TMLOH 16

Chapter : 16 

After being officially dubbed the Hook Collector, Mehen gave a brief explanation.

“That’s how it happened.”

Of course, the childcare squad couldn’t accept it.

“What do you mean, ‘that’s how it happened’? You skipped everything important!”

“We still haven’t understood anything—at all!”

“How is Lady Arellin’s mother… Lady Mehen?”

“How are you, Mehen, her mom?”

“Is it that? The forbidden lovechild of Mehen and His Highness…?”

“Wasn’t that the most ridiculous rumor ever, debunked and discarded?”

“Hard to believe bio-magitech has come this far…”

“But now that I look, doesn’t she kind of resemble Mehen?”

“Right? The vibe, the aura—it’s similar.”

Mehen pressed her temples firmly.

“Enough nonsense from everyone.”

Maybe they sensed something from her cold smile, because they all went silent at once.

“The young lady came looking for her mother.”

“Ah!”

Rena gasped as realization struck and she leapt into deduction.

“Don’t tell me—you’re going to stand in for her missing mother?! That way, you’ll get into House Halbern and steal their wealth—mmph!”

“Did you forget I’m managing all that wealth?”

“…My apologies.”

It was all jokes. When else would they get a chance to tease Mehen like this? But now they started to tread carefully.

Mehen swept her cool gaze across them all, then let out a deep sigh.

“Let’s not let this happen again.”

“We’ll correct ourselves.”

“We’ll be more careful.”

“We’ll try harder.”

As their contrition echoed around the room, Yuni suddenly stood up with a stomp.

“But only Mehen made up with her! We’re still pushed aside! We want to be close with the young lady too!”

And so the grievance meeting resumed.

“She’s keeping her distance from us!”

“She doesn’t understand our professionalism!”

“Waaaah…”

What is wrong with these people?

Mehen looked a bit flustered.

Were they always like this?

“Well, that’s none of my business, so deal with it yourselves. Just don’t make trouble for the person you’re supposed to be caring for, understood?”

“……”

Everyone fell solemn.

Then came the familiar flood of tears.

“You’ve already reconciled, haven’t you?!”

“Those with everything mock us now!”

“I want to be close to her too!”

“I could be a great mom too!”

“Lady Arelliiiin—!”

The childcare squad was united—by jealousy and envy.

As soon as Arellin recovered, Mehen’s first order of business was to reassess her security.

She thoroughly vetted safe locations, and only selected the most trustworthy people. She repeated the safety checks multiple times before finally letting her emotions slip through the cracks.

Was this whole mess entirely her fault?

No.

It was all because of that master of hers who suddenly threw a new burden her way.

So, half out of impulse, she sent a message.

“His Highness is the worst trash of a father imaginable.”

The reply came surprisingly quickly.

“Do you want to be fired, you little—”

Apparently, Jaren had kept his word, staking his name and honor. Whether he’d managed to protect his life and dignity, however, was another story.

Seeing such an unusually prompt reply from the Duke of Halbern, Mehen snorted.

“Fire me, then. I’m retiring.”

A letter so out-of-character for Mehen—full of disloyalty and blatant rudeness.

“You’re not fired. Repay your disloyalty with your body.”

“…Ha.”

That was the answer.

“This man…!”

Northern Frontlines

“Waaaah. Mehen’s so mean.”

Jaren, his face bruised blue and green, pressed a precious boiled egg to his cheek.

This was the mark of mercy left by Duke Halbern himself, after returning from a brutal campaign to retake the southern line.

“Why’d you even talk back to His Grace?”

“You really thought you could sass the Duke—the man who can take on a thousand monsters by himself?!”

“This is all your fault, Jaren~”

The knights of the Saren Order, delighted by the rare opportunity, jumped at the chance to mock him.

Jaren protested.

“Hey! It’s not like I wanted to be sassy!”

This was all Mehen’s fault!

“If it weren’t for Mehen—!”

But the public sentiment favored Mehen.

“You could’ve just not delivered her message.”

“You chose to say it yourself.”

