Chapter 22

Normally, Lilica would have agreed to it easily. But that didn’t happen now.

Lilica’s expression darkened. Ludia said.

“It’s because Mom wants to pick one. Well?”

Lilica’s gaze dropped down to her knees and raised up again.

“Mother.”

“Yes.”

“I… want Lauv to continue escorting me.”

It was a tactful refusal. Ludia was rather surprised. Her daughter had always been a good girl that listened to her mother’s words and said ‘Yes’.

‘But that guy…!’

Ludia glared at Lauv, who was retreating to a distance away.

‘He will become abnormal in a year.’

After being kicked out of the Knights of the Imperial Guard, he lost his rationality a year later and became the target of the Wolfe family’s subjugation.

At that time, she’d suddenly heard about this story because she had just become the Barat family’s informant.

It’s because there was nothing more enjoyable than news that chewed up the Wolfe family, a close aide to the imperial family.

Because of that, Tan Wolfe stepped down from his position of Knight Commander.

As such, Ludia rushed over as soon as she heard that Lilica appointed Lauv Wolfe as her escort.

‘But how can she say she doesn’t want to?’

Ludia held Lilica’s hand tightly and said.

“It’s because Mom is worried about Lily. That person isn’t even a knight. Why must it be him, when there are so many excellent knights? Hm? Listen to Mom’s.”

It’s all for your sake.

Lilica looked at Lauv, and then looked at her mother again.

“I understand what Mother is saying. But I believe in Lauv.”

“Which part are you looking at?”

Ludia felt quite frustrated. She didn’t understand why Lilica was being so stubborn all of a sudden.

When did she develop such a bad habit?

“I like Lauv.”

“No. Mom doesn’t. Change it to someone else.”

Ludia rose from her seat. It was hard for her to hold back her anger.

“Mom will take care of it.”

“Mother, please don’t do this. Alright?

Lilica stood up and grabbed onto her skirt. Ludia spoke decisively.

“I don’t like a Lily that doesn’t listen to Mom’s words.”

Astonished, Lilica’s grip on Ludia’s skirt loosened and she gripped the hem of her own skirt with both of her hands. Ludia was currently hoping that Lily would surrender on her own.

‘I’ve worked so hard for your sake…’

Surprised, Lilica flinched and her knuckles turned white from gripping the hem of her skirt. Tears welled up in her eyes.

“I, I….”

Ludia had a stern look on her face.

‘Momentarily suffering now is better than regretting it later on.’

At this moment, Brynn approached Lilica and knelt down next to her, holding her tightly balled fists.

She bowed her head.

“My deepest apologies, Your Majesty the Empress, but why don’t you at least listen to the Princess’ reason for doing this?”

She detected Lilica’s face loosening in an instant. Her daughter’s small hand held Brynn’s tightly.

Ludia was well aware.

That her daughter doesn’t trust her. All she had to do was take the time to build it up. That’s what she thought, but seeing her rely on someone else more than her was a little…

‘I don’t want to.’

I don’t want to.

I don’t want to?

Ludia suddenly felt like she’d come to her senses.

‘Isn’t that a completely selfish notion?’

Ludia recalled her thoughts.

‘It’s all for your sake. It’s better to suffer now.’

She also said that in the past, before she returned. She thought that her ideas were right and ignored Lilica’s opinions, regarding her desperate attempts to explain as mere trifles.

‘Oh, my God.’

Ludia felt the blood in her toes being sucked away at once. Her fingertips turned cold.

‘Saying ‘I love you’, and just feeding her delicious food and dressing her in fine clothes. That’s not all that’s needed.’

When Ludia felt like her behaviour hadn’t changed much, she felt like someone had hit her on the head with a hammer.

“Your Majesty?”

Ludia suddenly came to her senses when Brynn noticed her odd countenance and called her.

Ludia felt like crying.

She took a deep breath and said.

“Lily, can we talk alone for a while?”

“……Yes.”

Her heart ached at the sight of her daughter responding hesitatingly.

“I won’t force you to give up on Lauv.”

It was extremely hard to do so, but after Ludia said that, the expression on Lilica’s face improved.

They went to the other room just like before and closed the door, and Ludia knelt down in front of her daughter and hugged her.

“M—Mother?”

“I’m sorry, Lily. Mom made a mistake again. Why do I keep making mistakes? I want to become a great mother, too.”

Tears flowed out. She didn’t even know if something like this should be said in front of a child.

She wanted to be a great mother, but what should she do?

“Mom doesn’t hate Lily. Mom will still love Lily, even if you go to a far away place because you hate Mom. What I said earlier was a mistake. I’ll still love a Lily that doesn’t listen to Mom’s words too.”

Tears began welling up in Lilica’s eyes.

“Thank you for being born as Mom’s daughter. Even if Lily creates trouble, falls ill, or gets into trouble. Even so, thank you.”

What she wanted wasn’t an obedient daughter that listened to her, but for Lilica to be happy.

