A Mother (3k)

Five minutes later, they were standing in an empty hospital room, face to face, ready to talk.

Karyl had tried to help the woman on the way, but she refused. Once inside the room, he also brought her a chair to sit down, but she refused again.

From those eyes, Karyl could glean a resolute message.

Lowering his head, Karyl couldn't help but give a wry smile.

Tarasha Euten's identity was somewhat similar to his; in fact, when he learned of it, he could hardly believe it—could there really be another person in the Primarch?

However, she clearly has a much longer way to go than him in fulfilling her obligations.

"I do not wish to speak to you in the capacity of Roboute Guilliman's housekeeper, Mr. Karyl."

Euten spoke in a low voice, bravely taking the lead in their conversation. She was much shorter than Karyl, yet despite facing a giant among giants, she showed no fear.

She even dared to look directly into Karyl's eyes, and gaze at him for a long time.

"You can probably tell that I'm coming to see you with an emotion I shouldn't be having. It's wrong, but I can't control myself. You may already know who I am, or you may not. Anyway, please allow me to introduce myself. I am Tarasha Euten, Roboute Guilliman's adoptive mother."

She gripped the brass head of her cane tightly, her two thumbs rapidly crisscrossing the smooth surface. The woman wasn't in very good health, and she was already tense, which only exacerbated the situation.

This was quite obvious; Karyl could hear the faint hissing sound she made while speaking.

She has lung problems, perhaps a chronic condition from her youth, or perhaps a result of overwork.

Karyl didn't dwell on it any longer; he let those thoughts drift away.

"I know all this, ma'am," he said softly. "I've spoken with the Ultramarines, and they've informed me of some necessary matters."

"Is it necessary for Macragge to know who I am?"

Tarasha Euten leaned back in surprise, and after a brief moment of astonishment, she inevitably took a deep breath.

"I understand. Thank you for letting me know, Mr. Karyl. This really shouldn't have happened."

"Shouldn't it?" Karyl shook his head and laughed. "You are Roboute Guilliman's mother."

"Foster mother," Euten corrected. "There's nothing to be proud of or boast about. He could have lived just fine without me and his foster father. He's the Emperor's son, a Primarch."

"Is it that King Conno?"

You know?

"I've seen many statues of him in the city these past few days, oh, and a portrait in your son's room."

"I told him he should take that portrait down." Tarasha Euten pressed her lips tightly together. "No matter what, he shouldn't have displayed a portrait of his adoptive father next to one of his real father."

"Why not?" Karyl retorted.

Euten's eyes widened in surprise.

"His biological father, the Emperor of mankind, gave him life. But it was King Conno and you who made him Roboute Guilliman. His surname is inherited from King Conno, isn't it? There's a Terra saying, I don't know if you've heard it, but it's not difficult to pronounce directly in High Gothic, it's quite simple."

Karyl looked at her calmly.

"To raise someone before they are born is a debt that can never be repaid in a hundred generations."

"."

Tarasha Euten remained silent.

After a long while, she finally spoke in a low voice.

"No, that's not it," she said. "Raising an abandoned child is indeed a commendable virtue, but Roboute's case is different, Mr. Karyl."

"He was brought back to the palace by my former master, King Conno. Do you know what I thought when I first saw him? I was very young then, but I still think there must be something wrong with my eyes, otherwise how could I see such a child?"

"He smiled at us while he was still in his swaddling clothes. His skin was shimmering, and his smile was like that of an angel—and he truly was. But my first reaction wasn't love, but fear."

"He was clearly a being beyond human comprehension, and his adoptive father knew this but never interfered. He grew up and soon became taller than everyone else. It was from that moment that I realized his true extraordinary nature."

"He was only four or five years old at the time. While other children were waving wooden swords in the courtyard, excitedly engaging in heroic battles against imaginary enemies, he was immersed in our history and the ever-advancing technology."

"At dinner time, he would wave the newspaper around and tell his busy foster father what was new in Macragge that day. This was their time alone, because Roboute deliberately saved the newspaper for this time to read."

"He'd be overjoyed if there were any scientific advancements, and frustrated if not. That was the only time he seemed like a child; most of the time, he was reading and thinking silently. And the way he thought—"

Tarasha Euten gripped her cane tightly and took several more deep breaths.

Saying so much at once was a bit overwhelming for her, but that wasn't a problem, and Karyl didn't intend to stop her. Why would he?

As the woman said, she wasn't speaking to him as a housekeeper, but simply as a mother.

She might not know what other identity Karyl had besides being a legion instructor, but based on the privileges and freedom her adopted son had granted him over the past four days, she had made a rough guess.

She believed that Karyl possessed a special identity.

She didn't know what his identity was, but she didn't care. Karyl believed that Tarasha Euten's only purpose in coming here and standing before him was probably to find a solution in some way.

She wanted her son to leave that study.

"--The way he thought was like a machine, Mr. Karyl. Rational and indifferent, even to the point of being unbearable. Until this point, I was still somewhat afraid of him. I couldn't help but be afraid of him until I began to see more."

"It's understandable that he was ostracized by children his own age. Few people treated him like a child, and Roboute wanted to play with them, but they refused. However, unlike other ostracized children, he didn't confide in us; he just locked himself in his room, and that was it."

One night, he locked himself in his room for so long that his father had to come with me to look for him. When we opened his door, we found the boy, who was already taller than everyone else, silently curled up in his room and crying.

He realized we were there and seemed flustered. His father asked him why he was crying, whether he had been bullied, but he didn't reveal anything, only telling us not to worry about him.

He didn't eat that night, and I worked late, still thinking about him. So I went to the kitchen, found some bread, and knocked on his door again.

Perhaps it was Karyl's silence that gave Tarasha Euten the strength to continue—at this moment, the woman wore an expression that was somewhere between lucidity and dazedness.

She smiled, and her posture with the cane no longer seemed uncomfortable. Her back was straight, and the wrinkles on her face had smoothed out. She smiled and shook her head.

That was the first time I realized that Roboute Guilliman was also a human being.

She spoke softly, with a mother's expression.

"He huddled behind the door, and from that moment on, Mr. Karyl, I began to love him with all my heart. Because I knew that he might possess powers beyond our reach, a body beyond human comprehension, but his heart remained human. He stood with us, he stood among us."

Karyl nodded calmly, offering no comment. He had nothing to say; Euten had handled the matter far better than he had. The woman looked at him and laughed again.

"You might wonder why I'm telling you all this," she asked.

"Yes."

"The reason is actually quite simple. Sir, Roboute explained your true identity to me on the afternoon of your very first day. He doesn't like to lie to me or hide things from me. So I know that you, too, have raised a Primarch —or rather, the Emperor's son."

"I see." Karyl suddenly understood. He nodded and was about to speak Euten stopped him with a gesture—gentle yet firm.

"Please let me finish," she pleaded earnestly. "I revealed your identity not to seek validation or to get you to tell me the truth about that night."

"My son wouldn't lie to me or hide anything from me unless he truly couldn't tell. And I never ask about such things. The reason I'm here, telling you that story as Tarasha Euten, is simply to make one thing clear."

"What's up?"

"I hope you understand, I am his mother."

In the empty hospital room, a woman much shorter than the giant leaned on her cane and declared in an unwavering voice, "Therefore, I will not allow anyone to harm my son, not even you, Karyl Lohars."

After saying that, she turned and left. Karyl stood in the room and gave a soft, bitter laugh. He went to the window and gazed at the night sky. Or rather, he gazed at a star that he couldn't see at all.