“But I swore on my name and honor!”

The other knights, apparently having pawned off their own honor long ago, clicked their tongues.

“Tsk tsk. This is why Muvysk is hopeless.”

“This is so Muvysk.”

“So typical…”

“You guys are mocking me, aren’t you?!”

“Oh, how’d you guess?!”

“You’re supposed to be on my side!”

But the knights came to a sudden realization.

“Poor Mehen.”

“We’re deployed here suffering on the front lines…”

“But Mehen’s all alone, struggling back there too.”

“Poor Mehen.”

“….”

Whose side are you really on?

“But hey, Jaren.”

“Did it come? That thing?”

The Saren knights’ eyes sparkled as they circled around Jaren. He sensed danger to his life.

“Hand it over if you want to live.”

With a sour face, he passed over a video orb—Mehen’s detailed growth documentation of Arellin, delivered for the Duke’s benefit.

“Eeeek! She’s so cute!”

“Adorable!”

“Look at those cheeks!”

“She’s grown so much—!”

“I wanna see her with my own eyes—!”

And so, the Saren Order sustained their emotional well-being on the harsh front lines… by obsessively fangirling from afar.

“Hmmm~”

Pession happily swung his legs.

The head attendants of the imperial palace sharpened their gazes at the crown prince’s casual demeanor—but Pession didn’t care.

“What’s with that smug grin?”

“Beats me.”

Terion brushed off Silua’s comment.

It was lunchtime. He had no time to waste analyzing his brother.

“….”

Silua glared at Pession suspiciously.

‘What is up with him?’

Emperor Edward and Empress Azeni had three children:

First, Crown Prince Pession.

Second, Lady Silua.

Third, Prince Terion.

The siblings got along reasonably well. In fact, better than most. But like all kids their age, they often bickered.

“Want this?”

“Mhm.”

Pession handed over a big sausage to Terion. Completely out of character.

Silua intervened.

“Give me one too.”

Normally, he’d yell, “Eat your own!” but now?

“Sure~ Here you go~!”

Smiling, he handed it over.

“….”

Silua grew concerned.

“…Did he hit his head?”

Maybe he got injured during training?

Pession, unaware of Silua’s worried glances, just grinned to himself.

“Can’t wait for this afternoon!”

The Collection Meeting

Officially: The Crown Prince’s Playmate Gathering.

Today was the day. Griam had long given up trying to match Pession’s high energy and just accepted it.

Acceptance brings peace.

So today, Pession was the first to arrive! Earlier than everyone else! Unmatched and unprecedented!

“I’m first tod—Oh! Your Highness?”

“W-Why are you here?!”

“Isn’t this early?”

“Did we come late?”

The children were flustered by this unusual situation. Pession greeted them smoothly and explained.

“Hey, everyone! I just came early today. Don’t worry—take a seat!”

“Phew! So we’re not late.”

“Why are you here so early, Your Highness?”

“Yeah, is today special?”

“You seem really happy!”

“Did something good happen?”

As the room filled with noisy chatter, Pession laughed and welcomed everyone.

Each child arrived, froze upon seeing Pession already there, got an explanation, and relaxed.

But then… Pession’s expression clouded a little.

“Surely… she won’t miss it again, right?”

No way. She wouldn’t. Right?

Still, given past incidents, unease crept up.

‘But Griam said she’d come today.’

He’d even been resisting his daily urge to visit her during recovery.

‘If she skips again…’

Then forget the warnings—he’d just visit her every day. He was just about to make that vow when—

“What’s with him?”

“Does anyone know?”

“Nope.”

As confusion spread across the room, the door opened.

A pale face. Silky platinum hair cascading gently down. Soft rose-gem eyes like cherry blossoms. The sweet scent of honey seemed to follow her.

A lovely little girl stepped in.

“Arellin!”

“…?”

Pession leapt up as if he’d been waiting forever. The other kids fell into stunned silence.

In that strange quiet—

“You came, Arellin!”

Even Arellin was startled.

‘What’s with him?’