TMLOH 97

Chapter : 97

The commotion from last night passed quietly.

「Founding Festival Day 1 — The ‘Surprise Event’ Becomes the Talk of the Town!」
「The Dangers of Overdrinking: Memory Loss Caused by Strong Liquor…….」

What could have become a massive incident was reduced to nothing more than a “surprise event.” Most of the people who had been unlucky enough to be sucked into the hidden realm returned safely, but they all lost their memories of that night.

A few showed signs of hysteria and complained of mental anguish, but nothing serious came of it.

News that the Marchioness of Belpart had been carried out caused a brief stir, but quickly died down.

“Someone without the qualifications tried to peek at a secret that was not permitted to them. Ending it at that was getting off cheap.”

That was how Father dismissed it with incomprehensible words.

‘Will Leslie be okay?’

It should be fine, right?

In any case, after this incident, Halbern announced he would withdraw from all Imperial banquets, and Mehen’s overprotectiveness toward me became worse.

“Are you feeling well?”

“Yeah.”

“Let me check.”

“I’m really fine.”

“It’s only been a day. You might not realize the aftereffects yet.”

“Are you worried?”

Mehen nodded. With weariness on his face and a gloomy shade cast over his delicate, sensitive features, he gave off a strangely unique aura.

“It’s my fault.”

“No.”

“If only I’d stayed by Arell’s side that day.”

“No.”

I took Mehen’s hand, which was weighed down by self-blame.

“It was an accident.”

“……”

“And Father saved me, so it’s fine.”

After sending away the violinist and being left alone with Pession, Father suddenly appeared—how he found me, I don’t know. Thanks to that, we escaped easily.

At the time, Father stared at Pession with incredible persistence……

‘Pession will be fine, right?’

Father wasn’t the type to cause harm, but I was worried about how openly Pession had glared at him.

Father really was strong.
If he picked a fight carelessly and ended up punished……

“Father, huh……”

“Hm?”

“Are you really calling him Father now?”

Mehen looked surprised, and I suddenly felt embarrassed. Instead of answering, I just nodded. Mehen smiled, but then his face twisted.

“I didn’t expect that man to be acknowledged so easily.”

“Feeling threatened?”

“By that kind of person?”

He scoffed, as if the idea was absurd.

“Still, don’t get too close to him.”

The way he subtly tried to keep me guarded was so cute that I almost burst out laughing.

“No matter what, I like you best, Mehen.”

“Well, of course.”

I spread my arms wide and hugged him. Mehen grinned.

“Because I’m Arell’s mother.”

“Mom!”

Maybe he was tired of denying the destiny of becoming my mother, because he began to accept it without resistance.

“Hah. Since you made me into this, don’t you dare pretend you don’t know me later.”

“Why? Are you worried I’ll stop calling you Mom when I grow up?”

“No. I don’t think I’d mind if you stopped calling me that……”

Mehen groaned softly and added,

“But if you pretended not to know me, that would hurt a little.”

Did he think of this whole “Mom game” as just a fleeting childhood play? His bitter expression said so.

Really, it was funny.

“Why would I ever pretend not to know my mom?”

“You never know. Maybe when you grow up, you’ll be embarrassed that you once called me Mom.”

“That will never happen.”

“You shouldn’t use the word ‘never’ lightly.”

“Want to bet on it?”

“What’s the wager?”

“Hmm. Dad?”

“…That’s a pretty shabby prize.”

We looked at each other and both burst out laughing.

Mehen kept gazing at me as I laughed, and gently pinched my soft cheek.

“What is it?”

His eyes were warm.

“This might sound strange, but… it feels like you’ve changed in just a single day, Arell.”

“Me?”

“Yes. You look more at ease, happier.”

“Really?”

Maybe it was because I had finally shaken off the shadows that haunted me for so long.

Overcoming it wasn’t as dramatic as I once fantasized in the dark.

I thought it would be like magic—poof!—all the pain and suffering gone. But it wasn’t like that.

Even after dying once, my confusion and grief remained. I had already grown too weary to find this twisted life unbearable.

But then… I met Pession, learned Mehen’s true feelings, grew closer to the childcare group, met Harun and the twins, and my world gradually expanded. At some point, it stopped hurting so much.

It wasn’t that I didn’t hurt anymore. I did. But it no longer tore my soul apart.

I was still sad, but I could cry, then get up and move on to something else.

I still had habits of self-blame and self-punishment, but they stayed in my thoughts and didn’t consume me.

Bit by bit, I was healing.

And now… it doesn’t weigh me down at all.

Why was that possible?

‘I know why.’

When I opened my eyes, the older brothers and sisters of the childcare group greeted me warmly in the morning. Pession nagged at me to take care of myself and stay healthy.

Mehen, who pretended not to but cared so deeply. The twins, who clung to me wanting to be friends. Harun, who gave me anything I asked for.

And now, even Father, who came to rescue me.

“I like you, Mehen.”

“I like you too, Arell.”

Even if it’s not dramatic, that’s fine.

The wounds healed, and though scars remain, they don’t hurt anymore.

Isn’t that enough?

“Really, I like you so much.”

Looking back, after being abandoned, I wasn’t completely alone.

There was my teacher, who told me to return whenever I wanted. There were people who, even after only meeting a few times, sent me messages asking if I was doing well.

It just wasn’t the affection and concern I longed for from a mother. But I had good people around me.

I was the one who didn’t see it, who built walls and pushed them away.

‘I won’t make that mistake again.’

“Why are you acting so cute today, our Arell?”

“I’m cute?”

“You’ve always been cute.”

“Hmph.”

If anyone else said it, it would sound like flattery. But from Mehen, it felt sincere. Maybe this is what they mean by the credibility of the speaker.

“See? You’re my favorite, Mehen.”

“That’s a relief.”

He hugged me with a satisfied smile. It was the warmest embrace in the world.

* * *

“Young Lady!”

“Absolute bed rest!”

“No exercise either!”

The childcare group was being ridiculously overprotective.

“Honestly, it’s not that serious.”

I thought Mehen was already too protective, but now I had them on top of that.

“What? Something like that happened to our precious Young Lady?”

“What was the Lord doing? This is the Lord’s fault!”

“As expected, only we can protect the Young Lady.”

“Young Lady, please accept the loyalty of the Saren Knights!”

“We will guard you!”

The lines alone were reassuring—

—if only they weren’t clinging to the second-floor window while saying them.

“Can you step back from the window?”

They weren’t ghosts, so what were they even doing?

“Ah! The Young Lady looked at us!”

“Finally! Finally, she spoke to us!”

“Ahh! Don’t push me, I’ll fall!”

“Haha! Something like this won’t make me fall!”

The Saren knights even started fighting among themselves for window space, until the childcare group drove them away with merciless exorcism (the physical kind).

“Hi-ya! Hi-ya!”

“Ahh, I’m falling!”

“Good grief.”

Even after falling, the Saren knights weren’t discouraged—they just said they would appeal to the Lord and marched off in a group.

I guess you had to be that thick-skinned to serve as knights under Father.

“Young Lady.”

“What are you going to do now~?”

Rena and Yuni grinned mischievously as they looked at me.

“Get out.”

“Suddenly? We can stay, you know.”

“Yeah, we’ll be very quiet.”

“Out.”