CHAPTER 147: REPULSION

"Even now," she whispered, "if you were to repeat that same mistake again... I would punish you again."

Merisa’s voice dropped to a chilling calm, her eyes never leaving Razeal’s.

"And even if you did not stop... I would kill you by my own hand." Her tone began soft, almost tender, but sharpened with each word until it was as hard as steel. "Even if I had to live with the guilt for the rest of my life, I would do it. And I mean every word."

Her gaze did not waver. Calm, steady, unwavering a declaration not born of hatred but of principle.

For now, she ignored everything else. She ignored his severed arm clutched in his other hand, the blood dripping down his torn body, the deep carved letters etched into his chest, the countless scars that screamed of torment. She ignored even the pearl embedded in his forehead the very proof that he had ripped his bloodline essence free, a deed that should have killed him.

All of it, she pushed aside. Not because she didn’t care. Gods, she cared more than words could express. But because she knew if she let herself be pulled into all those questions how he survived, where he had been, who had hurt him, why he had gone so far she would drown in them.

No. The most important matter right now was this.

She needed him to understand her stance. She needed him to hear it directly, with no room for doubt.

Yes, she loved him more than life itself. Yes, she wanted to cradle him, to protect him from the world, to demand answers from the heavens themselves for what he had suffered. But that love did not mean she would turn a blind eye if he walked the wrong path.

She would rather bury her son with pride than live to see him become something vile something that would make even her, his own mother, feel shame and disgust when she looked at him.

Razeal’s lips curled into a bitter snarl, his expression dark.

"And that would be true if I had tried to rape someone," he growled, his face twisting with fury. A vein pulsed on his neck as he spoke. "But I didn’t. I never did. So why the hell should I have received punishment for it?"

The words burst from him before he could stop himself. Deep down, he hadn’t wanted to react or even say anything. But the accusation the eternal weight of that single claim always clawed at him. And standing here before her, he couldn’t hold it back.

Merisa drew in a slow, shaking breath.

"Are you still holding on to that?" she asked, her voice softer now, almost pleading. "Razeal... let it go. You already received your punishment. It’s finished. Done. You don’t need to carry it anymore."

Her voice gentled, the stern edge fading as she spoke like only a mother could. "You don’t need to feel shame about it. It’s alright. Mistakes happen. Everyone stumbles. What matters is you stand up again. I won’t judge you for it anymore. I never wanted you to live under that shadow forever. Please don’t run from it. Don’t bury yourself in it. It’s over. Just forget it"

She stepped closer, her eyes soft, her voice almost breaking.

"No one will hold it against you now. Not me. Not Nova. Not anyone. You are still my son. You will always be my son."

But Razeal’s head snapped up sharply, his eyes burning like storm clouds.

"I said I didn’t do it," he snarled. "And if I said I didn’t.. then I didn’t!" His voice shook with anger, and his expression twisted with something darker. "The punishment you gave me was unreasonable. It was you.. all of you who were wrong. Not me."

His lips curled into a cruel, contradictory smirk as he forced the words out. "Anyways I don’t even care anymore. Not now. You’re all dead to me anyway. Every last one of you. And if you were really a mother, you would’ve believed in me."

The words landed like a blade plunged into Merisa’s chest.

Her lips trembled, but she forced them still.

"Believed in you?" she repeated softly. Her voice was low, but her eyes narrowed sharply. "Do you think I didn’t? Do you think Nova didn’t? We were the first to stand beside you. We were the ones who declared you innocent before anyone else did."

She shook her head, her tone rising, heavy with pain.

"Razeal, we tried. We tried every way we could. Every test, every method, every proof that could be called upon.. we used them all. From the holy church’s sacred trials, to the eyes of truth of your fianc.. No imperial princess herself. Again and again, we searched. Again and again, we fought for you."

Her voice broke, but only for a moment. She steadied it, pushing past the ache in her throat.

"And every single one declared you guilty."

She looked at him, eyes trembling with both fury and grief.

"Do you understand what that did to us? To me? To Nova?" She pressed a trembling hand to her chest. "Do you know what it feels like to put all your faith in someone.. your son, your blood and watch as every test, every truth, tells you that trust is broken?"

