her mother was shaking. She was… Trembling?

"Of course not." She replied quickly. Auntie A looked legitimately confused by what was happening.

"Hand her off and come here for a sec, mom." Chelsea demanded and was beaming from ear to ear. Auntie A did just that, she handed off the baby. Then turned back to the two.

"You said she's a Knight Princess?" Adriane asked, walking toward the two.

"Is that her class or is that her… her…" She looked down and from this angle, Amber could tell her necklace was glowing again. Slowly. Painfully slowly, her head rose. Chelsea was nearly vibrating with excitement. Kira on the other hand looked like she wanted to bolt. She was as confused as Amber.

"Is… is it…" Auntie A asked in a shaky voice. Chelsea swallowed and nodded a few times.

"Kira." Chelsea said.

"It would seem that… I adopted you as my daughter, when… When you should have been adopted into the Wixx family, as my sister." Auntie A stepped forward and wrapped Kira up in a hug. The knight princess stilled looked incredibly confused. So was Amber. She was missing some detail. Auntie A, Chelsea, and Amber's mom were all crying. Chelsea and Adriane were hugging the still very confused girl but she was taking it in stride. Finally, after a few moments, Chelsea backed away and explained.

"Kira, Adriane Wixx is your birth mother. Until very recently, she thought you had died." Ah! Ahhh! Amber finally got it. Aww. That was a cute moment then. Chelsea Chelsea stared at the two of them. Her eyes were wide, and at some point she had taken a step backward without realizing it. The pendant hanging from Adriane's neck was glowing brightly now that Kira stood so close to her. There was no longer any room for doubt about what it meant.

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Her mother was looking Kira over as though she was trying to take in every detail at once. Her eyes moved across the girl's face, her hair, her shoulders, then back to her face again. Tears streamed freely down the Silver Sword's cheeks. Chelsea gave them a few minutes. Adriane didn't seem to know what to do with her hands. She would lift one slightly as though she wanted to touch Kira, then stop herself and let it fall again.

Kira wasn't doing much better. She stood frozen beneath all that attention. As the initial shock began to wear off, Chelsea cleared her throat. They needed to have a discussion. She turned toward the others in the room.

"Samantha and Aunt Fia, can you watch those two for a few minutes until I can get Elize or Lindsey or one of the other matrons to come take over?" Both women nodded without hesitation. Strangely, neither of them had much to say. The entire room seemed subdued after what had just happened. Chelsea's eyes drifted toward the babies in Fiona's arms and settled on Amber.

"I'll explain later." She started toward the bedroom door. Chelsea had so much to explain to Amber. Her best friend seriously needed to hurry up and grow older so they could have actual conversations again. Communicating with blinks and baby noises was feeling inadequate for the amount of insanity happening around them. Liam fell into step behind her, followed by Adriane and Kira. Chelsea spotted one of the matrons crossing the courtyard outside her room and stopped long enough to explain what was happening.

The young woman wasn't one of Chelsea's adopted children. She had never been an orphan at all, just someone Chelsea had hired to help care for the rapidly expanding number of children in the cathedral. The moment Chelsea finished explaining, the matron hurried toward the room. Chelsea continued on. She led them to the same meeting room where she had originally adopted Kira. Chelsea moved ahead of everyone and quickly pulled out two chairs. One for Kira and one for her mother. Chelsea glanced from one to the other.

They weren't holding hands. Adriane wasn't touching Kira at all after that initial hug, which was nothing like what Chelsea had expected after watching her mother spend years believing her daughter was dead. Then again, this was Adriane. There was the famous Adriane awkwardness. Chelsea smiled to herself as Kira sat in the chair she had pulled out for her. Adriane followed more slowly and took the seat beside her.

Sir Liam moved toward the wall near the door and assumed his usual position while Chelsea walked around to the other side of the table. She was beyond excited about everything that had happened. Kira was her sister. Her mother had found the daughter she had believed murdered. There was a very real part of Chelsea that wanted to run around the room screaming about how incredible this was. Unfortunately, there were also things they needed to discuss. Chelsea cleared her throat and tried to decide where to begin.

"First off. Congratulations, Mom." Adriane started crying again. Chelsea winced sympathetically. Apparently that had been the wrong place to start if the goal was getting through the conversation without another emotional breakdown.

"Okay, so," Kira finally said. Chelsea turned her attention toward her. Kira wasn't reacting nearly as emotionally as Chelsea would have expected. She looked stunned more than anything else. Her expression was full of disbelief, and she kept glancing toward Adriane.

"So my birth mother is Adriane Wixx."

