The Goddess' Champion

The day had come, several weeks later and the two of them went in the carriage with the three children onwards towards a Noble Family called the Parcival Family... that was the saddest day of her life and she knew her son's life too.

Every second was eternal as if Toki was mercilessly pulling the strings of time to make her pain longer. He probably was.

She looked at her son's visage, he hadn't looked at her even once. Sad, outraged, possibly disappointed in her... maybe a big chunk of that boundless love he felt for her just disintegrated.

The kids were confused, they could feel their parent's eeriness, Katherine tried to pull daddy's sleeve and as a response he held her tightly in his arms, caressing her hair, her big eyes looked at him in wonder as if asking 'Daddy? are you okay?'

Likewise, Gerald and Casper clung to Isabella who received them with tears in her eyes, unlike Constantine at least she tried to smile and play.

She, the goddess, was okay with it. So long as these children had a normal life with normal parents. Sometimes sacrifices had to be made to do what was correct, even if Isabella twisted in reprieve inside her.

"Hi!"

They met the family of two, deep friends of Stella.

The loving couple had been married for two years, unlike most forced marriages of novelty, this was one of those rare cases where the couple actually loved each other.

"Count Lionheart... it is a pleasure to have you here."

"Thanks to you, Orloff, Justine..." He greet the couple and so did Isabella who covered her hair with a mantle, mostly to not be discovered by onlookers since this couple was already aware of the situation from Stella.

"What a cute trio of children!" The moment the couple saw the kids, they were immediately delighted, picking them up.

Casper, Gerald and Katherine had no shortage of people that wanted to play with them, they were used to being spoiled, so seeing these unknown people suddenly picking them up wasn't so strange, daddy was always there to protect them from anything wrong.

"I want to check up on your place..." Constantine said coldly, the moment he saw his beloved Katherine being picked up by this man and smiling... he felt like killing people. Like something was being stolen from him.

"Please feel free to check the entire mansion, we were told... by Queen Stella." Justine knew what their worries were... when they initially heard it they couldn't believe it.

The Future King had children with his mother, Isabella Greenwood, their heads would roll for telling this secret; it would be the confirmation to many rumours which would outrage the entire Kingdom and perhaps even foreign Kingdoms.

But they were also requested to take care of the babies since Justine was sterile and they were already looking for a child to adopt anyway.

The moment Justine saw those three kids with shining silver hair, she immediately wanted them!

Constantine checked everyone, every maid, every butler, every corner, every knife... the moment he saw any single drop of evil in his house, he would take his children away and use this as an excuse to change his mother's mind.

Nova knew his intentions, she clenched her fist and allowed him, leaving her children in a bad family wasn't her intention either.

They couldn't find anything.

"So..." Justine fidgeted, hoping the decision would be positive, she wanted to take care of these children!

It had been merely two weeks since she stopped breastfeeding them, any more and they would grow attached, that was one of Nova's fears.

She stepped forward with tears in her eyes, "K-Katherine likes apples a bit... cut down in tiny pieces."

"Hmn..." They listened attentively.

"Casper likes playing hide and seek, try to not find him too fast or he will get sad." Constantine said.

"Hmm.."

"Gerald... he's quite calm. Please, he might be introverted in the future, give him a lot of love and books, p-please." By the time she finished, Isabella couldn't hold her tears and grief, this was the right family.

Perhaps... deep inside... she wanted them to be evil just so she could take her children and her man away from here, but from start to finish she saw nothing but love in this house, even the maids looked happy to work here... Stella had sent them to the right place.

"Please rest assured! we will be the best parents this child can have! you don't need to cover any expen-"

"I'll cover my child's expenses... and there is no second saying about this..." Constantine interrupted them and when Nova saw him, she felt like her heart was burning slowly.

He was there, standing straight like always, resembling an unmovable log. The strongest knight, but the tears wouldn't stop coming out of his eyes as he resisted the urge to kneel and break. The couple understood that he didn't want to completely give away his parenthood, he wanted at least something that would still connect him to these children even if it was just money.

"I also hope... you will allow me to visit, son... please don't treat them coldly, they're not bad people." She placed her hand on his shoulder, and her second shock came... when he flung her hand aside coldly.

!!!

Constantine knelt down in front of a cracking Isabella.

"Kath, Cas, Gerald... c'mere."

The children immediately recognised the leader of the pack and ran back to him. Constantine embraced them tightly and cried, he cried his heart out.

The scene was so moving and sad, that no one in this room wasn't crying as they saw it.

Whether it be Nova or Isabella... she was devastated, second-guessing her own decision, wondering why she didn't think that her son wouldn't be this affected... his reaction was a lot worse than she imagined, he wouldn't be the same after this.

After having embraced them enough, he smiled in between sobs.

"Wanna play hide and seek?~"

'Please don't do this...' She churned.

The kids hurriedly nodded and went to one of the walls to begin counting, they loved to play hide and seek with daddy.

"You have to count to a hundred, alright?~" They heard, but the childish and loving tonality of his voice didn't correspond to his cold heart.

"Thank you for trusting us." Orloff also with tears in his eyes, extended his hand forward.

Constantine shook it and nodded, "I don't want to threaten you... I don't want you to raise my children as if it was an obligation, love them as if they're yours, please... I have never requested anything from anyone before. Just love them... I didn't have a father... and I hope they don't go through the same. As for your family, you have my full protection." Those words were said by the future King, this family wouldn't ever be touched.

"Rest assured, Constantine..." Both Orloff and Justine hugged him before Constantine took his mother's wrist and began departing with heavy steps, each step more painful the more he got closer to the door and once it closed behind him, his heart tore open, leaving a big gap that would never again be closed.

The two left a part of themselves in this house.

"98."

"99."

"100!"

The kids turned around to find their daddy and mommy... but they would never find them.

"You hate me don't you?" She asked inside the carriage but only silence answered.

"..."

"P-please, hug me! This hurts for me too!" She requested amidst a despaired cascade of tears, but... he didn't hear her for a brief moment.

"..."

It was afterwards that his lifeless gaze finally turned towards her before he encircled her around the waist and pulled her close, no words were exchanged and only sobs resounded in this gloomy carriage.