If it wasn't for Gaya swatting the youngster's hand from Michael's hand, Nightmare would have bitten or even used Dragon's breath on him. Nightmare sensed a tinge of negative energy from the youngster towards Michael.
Michael chose not to pour the healing potion into Sabrina's mouth but placed the potion on the table beside her bed.
"Do what you want, she's your family"
"Please, forgive our rudeness young master" Samuel quickly bowed before taking the potion in his hand. He then took a sniff as his eyes widened in shock.
"This..this...is a healing potion and it's 80% pure" Michael had a feeling that the old butler might know more about Alchemy than anyone else in the room.
"What do you expect? He's a 5-star Alchemist" Gaya said loudly enough for everyone to hear her words crystal clear.
"You're Ghost of River town, the 5-star Alchemist of Bredia" One of the guards who accompanied Captain Giles shouted, making everyone stare at Michael in a new light.
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for successfully being a badass. The reward is 400 badass points]
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for successfully being a badass. The reward is 700 badass points]
…
It was obvious that most of the people in the room had heard his name before. Otherwise, he would have earned almost four thousand badass points just by Gaya revealing his identity.
Only Samuel focused on the task on hand as he moved closer to Sabrina to empty the healing potion into her mouth.
"Wait, what if it-" the same youngster who interrupted Michael shouted but Samuel already emitted half of the potion into her mouth.
It only took a couple of seconds for Sabrina's body to regain the rosiness.
Samuel heaved a sigh of relief.
"Sabi!" Just as Sabrina's body was turning from pale to fair, someone screamed her name.
Michael turned his head to see a woman in her late thirties. Tears rolled out of her beautiful face. She came running to Sabrina's side,
"What happened to my Sabi?!" She shook Sabrina's shoulder, it had enough force as well as gentleness.
"Mom" Sabrina slowly opened her eyes. Out of nowhere, Sabrina lunged at her mother, hugging her tightly. Sabrina too sobbed continuously without giving a damn about the audience. Although she was a brave girl, she almost died back at the Maple forest, which really shook her to the core.
"Young Master, what happened back there?" Captain Giles asked Michael. Everyone quickly turned their gazes from Sabrina to Michael, curiously looking at him for his answer.
"It was Alden...Alden Bellwatch" Sabrina's voice contained a mix of shock and anger.
"Alden Bellwatch? The heir of House Bellwatch?!" Captain Giles asked while the people in the room seemed stunned.
Knowing he could earn badass points by telling them what happened at the Maple Forest, Michael started to explain how he saved Sabrina without coming out neither too braggy nor too humble.
The events unraveled back at the Maple forest sent chills running through everyone's spines. The old butler almost looked like he was about to have a heart attack. His body shivered, not because of the cold but because of the thought of losing Sabrina, the little princess of the Winston family.
Michael could tell Samuel is blaming himself for everything that happened but Michael didn't give a damn. All he wanted was to milk as much as badass points from these people and bug Noah's room.
Nightmare's actions may have brought him an opportunity but it might also put him in danger if Alden had someone behind him, someone dangerous.
"Sabi!"
"What happened to you?!"
Another three shouts sounded in the room as three women in their early forties or late thirties entered the room. They ignored everyone else, running directly towards Sabrina.
"Aunty!" Soon, Sabrina got embraced by the three ladies.
"Thank you, thank you so much, Young Master" Samuel grabbed Michael's hand, shaking it frantically with both hands. It was true that Samuel held a bit of a grudge because Ghost was a better Alchemist than his young master, Noah. However, at this moment, all the grudge in his heart towards Ghost vanished away and was replaced with gratefulness.
Samuel couldn't even imagine what would have happened to Sabrina if Ghost did not appear when he did. He also felt grateful for the baby dragon sitting on his shoulder.
"No need to thank me but please be careful next time" Michael patted Samuel's shoulder before turning his gaze towards Gaya.
"Aelia, let's go" Michael began to walk out, expecting Samuel to stop him.
"Young Master, please' just as he expected, Samuel called out to him, stopping him in his way.
"You saved out Young Miss's life. Please let us show our gratitude" While Michael was pretending to be thinking about how he could politely decline his offer, one of the three ladies who just recently arrived came to him.
The lady had a resemblance with the woman who came first. She looked at Michael, her eyes were filled with tears and gratitude.
