Chapter 55: Chapter 45: The Thoughts of a Mother.

Echoes of Fire and Shadows

Chapter 45: The Thoughts of a Mother.

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-----Lilia's POV-----

After taking my grandpa to the side to teach him nicely not to fill my cute son's head with his bullshit, we placed a few tables together in the dining hall and we all sat around to have a wonderful family lunch. 

Even though my sisters and I had been quite harsh during our little talk with our grandfather, he was right beside me, talking and eating merrily as if our talk from before hadn't happened at all… He was completely uninjured…

Damn it! This fucking old man and his stupidly high defense! Now I understand why Granny Arentia just ignored him for days whenever he pulled some bullshit like he did today!

In case it wasn't clear, I'm still furious at him for what he told Julius about me and my baby sisters, his own fucking granddaughters!

Seriously, to tell us in our faces that we were crazy and elaborate why he thought that in front of my almost 10-year-old kid… Fuck him! No wonder he got divorced 6 times, sheesh!

He might have been a good fatherly figure to the three of us when we were young, but he's definitely gotten a bit insufferable with age!

Argh! I'm so pissed off!

I don't even know how Granny tolerated his "ladies' man" bullshit during the fifty years they were together!

I will need to have a long talk with Julius so he never listens to whatever stupid advice Grandpa gives him… I know that Julius is smart and he obviously won't listen to his advice, but I'd rather be safe than sorry!

Hell, Fred even listened to Grandpa's advice once and he almost ruined our marriage with what Grandpa told him to do!

Grr! My blood starts boiling every time I remember what happened!

The moment I noticed I was getting enraged again, I started taking deep breaths to calm myself down…

I couldn't let Grandpa and his antics ruin my day, especially after my son went out of his way to make some tasty food for us.

"Mom, are you okay? You haven't touched your pizza at all…" Julius asked while looking at me with concern.

Cute~!

"I'm good! I was just a little lost in thought, that's all." I smiled at him to calm him down. 

"Are you sure?" He asked again, still looking at me with worry.

"I'm sure! I was thinking about how happy it makes me that my cute son is always cooking tasty food for us~!" I couldn't help myself but tease him a little.

"It is not that big of a deal..." Julius smiled softly and averted his gaze. He was clearly a little embarrassed.

Yup! Making him feel embarrassed is the best~! He's definitely the cutest when he's embarrassed!

Anyway, after embarrassing my son a little, I changed my focus to the plate in front of me.

On top of my plate, there was a small and round dish that looked similar to the flatbread dish Granny and I ate when we visited the Kingdom of Semdal when I was a teenager.

The dish my son had made for us, or as he had called it, the pizza was made with tomato sauce, cheese, a few edible herbs, a few spices, and lots of mushrooms. 

The pizza looked extremely appetizing and it smelled wonderful, so much so that I actually needed to make a conscious effort so I wouldn't start drooling…

I couldn't help but wonder if it tasted as good as it looked… There was only one way to find out…

After taking a small slice of my pizza and taking a bite, I was overpowered by a myriad of flavors… I couldn't help but stare at the mouthwatering dish wide-eyed…

I was stunned by how delicious the pizza actually was… 

The pizza was soft, it took practically no effort for me to bite into it… The tomato sauce was so sweet and a bit acidic at the same time! The mushrooms were also sweet, which combined with the sauce, they both had a perfect harmony. And the cheese… Dear heavens! The elastic and soft melted white cheese had such an intense flavor that I thought I was eating a piece of heaven!

I couldn't believe that such a tasty dish could exist… I couldn't help but feel delighted as I ate the pizza slowly, all so I could enjoy its rich flavor for longer.

I might get addicted to this~...

"Not that big of a deal!? I beg to differ!" Sarana got up from her seat and shook her head vigorously. "Do you even know when was the last time I had one of these!?" She asked while pointing at the pizza.

"Sarana, mind your manners! We have a noble lady with us today."  Laura said with a serious expression, even though one of her cheeks was covered with some barbecue sauce and a bit of cheese.

"No, no, please don't mind me! I'd prefer it if you just treated me like a normal guest!" Neris blushed a little. "But truly, I never imagined that I would get to eat such a marvelous dish today!" Neris said with delight as she took another slice of her chicken pizza.

