Editor: Areth Kyntaul
Luna grabbed the horse’s reins and anxiously shouted at me, “Your Majesty! Your Majesty!! Your body is still very weak!! You have not yet recovered! You cannot do anything vigorous in your current state!”
“I need to find Lucia. I need to find my love. I love Lucia. I won’t let her leave. I need to tell her. I need to tell her how much I love her! I want to be by Lucia’s side even if I pass out or die! This was my fault! I must explain it to Lucia!”
Nier who was behind me dawdled for a while before softly saying, “Do you think that being with me is a mistake, Your Majesty? If you think so, I shall back out…”
“What nonsense is that?! I won’t allow you to think like that! Nier, you know I love you!!” I continued with frustration, “Nier, I hereby order you to love only me in the future. I will love you, too, and I won’t betray your love or do anything that is considered betrayal towards you. I will stay by your side and not leave. But the same applies to Lucia.”
Nier froze up. A relieved smile slowly crept up onto her face. She made a small bow. With a hint of joy, she respectfully said, “Understood, Your Majesty. I shall love only you, respect you, and support all of your decisions from now. However, you must allow me to come with you this time. I shall help you bring Miss Lucia back.”
“Alright. You don’t have to worry now, Luna. Nier will be coming with me.”
“Miss Nier’s condition is worse than yours!! I will only be more worried about both of you going together!” Luna didn’t show any signs of letting go.
Freya sighed from behind and said, “Let go, Luna. Her Majesty and Her Highness probably wouldn’t be able to stop onii-sama from doing what he wants, either. We should just have faith in him. Moreover, if you don’t let him go, he’ll probably hate you for eternity.”
“That’s right, Luna. Let him go.”
Both of my moms walked over from behind. I turned around to look at them and said with determination, “Moms, I won’t give up even if it’s you two. I must bring Lucia back even if I have to chase her to the ends of the world.”
Elizabeth let out a heavy sigh. She then wore a bitter smile and said, “Mommy won’t stop you. Mommy just wants you to look after your body and stay safe because mommy can understand your feelings. If your father could have been this brave back then, you wouldn’t have to suffer so much or run into so much trouble. Of course, I can understand his choice since he was the next elven king in line.”
Vyvyan softly chanted a spell on the compass before her. She then walked up to me and placed the compass in my hand. She held my hand tightly and sincerely said, “Son, mommy supports you this time. Lucia has done far too much for you. If we abandon her just like this, mommy will feel guilty, too. This is a compass which is effective for tracking Lucia. It only works for wind-elves. It will tell you Lucia’s location. Lucia shouldn’t have gone far. She’s almost out of the mana provided by the wind-elves, so I think that she must be using it conservatively. But you must look after yourself. The pendant mommy gave you is still effective. Just call mommy when there’s danger, and mommy will definitely come to your rescue.”
I looked at the two of them and smiled.
“Moms… did… did you discuss it with each other already?” I asked.
The two of them exchanged glances and then revealed a smile showing that they missed the past.
Elizabeth took in a big breath and said, “What can we do? We were like Nier and Lucia back then. We fell for a man. If your father was like you right now, then maybe we would be very friendly with each other.”
“But then I wouldn’t be who I am now.”
I tugged on the reins and bent over at the waist. I stroked Luna’s face and Freya’s head. I then turned my head to face my moms and smiled. I said, “I really like how I am right now. I can feel your love for me even on full-moon nights. I’m very happy to have you two as my moms. I love both of you. I really do. I love you both, moms.”
Both of my moms quickly went completely red in the face.
Elizabeth smiled like an idiot as she covered her face and laughed, “Hehe. You’re so sweet, Son! Mommy loves you, too. You’re mommy’s only son. Mommy is willing to do anything for you, so you must return safely.”
Vyvyan pressed her hands to her chest and excitedly said, “Mommy will wait for you. You haven’t eaten mommy’s meat pie yet.”
I tugged on the reins, kicked the horse, and off I went, racing out of the city.
Nier followed beside me with a serious expression on her face.
Elizabeth looked at dust swept up by the war-horse running off into the distance with an infatuated look until it landed. The street was dead-silent again. She then looked at Luna and Freya who were just as absent-minded. She then looked at Vyvyan who was next to her, smiled and said, “He’s becoming more and more like Inard back then.”
Vyvyan watched his back and then softly said to Elizabeth, “No, he’s more outstanding than onii-sama. He’s more responsible now. He will bring the future he wants into reality even if it costs him his life. My son really has grown up. But now he might walk the same path as onii-sama.”
Elizabeth nodded and added, “He really might lose his life if he continues like this. But isn’t our purpose in life to prevent that from happening? I will sacrifice my life if I must, in order to protect my son.”
“He’s not your son. He’s my son. I will protect him. You needn’t concern yourself.”
“Oh yeah? But my people have been the ones to save him on several occasions.”
The two of them exchanged cold glares with each other.
Vyvyan then scoffed at her and said, “After my son brings Lucia back, I want to hold a wedding in humanity’s lands and another one in our elven lands. I can’t accept the crude weddings you humans hold.”
Elizabeth looked at Vyvyan and spoke in a serious tone, “Well I don’t want to be bitten by the mosquitoes on your side! I don’t want to go there either, but that’s the only option we have at present. But the most important question is, who’s holding the wedding first? And what happens after? Are you just going to make my son separate with his wife? That’s why he must live here after getting married.”
Vyvyan nodded in agreement and said, “Although I don’t really want to acknowledge what you say, I do agree with you this time. That’s why my son needs to bring Nier to my side to live. Only I can cook for my son. My son and Lucia would probably starve to death if they moved here.”
“You!! So what if you can cook?! I’m learning to cook now too!!”
“I can’t believe you have the nerve to say that when you humans barely have a few dishes. I can’t believe you people eat raw meat. Are you barbarians?”
“Shut up with the nonsense! Bring it! Let’s decide which side he stays at for a month!!”
“My son isn’t here with me right now, so I don’t give a damn if you survive or not!”
“Shut up and bring it on!”