Her lips quivered. She wanted to scream. She wanted to hold him. She wanted to shake him until he understood. But she did neither. She swallowed it all down.

"We believed in you until the end," she whispered hoarsely. "We never stopped. But the world shattered that belief. And you.." she clenched her fists, stopping herself before saying more. She shut her eyes tightly, shaking her head as though trying to steady herself before she said something she could never take back.

Silence hung heavy between them.

"So you believed in them more than me?"

Razeal’s voice was calm, almost too calm, and that calmness carried more venom than a scream ever could. His lips twisted into a mocking smirk as he shook his head slowly, eyes locked onto Merisa.

"I grew up with you. With you and Nova. And in the end, you chose to believe in them?"

The words struck like daggers, sharp and merciless.

Merisa’s body tensed. "No," she said quickly, almost desperately. "We didn’t believe in them, Razeal. We trusted the methods.. we.."

But before she could finish, Razeal cut across her, his voice sharp as steel.

"I even told you to read my memories. To look directly and see for yourself if it happened or not. And you refused. You said you couldn’t because of the rules that the direct line of Virelan blood could not have their memories intruded upon. That it was forbidden."

"You could have done it. You had the way to know I was innocent. But you chose not to. You chose rules over me."

His smirk widened, cruel and bitter. "I don’t even care about the others saying I was guilty. They never mattered to me. But you.." His voice cold as ever. "You were supposed to stand by me. And you didn’t."

He spat the words like poison.

"You are... a disgusting person. And even though you aren’t my mother, whoever mother you are.. you’re a very disgusting mother. You should be ashamed of yourself. Where do you plan on carrying that pride of yours? What use is it? What worth is it, when it couldn’t even protect your son?"

The words pierced deeper than any blade could.

For the first time, Merisa’s eyes faltered. The unshakable gaze of the woman hailed as the world’s second-strongest almost broke under the weight of her own son’s accusations. Her heart trembled violently, as though every word had been carved into her soul.

She forced herself to hold his gaze, though her breath came unsteady.

Finally, she drew in a long, shuddering breath, as if dragging air into lungs that didn’t want to move.

"I admit it." Her voice cracked, quiet but clear. "I was wrong back then."

Her eyes softened, though her body trembled from the weight of her confession. "That is one of the greatest regrets of my life, even to this day. I wish... I wish I had done it. I should have broken the sacred rule. I should have read your memories that very day."

Her voice shook, but her resolve sharpened. "I wish I had chosen you over the rules."

The admission hung heavy in the air. For a woman like Merisa.. unyielding, principled, unbending it was like tearing off her own armor and exposing her bare chest to a blade.

"But hear me now." Her voice steadied, growing stronger. "You are more important to me than any rule. More important than the Virelan line, than the sacred traditions, than anything else. And I will prove that to you now."

Her eyes blazed with a new, unshakable resolve.

"Let me read your memories. I will break the rules. Here and now."

As the words left her lips, the air itself seemed to shudder. Thousands of voices suddenly echoed in her mind at once, strong and commanding, screams in protest.

But Merisa ignored them all, her focus narrowing to one thing only her son.

Her eyes locked onto his. "If you are innocent, I swear to you.. I will tear every single one of those people who condemned you into shreds with my own hands. Trust me in this. But..." She inhaled deeply, her gaze unwavering. "If you are guilty... then we will not speak of it further. You will come with me. Silently. And you will accept treatment, because your body is breaking apart. You need healing. And you need to reabsorb your bloodline essence before it’s too late."

Her voice dropped, sharp and serious. "That is my promise, as your mother."

Razeal’s body jerked as though struck. He staggered a step backward, his knees nearly buckling, his legs trembling from exhaustion. Blood dripped steadily onto the ground, forming his cut off arm. Yet even in that fragile state, he forced himself to stand tall.

"Don’t you dare," he hissed, his voice low and shaking with fury.

"I don’t need that. I don’t need you. And I don’t care about your promises. You don’t have any right.. any right to touch my mind. Not now. Not ever."