"What the heck!? How can something that looks so simple be so tasty!?" Elissa shouted with surprise as she stuffed her mouth with more and more pizza.

"This is amazing!" Klein said excitedly. "Though, I don't know if I like this more than I liked the burgers you made back home." Klein looked at his food with a conflicted expression.

"I can't believe I have lived my whole life without eating pizza! I want to eat pizza forever!" Leaf, my favorite white-haired fairy, was quickly devouring a pizza that was almost twice as large as her small body.

"Luna, let's trade! I'll give you three slices of my pizza for three slices of yours!" Liliana said with sparkling eyes as she looked at her sister's pizza, eager to try that one too.

"Deal!" Luna nodded vigorously as she was also looking at her twin's food with greed in her eyes.

Seeing her great-granddaughters trading their food, Grandpa was inspired to do the same.

"Frederick, what do you think of striking a deal with this old man? I'll give you two slices of my pizza in exchange for two of yours." Grandpa said to my husband. "Though, I must ask… Why does your pizza look so red?" Grandpa looked at my husband's food with confusion.

"Are you sure you want some of mine? Last time I checked, you couldn't handle anything remotely spicy... You might die if you eat this, old man." Fred warned my Grandpa. 

"Guess I'll just stick to mine then…" My grandfather said with disappointment while watching my daughters trading their food.

"It is for the better." Fred nodded. "Speaking of which… Julius, this is the spiciest thing I have ever eaten and it is so good! I liked the burgers you and your mother made, but these pizzas definitely take the prize as your best dish!" A big smile appeared on my husband's face before he took another slice into his mouth.

"It would be strange if it wasn't spicy… I literally crushed like fifteen peppers and mixed them with the sauce on top of the ten other peppers I used as toppings..." Julius looked at his father with a deadpan expression. "I'm still amazed by how much you and Auntie love spicy food… I guess I have to remember to make one for her too when we go back..." Julius said as he looked at the empty space, clearly longing for his other missing fiancée.

Awww~! How cute! He's already missing Tiria and thinking about making her happy!

Hehehe! I would genuinely love to see how embarrassed she would get if I told her that Julius was thinking about her during the whole trip~! 

I'm really looking forward to that now~!

"Hey, Julius!" Sarana tried to get my son's attention as she moved her chair closer to him.

"Yeah?" Julius replied with a soft smile on his face.

"Wanna try some of my pizza?" Sarana asked Julius. "Say ahh~." She didn't wait for him to answer… She quickly grabbed a slice of her pizza and offered it to him.

"Oh? Okay, don't mind if I do." Julius quickly agreed and opened widely, letting Sarana feed him the pizza.

"How is it~? Does it taste good~?" Sarana playfully asked my son.

"It is a pretty good one. The extra cheese is great, the chicken was cooked nicely and the peppers mix well with the sauce giving the pizza the right amount of sweetness and spiciness. Though, I do feel like something is missing here… I'd give this pizza a 7 out of 10." Julius gave his thoughts on his own creation. "This is what I get for making one basic test pizza only instead of a test version of each… I promise I'll make much better ones next time." He nodded to himself while he vowed to improve his recipe.

Sheesh… There he goes again… Trying to improve something when it is already pretty good… My son really is a hard worker, isn't he? I'm proud of him~.

"Is that so? I think it is pretty tasty already!" Sarana said with confusion.

"But it can be way better." Julius said with a serious expression. "In any case, have some of mine too. Open wide please." Julius offered Sarana a slice of his pizza.

"Ahh~!" Without any shame or hesitation, Sarana ravenously ate the pizza that Julius had offered to her. "It is so simple and yet so delicious~!" She said with happiness as her long tails were moving around excitedly.

"Hey you two, don't you feel at least a little embarrassed for doing something like that!?" Laura asked Julius and Sarana while blushing.

"Why would I? We are just sharing food." Julius simply shrugged in response. "Do you want some too?" He showed Laura his usual charming smile, which definitely caught her off guard.