"Yes. That's correct." Chelsea nodded.

"You said she thought I was dead because her dad sold me? And I guess told her he killed me?"

"Right again," Chelsea said. Kira looked down at the table.

"Wow. Does…" She cleared her throat before continuing.

"Does she, umm… Would she still want me?" Chelsea stared at her for a moment before laughing. She noted Adriane was still crying.

"That necklace around her neck… She used a djinn to wish for that necklace specifically to find you. Now that she found you, do you think she'd be like…

'nah, nevermind?'" Kira looked back toward Chelsea and hung on every word. The tension in her face eased slightly.

"So, like… Does that mean she's going to adopt me again? Or… is it really adoption if she is my mother?"

"That's one of the things I'd like to discuss, if that's okay." Chelsea directed the question toward Adriane. Her mother nodded.

"How do we do this?" Chelsea smiled warmly at the matriarch of the Wixx family.

"My suggestion is we don't change anything at all." Adriane's face became serious and confused.

"But she's my…"

"Daughter… yes," Chelsea finished.

"You know that. I know that. But… the system doesn't recognize that, and I'd like to keep it that way. Something tells me her class is one of those that is possibly unbalanced. Like, I bet it's super overpowered and she could gain from it so, so much this early in her life. But if we rush to switch her to your daughter in the system… I don't actually know what happens to her class. She would technically no longer be a princess. She's already lost her slave… stuff."

Chelsea waved one hand in the air, struggling to remember the exact word she was looking for. Whatever. Slave stuff covered it.

"So you're suggesting what?" Kira asked. The moment the words left her mouth, she stiffened. Kira had apparently realized that the question had sounded snippier than she intended. She was sitting across from her current mother, who also happened to be the Holy Empress, while beside the birth mother she had met only minutes ago. Chelsea didn't care.

"What I'm suggesting is you stay my daughter in the system." Adriane began to react, but Chelsea raised one hand before she could get far.

"But… but everywhere else, you are the daughter of Adriane Wixx. That way you keep your class. If for no other reason than she gets a percentage boost to her stats for every other 'sibling' she has." Chelsea raised both hands and made air quotes around the word sibling.

"If she switched to you as her mother…" Chelsea continued, turning toward Adriane, "the only thing that would directly change is in The Eyes, which, let me remind you, you don't have…" She laughed softly.

"It won't even say directly that she's your daughter. It will just list her in mine and Amber's generation. I say we move forward calling her my sister and your daughter, but the system doesn't need to know that." Adriane leaned back in thought. Chelsea could practically watch her working through the logic.

"I hate how good you are at making points. I want her to be my daughter in every sense of the word, as she is… my daughter. But if being listed as yours gains her advantages…" Adriane paused and rubbed beneath her nose with the back of her hand. Her eyes were still red from crying. Finally, she nodded.

"I can agree to that."

"Great!" Chelsea smiled and nodded enthusiastically. One problem solved. Now for the considerably more awkward one.

"Next is something that I have been really thinking about." She took a deep breath.

"I need you to continue living in Junstruce." Both Adriane and Kira whipped their heads toward her. Chelsea raised her hands.

"Well, it doesn't have to be Junstruce. It can really be any kingdom… just not the Holy Empire." Kira narrowed her eyes.

"Why?" Chelsea leaned forward slightly and rested her arms against the table.

"One of my Empress abilities gives me the stats of the strongest resident in my kingdom. That would be my baseline. My Valkyr ability would multiply that by four. Let's just say I would become a world-destroying threat. With us still not knowing the details on what this godbeast looks like, it would be best not to turn me into it.

If it comes down to it and we need me to become even more powerful to take it on, we can always have Mom become a resident, and that will hopefully boost me enough to take care of whatever the threat is."

"What's a god beast?" Kira asked, intrigued.

"Long story. I'll tell you another time." Chelsea snickered. Adriane stared at her for several seconds.

"You're worried about the power going to your head, aren't you?" Chelsea hadn't expected her to get there quite that quickly.

"Ah… yeah. Honestly, that's part of it too. I need some sort of…" She sighed.

"If I start becoming like the previous Empress, I may need you to put me down if you can." Chelsea glanced toward her mother.

"Though, I'm pretty sure my stats are on par or even greater than yours now when I max them out." This time Adriane was the one who looked surprised.

"Wow. That's impressive." Chelsea felt a little spark of pride at the reaction.

"So wait…" Kira cut in.

