The Eternal Mother: A Tale of Love and Loss in Another World - Chapter 6
Three days after what happened last time, Kurt was sitting in his room, reading a book about romance set in Japan during the 1920s. Though he couldn't finish reading it, it did remind him of Shimazaki, with its big cities that resembled Japan's in the 1920s. He closed the book and went to the shelf from Eri's room, the place where he picked up the book. As he put it on the shelf, he noticed a different book on the nightstand, next to her bed.
He picked up the book and saw the cover, which contained only the title. The title was "My diary after being sent to this world.". Seeing the title, Kurt assumed that the diary belonged to Eri and, based on the title, it assumed about her life from birth to this world to until now. He knew that he shouldn't read it, but his curiosity took over him. And before he knew it, he opened the diary.
There, just by looking at the first page, the assumption of her being born in this world was half-correct and half-incorrect. In fact, as he read it, it turned out that Eri came from another world called 'Earth', a place really unknown to him. It also tells that she wasn't living a hopeful life. Instead, she lost her husband after he found out that she was pregnant.
The second page to the fourth page tells Eri's travels to Clard, the capital of the Thridal Kingdom. And from the fourth page throughout the latest page, it tells her life in the capital. Just reading it carefully, he believed the fact that Eri, his adoptive mother, would come from another world. And yet, he didn't want to deny that this diary tells her 'origins', the one thing that he shouldn't bother wondering about. Out of fear that Eri might catch him reading her diary, he put it back to the nightstand before getting out of her room.
After getting inside his room, he went to his bed and tried to forget what he read from Eri's diary, much to his anxiety. This led to him sleeping . A while later, Eri came to his room, probably because she wanted to tell him that dinner's ready. As she saw him sleeping, smiling from the fact that she can wake him up by just putting her hand on his head. And she did so.
"Sweetie…? Dinner's ready." She said with a smooth and motherly voice while caressing his head slowly. Hearing her voice, Kurt slowly woke up. He stretched his arms because he slept for quite a while, long enough to make him lose his interest in moving while sleeping.
After eating, Kurt felt like he wanted to tell her about her diary. But he couldn't bring himself to do it, due to the fact that she might not like what she could hear from him. This made him feel down. Of course, Eri noticed Kurt looking down with a sad expression. Because of that, she began to worry about him.
"Is something wrong, sweetie?" She asked. Her heart began pounding as fast as it could, thanks to the thought of Kurt hiding something from her. Kurt knew that she might be worried, yet he not only felt scared, but he also felt pressured by the fact that he'll be considered as a liar by Eri if he didn't tell her what's on his mind.
"Um… Can I talk to you about something serious…?" He was hesitant to ask, yet he did anyway. Eri was even more worried when he mentioned something 'serious'. Hopefully it won't be as bad as she believed it will.
"Sure thing, sweetie. Can you tell me what's on your mind lately?" She asked. Though she was willing to listen to what Kurt had to say, he felt like it's easier said than done. Probably because he thought that maybe she wouldn't like that he found out she's from another world. And yet, he mustered up his courage to tell her about it.
"I've been wondering about something… Just what exactly are you?" He asked. Hearing his question, Eri couldn't help but think that maybe it was what Kurt wanted to know. Even though she said that she came from the Shimazaki Kingdom, it turned out that he didn't believe her at all. Despite that, she calmed down mentally, though she didn't want to admit that she in fact, came from another world, she felt like she'd teach him about her origins.
"That's… What you want to know, right? About where I'm actually from…" She said in an unique manner, one where it was filled with self-disappointment in every word. Probably because she lied about her being from the Shimazaki Kingdom. At first, Kurt expected her to say that she came from the Shimazaki Kingdom, like she told him before. But it turned out that it was no use for her to hide anything.
"Wait… You knew where I was getting at..?" He asked, hoping that she was just playing with him. But with just her expression on her face, he realized that she wouldn't do so. Eri caressed his back to make for herself some comfort, assuring herself that Kurt doesn't hate her being an other-worlder in the end.