"No, that's not what I…-! I mean… If you insist… I guess it is fine sharing a bit…" Laura ended up blushing harder than before, so much so that her ears were fully red. She still quickly moved her chair to be closer to Julius 

Sigh… I was just kidding when I told him that he was trying to seduce his aunties to embarrass him, but at this rate, I'm starting to think that he might actually do it… He's already buying their affection with tasty food after all…

I wouldn't really mind if Julius truly wanted to marry them in the future. In fact, I would be pretty happy knowing that my baby sisters would have someone that would treat them right and take good care of them!

In this case, Sarana and Laura are a bit like Tiria… Both of them are not related by blood to me or Julius, they are members of long-lived races, and they are pretty young too, so the gap between them and my adoptive son is not that big. 

All three of them also reincarnated from the same world, which is a great thing since they would have that in common and they could help each other deal with their nostalgia.

That being said, as long as everyone is happy, I wouldn't mind if something like that were to happen! 

Though, it might be a little weird to have my little sisters suddenly become my daughters-in-law…

Well, I don't really mind as long as my family is happy, I get many more daughters-in-law, and my grandchildren are cute~!

However, I have to admit that I feel a little hurt and heartbroken right now…

Just today, I learned about the fact that, just like my son, Sarana and Laura, are Reincarnators. My adoptive sisters and my adoptive son, all come from the same world.

After listening to their story, I felt so hurt because my own baby sisters didn't trust me enough to protect them and hid from me the fact that they were from another world and had been reborn here…

But, I understand why they did it… They both died at a very young age. They didn't even make it to adulthood…

Next thing they know, they are in front of a Goddess that was unknown to them, who offered to reincarnate them in exchange for helping her with a mysterious task that she hasn't even revealed yet.

Left with no other choice, they accepted the Goddess's offer and the two of them were reincarnated in this world. 

Both of them were found on the side of the road by Granny Arentia when they were toddlers and she brought them home with her. I was nineteen at the time.

Sarana and Laura both recovered their memories after they both tripped and hit their heads against each other… I remember I was at the academy that day, so I didn't see that happen, but Grandpa and Granny were there with them…

Both who were previously teenage girls then started panicking and were scared out of their minds after they found themselves as little girls again…

According to the girls, Grandpa and Granny were able to calm them down and managed to get both of them to tell our adoptive grandparents the story about their reincarnation.

After learning of how old Sarana and Laura were in their previous lives, Granny Arentia warned them about how dangerous their identities as otherworlders truly were and swore that she and Grandpa would protect them with all of their might and that the secret would never leave their lips.

That was a promise that Granny fulfilled until the end of her days.

In turn, she made the two of them swear with their lives that they would never tell anyone their real identities, not even by mistake. Not to me, not to their future spouses, and not to their own children. They couldn't tell anyone and had to live as if their previous life hadn't happened at all.

My heart really broke for the two of them… Sarana and Laura were only a pair of scared little girls who didn't have any other choice but to trust a couple of strangers who they had only known for a few days for their safety.

I'm also hurt because my grandmother didn't trust me enough to tell me about it so I could help, but now, I can understand why she didn't tell me.

Back then, I was too immature and didn't really know how dangerous their secret could be…

I was too stubborn, easy to provoke, and talked a lot of shit back then… The possibility of me unintentionally spilling my sister's secret was unfortunately extremely high…

I only realized how dangerous the situation was years after the death of my Granny and meeting the Emperor in person when Fred came back from the forest with Julius in tow and I started to speculate about his origin… 

It hurts that neither Granny nor my baby sisters trusted me with that secret, but after having Julius in my life and becoming his mother, I truly understand why the three of them did what they did.

Granny was the greatest magician on the continent. That's a fact that is set in stone. Because of that fact, she worked for the Royal Family on the Imperial Castle for decades as the Court Magician. That means that she knew exactly why anyone knowing about the origin of my sisters was so dangerous.

And as I said before, Sarana and Laura were only two scared little girls who had just come into this world and had no other choice but to do what Granny, the only person they thought they could trust, told them to do.

That being said, even though it hurts a lot that my loved ones didn't trust me enough with that secret, I forgive them.

I mean, how could I not? I helped to raise those two and they are my precious family and I obviously love them!

They also didn't keep that secret from me out of malice, so I won't ever hold it against them even if it made me feel hurt. 