She grabbed Michael's hands, squeezing them
"Thank you, thank you so much" Just as the lady was expressing her gratitude, Sabrina and the three ladies, including her mother came to Michael.
The lady who came first looked directly into his eyes. She seemed tired, a line of black circles occupied her skin under her eyes. Surprisingly, she took Michael's face in her soft hands, like a mother grabbing her child's face.
"Thank you" ever since he said he saved Sabrina, everyone was thanking him but nothing felt more genuine than the words escaped her mouth. Compared to her, even Samuel's words seemed fake.
She gently brushed his hair, "You saved our family's happiness." Michael did not expect such a gesture from the woman but he couldn't help feeling a warmth in his heart.
Both in his previous life or the current one, he never felt a mother's love. This was the closest he got to a mother's love. The woman in front of him was looking at him like she was looking at her own son.
Just as he emerged in wonder, his instincts screamed at him as he saw one of the guards behind Captain Giles drawing out a jade dagger from his waist.
"Watch out" Michael embraced Diana before turning around, showing his back at the guard.
The next moment, Michael's Responsive shield kicked in yet he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder.
"Lady Diana!"
"Diana!"
"Intruder!"
"Ghost!"
The room was thrown into chaos when the guard suddenly drew his weapon, trying to kill Diana. The guard was trained, extremely trained as he was faster than everyone else in the room except Michael. Him drawing his dagger to plunge it into Michael's shoulder happened in just a few seconds. Even though the Responsive shield absorbed most of the force behind the guard's stab, it still penetrated the shield stabbing Michael in the shoulder because the guard was at the Body Strengthening stage level 7.
Gaya lunged at the guard radiating overwhelming killing intent that pushed away many people in the room. The guard took out his dagger from Michael's shoulder to stab him again but Michael was faster. He protected Diana in one hand and grabbed the guard in the other.
The guard may have managed to stab him the first time but Michael wasn't going to give him a second chance.
"Ignitia" Golden bolts of lightning emerged from Michael hand that was around the guard's neck
"AHHHHHHH!"
Pop!
The guard's scream abruptly stopped when his head exploded into a red mist like a watermelon.
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for killing a Body Strengthening stage level 7 cultivator. The reward is 28000 Experience points and 1500 Badass points]
"Ahhhh!"
"Mother!"
"Diana"
"Lady Diana!"
Various shouts sounded in Michael's head as his hand still tightly wrapped around Diana. Only after the guards drew their weapons out and confirmed there were no more assassins in the room, Michael released Diana but bolts of lightning still danced around his hand, making crackling electricity noise.
The sudden change of events stunned Nightmare. After seeing a human plunging his dagger into Ghost, Nightmare's heart rapidly pounded against his chest.
But Gaya's heartbeat felt like it wanted to jump out from her chest. The whole room was dead silent for a few moments before the three ladies who seemed to be Diana's sisters surrounded her.
"Lady Diana, are you alright?"
"Diana, are you hurt?"
"Who dared to attack the Lady of Winston family?!"
"Guards!"
While everyone's in shock, Gaya leaped at him, checking him as her eyes began to well up.
"Human"
"It's okay," Michael reassured Gaya.
Nightmare was still in shock as no words came out of his mouth.
"I'm fine" Diana was still shivering yet she let out a smile and came to check on Michael.
"You're bleeding!" Michael turned his gaze from Gaya to Diana when he heard the gentle-looking lady scream.
Before even Michael could notice his bleeding shoulder, Diana tore a piece of cloth from the cape hanging from her behind. She frantically wrapped the cloth around his left shoulder.
"It was...my...fault" Tears rained down from her eyes.
Many who came out of the shock were surprised to see this gesture. The Lady of the Winston family tore her expensive dress to tend to a total stranger's wound.
Samuel quickly glanced at the house guards, wordlessly telling them to escort everyone except the closest family members outside.
Diana forgot about everything including Sabrina's close death experience as her mind went blank seeing the blood coming out of this youngster's shoulder. Michael could easily drink the healing potion and heal his wound but he was already being led to Sabrina's bed by Diana.
"Lady Diana, I'm fine" Michael was surprised by her motherly love. The affection, the motherly love in her eyes were genuine and pure. For the first time in his two lives, he was experiencing a mother's love.
"You're not!" She yelled at him, again like a mother.