Elenda looked at Ron with a face full of affection.
She leaned in slightly and reached out to rub his head.
“Not only am I not angry—I’m actually really happy!”
Upon hearing this, Ron turned his head back in surprise.
“Happy?”
Elenda nodded vigorously.
“You did great just now!”
“If you ask me, you should’ve taught that unfaithful woman a lesson a long time ago!”
Faced with Elenda’s encouragement, Ron froze momentarily before snapping back to reality.
He realized that Elenda was deliberately downplaying the consequences to comfort him.
And the moment he realized this, The emotions he had just stirred up began to sink again.
“Hitting her will come at a price.”
“Our family is still hoping this engagement could help us form a strong alliance with the Phinip family and rise out of decline.”
Upon hearing this, Elenda scoffed.
“A strong alliance? Rising out of decline?”
“Heh, don’t make me laugh, you silly boy.”
“Compared to my son’s happiness, what the hell does their support matter?!”
“You think we should trade your dignity for their luxury?”
“Dream on!”
After this bold declaration, Elenda let out a deep sigh, her mood also dipping again.
“To be honest…”
“You still haven’t seen their true nature.”
“They’re just a pack of ungrateful wolves who enjoy favors but never return them.”
“No matter how much you lower yourself, grovel, or become a live-in son-in-law, their family will never truly help us.”
At this point, Elenda’s eyes turned red.
She gently pinched the little braid on Ron’s head, tears flowing uncontrollably.
“Why did your father have to tie you to that blood pact?”
“He thought it would be a safety net for you—for our family.”
“But what happened?”
“Open your eyes and look!”
“Just look at what this engagement has done to my son!”
“If I had the chance to do it all over again, I would never agree to this cursed engagement!”
“More than the family’s future…”
“I just want to see you live happily and healthily, Ron.”
“Do you understand that?”
“Seeing you finally stop enduring other people’s malice today—Mom was so, so happy!”
“But the saddest part is, as the one responsible for this family, I couldn’t stand up for my own son!”
“It’s me, as your mother, who has failed you!!”
Elenda wiped her tears, choking up with sobs.
Upon hearing this, Feeling the raw, genuine love from Elenda, Ron’s eyes also turned red.
He no longer felt awkward about being a transmigrator inhabiting someone else’s body.
Instead, he threw himself directly into Elenda’s embrace.
“Mom, this isn’t your fault.”
“If anything, it’s your son who made you worry.”
“From now on, I won’t waste any more energy resenting my lack of magic affinity!”
“As for this marriage I can’t break out of…”
“Worst case, I’ll just live as her husband in name only—she’ll live her life, I’ll live mine!”
Seeing Ron finally let go of his inner turmoil and face life with courage, Tears still streaming, Elenda broke into a smile.
“Good, good, good!”
“That’s all I could ever ask for!”
“Mom doesn’t need you to achieve great things or fame.”
“As long as you can live safely, happily, and be a carefree young master, that’s enough!”
Elenda wiped her tears again.
“I was afraid you wouldn’t come out of the shadows, so I had a doctor from the Eastern regions come visit.”
“He said having zero magic affinity might actually be a medical condition—something that can be treated.”
“I was planning for you to meet him after your birthday banquet.”
“But now… it seems like that might not be necessary anymore.”
Hearing that, Ron, still immersed in emotion just a moment ago, suddenly widened his eyes in shock.
“No! Absolutely not!”
“What if he actually has some kind of special technique?”
“If I can use magic, that gives me a whole new way to protect myself, right?!”
Ron said excitedly, Terrified of missing out on what might be his true “golden finger.”
Facing Ron’s enthusiasm, Elenda let out another sigh.
“Sigh… yes, he’s from the East and different from the other doctors.”
“But honestly, every doctor who’s come before claimed to have some miraculous skill.”
“Ever since your magic aptitude test at age eight, we’ve seen countless doctors.”
“Witch doctors, clerics from the church, wandering healers, even royal court physicians…”
“Every one of them shamelessly declared your condition a ‘curable illness’—and that they alone could fix it.”
“And what happened in the end?”
“Every single one of them was a lying fraud!”
“It wouldn’t be so bad if they just stole some money…”
“But the fake medicines they gave you caused so much suffering!”
“The worst was when you were fifteen.”
“That damn quack didn’t just scam us—he prescribed a toxic drug that nearly killed you!”
“If you hadn’t pleaded for that bastard, I would’ve had every one of them executed on the spot!”
As Elenda recalled those painful memories, her fists clenched in fury.
“So what I mean is…”
“If you can let it go, it’s better not to go through all that trouble again.”
“What if he just gives you a bunch of useless medicine to torture you and scam us out of money?”
But upon hearing that, Ron shook his head.
“No, it’s fine.”
“Let’s just meet him first and see.”
“If he’s a fraud, I’ll kick him out myself.”
Seeing how insistent Ron was, Elenda could only nod.
“Alright then, whatever you say.”
“I’ll have him come over tomorrow for a look.”
After persuading Elenda, Ron let out a long sigh of relief.
He could only hope that this doctor would bring him a sliver of new hope.
Oh, and… it might be time to harvest his crops, too…
While thinking that, Ron reached into his pocket.
On Ron’s side, it was all heartfelt love between mother and son.
But on Crasis’s side—rage was brewing!
In the guest resting room, the air was thick with Crasis’s fury and resentment!
“I don’t care!”
“Figure out a way to get rid of Ron by tomorrow!”
“An assassin, poison, I don’t care what method—just kill him!”
“I absolutely refuse to marry that man!”
“It’s bad enough he has zero magic, but now he’s turned out to be so vulgar too…”
“My true destined one could never be him—it’s Renis!”
Crasis held an ice pack to her delicate face, full of hatred as she tried to soothe the swelling.
Faced with her string of commands, Jon could only feel hopeless.
This girl really had no idea what she was saying!
Hadn’t they already tried all those methods?
That time Ron nearly died from poison?
That was their handiwork!
It was only after exhausting every option without success that they finally chose the last resort—coaxing Ron into ending things himself, to preserve some dignity.
But now, Ron seemed like a completely different person—so assertive, so unyielding.
That self-inflicted option was now a dead end!
“You make it sound so easy!”
“If it were that simple to get rid of him, I would’ve done it already!”
Jon paced back and forth in the room, clearly agitated.
Were they really going to resort to brute force—lure Ron outside and kill him outright?
But if such a crude method got exposed, then the family’s reputation would be utterly destroyed by Crasis!
And yet…
Was he really going to let their prized daughter be defiled by that magicless loser?
Just the thought of it…the killing intent in Jon’s eyes grew stronger and stronger…