"Yes… And I'm sorry that I hid that fact from you…" She tried to apologize before continuing. "You see, I'm not from this world. Rather, I'm from somewhere far beyond your understanding." She explained. Kurt knew that she came from another world just based on her explanation. But was it what he ever wanted? Was he desperate from knowing her better or to be ignorant of her? He had mixed feelings about it. And because of those feelings, he couldn't think of anything else in his mind. Seeing this, Eri worried for the worst. In fact, just the thought of him leaving her because she's from another world was enough to feel sadness.
"So… Does this mean the fact you came from the Shimazaki Kingdom… That was just a cover-up?" Kurt asked, not wanting to believe what Eri told him. Of course, it was no surprise to her that he reacted that way. And so, she stopped caressing his back because it would make him fear her, due to the fact that this world had a history of hating those from another world. She sighed, not wanting to give up soon.
"Yes… Let's just keep this conversation on hold for now… It's getting late." She said, realizing that it was already past their bedtime. Kurt nodded, wanting to forget what happened today. As he went to his bed, he decided to close his eyes quickly, feeling troubled that he regretted asking her origins.
The next day, Kurt woke up, hoping that he forgot what happened today. "Let's hope that she won't tell me more about her origins…" He mumbled after stretching his arms. He then got off of his bed and walked downstairs, worried that Eri disappeared after he knew that she came from another world.
Yet she was sitting on a couch in the living room, looking at her belly as she gently caressed it, yet she felt a bit negative. It's as if she didn't want Kurt to know more about her origins. Yet it would seem to him that she was waiting for him to wake up just to tell him about it. Even though it would seem that way, Kurt felt like he regretted reading her diary out of curiosity.
"A-Are you okay…?" He asked, with no idea what to do. Of course, Eri happened to force herself to smile upon looking at him after hearing his voice. It was pretty obvious to him that he was getting an earring from her. But that wasn't the case. Instead, after she took a sitting position, Eri used her right hand to signal him as a means to ask him to come closer. Despite the mere thought of her getting angry at him, he felt like he had no choice but to do as she wanted him to do.
After making Kurt come closer, Eri decided to hug him, even though she's a little bit mad at him. "I'm sorry that you had to witness me feeling a bit down…" She said after 15 seconds of hugging him. Kurt still had no idea what to do after she hugged him.
"I'm sorry… I didn't mean to take a look at your diary…" He tried to apologize to her. But because of the thought of her abandoning him, he couldn't muster his courage. Despite that, Eri knew that he didn't mean to read her confidential diary on purpose, and so she head-patted him a little bit.
"It's alright, sweetie… I figured that curiosity took over you… And I understand that sentiment very well…" She said in a motherly and sympathetic voice. Hearing this, Kurt felt relief, even though he's guilty of a privacy breach, Eri's privacy to be accurate. Despite that, he couldn't help but wonder who Eri actually was, much to his ignorance.
"So… What exactly are you?" He asked, wanting to know more about Eri's origins. Of course, Eri knew what he was trying to get at, probably because she remembered him asking that question yesterday. So she'd tell him more about her. But first she cleared her throat so that she could be heard very well from him.
"As you suspected sweetie… I'm from another world. A world far beyond your comprehension." She answered. Hearing this, Kurt's suspicions of her being from another world were now confirmed. He heard of stories about people from another world and knew what they were called. But to have someone from another world as his mother, it would seem that he had mixed feelings. Yet despite that he wanted to know more about her.
"I've heard of stories about people who died from their world before being sent here, mostly from a truck accident. Could it be that you died from it too?" He asked. Hearing the question, Eri shook her head horizontally, meaning that she didn't die from a truck accident. Rather, she died from blood loss from continuous coughing.
"I heard those stories as well. In my case however, I didn't die from that. And I doubt telling you the real way I died would make you feel better." She explained. Considering that Kurt didn't want to know negative stuff about her, it's no surprise for him upon hearing that Eri wouldn't tell him about her death from her world. One thing he wanted to know from her though, was how she used to live in her world.
