If Aegon had viewed Liliana as his mother, then perhaps he might have resented her for what she did. Even if it was under stress and emotional instability, she did abandon him at the moment he needed her the most.

But that was the point.

He never saw her or treated her as his mother. Some might call him a pushover, but he really didn't want anything negative in his life unless he couldn't help it.

Hating Liliana or his biological father would have done nothing but add negativity to his life. So he never bothered with it.

He was grateful to them for bringing him into this world, but then abandoning him severed that bond between them. Not to mention they were absent all his life, so really they mattered little to him.

So, when he heard everything that Liliana went through, he only felt pity for her. This was what happened when one chose something they couldn't undo.

Even if she deserved something for abandoning her son, she already got it in the form of self-guilt and self-hate for the whole sixteen years that followed.

How could Aegon hold any malice or resentment towards her?

He paid close attention to her words and had long become curious about his grandmother. Liliana talked about everyone except her, after all.

She drank a mouthful of water before saying, "As I said in the start, this was all a giant scheme of the Demons to kill Mom. Everything that happened on that day was planned with the sole purpose of killing Olena Valeria, the supposed last Valeria to live."

She lingered for a while before saying in an even tone.

"Mom was really worried about the Valerian lineage, as there was no one after her. Her son didn't inherit it, and she failed to produce another offspring no matter how hard she tried. But all hopes weren't lost, as the Valerian lineage is special and could manifest in later generations, but the chances were slim. Very slim."

She looked at her hand and sighed.

"My first two children also failed in inheriting the lineage. She still loved them a lot, of course, but it made her believe that the Valerian lineage was bound to die with her. The fact that I couldn't give birth to another child solidified it."

"Was she happy when you became pregnant again?" Aegon asked, smiling as he remembered all the stories his grandfather had woven for him.

"A lot. She danced hearing about it," Liliana smiled. "But not really because of the Valerian lineage. She valued it, but her family came before everything else for her. She was just happy to have one more kid to spoil. That's all."

Her smile disappeared slowly as she said.

"Still, the lineage was important and she saw no chance of a new Valerian being born, so she decided to take a risk. I'm not clear about the details, but apparently she found a way to reach the realm beyond Rank 9."

Aegon felt an unease creeping into his heart as Liliana continued in a low voice.

"She told no one about this but her family and went to a secret location to complete a ritual through which she could ascend. Unfortunately, the Demons got the gist of it somehow. We still don't know how they did it to this day."

"Perhaps a divination?" Aegon muttered, before shaking his head in denial. "No. As a proper House Valeria Head, she would have known many anti-divination skills. It wouldn't make sense."

Liliana sighed.

"No one knows how they did it, but they did and created a giant scheme. They monitored and took action when she was in a very critical phase of her Ascension."

Her tone took on a darker shade.

"One of the deadliest threats humanity ever faced in the East to lure Father, and a full-scale war in the West to lure Art. That left me alone with my unborn child, so they used their hidden forces."

"Nurses?" Aegon's eyes widened.

"They managed to bypass our radar somehow, which still doesn't make sense. My water breaking wasn't a coincidence, but a deliberate attempt to bring you earlier into this world, so they could use you against Mom. And they succeeded because I was dumb enough to play into their hands."

She gritted her teeth and continued.

"Perhaps they planned to deal with me first before escaping the security. It wasn't an easy task, but I made it easier for them. Nobody noticed your disappearance until it was already too late."

"Wait! I just realised something," Aegon interrupted her. "Where was Xiu in all of this?"

"She took the children to the capital because they insisted on visiting their Uncle Mike. I still wonder if that was also the Demons' doing. I really can't tell anymore what was coincidence and what was part of their plan."

She sighed.

"In any case, Xiu was the first to arrive after hearing my water broke, and when she came, she saw my state. After she comforted me, she hurried to check her youngest nephew… only to find no one there. She was horrified."

Liliana's voice turned somber.

"I knew Xiu from a very young age, so believe me when I say this. That was the first time I ever saw her afraid of something. She was scared. Of all people, Xiu was scared."

Even Aegon felt a chill run down his spine.

"I lost my consciousness soon after, so I didn't participate, but Art told me everything about what happened next. Xiu contacted everyone she knew, and her connections are no joke. The whole Empire turned upside down due to her rage."

Aegon could imagine that. Even now, when she was much more restrained than her prime, she could pull off something like that if anyone she cared about was harmed.

"Everyone searched through every single corner of the Empire but found nothing. When Art got the news, he lost his cool and fought as if there was no tomorrow to end the war quickly, and also because he knew the Demons were behind it."

She took a deep breath and added.

"You might be wondering how Art ended the war so quickly, right? Well, that day someone else also lost his cool."

Her eyes turned cold as she voiced out.

"The strongest of humans lost his temper and joined the war himself. Samuel au Morningstar attacked the Demon King and brought pure devastation to this continent."

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