/
“Mom! Calm down! The new church’s headquarters are at Troy City! Are you telling me you’re going to massacre Troy City? That city is named after me! Mom, calm down! Additionally, there are elves and representatives of the North present there! That’s the city where our three races are united!”
I grabbed Mom’s hand with all of my might. She wore an incredibly violent expression. If I didn’t hold her hand that firmly, she might’ve charged out to start her rampage already. The military outside of the city had yet to leave, while Troy City didn’t have a military yet. My military was in the North.
“It’ll be fine, Son. Mommy is just going to kill people; not destroy the city. Mommy won’t break anything. Once Mommy has killed them all, Mommy will just have new people move in. Mommy may lack anything but people. If elves stop Mommy, Mommy shall kill elves. Mommy can’t tolerate this. How dare they kill in my Royal Palace! Are they looking down on me?!!”
“Mom!”
I rushed over to Mommy Elizabeth. She exclaimed, “What do you want, then, Son?! What do you want?! How do you intend to have Mommy maintain Mommy’s reputation? How is Mommy going to re-establish Mommy’s dignity?!”
I shook my head: “I don’t know. Mom, I still need to have a think about it; however, I know that I can’t let you become a murderer who indiscriminately kills the innocent. You’re my mom, my most beloved mom. Don’t indiscriminately kill the innocent in front of me. You should be a gentle mother not a nut case who senselessly kills people! Mom, have you forgotten everything you said to me? Didn’t you say that you wanted me to live well? You’re about to kill indiscriminately!! Troy City isn’t just a mere city. It’s the place I want to live together with you!”
Mom wore a stiff expression. The Valkyries around were all awaiting Mom’s command. If the Elizabeth from ten years ago wanted to go to war again, the Valkyries would follow her. Additionally, they truly wanted to protect Mom and defeat her foes as her blade. That was why the Valkyries eagerness had already begun to erupt.
Who would the Valkyries fight? Troy City? I was the ruler of Troy City. Was Mom declaring war on me? What was I supposed to do, then? Was standing in front of her and opposing her all that I could do? Surely, we didn’t want to see that scene. Hence, I had to dissuade Mom.
“In that case, you tell me what to do, Son. What do we do about this scum? I really want to slowly skin him right now!”
I gently touched Mom’s face to calm her down. Although it wasn’t the best thing to be doing in front of the Valkyries, I still wanted to touch her face. Mom, however, seemed quite gleeful about it.
I looked at the culprit. What should I have done about him? Letting Mom kill him would allow her to vent, but then we wouldn’t be able to give the old church an explanation. It wasn’t as though the old church would have some means of complaining even if we did, but the reason Mom wanted to kill him was because he killed someone in the Royal Palace, not because he killed a member of the old church. Therefore, the old church wouldn’t be satisfied with it. They’d complain that the punishment was inadequate. In turn, they’d seek to exact their vengeance on the new church. As a consequence, it could escalate into a violent massacre over religion.
I reasoned that we should let the old church judge him. I was positive he wouldn’t have the fortune of a happier death just because old church meted out punishment instead of Mom. The old church would rip him apart all the same. As such, he was dead either way. If we handed him over to the old church, the old church would get to let off some steam. Moreover, we could allow the royal family and old church to carry out an execution together. We could burn him before the masses. Executing him together would allow the royal family to regain their dignity. At the same time, the new church probably wouldn’t do anything if the old church burned him. It didn’t have anything to do with them, after all. I believed that was the best solution. It would be a public execution, but also served as a deterrent. That would remind the vassal states that Elizabeth was still Elizabeth.
I shared my idea with Mom. Mom wasn’t hasty to argue. Instead, she mulled over it then replied, “Let’s do that, then. You, Valkyries, go and call the pope over. Don’t let this man die. We must deal with him properly. As for negotiations with the church, tell Castell to make the arrangements. Son, you follow me.”
The Valkyries and I nodded. Mom aggressively whipped her cape then headed to the inner court. I was slightly fearful. I didn’t know what Mom wanted to do with me. She didn’t say anything the entire way, but I didn’t dare to say anything, either. I just followed behind her to the inner court where we then entered her room. I didn’t know what she wanted.
I turned around to shut the door. When I turned around again, Mom lunged over. She pressed me up against the door and bit my lips. In that very instant, I wondered if I was in the imperial palace in Duagarna.
“It should be Mommy Vyvyan who does this… Why is Mommy Elizabeth doing this now?” I mused.
Mommy Elizabeth was a terrible kisser. The important thing was that she wouldn’t even let me move. All I could do was put up with the strange pain of our teeth clanging together and a strange suffocated sensation…
“Fuu… I feel much better now. Son, you go back to rest for now. Mommy needs to calm down and deliberate this matter.” Mom released me shortly after and turned around.
Despite assertively making an advance on me, I noticed that Mom’s ears were bright red. She finally took the initiative for once, yet was incredibly embarrassed in the end. She wanted for me to leave from her mannerisms so that I couldn’t see her blushing. I helplessly smiled. I touched my lips where she bit me. I could taste blood there. Mom, however, probably needed to calm down, which was why I didn’t say anything.
“Understood, Mom. I shall take my leave, then.”
“Uhm.”