In fact, I'm very proud of Sarana and Laura right now. They chose to put themselves at risk (not a real one, fortunately) to warn my son, someone they didn't know, about the dangers he was in thanks to him being a reincarnator.

"H-H-How is it?" Laura asked, her face still bright red as she fed Julius a slice of pizza.

"Delicious. This one is an 8 out of 10, in my opinion. I think I should have left it in the oven for just a bit longer, but the barbecue sauce and the beef were pretty tasty." Julius looked very pleased.

"I see… Then can I…-?" Laura was acting all shy.

"Have some of mine? Sure." Julius quickly offered another slice of pizza to Laura.

She shyly accepted the slice my son offered to her. Her shy expression quickly became one of delight mixed with embarrassment. 

"It is amazing! You really are a wonderful cook!" Laura immediately complimented him after taking just a bite of the pizza. Her embarrassed face was so cute!

"Thank you very much!" Julius smiled warmly before taking himself a bite of the same pizza he had offered.

"Ehh?" Laura suddenly looked at Julius wide-eyed and with an expression of disbelief. "W-W-WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING!? ISN'T THAT AN INDIRECT KISS!?" Laura stood up and shouted, her face redder than ever before.

Pfft! Is she really worrying about something like that!? Jeez! Laura's innocence is as funny as ever! I don't think I'll ever get enough of it! It is just as funny as teasing and embarrassing my son! 

"Pfft! No way! You're actually getting flustered about it? I didn't think you could act like such a pure maiden, Ms. I'm-Going-To-Marry-A-Rich-Guy!" Sarana said before she started laughing at our sister's expense.

Jeez! There's no need to be so mean to her!

Pfft!

"Ah… I guess it does qualify as an indirect kiss? Sorry about that." Julius, on the other hand, looked at Laura with a blank expression while he casually ate the rest of the slice of pizza, unaware of the danger he was now in.

"Julius, I wanna share some of my pizza with you!" Liliana basically jumped from her seat with her plate in hand.

"Open wide! I'll give you some of mine too!" Luna immediately followed her older sister's lead and went straight toward Julius.

"Hey! I'm the fiancée here! I have the privilege of being fed first! Julius, your cute fiancée will feed you as well~!" Mia complained as she rushed after the twins with their pizza.

"Umm… I would like to try that pizza too, so if you wouldn't mind giving some of yours in exchange, then…-" Much to my surprise, Neris also stood up from her seat, grabbed her plate, and hurriedly followed the other girls.

Huh…? Does Neris like him too now? Wait! Could it be that she actually took Ophelia's joke seriously!?

Quite frankly, that is a little unexpected, but a very welcome turn of events! 

It looks like Neris will become my daughter-in-law after all! Hehe, I can't wait to see Ophelia's face when she finds out about this!

You are reading story Echoes of Fire and Shadows at novel35.com

"Alrighty then, make a line and wait for your turn. Please don't try to feed me at the same time as you tried to do when we had those burgers…" Julius said with a blank look on his face. He was clearly a little troubled by the affection of the girls that clearly loved him.

Hmm… Perhaps I should tell them something and help him out… Or… I could just stay here and enjoy the show…

As usual, I decided to just watch the situation with amusement. All the while enjoying a delicious pizza!

"Julius, I ran out of pizza! Give me more please!" Leaf shouted as she flew at an incredible speed towards my dear son. 

While she was flying across the table, her body suddenly started to rapidly grow in size. By the time she was about to reach Julius, she was already the same size as him. She had turned herself into a projectile…

"Oh no…"  Said Julius, moments before his inevitable demise.

I was able to see how Leaf happily crashed against Julius, quickly hugging him and making them and my son's chair almost fall to the ground. 

A moment after Leaf crashed against Julius, a whistling sound made by a powerful gust of wind was heard all across the room… Julius had used Wind Magic to send his chair back to its initial position, saving Leaf and himself from falling to the ground.

"Sheesh… What I'm going to do with you, you little rascal?" Julius said to Leaf while pinching her cheeks. 

There was now a girl with some adorable butterfly wings and beautiful short white hair who was the same size as Julius, sitting on his lap and hugging him tightly. The not-so-little fairy in question just giggled all along while Julius continued to pinch and pull Leaf's cute pale cheeks.

