Science/Magic

"Bloed, you have never told me about your family." Camilla said one day after their training. Camilla had been teaching Bloed about combat besides his classes about technology. She taught him various styles of martial arts, and also gunfighting and military sabersmanship.

Bloed was startled. The topic of his family was something of a taboo for him. However, now that he heard the question, he realized that he no longer found it hard to talk about it.

Thinking for a moment, he decided to be honest with Camilla.

Bloed had never expressed it, but he loved Camilla. He was still a bit too young to be conscious of men and women's relationship, but the first signs of love were already sprouting on him.

"You don't need to tell me if you don't want." Camilla said.

"Huh? No, it's not that." Bloed replied hurriedly. "It's just that I don't know how to start. My family huh…"

He then paused for a moment to recollect his thoughts.

"… Actually, I'm a Prince."

"Ah?" Camilla was surprised. "A prince? Like the son of a king?"

"Yes." Bloed smiled bitterly. "My father is the king of Alterna, the greatest human kingdom on the continent. I'm his second son and was born together with my twin sister.

"Being born a prince, my future was supposed to be the best. Unfortunately, not much longer after I was born, things took a turn for the worst.

"In this world, people without magic power are considered cursed, people that carry the blood of devastation on them. Most of the time, when someone like that is discovered, that person is instantly killed.

"And unfortunately, I was born without magic power.

"In fact, I didn't understand the problem when I was a child. Although I was manaless, besides the fact that my father avoided me and the servants talked about me behind my back, the only thing I hated about my situation back then was that I could not use cool magic as my sister used. Everybody praised my sister as a genius and compared her to me.

"But one night, something happened." Bloed stopped for an instant before continuing. "That night, my mother came to my room and started to cry.

"Mother cried for a long time. I remember I asked her why she was crying, I told her that everything was going to be alright. But my mother never spoke. She just looked at me sadly and continued crying. I accompanied her all night until I fell asleep.

"Thinking about it now, I'm sure that mother already knew what was going to happen." A bitter smile appeared on Bloed's face. "The next time I woke up, I was already here."

Camilla was unable to speak. She could feel how much pain Bloed was feeling at this moment.

Even now, Bloed could feel the pain and despair he felt back then. He could remember how that pain turned into hatred with the time, and how that hatred turned into indifference.

Sometimes, he dreamed that his mother came back for him. That Sebastian appeared before him and told him that everything was a joke, but when he woke up, he was still in this hell on earth.

Bloed had never forgotten the words that Sebastian said the day he left him here.

Even after two years, the words continued resounding on his mind.

"The royal family can't have a manaless child. Those were the words that the man that brought me here said before leaving me."

"… I'm sorry. I should not have asked about that." Camilla sighed.

"It's alright." Said Bloed with a smile. "Actually, I feel better after talking to you about it."

Camilla stared at the young child and heaved a sigh of pity. Such a small and innocent child, and he had been left to die in this infernal place.

"… Bloed, I have observed you all these days and I can assure you that you are not a cursed child. All the contrary, you are the smartest and most talented child I have seen in a long time. The fact that your parents thought that you were cursed and threw you here means that they are utterly ignorant! I'm sure none of them is half as good as you are!"

Bloed smiled wryly. "Thank you for your words, Camilla. But it's a fact that I'm unable to use magic. Besides, it's true that a manaless descendant would have impacted the royal family negatively."

"What are you talking about!?" Camilla snorted coldly. "That is not an excuse to send a child towards his death! Besides, I'm not joking when I told you that you are better than them!"

Seated on her wheelchair, Camilla looked at Bloed with her pitch-black eyes. She then spoke in an absolutely confident tone.

"Bloed, do you know how my world became so strong? It was thanks to knowledge! Science and technology are the basis that showed to my people the scenery beyond our world! So what if they have magic!? Has any of them gone beyond this world!? Do they have the power to destroy entire worlds!?"

Camilla's prideful voice resounded in the spaceship. Her words filled with pride shocked Bloed completely. He remembered the stories that Camilla had told him, he thought about the images she had shown him, he thought about all the things he had learned in the last few years.

Science… Thinking about that word, Bloed could not help but feel a sense of excitement surging out from his body.

"Let me tell you something, Bloed. Science is more powerful than you think. Besides, being manaless is perhaps not a bad thing."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Camilla looked at Bloed and put on a mysterious smile. Her short brown hair waved softly and her eyes shone with a powerful glint.

Then, a hint of determination appeared on her face.

"So what if your family abandoned you? Bloed, let me ask you a question. Do you want to be my son?"

"… Huh?"

"What is that face for? I asked you if you want to be my son! Tell me, do you want to? Yes or not!"

Bloed's expression froze. He looked at Camilla as though he had heard something crazy.

But soon, a change appeared on his face.

Seeing the gentle smile on Camilla's face. Tears started to accumulate on Bloed's eyes. Then, his face distorted and his tears started to roll down his cheek.

Bloed felt pathetic. He had promised himself that he was never going to cry again, however, the tears surged out regardless of his intentions.

He tried to wipe his tears away, but more tears appeared to replace the ones he wiped. In seconds, his face had become a mess.

But despite it, he finally managed to form a word.

"… Yes."

A gentle smile appeared on Camilla's face.

"Come here." She said and moved her wheelchair towards Bloed. In a smooth movement, she brought his face to her chest. "Silly boy, from today onwards, you are my, Camilla Norman's son. My only family in this world."

"… Yes… mom."

"Now come." Camilla released the hug and looked straight into Bloed's eyes. "I'll show you the power that science can give you."