"I meet my birth mother and you say she needs to go live in some other kingdom? But…" Her voice became more strained as she spoke. Chelsea watched the excitement and disbelief from earlier begin shifting toward frustration. She understood why. From Kira's perspective, she had discovered that her biological mother was alive, had wanted her all along, and had spent years trying to find her. Then, within the same conversation, Chelsea had announced that Adriane couldn't even live in the same empire.

"We have a family home in Junstruce," Adriane explained.

"As long as it's fine with Chelsea, I'd like to bring you back with me. Not forever…" She paused.

"But I would like to spend some time with you." Chelsea's face lit up.

"Please do!" The words came out much louder than she intended. Kira and Adriane needed time together that didn't involve Chelsea sitting between them.

"I'm not sure that she can be gone forever, though…" Chelsea turned toward Liam.

"Any idea if the light coming from her will kill her like it would me if she's gone too long?"

"I don't… know," he replied slowly.

"My guess is it wouldn't. Lady Freya confirmed that she isn't actually a divine being, and I do believe that is what actually kills you."

"Ah, that makes sense. Well, it would be an interesting experiment." She smiled at Kira.

"Better you than me, little sis." Chelsea barked out a laugh.

"If you start feeling any sort of way… tired, drained, sore… you come back immediately. Do you understand?" Kira nodded. Some of the frustration had already disappeared from her expression, replaced by growing excitement at the idea of leaving the Holy Empire with Adriane.

"Yes, of course, mo… er… Your Grace?" Chelsea groaned.

"Ugh. Chelsea…" Actually, there was an even better option.

"Actually? Chels. As the leader of the Holy Empire, I order you, my subject and member of my order of Holy Knights… to call me Chels." Chelsea shook her head.

"We're literally sisters now. It would be super weird for you to constantly call me Your Grace."

"Right. Chels."

"Nice." Chelsea grinned. That sounded much better.

"All right, so now that that's settled, do you two want to head out now? I can get you some cards to the Merchants' Guild in Junstruce." Amber So, Amber's mother wasn't overbearing when it came to religion. She was only overbearing about class selection, one of the decisions that could shape Amber's entire life in this world. Fiona had arranged Chelsea's books across the dining room table after they returned home.

Amber sat nearby while her mother waited for Dewey, occasionally opening one of the books before closing it again with visible frustration.

"Afternoon, pretty ladies," Dewey said as he entered the room. He leaned down to kiss Fiona, then noticed the books covering the table.

"What's this?"

"This," Fiona said, spreading one hand toward the assortment of essential fantasy-world knowledge, "is Chelsea's doing."

"Okay?" he asked, confused.

"She wants Amber to learn magic," Fiona said slowly while dragging one hand down her face.

"Why?" Dewey picked up one of the books and flipped through several pages. Whatever he saw meant nothing to him. He closed it and returned it to the table.

"Did she give good reason?" Fiona dropped into one of the chairs.

"It's Chelsea. Of course she did. She gave incredible reasons. I argued against them, and I felt like a gods-damned child arguing with a scholar."

"What reasons?"

"I've tried repeating what she said, but the way she says things makes sense. The way I repeat them is so…" Fiona looked down at Amber.

"Was she like that back in your world?" Amber finally managed a proper giggle. She stared back at her mother, hoping that was enough of an answer. Fiona smiled at the sound, though the stress remained clear across her face. She looked toward Dewey.

"What do you think?"

"In one year, Littlest Niece took the Wixxes from millions of gold in debt to becoming the Empress of the Holy Empire. Everything works out for Chelsea. Hate to say it, but you might want to take her advice." Fiona's mouth tightened. She had clearly hoped Dewey would support her without question. Instead, even he thought refusing Chelsea outright was a mistake.

"And you?" she asked, looking down at Amber. Amber extended one open hand toward the books and stared up at her mother. She wanted them.

"I don't want you to be a mage, though. When you come of age, you'll choose a weapon. You'll learn to use that weapon and incorporate it into your class. Do you understand me?" Fiona's voice had changed. She had never used that tone with Amber before. It wasn't playful. Her mother had made a decision and expected Amber to obey it. Amber stared up at her. She understood.

She also understood that if she somehow became a magical prodigy before she was old enough to hold a weapon, her mother would eventually have to concede the point. Fiona continued watching her in silence.

"I still need to think about it. But it's a no until you can at least sit on your own and turn pages." That seemed fair enough. Amber looked back toward the books spread across the table. Their covers were beautifully decorated, and each contained knowledge she desperately needed. They weren't just a source of entertainment in a life that is staring at ceilings and having old ladies wiggle their fingers in her face. They might be the key to her survival in this world. So dramatic.