Chapter 133 - 129. Paladin’s Tear
"So you’re the owner of Seven Ether?" Zein blinked, wasn’t really sure about the accuracy of his own processing thought.
"Not anymore," Bassena laughed. "But I have the biggest share here."
Seven Ether began as a workshop to satiate Bassena’s mother, Svadiva Vaski’s hobby. Something she owned secretly outside of the Vaskis to keep her sane. She used to bring little Bassena there, telling the boy it was their secret. And the little boy kept that secret even after she died.
But like all structures, it was bound to collapse when the foundation was gone. Despite already making preparation for her own possible departure, the workshop was crumbling. The artisans were splitting away, leaving to pursue their own interests. The only one who stayed was the old man.
"This place is the original workshop," Bassena explained. "Since my mother couldn’t buy lands and buildings with her name, she borrowed the old man’s name. I don’t know if he stays because of that, or because he sympathizes with my mother’s dream, as a fellow Southerner."
Bassena looked at the old picture again, amber eyes dancing with many emotions. Zein wondered if he was feeling resentful for those who left the workshop after his mother’s death. Perhaps he did. But the kind of man Bassena now would also understand why those people would leave. Just like how Trinity might crumble without Radia Mallarc at the helm.
"When I came of age, someone from a trust fund agency approached me secretly, and told me about my mother’s inheritance. One of them was my shares in Seven Ether," Bassena continued.
If it was him before being straightened up in the academy, he would probably hand them over to the Vaskis like a loyal dog. But the sobered-up Bassena brought the matter to Radia. After talking with the old man Isma who was managing the workshop alone with his family at that time, they decided to accept Mortix’s offer to absorb the workshop and developed it into a renowned company like now.
"The old man called the other artisans, and two of them came back," Bassena shrugged. Zein had a feeling he didn’t really like them that much, but there was nostalgic value in the past relationship that hindered him from outrightly expressing it. "The common product was being handled by the others, but the special, customized items would be done by the three original artisans."
"And the old man still using this place even now," Zein commented, to which Bassena responded with a nod. "Then...your mother is an artisan too right?"
It took Bassena a while to digest the way Zein refer to her in present, as if she was still alive--or at least her spirit. And then he remembered one of the things his mother left him in the vault. Two little things she made on her own, for her son--her son’s future.