Ludia chose her words with difficulty. She was worried about whether it was being conveyed properly, but small arms circled around her.

“I love you too, Mom.”

“……!”

Those words gave her such a thrill of excitement.

Ludia smiled happily and hugged her daughter tightly. And let out a long exhale, one, two, three.

“Mom was mistaken earlier. I should have listened to why Lily wanted Lauv to be her escort. Can you tell Mom why?”

“About that…”

Lilica was worried that her reasons might be ridiculed. When she was talking to Atil, she could proudly say, “I have a good intuition,” but telling her mother was different.

Lilica began to explain herself cautiously. Her mother listened to the story seriously without any signs of ridicule or surprise.

Thanks to that, Lilica was able to confess everything, and her mother had a thoughtful expression as she said ,”I see.”

“Then there’s nothing that I can do. Let’s just do as Lily wants.”

With her mother’s permission, a bright expression appeared on Lilica’s face as she hugged her mother again.

She didn’t know that acceptance of her choice would give her so much stability.

“Thank you, Mother!”

“No, Mom is also reflecting in various ways. I’m sorry, Lily.”

After kissing her forehead and patting her daughter’s head, Ludia stood up.

“Then, Lilica will inform Lauv about that. It’s probably better than Mom doing so.”

“Yes.”

At Lilica’s answer, Ludia smiled and said,

“Come to think of it, Lily, don’t you need friends?”

“Friends?”

“Yes, a friend.”

“Yes, it would be nice to have one.”

“I see.”

Ludia nodded. Now, she intended to go straight to negotiate with Tan Wolfe and the head of the Wolfe family.

‘Tan Wolfe, how dare you dump that kind of wolf on my daughter?’

Did Lauv become abnormal because he returned back home? Is that why Lily’s intuition sounded the warning bells?

‘But just leaving it be isn’t reassuring.’

In that case, she should ask for something in return to even out the scales.

When Ludia opened the door and went out, she spotted Brynn. She said to Brynn.

“I’m glad that Lily has you.”

Brynn spotted Lilica’s bright expression and knew that their conversation had ended well. She raised the hem of her skirt lightly.

“I’m honoured.”

“I owe you for today.”

“It’s a pleasure to serve the Princess.”

At the words that were filled with loyalty, Ludia chuckled, hugged her daughter once more, and left the White Dragon Chamber.

After seeing her mother off, Lilica ran over to Lauv and hugged him without hesitation.

Lauv stiffened up in surprise. Lilica raised her head and shouted.

“You can remain as my escort! Thank goodness, Lauv!”

He didn’t expect this princess to successfully persuade the empress. In fact, he’d given up to a certain extent.

I was protected.

The relief that he was protected by his superior has spreaded deeply. Wolfe are people that require a sense of security.

“Thank you, my princess.”

“Not at all! And Brynn!”

Brynn smiled and caught Lilica, who ran over quickly and flung her arms around her apron.

“Thank you. I’d only mustered up the courage because Brynn encouraged me.”

“I’m here for that reason.”

“But I should still be thankful.”

Lilica smiled. Her turquoise eyes sparkled. There were still tear stains on her cheeks, and Brynn helped her wipe her cheeks.

“There’s a lot of things to do today.”

At Brynn’s words, Lilica’s shoulders drooped as she said, “Indeed.” She should go find Atil now, but she was tired and didn’t feel like going.

Wouldn’t a day or so be fine?

As a form of protest, since she’s angry.

‘If I moved my body, my head would become much lighter.’

Lilica spoke to Brynn.

“Brynn, I’m thinking of going to the garden.”

“The secret garden?”

“Yes, I want to move. I also have to go get the herbs.”

“I see. In that case, I’ll ask for a simple snack to be packed in a basket.”

“Yes!”

She perked up again at the thought of a basket filled with food.

After pulling out the weeds from the garden, she stuffed herself full with a hearty meal.

Lauv placed a rock underneath the rickety outdoor table. The chair was also rather high for her, but Lilica liked it because she could swing her feet back and forth in the air.

Brynn and Lauv also joined in the conversation, and after Lilica ate finished, she harvested a lot of herbs and returned back with them.

‘Put herbs in a glass bottle…’

At night, Brynn helped her make magical gold coins. Lilica placed the glass bottle by the moonlit window and clasped her hands together.

“Fairy, fairy, please lend me your strength. Please protect the people that I love.”

When she opened her eyes, she saw the gold coins shining. She almost let out an exclamation, but Lilica held it in because she was afraid that the fairy would be startled and run away.

Instead, she carefully moved away from the window and got into bed.

She had a happy dream where she was dancing with moonlight fairies.

* * *

Altheos entered the bedroom, and found Ludia sitting on the bed with tears streaming down her face.

He stopped at the doorway, before walking inside and asking.

“What’s going on? Who bullied you?”

But who would cry about being bullied? This woman?

