Cheat Awakening

Two weeks had passed, but there was no news of Myne. We'd searched his whereabouts everywhere frantically, yet found nothing. Everyone is going nuts because of this, and no one has spoken anything positive recently. Gloom hangs heavy in the air and a depressed look is plastered on our faces, as if we have lost all hope.

I... myself am no better. When I learned that Myne had disappeared that day, I thought with Myne's abilities it probably wouldn't be a big deal. After all, he always does miraculous things, and I wouldn't be much surprised someday declared he'd returned from hell itself... But as time stretched on, I, like everyone else, began to lose hope.

Yes, I believe that he will come back; it is only a matter of time. But negativity can be infectious, and the constant downbeat talk around me fueled unsettling thoughts.

Recently, Sylphy's deterioration worried me. Her temper is getting worse with each passing day; manifesting in irritability. A few days ago, she sharply scolded Waffle for accidentally spilling water on her papers. Now, she rarely left her room, either burying herself in all kinds of messy books or practising swordsmanship to distract herself.

While I hated to admit it, I envied her because unlike her, I can't just lock myself in a room, leaving everything on its own. As the eldest wife of the house, I bore the responsibility of everyone on my shoulders.

Sylphy's siblings occasionally visited to update us on their search efforts. They too were doing their utmost, but I can see they are not very optimistic now. After all, the Augusta Kingdom wasn't that big, and twelve days were more than enough to search every corner of the kingdom with so many people's efforts.

If someone is least worried and can make me feel a bit better, then they are probably Ted, Waffle, and Amy. Ted and Waffle are still children, and although they are also sad, but their attempts to cheer me held a significant effect. At least this makes me feel better a bit. As for Amy, she is not very familiar with Myne, so obviously, she is not too emotionally unstable like us.

Now, about "Mother-in-law." (Why I referred to her as such when she's clearly Myne's sister, not mother, eludes me.) Since learning of Myne's disappearance, I hadn't seen her again. Yes, her husband, Mr. Jin, occasionally offered encouraging words, but to tell the truth, he really doesn't have any talent in this field. He might also have realized this thing, so now he rarely gives us false hope.

But I learned from him that he also hadn't seen Mother-in-law since that day and had no idea where she was wandering.

Oh, by the way, Waffle's other two brothers now also live with us. According to Waffle, his mother is now searching for Myne everywhere, so she doesn't have time to look after those little guys, so she decided to entrust them to me. Thankfully, they were more mature than Waffle and rarely caused trouble, otherwise the pressure would be overwhelming.

But I have to say I never expected that Myne's relationship with Waffle's mother would be so good. For his sake, she didn't hesitate for a second and directly gave all her children to me. This is really eye-opening for me. If she wasn't a divine beast, I would even wonder if Myne was having an affair with her.

...

Enjoy exclusive adventures from empire

A month has passed, yet Myne remains missing, as if vanished into thin air. Sylphy's family has seemingly abandoned the search. While they haven't explicitly said it, their tone speaks volumes, implying they believe him to be dead. It's understandable, after all. It's been a month, and even with the entire kingdom's resources, he remains untraceable.

For this reason, Sylphy had a big fight with her brothers, and they wore very ugly expressions when she kicked them out of the house. To my surprise, Ayri sided with Sylphy, clinging to the belief that Myne is alive. She even refused to return to the capital with them. This prompted Sylphy's mother to visit personally, and it took her a few hours to coax her both daughters.

That day, for the first time, I saw Sylphy crying like a little girl, and to tell the truth, it wasn't a pleasant experience. But I have to say Sylphy's mother is a great woman; not only did she soothe her daughters, but she also encouraged us not to give up hope, she also firmly believes that Myne is alive, and will definitely come back by himself.

A few days after this little episode, Mother-in-law finally returned. Her expression was quite wonderful upon seeing our unwavering belief that Myne is alive and will definitely return soon. She likely expected us to have accepted his fate by now, perhaps even held a memorial.

Although she neither said anything about where she was for so many days nor encouraged us, I can see that her behaviour toward us has become more gentle, but before this I always had a feeling that she didn't like us too much, but for Myne shake she never said anything.

Since then, she started living with us and taken over family matters on her responsible shoulders, allowing me to breathe a sigh of relief. Finally, I had someone to confide in, a reliable soul to share my inner turmoil. At first, I feared that she might find listening to my nonsense annoying, but no, she patiently listens to everything I say and comforts me like my mother did in my childhood.

Those were very wonderful moments.

After Mother-in-law took the family matters into her own hands, I am now caught in a big problem. I have nothing to divert my thoughts, and all kinds of negative thoughts start harassing me every day. I also started having nightmares; every night, I jolt awake screaming, scaring the hell out of everyone. Because of this, I was forced to sleep with Mother-in-law in the main bedroom.

Although this temporarily solved my nightmare problem, now I struggle to sleep at all due to anxiety. Sigh, I feel completely useless...

