Camelia's body was already covered in blood when Joaqin hugged her. The blood that should have been red had now turned black. Joaqin pressed on his mother's stomach as hard as he could to stop the bleeding.
But it was all in vain because Joaqin could feel black blood constantly coming out of the wide wound in his mother's stomach.
"Mom, please hang in there; I'll take you away from this place," Joaqin said until he choked on his own saliva because of his unceasing tears at the sight of his dying mother.
Camelia's hand grasped Joaqin's hand, who intended to hold her; she looked at Joaqin with anxiety and gathered the last of her strength to give him her final message.
"Joaqin, listen to me." Camelia gripped Joaqin's arm tightly; she didn't have much time left.
"But, Mom-"
Joaqin could do nothing and was forced to obey his mother's words. He lowered his head towards his mother so that he could hear her weakening voice.
"You must leave this kingdom immediately. They are still here, and I can't let them kill you, too." Camelia glanced back and forth at the tightly closed door between her words and Joaqin.
"What do you mean?! I won't leave without you!" Joaqin shook his head, refusing his mother's order.
"Joaqin! Right now, the fate of the kingdom is in your hands; don't let them destroy our clan. The world will be destroyed if that happens," said Camelia as she gripped Joaqin's shoulders firmly.
But after that, Camelia vomited a mouthful of black blood from her mouth, and she realized that there was not much time left.
Joaqin's heart felt like it was about to stop beating when he saw his mother's current condition, but he saw his mother shaking her head as if she knew what he was thinking at the moment.
Camelia forced herself to stand up and walk towards the altar not far from their position, even though she would vomit a mouthful of blood with every step she took.
A silvery-white egg was placed in a glass box in the centre of the altar; Camelia muttered something, and the veil that guarded the box magically disappeared.
Joaqin did not understand why his mother had opened the seal of this egg, considering that his father had always forbidden everyone to approach it.
Camelia ignored the horror that Joaqin gave her, she took the half-human sized egg and gave it to Joaqin.
"Get out of here with that egg. Joaqin, you must guard that egg with your life, you understand, right?" With trembling lips, Camelia made sure that Joaqin understood what she was saying.
"I don't care about this egg. Why don't you come with me, Mom ?!" Joaqin shook his head, intending to return the egg to the glass box.
But Camelia's arm prevented him from doing so.
"Someday you will know why," said Camelia with a sip of blood flowing at the corner of her lips.
Joaqin did not understand what his mother was saying; he intended to persuade his mother again to run away with him. However, what happened next made Joaqin open his eyes in disbelief.
Camelia gathered all her last strength and stomped her feet on the floor beneath her, and it didn't take long before an underground passageway came into view.
At the same time, a banging sound was heard from the door of the offering room, and Joaqin reflexively turned towards the door anxiously.
"Go and don't come back, my son." Camelia pushed Joaqin towards the underground passage.
Joaqin could see the door to the offering room open loudly from the outside and he could see his mother starting to close the passage she had entered with her last strength.
Before the passage was closed entirely, Joaqin could see his mother fall to the ground with a hole in her chest, the dark witch taking her mother's heart with her bare hands.
. . .
The last thing Joaqin remembers is seeing his mother's body sitting lifeless after being attacked by the dark witch. Joaqin was stunned when he remembered this; he glanced around and found himself in the forest where he used to escape.
"Mom ..."Joaqin's voice sounded soft and weak as he murmured to his mother, still confused about what had happened.
"I ... I have to go back. Mom is still at the palace." Joaqin immediately got up from his position and intended to return to the palace.
However, his steps stopped when his foot accidentally kicked a fairly large silvery-white egg.
Immediately, Joaqin remembered his mother's last words to him. Only now did Joaqin realize that what had happened before was really true.
Now, he was alone without any family to accompany him. It was the dark witches who had massacred his entire kingdom.
Joaqin slumped down in defeat, "Why?! Why did I have to be the one who survived?!" Joaqin roared painfully.
His world was destroyed entirely today; if he hadn't escaped from the palace today, he could have died with his mother. At least he wouldn't be alone like he is now.
Joaqin thought, what other reason did he have to continue surviving in this world when all his family had died with the collapse of their kingdom tonight?
The cold wind that blew slowly cut through Joaqin's body. He no longer had the strength to get up.
Just as Joaqin was thinking of giving up on his meaningless life, he felt a half-human-sized egg rolling towards him.
Skeptically, Joaqin stared at the egg, and he remembered that his mother had told him to protect this egg for his whole life.
To be honest, Joaqin's inner self was conflicted about this; on the other hand, he didn't want to disappoint his mother by ignoring her last message, but Joaqin also didn't know what to do with this mysterious egg.
"What is so special about you? Why should I take care of you with my life?" Joaqin reached out to stroke the eggshell.
From the outside, the egg had a strangely patterned shell, and when Joaqin touched it, he could feel how smooth the surface of the egg was. It felt like Joaqin was stroking the fur of a cat.
"I'm sorry, but I don't think I can take care of you," said Joaqin with a rough sigh. He didn't know if he could survive himself, so he didn't want to promise anything to this egg.
At the same time, Joaqin heard a sound from behind the surrounding bushes and became alert.
In fact, Joaqin would not be able to survive if he had to fight the dark witches, especially considering that he was not a beast tamer and he had no power.
Joaqin intended to run away, but his steps stopped when he saw the egg swaying as if waiting for him to take it.