She wouldn’t come back crying and cling to it, but rip apart her handkerchief and vow to get revenge, and Altheos liked that aspect of her.

It’s good to ask for your cooperation for that.

“L, Lilicaa, hngh, hic.”

As soon as Ludia mentioned her daughter’s name, she burst into tears again, so she took out a handkerchief, wiped her face, and blew her nose. She breathed out, “Huu—”

“I’m trying my best to make Lily happy, but it isn’t working out well. I also got mad at Lily today. But as I was lying in bed, I thought about it.”

Why did she get angry?

Was it because Lilica didn’t listen? Was not listening to her words something to be angry about?

Why would she get angry if Lilica didn’t listen? It’s not like she gave birth to Lilica for her to obey her orders.

“I was scared.”

Ludia was afraid Lilica would get hurt because she didn’t do as Ludia said. She was afraid that Lauv would hurt Lily.

“But getting angry at the other person out of fear. Isn’t it very weird?”

Altheos sat next to her. He’d heard that Ludia had a meeting with Tan alone today, and intended to ask her about it, but he’ll have to do that another day.

He brushed that soft gold hair behind her ear and said.

“Don’t humans often do that?”

“Often do that?”

“Yes. Getting angry out of fear, getting angry out of sadness, getting angry out of disgust. There are very few people that are able to understand their own feelings.”

In order to comfort her, he added.

“Also, it isn’t a bad thing to be angry when you’re afraid, as you can deal with enemies, right?”

Ludia snorted.

“Lily is not an enemy. Additionally, if you act like that, the opponents that aren’t enemies will turn into an enemy.”

Furthermore, her opponent was her gentle and lovely Lilica.

“I don’t want to do that. I don’t want to end up startling or hurting Lily because I got angry due to my feelings.”

She sighed again.

“I think I don’t know my daughter well enough. I didn’t know that the parasol I’d given was too heavy, and that she wasn’t able to carry it around.”

She bit on her lip and turned to Altheos, saying.

“I don’t want to raise a child like you do.”

“What?”

Altheos raised an eyebrow. Ludia wasn’t the slightest bit scared by his expression and chattered on.

“I can tell just by looking at how you raised Atil. My daughter was originally cute, but I still want to raise her properly.”

“I’ve thought this previously and now, but you’re rather fearless.”

Altheos’s knuckle touched her cheek and trailed down the nape of her neck. His fingertip brushed against her collarbone lightly.

“There’s no reason for me to be scared.”

Ludia answered proudly. Those words made Altheos feel strange.

In her eyes, what kind of person is ‘someone that she has no reason to be scared of’?

“I heard that you met with Tan alone today.”

“Oh, because of Lily’s escort. It’s about Lauv. Wasn’t he being too much to leave a lone wolf to Lily? I couldn’t be at ease, so I asked him to send Diare as Lilica’s companion.”

“Diare? Diare Wolfe?”

“Yes.”

Altheos chuckled.

“You said that you don’t like lone wolves, but you’re bringing Diare Wolfe as a companion. I don’t know whether you’re being magnanimous or not. Your daughter, who accepts all of this, is quite tolerant.”

“My daughter is the world’s finest and loveliest.”

Ludia reached out and pulled on the front of his shirt.

Their faces drew close to each other, so close that it was as if they were about to kiss each other. Ludia whispered.

“As such, I will do anything for my daughter. Anything.”

Altheos’ blue eyes, which were completely different from Ludia’s, narrowed. Unlike his sharp eyes, his voice was quite gentle.

“I look forward to it.”

* * *

In the darkness, Tan Wolfe looked up at the moon. Perhaps because their ancestors were wolves, no, he—Tan would always try to recognise himself as an object and not as a member of the crowd—was always attracted to the moon.

When it was the full moon, he wanted to sprint through the forest.

It was why they left the estate’s vast forest uncultivated. To the Wolfe family, the deep and dark forest in the north was the best place.

Wolves live in packs, and the Wolfes also formed a large family that was constantly crowded.

However, there were some that often stand out heterogeneously, because the blood of their ancestors were either too strong or too shallow.

They weren’t able to adapt to the crowd and would hover around as outsiders, before disappearing.

Lauv was such a person, so Tan was quite worried, but he didn’t expect for Lauv to become the princess’ subordinate.

‘I hope that he’ll adjust properly in a new group.’

He scratched his cheek.

The princess immediately reminded him of Ludia. Tan felt bewildered when Altheos first said he was getting married, but now, he seems to understand the reason.

‘It’s my first time getting grabbed by my collar.’

He liked the growling eyes that said she’d kill him if anything happened to her daughter.

‘But I didn’t expect her to request for Diare to be sent as a companion.’

Was it a good thing, or was it a bad thing?

Although he had no choice.

‘Let’s just wait and see.’

As he thought that, he closed his eyes. Gold hair like the moon surfaced in his mind and quickly disappeared.