Ever since the day of the bandit attack, Leaf has been doing this kind of thing more often than not.

According to Julius, she possesses some sort of Unique Skill that allows her to make objects, creatures, other people, or herself bigger.

According to him, her Skill is called [Gigantification] or something along those lines.

"Leaf, that's not fair! You can fly! That's definitely cheating!" Luna frowned as she finally reached Julius.

"Don't be a sore loser, Luna! I was faster than all of you and that's why I won!" Leaf replied before sticking out her tongue with a cocky attitude. "Can I get some more pizza now? Pretty please!" She then smiled innocently at Julius.

"Of course. I made a few more pizzas for everyone just in case you weren't satisfied with just one." Julius said after letting out an exaggerated sigh. "You'll have to wait a few minutes while I get them in the oven though." He patted Leaf's head for a bit before trying to get up from his seat.

Oh? Is he trying to escape? Smart move, but I don't think that will work… Mostly because he's about to get surrounded.

"Hey! You aren't getting away from us!" Liliana pouted and prevented Julius from getting up.

"You won't be leaving until I feed you and I get fed by you!" Mia seemed a little upset after realizing my son's intentions.

"You don't want seconds? Someone has to cook those pizzas, you know?" Julius calmly tried to talk his way out of this situation.

"Everyone still has food on their plates. Those seconds can wait while you try our pizzas!" Luna said with burning determination in her eyes.

Luna really has become more outspoken like she said she would… I'm so proud! Liliana also helped Luna out a lot with that, so I'm so proud of her too!

I'm really proud of my babies!

Though I do hope that she and Liliana confess to Julius soon before Neris or another girl steals the march from them like Mia and Tiria did…

I suppose they are really gonna need their old mom to give them a little push…

"Luna's right! I still have most of mine on my plate!" Neris nodded vigorously.

"I don't wanna wait! I wanna try yours!" Leaf said in a childish tone as she hugged Julius very tightly.

Despite being surrounded by girls who were all dying to receive his affection, Julius didn't seem bothered or troubled by that in the slightest.

"Hehehe… I guess it can't be helped..." He said with a fake reluctant smile.

As his mother, it was easy to tell that he was enjoying himself quite a lot thanks to the attention of the girls.

"That's my boy! I taught him that!" My grandfather cheered on Julius with a wide grin on his face. He was so full of shit...

Sigh… I really do want as many daughters-in-law as I can get, but I  definitely don't want my son to end up as a womanizer like Grandpa…

I seriously need to have that talk with him…

While I was lost in my own thoughts, watching a heartwarming scene with my son and all the girls that loved him deeply, our front door suddenly flew open without any sort of warning…

"My lady… We agreed that I would knock on the door and then introduce her highness…" The familiar voice of an elderly elegant man reached my ears.

"I never agreed to that." Another familiar but annoying feminine voice also reached my ears. "And as I said before, I don't have much time to spare and I think there's enough trust in our relationship with them to skip the formalities!" The owner of the feminine voice said to the man.

As the owner of that feminine voice came into view, I could feel my levels of annoyance and anger quickly rising as I remembered what that person had tried to do to us in the past…

The person in question was someone that most of us knew all too well, a person that I used to consider a friend…

There she stood, a woman with long white hair arranged in a ponytail, a pair of golden eyes, and a seemingly easygoing smile whose only purpose was to hide her scheming nature.

It was Eliana Rilaes Marcel… The woman who had tried to take my kids away three years ago, only for her to be talked into submission by Julius with the power of Lady Lia.

Everyone in the room with the exceptions of Fred, Julius, and I, were looking at the woman with dumbfounded expressions.

We didn't need to say it to each other, but Fred and I were already expecting Eliana to come here to visit us after Mr. Tian decided to go ahead and return to the castle to inform her of our arrival.

Quite frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if she dropped whatever she was doing previously just to come here so she could "check-up" on us.

Because of that, we were not really that surprised, just annoyed…

Anyway…

Neris, Elissa, Klein, Grandpa, Laura, and Sarana were all pale and looking at Eliana almost as if they had seen a real ghost…

Mia, Liliana, and Luna also seemed to be a little shocked but they immediately started looking at Eliana with wariness, which is to be expected considering what happened three years ago.