He took another staggering step back, his face twisted with fury. "I don’t care what you think I am. I don’t care what you or Nova or anyone else has to say. Who are you to decide whether I’m guilty or innocent? Who gave you the right? No one has that right. Not you. Not them. No one."

His voice cracked with rage, his chest heaving as he glared at her.

"I alone know who I am. I alone know what I did. And I don’t need you.. or anyone else to decide that for me!"

The words tore from him with such intensity that for a moment, the air itself seemed to tremble.

Inside, though, his heart pounded with fear.

Because he knew he absolutely knew that Merisa could do it. She was the strongest mind user in the world, and if she chose to invade his thoughts, there was nothing he could do to stop her. No defense, no trick, no resistance. His fear mixed with his fury, fueling his defiance.

His entire body screamed in weakness, his vision blurred from blood loss, yet still he stood, his eyes blazing with the last shreds of strength.

Merisa didn’t move at first. She just stood there, her usually unshakable composure cracking at the edges. Her eyes followed Razeal closely as he swayed, his legs trembling beneath him. For a brief moment she thought he would collapse right there, his battered body finally giving out.

Almost without realizing it, she took a step forward, her hand half-extended. She was ready to catch him, to keep him from falling. But just as her fingers nearly brushed the air between them, Razeal staggered backward on his own, forcing his body upright again. He stood tallbnot steady, not firm, but still standing. And in that stubborn act, he made something very clear: he didn’t want her help.

"Razeal..." she whispered, her voice low, almost fragile. Slowly, she drew her hand back to her side, her gaze falling on her own trembling fingers.

Every word he had spoken earlier echoed inside her head like a storm that refused to calm. Words sharp enough to cut through armor, words that shook her more than any battle ever had. She didn’t understand how could a boy, her boy, carry such venom, such unyielding sharpness in his voice? It wasn’t just anger. It was judgment, rejection, a verdict passed down from the one person whose opinion she valued most.

Her thoughts drifted back to what he had said about memory reading. She looked into his eyes, truly looked, and what she saw there stopped her cold.

Repulsion.

Not fear. Not worry. Not doubt. But raw, unmistakable rejection. He did not want her to look into his mind.

And Merisa... she froze. Because even though she could do it so easily, with just a thought she couldn’t bring herself to cross that line. For years, she had regretted not doing it, haunted by the thought that she could have spared him, or proven him right, or proven herself wrong. And now he stood in front of her, alive but broken, and still she wanted nothing more than to reach into his thoughts and know the truth.

But one look at his face was enough. He truly, deeply did not want her to.

And she could not betray that. Not again.

Her chest tightened. Did he really hate her so much? Was his rejection just hatred for what she had done to him? Or... was it because he was guilty after all? The thought made her entire body shiver, her mind her unmatched, indomitable mind spiral with uncertainty. She could not decide which was worse: that she had punished him unjustly... or that he truly had committed the unforgivable, and now simply wished to hide it.

Her eyes grew heavy, sorrow quietly dimming the fire within them. She wanted to speak, but no words came.

Razeal, meanwhile, stood firm in his silence. He didn’t need to prove anything. Not to her. Not to Nova. Not to the world. He believed no, he knew that no one had the right to judge him. His actions, his sins, his truths... they belonged to him alone.

A sudden sound broke the tension.

From the rubble of the shattered coliseum wall, a figure emerged. Nova, dust coating her hair and clothes, stepped into the light. She shook off fragments of stone from her shoulder and straightened herself. Though her body bore the marks of the earlier clash, her expression was steady.

She had been listening the entire time, silently watching the fragile exchange between mother and son. Her heart had ached to step in, to speak, but she had held herself back knowing her presence could make things worse.

Yet now, seeing how the air between them had grown heavier and heavier, she knew she could not wait any longer.

Her lips curled into a small smile, hiding the storm of emotions inside her. Relief washed over her that Razeal was still alive alive, standing, even if barely. That alone mattered more than anything else.

Still, worry flickered in her eyes as she looked between him and Merisa. If things continued like this, the situation could spiral into something even worse.

So she stepped forward, determination firming her expression.

If words alone couldn’t mend this rift, then she would act. One way or another, tonight they would take Razeal home.

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