The Omega Knight's Secret Baby Daddy is A PRINCE?!-Chapter 125: Brave.
’I am brave. I am brave. I am brave.’
"PEPPERMINT!" Lior shouted as loud as he could in hopes his Maman would hear even from afar.
He kept telling himself he was brave, because that’s what his Maman always told him.
That he was clever.
And that he was brave.
"PEPPERMINT! PEPPERMINT! PEPPERMINT!" Lior kept yelling, his voice shaking as he moved his arm again and again, trying to make more of his blood fall.
When the man grabbed him, Lior had seen the dagger. He knew it was sharp. He knew it could hurt him.
He was scared.
Really scared.
But his Maman said his blood was special.
Not like other people’s.
So if he left it behind...
’Maman will see it.’
Because he was clever.
Because he was brave.
And because his Maman would come find him.
He had to make it easy.
Even if it hurts.
But the tears wouldn’t stop.
They kept falling, and falling, and Lior couldn’t stop them no matter how hard he tried.
His chest hurt.
It felt tight, like something was pressing on it, and it made him scared in a way he didn’t understand.
He didn’t know why it felt like that.
He just knew he didn’t like it.
’Am I gonna die?’
"How many times do I have to tell you to keep quiet?" Rico said in a low voice, but it sounded mean. Very mean.
"Please let me go. I’m still little... I’m only four, Rico," Lior said, his voice small and shaky.
"I know you’re only four, and I can’t let you go," Rico replied as he kept running, still holding him. "And my name’s not Rico, you stupid brat."
Lior’s lips trembled. More tears came out.
"Y-You’re... you’re mean!"
Rico’s eyes widened a little. He was breathing harder now, like he was getting tired. His face changed, just a bit.
"I’m sorry, kid. I’m really sorry," he said. "But I need you to cooperate. You hear me? My two daughters... they’re no older than you. I need to save them, and you’re what those bastards are asking for."
Lior didn’t understand everything.
He didn’t understand the big words.
He didn’t understand why this was happening.
All he understood was that the man was being mean, and he was taking him away.
"For your daughters..." Lior whispered.
Then he remembered something.
Something his Maman told him before.
"You can’t right a wrong with another wrong."
He said it slowly, like he was trying to remember it right.
He remembered the day.
Some kids didn’t like his eyes. They pushed him. They laughed.
He wanted to be mean back.
He wanted to throw blueberries at them the next day. A lot of blueberries.
But his Maman found out.
And told him no.
Lior didn’t like that at first.
He thought his Maman cared more about the mean kids.
But his Maman said being mean is easy.
Being kind is hard.
Especially when people are mean to you.
His Maman wanted him to be kind.
"You don’t know what you’re saying," Rico whispered. "If you were a parent, you would understand. That’s why we have to get there fast. I know it won’t be long until your mother, father, whatever he is to you, he’ll be here soon."
’My Maman will be here soon.’
Lior believed that.
He held onto it tightly.
"...but those men are stronger than him," Rico continued, his voice lower now. "And more or less, he will die."
Lior’s eyes widened.
"No... no, my Maman won’t die," he said quickly, shaking his head. "My Maman won’t die. He won’t die."
His Maman wasn’t allowed to die.
"If he plays his cards right, he won’t," Lior hears Rico whisper, but that didn’t help what Lior was feeling at all.
’I am brave. I am brave.’
Lior frowned, more tears slipping down his cheeks, no matter how much he tried to stop them.
’Maman, where are you...?’
He remembered the dream.
The scary one.
The one where he was being taken away, calling and calling, but no one could find him.
It came true.
’Maman, please come for me. Please don’t die.’
Lior rubbed his eyes with his fists, trying to stop crying, but it didn’t work. It just made his face feel hot and messy.
He wanted to keep shouting.
He wanted to scream "PEPPERMINT" again and again.
But then—
The trees suddenly ended.
One moment, there were so many, tall and close together, and then there were none.
Rico slowed down.
"In their note, they said to meet at this lake," Rico said, placing Lior on the ground, but still holding his wrist tightly.
Lior’s eyes widened.
’...a lake?’
He looked up.
It was big.
Really big.
Bigger than anything he had seen before.
The water was still, like glass, and when Lior looked at it, he saw the moon.
But it looked like two moons.
One in the sky.
One in the water.
’That looks like...’
Before he could think more, Rico pulled his wrist again, forcing him to walk.
It hurt.
Lior winced, his small steps uneven as he tried to keep up.
"Come on," Rico said. "I’m sure they’re about to arrive, and then I can have my daughters back and leave."
His voice sounded strange.
Not just mean anymore.
Something else.
Lior looked up at him.
"Are you going to let them kill me?"
Rico stopped.
For a moment, he didn’t move.
Then he looked down at Lior, his eyes wide. "No, no, never. I’ll never let anyone kill a child. They’re just going to be the ones who take care of you now."
Lior stared at him.
Just stared.
Oh.
’He’s lying.’
"You’re lying," Lior whispered.
"No, I’m not. Why would I—"
"You’re lying!"
Lior didn’t know how he knew.
He just did.
Something in his chest told him it wasn’t true.
That the man was lying.
That the man was giving him away.
That he was going to die.
Rico opened his mouth again, like he wanted to explain, but Lior suddenly went still.
His body tensed.
Because something changed.
The air felt different.
Heavy.
Like, there were people around them.
A lot of people.
Lior slowly looked around.
And then he froze.
’Shadows.’
They were everywhere.
Figures standing around them, dressed in black, their clothes moving slightly even though there was no wind.
Their faces—
Covered.
White scary masks.
Rico saw them too.
"I’ve brought the kid!" he shouted, turning around, looking everywhere at once.
Lior moved with him, his wrist still trapped in Rico’s grip.
’I am brave. I am brave.’
"You...where are my daughters?!" Rico yelled. "Where are they?! Larnie... Ranie... are you there?!"