As for Leaf… Well… She was just tilting her head adorably and looking at everyone in the room with confusion.

And lastly, Julius was looking at Eliana like she was the last person he wanted to see right now.  

Honestly, I can relate to that feeling…

"Speaking of which…" Eliana said as she turned her head to face us. "Hey! Long time no see! I know that you guys just arrived today, but I had a little bit of free time on my schedule and decided to swing by!" Eliana showed all of us a friendly smile as she walked into the house.

"And why do you always swing by whenever we're having a meal? You have done it twice now." I said to Eliana with a blank expression.

"It is just a coincidence. In fact, why are you having lunch this late in the afternoon? More importantly, that looks delicious! Can I get a plate too, please!?" Eliana wasn't ashamed to throw away her manners the moment she saw what we were eating.

"My lady… If only your father could see you… He must be rolling in his grave at this very moment thanks to your severe lack of manners…" Mr. Tian said with disappointment as he walked into the house. "Everyone, I know it has been just a little while since we parted ways, but I'm pleased to see you again. I also must apologize for the inconvenience and for the poor etiquette of Lady Eliana…" Mr. Tian immediately started bowing profusely at us while apologizing.

"Relax Tian Sebas! I already told you that we're among friends! I already have to spend most of my life having to mind my manners and whatnot, so just let me unwind for a bit, will you?" Eliana frowned in response.

Friends, she says…? 

Fuck you! You threw away that friendship the moment you tried to take away my children!

It took all my restraint to not lash out at Eliana for still thinking we're friends…

"That is an attitude that is unfitting of a former crown princess, Lady Eliana." Mr. Tian looked quite ashamed and angry at his master.

"And that would be the reason why I am a former princess." Eliana quipped before letting out a laugh.

I couldn't help but shake my head and let out a tired sigh…

"I suggest that you listen to Mr. Tian and start acting formally, Eliana, since you are not among friends as you say." I spoke while directing at her with a bit of disdain.

"Oh? What do you mean by that? I thought we were close friends." Eliana tilted her head in a seemingly innocent manner.

"Have you forgotten the time when you tried to forcefully take away my children to keep Fred and me loyal to the Empire and His Majesty? I sure haven't forgotten about that." I said coldly.

"Oh, right… Something like that happened huh… What do you say if we just let bygones be bygones?" Eliana smiled awkwardly.

I can't believe the audacity of this bitch…

"How about… Fuck off?" I replied with a warm smile.

"Oh! C'mon Lilia! I have already reflected on that and I learned my lesson! I'm a changed person, I swear! My pride and confidence were shattered by a seven-year-old and I am constantly reminded of that as I am still bound by you know what!" Eliana looked at me with pleading eyes.

I was about to insult her and keep being a little hostile towards her, but Julius decided to speak up before I could…

"Quite frankly, I doubt you have changed much, or at all in fact." Julius said with a serious tone. I could see that he was getting increasingly angry…

Julius quickly stood up, leaving the confused Leaf on his seat before walking up towards Eliana.

"But of course, how can we expect someone like you to change? Especially after considering the fact that you were planning to make me represent another princess without telling me." Julius looked at her with disappointment and annoyance.

Hold on? What? Don't tell me that she was going to make Julius represent Marina's sister who is also graduating this year…

I'm seriously getting pissed off again…

"Ehh? So you already found out? That's so boring!" Eliana immediately complained and pouted like a child.

"So you're not going to even deny it… Sigh…" Julius just shook his head as his levels of annoyance and anger rose.

"Tee-hee!" Eliana just stuck out her tongue in response. "Though it would have been really enjoyable to see your surprised expression after the tournament, I guess that would be impossible considering that you follow that Goddess…" Eliana said with disappointment.

"You weren't planning to tell me until the end of the tournament on top of that? Unbelievable…" Julius said angrily. "You know what? Just forget about it…" Julius let out a defeated sigh as he managed to calm himself down.

Contrary to him, I wasn't having much luck on that end…

"Jeez! Why are you blowing it out of proportion and making me seem unreasonable? It was just a little harmless prank!" Eliana shrugged in response. "You are going to represent Marina anyway, right? So it shouldn't be that much of an issue for you to act as the champion of her little sister as well!" Eliana smiled as she tried to convince my son.

