On the highest peak of the Silent Echoes Castle... there was a tower that stood at the eastern wing of the castle. This tower was detached from the main castle, but at the same time, it was connected to it by a single overheard tunnel structure.

This tower was the highest point in the whole castle estate as well as the entire silent echoes city.

There was no other structure or building that was allowed to reach or exceed the height of this tower.

In the silent echoes city, this tower was familiarly known as the Spindle because of its long winding structure that resembled the spindle of a spinning wheel.

The only resident of the spindle was the master of the Silent Echoes Castle Estate, as well as the lord of the city... Dame Eunice Valerian.

Dame Eunice Valerian was the sole occupant of the Spindle, and it is from here that she oversaw the whole city.

At the very top of the Spindle that seemed like it could pierce the sky, there was an open-air platform that resembled an observation platform. On this platform, there was a garden filled with exotic plants and valuable natural treasures.

Each of the plants in this garden was an absolute treasure in the universe and they were all very rare, so much so that it was difficult to find them anywhere else. But in this garden, there was more than a single piece of rare exotic plants and natural treasures.

This garden was the personal garden of Dame Eunice Valerian.

Apart from serving as her garden, the top of the Spindle tower also served as the place through which Dame Eunice oversaw her territory.

As the highest point in the entire city, anybody who stood at the top of the Spindle tower would be able to see everything that happened in the entire city.

Even from the city below, it was known that the lord of the city had her eyes on the entire city. If one were to look at the top of the Spindle, they would be able to see the shadow of a person at the top looking down at them from above.

Whenever anybody saw this shadow, they would know that Dame Eunice was watching the city and nobody would dare to cause trouble.

Right now, there was a shadow that could be seen on the top of the Spindle. Seeing this shadow, all the underground gangs and dishonest merchants went into hiding. As for the common people, they were relaxed because they knew that their lord was looking over them.

Right now, at the top of the Spindle tower, a slim and slender woman was standing still in the middle of a beautiful garden.

This woman had hair full of golden locks that shone brightly under the glow of the sun.

Wearing a long pink robe that fluttered loosely in the cool wind, thus exposing her white inner garments, this woman stood gracefully in the wind. With her lush locks of golden hair that blew freely in the air following the movement of the wind, the woman's cold but beautiful face was lit with a rosy glow.

This woman was the heir of the Valerian noble family and lord of the Silent Echoes city, Dame Eunice Valerian, who was also hailed as the most talented prodigy in the past hundred years in the Ndlovu Empire.

She was also Trapp's biological mother.

Trapp and his mother Eunice did not bear much of a resemblance to each other.

In contrast to Trapp's wild and roguish looks with his flaming red hair and seductive black eyes, Eunice looked more graceful with her golden hair and amber eyes.

Between the two of them, the only resemblance they shared was in the shape of their face and the slight contours in the corner of their eyes. Apart from that, nobody would ever believe that Trapp and Eunice were actually mother and son.

This was one of the reasons why nobody ever doubted Eunice's identity as Trapp's mother and instead truly believed that she doted on Trapp simply because he was the son of her nanny.

As Eunice Valerian stood at the edge of her garden overlooking her city, there seemed to be something on her mind. This was evident from the slight frown that was on the edge of her lips.

While Dame Eunice was caught in her thoughts, she suddenly sensed some movement coming from behind her.

Turning around, Dame Eunice immediately saw two figures making their way through the garden.

These two figures were her son Trapp and his butler Della.

Seeing Trapp, a glint flashes through Dame Eunice's eyes, and a meaningful expression briefly appeared on her face before quickly disappearing.

That expression on Dame Eunice's face was almost like a joyful smile, one that you would have after seeing a loved one.

This expression had only appeared for an instant before it disappeared completely and Dame Eunice's face returned to looking as cold and pallid as it had before.

Trapp who had been teasing Della at this point just happened to turn to face his mother just as her face returned to looking cold and he happened to catch the shadow of that fleeting smile.

Thinking that he was hallucinating, Trapp shook his head for a moment before looking at his mother once again.

What greeted Trapp upon looking at his mother was a cold and rigid face that looked like it had not smiled in a long while.

This was the kind of cold and blank expression that Trapp had always seen on his mother's face ever since he could remember and even now it had not changed.

Immediately, Trapp felt a burst of resentment towards his mother Eunice and his expression became cold in almost an instant.

Standing before his mother, Trapp showed no signs of familial warmth of love towards his mother and even Eunice did not seem like she was looking at her own son.

In Trapp's heart, he was berating himself for his early behavior.

At that moment when Trapp had thought he had seen his mother smiling, something in him had been somewhat excited.

Trapp had always wanted to see his mother smile towards him before ever since he was little and it had been his greatest wish for the longest time. It wasn't until he had grown up and experienced a lot of hardships in his mother's hands that Trapp had buried this expectation deep inside his heart.

All this time Trapp had thought that he had gotten rid of this expectation in his heart but it was only now that Trapp realized that deep down there was still some part of him that still hoped to see his mother's smile.

This was why Trapp was very mad at himself.

'Idiot!' Trapp cursed himself.

'What were you expecting? There's no way this cold woman could ever smile at you. Her heart is completely frozen over which is ironic considering her powers!'

Just like that, mother and son stood opposite each other as they stared at each other silently and coldly.

At the side, Della was standing nervously in silence.

She did not dare to say anything as the current atmosphere was very tense.

Della hated this part of her job...

As Trapp's personal butler and guardian, it was her duty and responsibility to always stay by his side. this meant that no matter what he did, Della would always take his side.

At the same time, Dame Eunice was both Trapp's mother as well as her real boss. This means that Della should take Eunice's side above that of Trapp's.

But things were not really that simple.

In this kind of situation where both the mother and son did not get along with each other, the bystanders were bound to suffer if they were to get in the way. that was why Della did not dare to even move a muscle for fear that she would be dragged down by the two of them.

The silence between Trapp and his mother lasted for a long while but none of them seemed to mind at all.

It looked as if the two of them could remain like this for a very long time without feeling bothered at all.

Finally, just as Della felt like she was going to lose her mind due to the stifling atmosphere, the sounds of footsteps could be heard coming from the flight of stairs that led into the garden.

At the same time, all three people inside the garden turned towards the sound of the footsteps only to see a slightly plump middle-aged woman coming into the garden.

In the hands of the middle-aged woman, there was a small tray carrying a pot of tea and some biscuits. She was dressed in a standard maid's uniform.

Although the woman looked middle-aged, she was still elegant looking and had a grace to her steps. The few wrinkles on the woman's forehead and at the corner of her eyes gave her a calm and wise gaze.

Immediately this middle-aged woman stepped into the garden, the stifling atmosphere from before immediately disappeared and was instead replaced by an awkward silence.

Stopping at the end of the stairs leading into the garden, the middle-aged woman looked at everybody in surprise.

Seeing as everybody was standing and looking at her awkwardly, the woman chirped cheerfully.

"Well, look what we have here... if it isn't my two favorite charges? Don't tell me that the two of you have been fighting again?"