"Hmm~? Lizbeth? Do you want to eat something as well?" Sophia asked, amused. "There’s some pork in the kitchen. I could cook it up for you if you want."
"No need for that, Lady Sophia," Lizbeth replied warmly. "We’re your servants, so please let us do the heavy labor. Your job is just to relax."
Sophia sighed and leaned back slightly. "But I’m bored. This is boring. Boring!"
She raised her hands dramatically, holding a single wine glass. "You go out fighting every day, and the maids all have something to do... Hey, it’s going to be dark out in a few hours. Can I come with you to fight the mana beasts?"
"Absolutely not, miss," Lizbeth said sternly.
"Fine..." Sophia pouted.
She abruptly turned around, her eyes widening at the person lurking behind Lizbeth’s back.
"R-Raelis?" she mumbled. "You’re back?"
"I’m back," Raelis replied with a wide smile, ruining the surprise.
He simply stepped up to her and hugged her tightly, causing the glass of wine that she was holding to fall to the ground.
But as it was about to shatter, he summoned a single knife from his shadow and gently caught the glass. It hovered back onto the table, yet neither of them paid attention to that.
Instead, Raelis basked in this moment of peace... in his mother’s embrace, one he hadn’t felt in what seemed like forever.
Tears streamed down her cheeks, and the same went for him. No matter how much he prepared himself, it was almost like he was seeing her for the first time in years.
So just like that, the two remained in silence, and in the meantime, Lizbeth made her way out.
After a few moments, the two separated. His mother cupped his cheeks with a smile.
"Were you trying to surprise me?"
"Yes..." Raelis sighed. "Maybe next time."
She giggled. "Maybe... So are you going to visit weekly now?"
"Do you want me to?" Raelis asked, tilting his head. "Because while I’m in the academy, I can easily do that."
"Of course I want my son to visit me." Sophia pouted, her brow raised. "You make it sound like you won’t always be in the academy."
Raelis paused, then slowly nodded. "I’m going on an excursion soon."
The moment he uttered those words, his mother froze, staring at him with a displeased look.
"I’m not going to die," Raelis replied. "I’ve grown pretty strong, and if I go on this excursion, I’m going to become even stronger."
He didn’t like that the discussion had gone this path. He wanted to have some mother and son bonding time before all this serious stuff.
But alas, the sooner he brought it up, the smaller the blow would be later on.
"Will you be fighting demons?" Sophia asked, narrowing her eyes. "Promise me you won’t chase after strong demons. Just kill the weak ones and gain some experience... that’s enough, isn’t it?"
Her desperation was practically palpable, making his heart ache.
"Mom... I can’t promise that," Raelis replied hesitantly. "I made a deal with the headmaster. If I can kill a powerful demon, then when you see me after the excursion... you practically won’t recognize me."
His mother stood up with a disapproving look. But no matter how many times she opened and closed her mouth, the words she was trying to say didn’t come out.
She wanted to yell at him, tell him he shouldn’t put his life in danger. It came from experience and having a husband who was an assassin. She was used to danger, but... not when it was directed at her son.
"And what if you..." Sophia stammered. "What happens in the worst-case scenario, Raelis? What will I do if..."
"You need to trust me," Raelis said, his voice brimming with determination. "I’m going to kill the demon and come back alive. I’ll also ask for a small favor from a ’friend,’ so you should be allowed to roam around the capital soon enough, or even anywhere else you’d like."
After the excursion was over, everything was going to change.
He would have all the main ingredients of the Phoenix Tear potion, and he would also make sure to hatch his own Phoenix by then.
He would raise his technique and ability mastery to the highest he could, and if push came to shove, he would activate the Flame Singularity ability and kill the demons then.
After all, his flame had no ego, so no one knew exactly what would happen.
"Trust you, huh?" Sophia repeated. "I guess you’d still go out there even if I told you not to, right?"
"Yes," Raelis replied, expression softening. "I love you, and I want to protect you as much as you want to protect me... but if I live a peaceful life seeking the bare minimum... our future won’t change."
And in the end, they would both be killed.
"You know that even if you get rich and famous, the Imperials would still be against us, right?" Sophia asked, a distant smile appearing on her face. "They don’t like me."
"They don’t like me either," Raelis chimed in. "But you won’t have to worry about them. I’ll make sure of that."
She was about to ask how, but before she could, Raelis took something out of his shadow. It was a pretzel he had picked up from the bakery Clea’s mother owned.
He had realized that his shadow acted like a dimensional pocket, one where he could store items. He only found it out after he began learning the Flying Knives Technique.
Even so, with a tinge of surprise, his mother took the pretzel and, without question, began munching on it.
Raelis sat beside her, basking in the quiet comfort as he glanced to the opposite side of the dining table.
There was an identical dish prepared, as if she had been waiting for him to come back.
So when he recalled the missed visit last week, his chest tightened as a wave of emotion crashed into him all at once. He wiped away the single tear that had formed and used his shadows to pull the dish toward himself.
As his mother enjoyed her pretzel, Raelis dug into the dish, already planning his next move.
I should pay a visit to the Black Lotus maid, Isabel, tonight.