Chapter 144: Memories

Charles and the kids turned around in unison and soon saw a black-haired woman, who was around 25-years-old, dropped a new iron table from her hand and was staring at them with a shocked expression on her face.

No, her gaze was locked entirely on Rhea's face!

She had round brown eyes, an oval face, and her hair appeared messier. She wore ragged clothes, revealing legs, arms, and some part of her chest region, and seemed pale as a ghost.

At that moment, Rhea suddenly spoke.

"I forgot to mention that slavery still hadn't been abolished in this kingdom. Only nobles and royalties own slaves, and had full authority over their lives-"

Before she could say another word, a slightly obese man appeared behind the black-haired woman and kicked her in the back.

He wore a golden-lined silk gown and looked around 40 to 45 years old.

Due to the powerful kick, the black-haired woman stumbled forward and soon fell in front of the kids.

Even though her master had kicked her, her gaze was still locked on Rhea's face, and soon she revealed a happy smile on her face!

"I'm glad you are still alive, Your Highness!"

Saying so, she closed her eyes and then fell unconscious.

'So cliché. As I thought, there seems to be some connection with my mission, fate, and this strange incident.' Charles frowned in suspicion.

'If I'm not wrong, Blood Priest and Aurora should be the ones who come along with these kids and caused some changes in the Iron Kingdom. But my appearance interfered with fate and caused a great variation. When I found out about Rhea's original identity, I always thought something went wrong...'

'No, it's not that something went wrong, but I unknowingly influenced their fate and created some alteration. Still, fate seems to have some mysterious power to pull them back to the original timeline. If not, I wouldn't have thought of coming to this kingdom. Then, there is the system's mission.' A grim look appeared on his face.

'Nope. I will only involve myself in this sh*t after Ranking Up.' As the thought whirled his mind, Charles raised his hand and cast a 'Fire Seed' spell on the obese man.

"What did you hear from her just now?" He asked in a cold tone.

As the obese man was about to respond, but he suddenly forgot the answer!

Charles didn't even give him any time and asked further.

"Who is she?"

At that moment, countless memories about the black-haired woman appeared in the obese man's mind.

But the next instant, the purplish seed-like fire began to expand and devoured all those memories in a blink.

'Her name is Ashley… He brought her from a slave trader one year ago for 21 gold coins…He took a liking to her body in the beginning and continued to have sex all day…Sex…Sex… It then turned into violent sex… He continued to torture her sexually and even beat her up… Ashley became weak due to insufficient strength and couldn't satisfy his sexual desire after a few months… She then became his tool for labor work….' A heavy sigh leaked out from Charles's mouth as he read those memories.

'What a f*cked up magic world.' He shook his head, gripped the black cane, and squatted down with its support.

After that, he placed his callus hand over her back and cast his [Soul Heal] spell on her.

A bluish-green flame conjured in front of his hand and soon covered her body.

Then, the fire started to burn fiercer and started healing her body from inside.

Upon witnessing the magical scene, the obese man's expression froze.

"Mage!" His body shuddered in fear.

Although he was a Rank-1 Mystic, he could feel that the opposite party was a high-ranked one and got scared.

Without any delay, he bowed his head towards Charles in respect, turned around, and ran away from there!

Even the Ruler caste men, who sat under the tree, stood up in a hurry and showed their respect as they saw the bluish-green flame.

On the other hand, Charles stood up and waited for Ashley to wake up.

Two minutes later, a groan leaked out of her mouth, and soon she sat up with a confused look on her face.

Soon, she shifted her gaze towards Rhea and started to let out a smile.

That smile was filled with grief, helplessness, and joy.

"O the Spirit of the Sky! Her Highness is still alive. It is not a dream!" She looked up at the reddish sky and muttered loudly, causing the nearby people to glance at each other in confusion.

She soon regained her senses and looked around while shivering uncontrollably.

At that moment, Rhea placed her hand on Ashley's shoulder and said in a soothing voice.

