Approaching the village gate, we also noticed that a large hole had been made around the village, as I approached it, I noticed that there were iron stakes down there that would surely kill anyone who fell here.
'Didn't they go a little too far?' I had a bitter smile as I approached the village.
I went a little ahead to identify myself, and as I approached, I felt a look from above, and there I saw Valdo looking at me in surprise.
"Emma came back." Without even greeting me, he yelled, and then the gate began to open slowly. The gate creaked a little, is this wall secure? I could see iron had used in the construction as well.
But I'm still a little reluctant about it.
"Welcome back, Mom." As soon as the gate opened, I got off my horse and decided to walk. And there I found Noah standing with a big smile on his face as he looked at me.
Lucio was also there beside him as he smiled. I was surprised to be received this way, but I answered them anyway.
"I am back." I walked over to Noah and hugged him. Before, he didn't like it very much, but I think he's got used to it now. Of course, I gave Lucio a kiss, which made the villagers who were watching a little noisy.
What, they never saw a wife kissing her husband?
"So, how was the trip?" Lucio asked as he held my hand with our intertwined fingers.
"It was a little calmer than I expected, but I also discovered some interesting things."
"Hm?"
"I'll talk to you about it later, first we need to receive our guests."
"Right." Lucio released my hand and walked to the side of the incoming carriage.
"Wait." But I stopped him because I needed to at least ask that question, he looked surprised for a moment, but I said, "No one from the army came here, did they?"
"From Beastled? No one has shown up yet."
"No, from the army of Southlein."
"No, nobody showed up here, why do you ask?" Lucio looked confused, and Noah also seemed to be wondering the reason for that question.
"Nothing, forget it. I'll talk to you better later." I gave up and let him go, but Noah beside me decided to continue the conversation.
"So the king is recruiting villagers to fight?"
"What?"
"It's so obvious, you must have discovered it on the way when you passed some village, am I wrong?"
"I didn't know you were so insightful."
"No, it's just that I've been through this before, so... No, never mind."
"?" Have you been through this before? What does he mean by that?
I kept looking at Noah as he walked away and met Lisandra who jumped out of the carriage. She ignored her father who wanted to greet her and ran straight to Noah and hugged him.
I feel bad for Lucio, but Lisandra and Noah are very close.
####
All girls were received with affection. The residents didn't seem to mind and they were all very well received, and that made me happy.
The girls also seemed to like Noah a lot, but they couldn't even greet him very well since Lisandra didn't leave his side, especially when Ciaphia approached.
Lisandra stood in front of Noah to protect him from her. Noah didn't quite know what had happened, but I knew very well why she was doing it, and the reason was what Ciaphia had said in the capital.
That she would try to win Noah over and throw herself at him.
I'm not going to interfere with their relationship like that, I'm just going to observe from afar everything that's going on.
Dala, Clachel, Sara, and Rose had the same thought. Taciane and Eli also seemed to like him a lot for some reason, so they were also being kept away from Noah by Lisandra.
It was a fun scene...until...
"What's going on here?" Lari appeared here. When she saw Ciaphia, Eli, and Taciane trying to get closer to Noah while Lisandra protected him, she joined Lisandra in protecting him.
"Who is this? Get out of the way, I just want to hug Noah once, I missed you." Ciaphia said as she smiled.
"Me too, I just want to say hello," Taciane said in a way less embarrassing than Ciaphia. But her sister... She didn't say anything, but she was together with Taciane trying to grab him.
"Stop, stop, stay away from Noah, got it?! He already has me, so you can't hold on to him." Lari said this clearly.
Everyone looked at it surprised that she declared it so openly. Including me.
I knew Lari liked him, but I didn't think she had that much courage.
"What are you saying? You're old enough to be his mother!" Ciaphia replied.
"Oh???!!!" Lari gave a startled scream as her face turned red with anger: "Listen here you giant girl, you better go back on what you said." Lari approached Ciaphia and placed her finger in her face.
"Giant girl? Yes, and my boobs are huge, look at that. I'm sure Noah rather this here than you normal… boobs." Seeing that Lari's breasts weren't small either, Ciaphia was a little upset.
"Okay, I'll forget you said that, but don't even think about approaching Noah, got it?"
"Because are you his mother? I thought it was Emma... Pff"
"You better stop. Noah doesn't consider me his mother and likes me a lot, does he? You don't think I'm too old for you, do you?" Lari looked at Noah begging for help.
"Yes, it's right. Lari doesn't look like my mom and she's quite young."
"Yes!" Lari was getting ready to say something to Ciaphia, but...
"I see her more as a friend or older sister since she has taken care of me since I was little."
"What?" Hearing that, Lari's face turned pale and she just stood there without saying anything.
"Noah... You're an idiot." I said as I approached them.
"What's it?"
"You know how Lari likes you, don't say you see her as a sister or friend, it will make her feel bad. Look at her, the poor thing can't even speak anymore." Lari was paralyzed.
"Okay, I'll keep that in mind. But mom, you know she's over more than 10 years older, don't you? Isn't that weird?"
"Of course not, I would be very happy if you took Lari as your wife, I think she would be very happy too," I said while smiling.
"Wtf?" Lisandra said with a surprised face.
"What she said? Is she accepting this so easily?" Ciaphia who was laughing at Lari before was now completely in disbelief.
The two sisters were also surprised.
Noah...
"You know, I like Lari a lot, I think I can think about it."
"Is this serious, Noah?" Lisandra turned to Noah and looked into his eyes.
"Clear. Since no one would find it weird for an older woman and a younger boy to bond, I have no barriers to getting involved with Lari anymore... But I need to think about this." Noah had a strained, nervous smile on his face.
But it's good, at least I've made things easier for Lari now.
I honestly wouldn't mind, I'd even be happy if Lari ended up officially joining our family, but now it's just up to her and Noah's choice. I sincerely hope he makes the right choice.
"IS THAT SERIOUS? I AM SO HAPPY!!!" Lari, who was paralyzed before, started to move and threw herself on top of Noah. The two fell to the dirt floor and soiled themselves.
"Well, but if it's Lari I think it's okay…" Lisandra was beside me as she watched that scene.
"Would you accept if the two stayed together? Don't you have a brother complex?"
"I don't have anything like that, I just don't want any unknown girl to be with my little brother, isn't it good to have that kind of thinking?"
"But...why did you stop your friends from talking to him? You know them and you know they aren't bad girls."
"I don't know, I just feel weird thinking about a friend so close of mine having a relationship with my younger brother..."
"I just think you should stop something like that. It's still 2 years before Noah becomes an adult and makes a decision about who he's going to choose to be his wife, why don't you let your friends give it a try?"
"I can let it, but... Those two sisters over there are only in love with Noah's cuteness, when he grows up they'll lose interest..."
"And Ciaphia?"
"I think she likes him a little. Maybe as a friend? They talked a lot when she visited the inn, they seemed to get along well."
"Do you think she wants to have something loving with him?"
"Maybe she's saying this to make me jealous or angry, but I think she likes him. When she was with him, she was always smiling, you know?"
"I understand. But she doesn't look like a bad girl and she's also really fun, I wouldn't mind having her in our family."
"You accept everything so easily… But it's okay, I'll let her try, if she manages to win Noah I won't mind…" Lisandra smiled honestly as she looked at Ciaphia in surprise, but then moved closer to her.
"Good luck."
"Um, what?" Ciaphia looked confused.
"Good luck getting my brother."
"What? Are you accepting this?"
"Of course, I wouldn't mind if you were my sister-in-law."
"Alright, so I'll try this with all my strength!" Ciaphia declared excited.