"That would be something for me to decide." Julius said with an exasperated expression. "So? Are you going to make your niece wait all day outside or are you going to introduce her to me so we can get this over with?" He was impatient about getting Eliana to leave as soon as possible.

"Oh? You are being way colder towards me than last time… Is it because I didn't bring Marina with me?" In response, Eliana decided to tease him and change the topic. "Sorry to disappoint you, but she went away with her father at the moment. I'm sure that you will meet her as soon as she returns!" Eliana said enthusiastically while patting Julius' head.

"No, I am being cold towards you because I am angry thanks to your annoying schemes, Eliana. You clearly didn't learn anything from last time… I should have been harsher with the terms I imposed on you." Julius sighed again while forcefully stopping her hand from touching him.

"Oh! Color me surprised! You're definitely way stronger than what I had imagined you would be! What a pleasant surprise! This tournament should be a piece of cake for you!" Eliana said with genuine admiration as she started to examine Julius closely.

"Mom, Dad, this lady here is making me uncomfortable, can I beat her up?" Julius asked jokingly.

"Oh? So you would beat up a defenseless young maiden? That's not very nice of you…" Eliana went along with his joke and decided to pinch his cheek.

Defenseless young maiden? Ha! And here I thought grandpa was the only one with dementia here.

"These hands were made to promote gender equality." Julius smiled confidently. "But I'd like to say that you're far from defenseless." He said as he pointed at the golden rapier hanging on Eliana's hip.

"Oh? But you do think that I'm a young fair maiden! I'm definitely flattered! I guess you aren't as mad at me as you said you were!" Eliana smiled warmly as she kept trying to pinch both of his cheeks.

"Getting mad at you is like getting mad at a cat for simply being a cat. It is a waste of time..." Julius said while wrestling Eliana to stop her from pinching his cheeks.

Sigh… Truer words have never been spoken… 

"Well, my family often used to compare me to a cat back in the day, so I'll gladly take that as a compliment!" Eliana said happily. "Anyway, I suppose it is time for us to stop playing around before she gets impatient… Tian Sebas."  Eliana turned her head and nodded at the old butler.

"As you wish, my lady." The butler bowed politely before hurriedly walking outside.

"So…" Eliana looked pleased before she turned back to face my son. "As I said before, your food looks so appetizing! Can I have some?" She asked Julius with a pleading expression.

"I suppose we can offer you some food. Don't blame us if the food we're going to serve you is accidentally poisoned, though." I said with a half-joking half-serious tone. 

Now, let's have Julius put as many peppers as humanly possible on her pizza… That would be a pleasant petty revenge~.

"Hehe, no worries! I have [Poison Immunity]. That's just one of the many perks of being a member of the royal family" Eliana simply shrugged before grabbing a chair from a nearby table and placing it right by my side…

Fuck… I swear to the gods that I'll never curse again if this woman gets out of my house soon…

While I was praying to any god that would listen, except the one that killed my baby boy in his previous life, I looked towards the door only to find a little girl coming into the house with Mr. Tian and a familiar elven maid walking by her side.

The little girl in question didn't seem to be much older than Julius. She was just a few centimeters taller than him… 

She's around 1.36 meters tall, I think?

She had long red hair which was arranged into a braid that was resting on her shoulder. Behind her big pair of round glasses, there were some beautiful dark green eyes which only made me want to stare at her adorable face for longer…

She was wearing a cute frilly pink dress with a silver tiara resting on top of her beautiful red hair.

In short, she is definitely daughter material!

"Greetings. I apologize for the interruption and my sudden visit... My name is Alicia Nianym Marcel, I am the Ninth Princess of the Marcelian Empire, and I came here to meet the one who will be my champion." The adorable girl quickly bowed politely after introducing herself.

The moment she was done bowing to us, she suddenly set her eyes on Julius. She was looking at my son with sparkling eyes as her beautiful smile grew wider and wider.

Sigh… It is a real shame that she's the daughter of the Emperor… What a waste! I want that cute girl to be my daughter-in-law too!

---

Chapter 45: The Thoughts of a Mother.

END

 

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