"You can rest assured, My Lady. He won't trouble you anymore."

"Y-Your Highness! You don't recognize me?" Ashley's face suddenly turned stiff.

Before Rhea could give a response, Charles waved his hand and spoke.

"Get in the carriage. We will talk more about it later." He paused for a moment and then added while pointing his finger at Ashley.

"You too, woman. It's an order."

Upon hearing those cold words, Ashley went dumbfounded for a moment and nodded her head hurriedly.

Although she didn't understand her current situation, she didn't dare to say anything and stood up with some difficulty.

After that, she covered her exposed right breast with her ragged clothing, followed after others, and soon entered the wooden horse-drawn carriage.

Noel also climbed towards the driver seat, sat on it, and drove the carriage to Strangers Street.

Once they reached their destination, they asked a random man about Finn and soon found his right house.

Then, Charles and Jessie walked out of the carriage, went to his house, and asked him about renting houses.

Finn was a 25-year old young man and had an average height.

After hearing their requests, he directly told about a few renting houses and even explained everything about the houses in detail.

"We will choose the house in Bark Street." Charles didn't take much time to choose and spoke.

"45 Gold Coins for six months, My Lord," Finn said in an anxious tone.

Meanwhile, Jessie took out a bag of gold coins from her void and gave him the right amount before getting the house key.

...

Thirty minutes later, a horse-drawn carriage entered Barn Street and soon stopped in front of a single-storied brick house with multiple rooms, a large garden, and a separate, underground basement.

"Noel, tie the horses in front of the house after parking the carriage in the yard. From now on, you are responsible for maintaining these horses." Charles said as he walked out from the carriage.

"Yes, Teacher," Noel grumbled in a low voice.

"Don't get discouraged, lad. If not for these two guys' help, we would be still in the Moon Kingdom. Feed them regularly." Charles added as he arrived in front of the wooden fence and opened the wooden gate.

"What should I feed, Teacher?"

Charles furrowed his brows as he stepped on the dirt path and spoke.

"You can ask about that to the black-haired woman later. She must have some experience in this field."

Meanwhile, Ashley, Rhea, and the other two kids walked out of the carriage and soon appeared behind Charles and Noel.

"Why did you call me as 'Your Highness', My Lady?" Rhea gave her a suspicious look at Ashley and asked with a solemn look on her face.

Ashley's expression went daze for a moment, and soon she asked.

"Y-Your Highness, did you really not remember anything about your past?"

"I do recall some memories. But all of them are vague." Rhea responded with a bitter smile.

While speaking, the group walked forward and soon arrived in front of the house entrance.

Jessie took out the iron key, unlocked the wooden door, and walked into the single-storied brick house.

Soon, the group entered the main hall and placed their luggage on the chairs.

Before Charles could allocate the suitable rooms, Rhea turned her gaze towards Ashley and asked.

"Who are my parents?"

"They are the late King and Queen of the Iron Kingdom, Your Highness."

"Anne..." Rhea suddenly muttered a word and soon got confused.

"That's Her Majesty's name, Your Highness. Her full name is Anne Boneflare." Ashley said in a solemn tone.

The room returned to a pin-drop silence!

Rhea instantly gripped her head and started to cry due to pain. She felt that she had heard those names countless times before and got confused.

The next instant, a sharp pain appeared from the depth of her mind, followed by her loud screech!

Like a broken dam, the previously sealed memories suddenly broke away from the shackles and appeared in front of her eyes one by one.

Her whole body trembled all of a sudden!

"Mom…Dad…" She wore a shocked expression as she skimmed through those new memories and soon spoke with a disbelief look on her face.

"Blood Priest is the one who kidnapped me? Why did he do that? Moreover, that assassination incident… Did my mom and dad get killed that night?" Shocking information appeared in front of her mind one by one.

She stood there with a dubious look on her face for a whole minute and soon regained her calm.

"Why did blood priest kidnap me and brought me to the Moon Kingdom? What is his aim?"