Our clan building construction, which was temporarily funded by Sylphy's father, has halted. He probably didn't want to waste his money on us anymore. Myne had complained many times about him, saying he was the cheapest person he had ever seen in his life. Only now do I finally realize why he complained about him so much.

Today, I noticed something strange: Ted and his parents, as well as Waffle, are getting thin? I clearly remember feeding them properly; how could they start losing weight for no reason? I asked Waffle, and he said it is probably because they are training hard to get stronger. Although I smell something fishy in this matter, I have other things to worry about, so I didn't think too much about it.

...

Sigh, it's now been three months, and he is still missing. Except for Mother-in-law and me, everyone else has already given up. Although Sylphy doesn't show it, I can see that she is ready to move on, which is quite normal. After all, she is a princess in her prime; she can't waste her youth waiting for a man who has been missing for months. Unlike me, she's not clinging to a fantasy.

Mother-in-law is also starting to become more and more depressed, I can feel it. Although she's trying hard not to show it on her face, we sleep together, and many times I've seen her crying in her sleep while calling Myne's name. She's also haunted by nightmares just like me, and I can't do anything about it. Though I've tried to offer comfort, she skillfully deflects my attempts.

It frustrates me, but I'm helpless.

Today something happened that left me completely dumbfounded. We were having dinner together in a gloomy and depressed atmosphere, which has now become part of our lives. I don't even remember when was the last time I smiled genuinely; most of the time, it's fake to encourage others. Anyway, we were eating dinner when suddenly, Mother-in-law stood up abruptly, giving us literally a heart attack.

She stared in a certain direction with a deadly serious expression as if she could peer through the walls and see everything. But soon, her expression turned from shock to surprise and then delight. Although all of us were staring at her, holding our breath, waiting for her to speak, she didn't say anything and quickly ran out of the kitchen.

Naturally, we couldn't accept this bizarre behaviour, so we followed her and quickly came out of her house behind her. That's when I realized that I knew nothing about Mother-in-law. Until now, I always thought that she was quite powerful, definitely more than me and a little bit mysterious, but she slapped reality on my face quite hard.

She stood before us transformed, a goddess in a flowing blue dress adorned with a crown. A mesmerizing blue aura surrounded her, and a shimmering trident grasped in her hand. It was undeniable – she had been hiding much more than she revealed.

Then, before I could say anything, she shot skyward like a meteor, disappearing from sight. Sigh, she destroyed the entire garden just to look cool; I have to rebuild it from scratch. What a mess.

However, although we were a bit angry that she didn't say anything, but her dramatic departure ignited a flicker of hope in us, the possibility that Myne might be alive.

We waited; each second was no different than months...

We were still waiting...

F*ck! It's been two days; where the hell is she? Damn it, why didn't she say anything? I am going crazy. Damn you, Mother-in-law...

BOOM! Then, a booming sound echoed through the air.**

I was taking a bath to calm down my inner nervousness and rising tension when a booming sound echoed from outside the house. Panic surged through me. I hastily wore my clothes, not caring if they got wet, and rushed out. Finally, the moment we had all been desperately awaiting arrived: Mother-in-law, our beacon of hope in the darkness, returned.

She was quite dishevelled, her previously magical attire now reduced to ordinary clothes riddled with burn marks and holes. Dust and mud coated her, and her hair was dishevelled. Yet, amidst it all, she bore no physical injuries. More importantly, her eyes sparkled with an unknown excitement, and a wide grin stretched across her face.

Since Myne had gone missing, I had never seen her so excited and happy. Could it be? Had she succeeded? Had she brought him back?

She didn't speak to us, no matter what we asked, and quickly walked toward the bedroom. There, she waved her hand, and the person we had been dying to see materialized on the bed.

He was alive. I couldn't believe my eyes. I had dreamed of this moment every night, and he was finally back... But although there were no wounds on his body, I knew he wasn't well. Otherwise, with his shameless healing skill, he wouldn't be lying in bed.

I yearned to run to him, to touch him and confirm I wasn't dreaming, but I restrained myself. It wasn't time. He needed to recover. I could do it later.

Then, Mother-in-law quickly removed his clothes, cleaned him with her skill, and told us that he had emptied his mana and was now in a coma. He would wake up after a few hours.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

That's good news, but I desperately wanted to talk to him, to find out what the hell had happened that caused him to vanish like smoke. But alas, I had to wait a bit more until he woke up. I should think of a proper way to welcome him. This bastard always got himself into all kinds of trouble, and then we had to suffer because of him. This time, I would not let him go easily.

While I was contemplating this, Mother-in-law kicked us all out of the bedroom, forcing everyone to sleep in her second room. According to her, we'd all been under immense stress for the past few months and needed proper rest. Saying that she snapped her fingers, and before we could protest, everything around me began to fade to black...