"So… How did you use to live in your world? Surely you had a good life over there, right?" He asked. Hearing his question, Eri remembered her life. How she was married by a man who was only after her body. How she was abandoned by this man after finding out she was pregnant. And just by her pregnancy alone, she lost all her relatives' connections. Just those thoughts alone were enough to believe that having a sad life would be an understatement.
"Well… That was until I got married to a man. That man married me only because he couldn't resist my body. And after finding out I got pregnant from him, he left me…" She explained her life in her world to him. Kurt felt bad for her just listening to how her life was in her world. Yet he believed that at least her family would be supportive to her.
"That's sad… Surely your family was there to support you before you died, right?" He asked. Hearing the question, she felt like his positive assumption was wrong as well. In fact, she remembered that time she lost contact with her family and her in-laws after finding out she was pregnant. Probably because they didn't like her being pregnant at all.
"Not even close. Just because my ex-husband left me because I was pregnant doesn't mean that my family will be supportive. To make it short, I lost all contact with my relatives and my in-laws after finding out I was pregnant. And to make matters worse, I had to do things on my own without anyone to help me, if you exclude help from strangers." She explained.
Kurt had no words upon hearing her explanation. It's as if she experienced the similar thing that happened to him; being abused by his birth family before being abandoned, having no choice but to make ends meet without anyone's help, only to have mediocre things in return. it was just the same thing to him. In order to make him feel comfortable though, he gently caressed her belly.
"So you experienced the same thing, huh? Being abandoned by your loved ones, having no choice but to do things on your own… It's as if you understood what I had to go through because you experienced it first. And based on that alone, you decided to take me under your wing." He said while he was still caressing her belly before putting his head carefully on her belly.
Seeing this, Eri felt relieved that Kurt understood her reason for taking him under her wing before she could tell him. Thanks to that, she head-patted him, with all the more reason to stay with him forever. "You're so caring, sweetie… I like that from you." She said with her usual motherly voice.
"That said, I'll tell you more when we have the chance. But don't tell anyone about my true origins, alright?" She said while hugging him. Kurt nodded, thinking that he knew enough about her already. Suddenly, Eri felt a kick from her twins inside her. This put both her and Kurt into an awe state. Especially for Kurt, he wanted to feel more cute kicks from Eri's unborn twins.
Though he kept on feeling her belly, he realized something. If Eri's not from the Shimazaki Kingdom, then does this mean that she doesn't know much of it? That's what was bothering him. "Say mom… If you're from another world, does this mean that someday, you'll visit the Shimazaki Kingdom?" He asked. Much to her embarrassment, Eri didn't realize until now that she hadn't visited the Shimazaki Kingdom. Despite that, she smiled while nodding.
"Of course. And I'm sure you will accompany me." She answered while rubbing Kurt's head. "But I think it'll be more of a relocation than a visit." She said with a concerned voice, turning her smile into a noticeable serious face. Kurt had no idea why she would change her tone like that. Could it be that she saw many things that made the Thridal Kingdom a bad place before she could mention them? Or was it because she couldn't help other street orphans like him? Those thoughts filled his mind.
"Why is that…?" He asked, unsure if she was telling the truth. Seeing this, it was no surprise that he didn't know. Yet she didn't have any idea if telling him would make him feel better or not. But she decided to tell him nonetheless.
"This city- no… This kingdom as a whole… I figured it's filled with dangerous people with creepy motives. And I don't think it'll fit much for the both of us any longer." She explained why she thought that living in Klard is not a good idea. Just hearing her explanation, Kurt felt like his time as a street orphan came back to him, much to his disappointment.
"Really…? Then when should we move out?" He asked. She smiled while caressing her belly. "Tomorrow should be okay for it.. I'll prepare to pack everything. You should take a rest for tomorrow, alright?" She said. He nodded, going to his bedroom for tomorrow.