Chapter 24: Chapter Twenty-Two: A Golden Heart to Heart

“Wait, stop Rua!” Kna’Ve resisted me dragging her down the hall.

Feeling her tug against me, I stopped, turning around to face her.

“Just calm down a second. We don’t even know where mother-in-law went,” she said.

“Of course, we do,” I replied. “She’s in her office.”

“Wha-?” she asked as I started to pull her along again. “How do you know that? There are so many places in this giant building she could hide. Why her office.”

“Well, she is my mom,” I grinned. “If I didn’t how she thought after this long, I would be a failure of a daughter. Now, come on.”

After a couple of minutes, we had arrive in front of the glamorous door of the Guildmaster. I didn’t even bother knocking. I barreled through the door, only to find an empty room.

“Haah. See, she’s not even here,” Kna’Ve sighed. 

“That’s what she wants you to think.”

I made my way over to her desk, more specifically behind it.

Throwing away the chair, I ducked my head into the area that the chair usually inhabited.

“Aha!” I exclaimed, seeing the slime plastered against it.

With a poke, the slime dropped to the floor, and my mother reformed.

“How did you find me so quickly? This is the-” Mom started.

“The most unlikely place for you to be? Because it’s the most obvious, which retroactively makes it the least obvious?”

She nodded furiously. 

“Because I know you mom,” I beamed.

I felt my smile transition into something more sinister.

“Now I think it’s time we had a chat.”

Shifting over to the sofas, I sat with Kna’Ve on one, Mom laid out on the other.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, I leaned in and snuggled up next to my girlfriend. Finally feeling comfortable, I began to speak.

“So, what’s the big idea Mom?”

“Whatever do you mean, my little nugget?” she asked as she averted her eyes.

“Don’t ‘little nugget’ me you old ha-gah!” I yelped as Kna’Ve elbowed me in the side.

“Be nice, Rua. For me?” She whispered into my ear, batting her eyes.

“Fine, fine. For you,” I conceded. 

“My sweet, lovely mother. Could you please tell me the reasoning behind you making me the mentor of a super cute but unnerving girl?”

“Oh, so that’s what this is about?” she asked.

“What did you think it was about then?”

“Well umm… never mind.”

“...”

Mom cleared her throat.

“Ahem! Well to tell you the truth, I had been thinking about doing something like this for a while. So don’t think it was just some whim of mine. An opportunity that I was looking for arose, so I took it. That opportunity was Maua.”

“Huh? So not only have you been planning to inconvenience me, but you also involved an innocent third party? What a shrewd guildmaster you are.” I snarked.

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“Even if you’re mad at me, don’t you think you’re being a bit too snappy? All parties benefit through this, but even that wasn’t the case, I’d do whatever I think is the best for my daughter.”

The genuineness emanating from her left me wordless.

‘So, she genuinely did this because she thought it would be helpful for me. The least I can do is hear her out. And I was being a bit too harsh.’

“I’m sorry, Mom,” I said, bowing my head. 

“It’s okay, baby. Come give me a hug.” She replied.

I moved over to the sofa and embraced my mom. 

She held me tight, rubbing my horns and patting my head.

“Hahaha. Now you’re not blowing fire at me, let me tell you, my reasoning.” she chuckled.

“First of all, you’re too stressed nowadays. Between the guild missions you take, administrating your dukedom, and everything else its too much for someone. They'll be stretched too thin. Yes, even you.”

“But I can’t just give up,” I replied, turning to look her in the eyes. “If I let up on all that I won’t have any time for what really matters.”

“Yes, yes, I know. Searching for him.”

“I probably missed so many birthdays. Heh, we probably traumatized him getting crushed in front of him like that. If I ever get to see him again, I make it up tenfold.”

“The other two had said something similar.” she nodded. “But you still need to take time off. You wouldn’t want him to see you at anything less than your best, would you?”

“Well…no,” I hesitantly agree.

“I thought as much. So just listen to this old hag and rest up for a while.”

“Okay, Mom.”

She rubbed my head again.

“Good girl. Now, you might be wondering why I involved Maua.”

I nodded.

“Well, the truth is, she reminded me a lot of you,” Mom said with a finger on her chin.

“Like me?”

“I can’t really place what it is, but I can definitely feel something there. On top of that, her life definitely hasn't been a cakewalk thus far. She grew up in literal hell. From the sounds of it, she has no family.  She doesn’t show much of anything, but I think that little girl is hurting. So I thought, why not try to soothe both of your hearts at the same time? It’s at least worth a shot. If we can teach her how to harness her power and potential that’s a plus. ”

She started staring upwards absently.

“And something tells me she might just help you more than we expect.”

“Huh?” I asked.

“Never mind that. Just the ramblings of an old hag,” she replied, shaking her head. “Enough of that, don’t you have an apprentice to look after?”

“Oh, that’s right! I promised to take her and Mayari out to eat after they finished a tour of the Guild.” I exclaimed.

“They’re probably done by now, we should head back,” said Kna’Ve. “Mother-in-law, would you like to come as well?”

“Nah, I have some work that I’ve been putting off. So shoo, shoo, don’t leave the little ones waiting.”

Saying our goodbyes, we hurried back to the testing room.