Mother

Edgar noticed as well and exclaimed with delight, "My lord! The family caravan has arrived! This caravan looks larger than ever before! It seems your great achievements in the Northern Territory, and... uh... your engagement to the Princess, have greatly elevated the family's status in the Royal Capital!"

Karl ignored them and started walking down the mountain. Edgar immediately followed and ordered a squad of soldiers to go down the mountain to disperse the crowd of onlookers and maintain order.

"Let everyone go back! Get back to your own business! Don't crowd around!" He knew it was rather awkward for the lady from the prosperous and wealthy Duke to see this messy and vast Shantytown Area at the Carnford Mountain at first glance, even though it was a necessary stage of development.

Under the guidance of the soldiers, the crowd gradually dispersed, and the road was cleared.

The massive caravan eventually came to a slow stop in the open space outside the castle gates, where the knights, well-trained, dispersed to guard the surroundings.

At this moment, the door of the most magnificent large enclosed carriage in the center of the caravan, pulled by four pure white horses, was opened from the inside.

A girl dressed in a neat maid's uniform jumped off the carriage first, then carefully turned around and reached out to help him up.

A well-maintained hand wearing a white velvet glove gently rested on the maid's arm.

Then, a noblewoman dressed in a dark blue fine wool travel cloak stepped gracefully and steadily from the carriage.

Although she looked tired from her long journey and looked travel-worn, her posture was upright, and the natural grace and noble demeanor she exuded contrasted sharply with the somewhat rugged and desolate Northern Territory environment around her.

After she stopped, she subconsciously raised her hand to tidy her wind-blown hair. Her gaze then lifted, filled with a mixture of urgency, worry, and barely suppressed excitement, and she looked toward the castle gate. Finally, her eyes locked onto the young figure standing at the very front.

In that instant, Karl felt as if an invisible hand was squeezing his heart.

A warm current, originating from the depths of my blood and mixed with countless childhood memories and complex emotions, surged uncontrollably throughout my body.

Without any introduction or confirmation, the memories and instincts deeply rooted in the soul of the original owner of this body had already told him with absolute clarity that the lady before him was his mother, Eileen.

Karl stood there, gazing into those blue eyes that bore a resemblance to his own, now brimming with tears and boundless concern. For a moment, a thousand words stuck in his throat, and he didn't know how to begin.

Lady Eileen also gazed at her son, looking at his face, which was more mature and resolute than she remembered, but also much thinner. Her lips trembled slightly, as if she had a thousand words to say, but they were stuck in her throat.

After a brief, seemingly frozen moment of eye contact, Karl took a deep breath, strode forward, and took the initiative to meet him.

Lady Eileen quickened her pace at almost the same time, walking towards her son.

When they were still a few steps apart, Eileen could no longer contain her excitement and almost threw herself into her son's strong and warm embrace, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck.

Karl's body stiffened slightly, then relaxed, and he stretched out his arms to gently but firmly hug his mother back.

He could clearly feel his mother's body trembling slightly, and smell the faint, familiar scent of spices in her hair, mixed with the dust of her journey.

At this moment, the bond of blood transcends the barriers of time, space, and identity, tightly connecting the mother and son.

Eileen buried her face in her son's shoulder, greedily inhaling the long-lost scent of her son and feeling his real body temperature, as if she wanted to etch this regained embrace into her very bones.

After a long while, she loosened her arms slightly, raised her head, cupped Karl's cheeks in her hands, her fingertips trembling almost imperceptibly, and examined him carefully.

Her eyes were red and her voice choked with emotion. "My child, you've changed so much... You've lost weight and gotten so dark... You must have suffered so much here."

Karl held his mother's cold hand, feeling the concern and heartache emanating from her delicate skin, and a warm feeling welled up in his heart.

He shook his head, forcing a relaxed smile, and reassured her, "Mom, I'm fine, really. Although it's busy here, I'm doing well, it's fulfilling, and I'm happy."

He avoided the cruelty of blood and fire, hoping only to give his mother a sense of reassurance.

Seeing his mother's thin cloak and slightly tired face, Karl quickly said, "It's windy and too cold outside. Let's not stand here, let's go inside the castle to rest."

As he spoke, he naturally took his mother's arm and turned to walk towards the castle.

Only then did he remember Edgar, who was still somewhat dazed beside him, and immediately ordered, "Edgar, arrange for people to properly receive all the supplies that Mother brought, carefully count them, and put them into storage. Also, make sure to provide the best rooms and food for the guards and entourage that the lady brought, and do not neglect them!"

"Yes! Yes! Greetings, Madam! Welcome to Carnford!" Edgar, snapping out of his reverie at the touching reunion, quickly bowed deeply to Lady Eileen, his face beaming with heartfelt respect and a warm smile.

He was genuinely happy for Karl; the Lord finally had a close relative come to visit, and this kinship might dispel some of the gloom that had accumulated in his heart due to the political marriage and the immense pressure.

Lady Eileen returned Edgar's greeting with a slight nod, her demeanor elegant, but she held her son's hand tightly the entire time, as if afraid that if she let go, her son would disappear again.

Accompanied by Karl and Edgar, and escorted by a small squad of family knights, they began their ascent towards the castle on the mountain.

This road requires passing through a large Shantytown Area at the foot of the mountain.

Despite Edgar's best efforts in planning and reorganizing the area, including building centralized latrines and garbage dumps and marking out roads, the reality of the tens of thousands of displaced people gathered there still shocked the senses.

The air was filled with a complex odor, the smells of cooking smoke, livestock, and people gathering together. The roads were muddy and uneven, lined with densely packed, low shacks built of thatch, mud, and broken planks.

Many emaciated, ragged refugees squatted or stood, looking at this magnificent procession—clearly from a different world—with curiosity, awe, and even a touch of numbness.

Lady Eileen nestled close to her son, but her eyes couldn't help but wander around curiously.

The scene before her was even more arduous and chaotic than she had imagined.

This was a completely different world from the orderly, prosperous, and wealthy Franklin Territory and even the Royal Capital capital that she was familiar with.

She could see children running in the mud, women busy at their makeshift stoves, and men carrying tools to go to work.

Despite the harsh environment, strangely, she didn't see despair and death on most of the refugees' faces. Instead, she saw a kind of... busy, hopeful vitality?

She frowned slightly, feeling both heartache for her son struggling in such a difficult environment and a touch of emotion at the tenacious vitality of this land. She couldn't help but hold her son's hand tighter.