Chapter 13: The Mysterious Gift

After the adults had already decided his future together with the Villainess, Neo had no choice but to remain silent. Nora was strangely quiet, acting as if she didn’t care at all about their newly entangled relationship or this absurd marriage arrangement.

’She is seriously a notorious girl hiding behind that blank facade. She must be planning to force me to marry her just so she can torture me later. Truly fitting for the role of a Villainess...’

Neo shook his head and dismissed the nonsensical thoughts. He was losing his mind, coming up with crazy theories and blaming such an innocent, quiet child who probably didn’t even know what the word "marriage" meant yet.

’She might have just nodded without thinking since she doesn’t even know the meaning of the word. Well, whatever. From the anime, I remember she doesn’t have any emotions, or maybe she just doesn’t know how to express them.’

’Wait a second. Now that I think about it, how did she know how to read? She is just a child, and on top of that, a deaf person. It should have been quite hard for her to learn that so early. But if she really knows how to read already, then she is a broken, talented genius. Seriously, I feel like stealing her talent. If I had some special skill or a golden finger to do that, I really would have done it!’

’Oh, speaking of a golden finger, I forgot to check my status window after the awakening. I seriously forgot because of all the crazy stuff happening around me. But let’s skip it for tomorrow. I can take my time and check it when I am finally free.’

Neo looked over at Nora. She sat beside him, silently gazing at nothing with a distant look on her face. He couldn’t help but feel curious about what she was really thinking, but unfortunately, he had no way of knowing.

’Well, I have only heard her speak once. It must be difficult for her to talk since she can’t hear her own voice, or maybe she just doesn’t know how to pronounce words well yet.’

He tried to understand her by imagining himself in her place. Just thinking about not being able to hear any voices made him feel incredibly lost.

’Well, I can’t imagine what she might be feeling. Only a person suffering from it truly knows the pain. A blind person can only understand another blind person’s pain.’

The silence between the two kids dragged on while their parents happily conversed with each other. Finally, Cassian stood up, immediately attracting everyone’s attention.

"Ahem! So, as Neo’s birthday is going to end in a few minutes, I want to give my son a special gift from myself."

Sylvia’s eyes widened. She felt a rush of excitement. She had genuinely beaten him up several times and even made him sleep on the floor over this, but he still hadn’t spoken a single word about his secret plan. Now that the surprise was finally going to be revealed, she couldn’t help but anticipate what dramatic gift he was going to give Neo for his birthday.

"Speak up, Cassian! I am dying to know what your little surprise is."

Cassian just chuckled, turning toward Neo and walking over to him.

Elara and Liam also felt very curious about this gift. They had heard from Sylvia about the absurd, extravagant gifts he usually gave his son.

"Oh, I am also feeling curious, show it!"

"Yeah, Cassian, show us."

Neo looked at his father standing before him. Cassian pulled a chair back casually and kneeled right in front of Neo, bringing himself down to eye level while wearing a gentle smile on his lips.

"Okay, Neo, here we go."

He put his hand into his pocket and brought out something that looked like a small metal cube, covered with ancient runes imprinted on every side.

A heavy silence fell over the surroundings as everyone stared at the cube with shocked expressions. Even Sylvia couldn’t help but feel stunned. Her hands trembled slightly as they clenched into fists.

"Cassian, what in the world are you giving to our son?!"

Cassian ignored Sylvia’s glaring and focused entirely on Neo. The young boy couldn’t help but feel intensely curious about the unknown cube, especially since he had never heard about it or seen it anywhere in the anime.

"Neo, remember that this ’Cube’ is a special kind of ’Key’. You should only use it when you truly need it, like a time when you want to save someone precious or prevent a terrible event from happening. I trust you, Neo."

Neo stared at the small cube his father claimed was a key. He didn’t know how to react because he had no clue what the key was actually used for. Would it help him become more powerful, or would it unlock some secret only his ancestors knew about?

He just didn’t know. But seeing his mother’s tense, worried expression and his father’s unwavering trust, he nodded without saying a word. He took the small cube into his fist, with curiosity about the mysterious object.

Cassian smiled warmly, cupped Neo’s cheeks, and stood up to walk back to Sylvia. She looked at him with sharp eyes but didn’t reprimand him for his decision.

"Are you sure it is right to give him that now? What if something happens to him?"

Cassian smiled as he sat beside her, gently placing his hand over hers. He replied with a soft, reassuring tone.

"Neo is a smart child. I believe in him. He will handle it."

Sylvia sighed, shaking her head. She couldn’t argue against his unbreakable faith in their son, so she pushed her worries to the back of her mind for the night.

Looking closely at the small cube, Neo squeezed his palm around it.

’Well, it seems I got another treasure in my arsenal. I don’t know what this thing is, but if my father is the one giving it, then it must be something incredibly special.’

’Now that I think about it, from the anime I watched, there is an abandoned territory known as the Desolate Land. It isn’t claimed by anyone around the kingdom. Even the overpowered male lead wasn’t fond of going into the Desolate Land. It was a dangerous place where several unknown races lived and formed their own settlements.’

Neo couldn’t help but think about that mysterious place. The danger didn’t come without a profit, though. The Desolate Land was also a zone where several unknown treasures, ancient artifacts, and massive mana crystal mines could be found.

But the danger wasn’t just the different races. The Desolate Land was a place where ’devils’ were constantly rising and destroying whatever other beings existed there. Because of that extreme threat, entering the Desolate Land was strictly forbidden by the kingdom. Even the greedy imperial family hesitated to raid inside it, knowing it would cause massive casualties among their knights based on past experiences.

Once in the past, a full battalion of imperial forces consisting of thousands of elite knights went inside to claim land and treasures. Not a single person survived. That was the exact moment the previous king banned all entry and declared it a forbidden zone.

’From my knowledge of the anime, there are a few powerful kingdoms that actually managed to claim portions of the Desolate Land. That means it isn’t entirely impossible. I am definitely going to go there once I become truly strong!’

Neo closed his eyes and let out a soft yawn, feeling incredibly sleepy as the time slipped away. His birthday was finally over. A new day would rise in the morning, ready to decide how his unpredictable future would unfold.