Chapter 113 113 – Memories

A soft voice rang in his ears.

"Suzuka, are you sure about this? I know that you are sad because you just lost your husband, but sealing his memories without even telling Marcus is…"

"Yes, Dragon King. I want to do this so he grows up without the burden of being the most wanted person in the Supernatural World. I want him to be ready and understand his position when he finds out about his origin."

"But that would make him weak. This lady can protect her future husband without any problem."

"Fufufu, I appreciate that. However, my father will definitely protect him. Did you forget about my specialty? It will not be permanent. His memories will return if he's ready and meets a certain condition. I want you to help him at that time."

"This lady doesn't mind." The Dragon King said as she looked at him. No, at the young him who slept on the bed with a rough breath, gasping for air.

Kai stood at the corner of the room, looking at the beautiful woman with long black hair stroking his forehead with a loving gaze. He knew who that was. It was her mother. And the kid that lay on the bed was the young him.

'What is this? My memories?'

He didn't expect the Dragon King to be here, with him and his mother, while Marcus was nowhere to be seen. Still, he was sure that this wasn't a dream. This was a memory. His memories, to be exact.

'Yeah, this is my memory. So was Mother the one who sealed it? I remembered it all now.'

The woman, Suzuka, stopped caressing him and looked at the Dragon King. He knew and was familiar with who she was.

"Also…" Suzuka started, a worried expression on her face. Her hands trembled in fear as the Dragon King looked at her with a calm gaze. "I am afraid my kid will be consumed in anger. I don't want him to blame himself for being a target of the monster, creatures, and anyone who targeted him. I want to hide him."

"…"

The Dragon King didn't say anything. Kai tried to move from where he was to have a better look at his mother's expression, but he couldn't.

From what he remembered in the past few years, his parents died at the same time in a different place. But looking at his returned memories indicated otherwise. He lost his father first to the Boogeymen before losing his mother.

'What actually happened?'

The anger he felt when he saw his father's body being used by the Boogeymen changed into a mild curiosity about what actually happened to him when he was a child. Even with his returned memories, there were still some mysteries that he didn't know.

"So…" Suzuka continued as tears came down her cheek. "Will you teach him when he understands everything? Will you watch over him for me?"

"This lady doesn't understand." The Dragon King responded. "That's what this lady planned to do, but… I don't understand why you said all of this without using WE. You talked as if you couldn't watch over him."

A pained laugh escaped Suzuka's mouth at the Dragon King's words.

"You're really unfair, Ao." For the first time, she called the Dragon King's name. "You know very well that I need to return to the Ashiya family after losing my husband. That's the deal I have with them, after all. That's why I want to hide Kai. I don't want him to get involved in our business."

"I see… What will you do to Marcus?"

"I will make my father promise me not to tell anything to Kai. Knowing his personality, I know he wanted to train his grandson to be the best exorcist. Fufufufu. Even if he's like that, he's really soft inside, you know?"

Kai listened to their conversation while narrowing his eyes slightly. Boogeymen, Ashiya family. He knew that something was up with his family when Marcus didn't take him to the main house after he lost both his parents.

At first, he thought it was because the old man didn't want to remember his mother's death. But it seemed like there was something bigger hidden from him.

Maybe that was also why grandpa Hyobe asked him to visit the main house with Marcus in the near future and not immediately. That old man knew something. Maybe he also knew what caused his mother's death too.

And strangely… Kai felt calm knowing these things. He didn't even feel anger, just curiosity and a desire to learn about them. Of course, he would be angry and hate anyone who caused his parents' death, but…

'I see.'

He understood why he felt that way.

'It's my memories. I have already had these feelings since the start, so I can take it calmly.'

While he wasn't confident, he could keep this calm when he went to the Ashiya family's main house, grateful that his anger didn't consume him again. He knew that being consumed in anger only made him lose control over himself.

If anything, he still hated the Boogeymen more than ever now that he knew the reason for his fixation. By extension was the Memento Mori.

But with his current strength and skill, it would be difficult to extract his desire for revenge. He would just be overpowered by his opponent.

Even if he had a big reserve of Spirit Power and many kinds of powers from his contract with Amber and Ibaraki, it would be useless if their combined power hurt him. He also wasted a lot of Spirit Power due to the lack of his control.

So what he needed to do right now was to train himself.

'How do I wake up from this?'

He had seen enough. The dream repeated itself, and he wanted to wake up now.

'Would pinching myself work?'

In many stories and movies, pinching oneself in a dream would usually work to wake up. Punching may be more common, but he didn't want to risk it with his strength.

However, those things weren't necessary because someone assisted him from outside.

[It's time for you to wake up, my dear husband.]

A soft but dominating voice rang inside his mind. It belonged to Ao, the Dragon King.

His consciousness felt like it was flying, robbed from the dream. Darkness filled his vision as he felt something soft replace the gloomy feeling. He felt it on his back and on his arms.

"Ugh…"

Slowly, he opened his eyes with a groan. His body refused to move as if it was being tied by something. He felt something hugging his whole body, something soft and squishy.

And when he fully opened his eyes, he saw a beautiful face and a pair of sharp golden eyes looking at him. A soft and warm smile decorated it. They were on a bed with a white canopy, hiding what was inside from the outside world.

"You finally woke up. This lady has been waiting for so long." Ao whispered into his ear, and she squirmed, raising her naked body.

Her breasts bounced as she turned to him, not even hiding her perfect body with bountiful breasts. Her long blue hair fell onto her back, hiding her lines from his sight. He was finally freed and could move again, but he had a single question.

"Why are we naked?"