Parents and Children
The instant the pure white light flared, the scenery changed.
What lay before her was no longer her own mansion, but a building so vast and imposing it could only be called a castle.
The Imperial Palace of the Empire.
"Lady Athena."
The brown-haired middle-aged man who called her name was Godric, First Captain of the Imperial Knights.
A true powerhouse who had carved his way up through the slaughter of countless monsters on the front lines.
The mere fact that he could withstand her oppressive aura was proof enough of considerable strength.
"What is it?"
"You seemed extraordinarily close with that woman earlier. Might I inquire as to the nature of your relationship?"
Godric stared at her with his eyes opened comically wide.
Watching a man of his advanced years make a face like that was rather amusing.
"Knight Captain. You're awfully curious, aren't you?"
"Haha. It is simply that I have never before seen Lady Athena take such an interest in anyone."
"Hmm…"
She considered it for a moment, then answered him.
"She's the woman who will become my wife. So mind how you conduct yourself."
"Hoh…"
He looked thoroughly astonished. Well, most people would.
"What? Does two women marrying strike you as strange?"
She said it with a sneer, but Godric simply shook his head with quiet dignity and met her gaze.
"Not at all. That is nothing more than prejudice. It is simply that, as I said before, the fact that Lady Athena would share love with anyone is what astonishes me."
"You seem to know a lot about me."
"There is no one in the Empire who does not know of Lady Athena."
So he had been paying her a fair amount of attention, then.
Having no particular desire to continue the conversation, she answered with silence and walked deeper into the palace. Godric stuck close behind her.
"I am relieved."
As they walked inward, the Knight Captain opened his mouth again.
"About what."
"I have long admired Lady Athena's strength. As you well know, ours is a profession that lives on power and honor. Haha."
"Hmm."
It was the sort of praise most people would have welcomed, but it meant nothing to her.
She had grown up drowning in the envy of others since childhood; those looks were all too familiar.
"You have always gone alone. Whether slaying monsters or handling your duties."
"Well. Anyone else would only get in the way. And being alone is more comfortable anyway."
"Your answer is the same as the Sword Saint's. Is that the life of a solitary strong one, I wonder."
"Solitary?"
Carlos was currently so blinded by love for his disciple he could barely see straight.
Judging by the fact that even the Imperial Knight Captain didn't know, Carlos hadn't gone around bragging about it the way he had to her.
"Still, to see the Empire's hero form such a fine bond… it puts my heart at ease for some reason."
"…You're awfully meddlesome, aren't you?"
"Hahaha. I hear that rather often."
She looked at him with a thoroughly incredulous expression.
When she had first met him, he had seemed like a properly disciplined swordsman. Where on earth had this chatty old man come from?
"As one grows older, nothing is quite so entertaining as a love story. Might I ask how the two of you first met?"
"That's enough."
She was starting to get irritated with him.
For a Knight Captain, the man talked far too much.
When she turned a cold look on Godric, he seemed to read her mood at once and simply nodded. After that, they walked into the palace in silence.
For a moment, his words drifted back through her mind.
Our first meeting, huh.
She remembered the first time she had met Hera in Drax.
Unlike now, Hera's eyes had been full of confidence — strong, bold, unflinching.
She had not looked at Athena with the empty admiration of everyone else, but had acted as though she already knew Athena's true self.
Athena had wanted to possess that woman. She had stopped at nothing.
And in the end, Hera had broken beneath her — screaming, weeping, begging to be spared.
That face, too.
"…"
Why was it?
The situation now was exactly what she had wanted.
And yet a cold ache settled deep in her chest.
What is a parent?
Beings who care for their children with boundless love so that they may grow up right.
To a parent, a child is a gift sent down from heaven. To a child, a parent is someone to whom they owe a debt of grace that can never be repaid.
My own parents had been far from good people — and yet I still understood just how vast a family's love could be.
Every time I saw the tight-knit affection of other families, I had envied them endlessly. Why had I never had a family like that?
Anyway, what I wanted to say was this: the great love between parent and child.
Especially between a mother and her child, that love only grew stronger.
Not that a father's love was lacking in any way — but they say the maternal love directed at a life that once grew inside one's own body is beyond comparison with anything else.
Perhaps that was why so many mothers hesitated to speak harshly to the children they adored.
But I saw it differently.
Giving love so that a child could grow up bright and happy was important, yes.
But so was discipline — so that they would not stray down the wrong path.
"Mari. You must never do that again. Do you understand?"
"……"
"Mari. Answer Mommy."
"…Don't wanna…"
"Mari…!"
Right now, I had Mari sitting on the bed and was in the middle of scolding her.
How badly had I been startled when she shoved her hand down my throat?
Mari, rummaging around inside my neck until I nearly gagged.
I may not have been the one who actually gave birth to her — but now that I had decided to be her mother, I intended to correct every last one of Mari's bad habits.
"Mari. You must never do something like that to other people."
I could understand Mari's bizarre tastes.
Our very natures were different from the start. How could I possibly comprehend a dragon, a creature of the heavenly realms?
But no matter how different our species, causing harm to others was a bad habit that needed fixing.
So I was trying to scold her…!
But Mari just sat there with both cheeks puffed out, dodging any answer.
"Mari… answer Mommy—"
"…But you let that woman do it."
"Of course I— wait, huh?"
Mari cut me off mid-sentence.
Hold on. What had Mari just said?
I looked at her face. The corners of her mouth were drooping, as if she were somehow forlorn.
"W-what did you say, Mari?"
"That woman gets to touch Mommy all she wants. Why can't Mari?"
"Uh…? W-what are you talking about…?"
Was she talking about Athena?
But I was pretty sure I had never made any excessive displays of affection in front of Mari…
"I saw at night. What Mommy and that woman were doing."
"W-wh… what…?"
"That woman touched Mommy's mouth… and her chest… and…"
Mari's eyes rolled slowly down toward my lower half.
A chill ran through me on pure instinct, and I threw both arms around myself to shield my body from her.
No.
More importantly.
She saw us at night.
D-don't tell me…
"I-I have no idea what you're talking about…?"
I said it while playing dumb as hard as I possibly could.
It couldn't be.
I had definitely put Mari to bed before leaving.
Besides, this mansion was enormous beyond imagination. Even if Mari had woken up in the middle of the night, there was no way she could have found her way all the way to Athena's room.
So she couldn't have seen anything.
She must not have.
Please.
Please say you didn't see, Mari.
"Liar."
But the look Mari fixed on me was endlessly low and still.
"I saw you and that woman licking each other's tongues in bed."
"Ma… Mari…"
"I heard Mommy screaming like an animal, too."
"Uh…… uhhh…?"
"I saw water pouring out of Mommy everywhere."
"Euh…… ah…?"
"I know Mommy stuck her tongue out and fainted with a happy face from that stuff."
Boom—
My mind went pure white.
As Mari kept listing off my every action, all I could manage were mindless little sounds like eh? and uh?
I simply could not accept what Mari was saying.
Th-this is…
What on earth is she saying right now?
Sh-she really… saw everything…?
What Athena and I did?
I-it has to be a dream…
It had to be a dream. There was no way this was real.
I gave my cheek a little pinch, trying to wake myself up.
"Haha… that's weird. Why does it hurt…?"
The sharp little sting traveling through my soft cheeks seemed to be telling me it was time to face reality.
"Mommy."
"Hic."
At the sound of Mari's eerie voice, a hiccup escaped me before I could stop it.
I slowly turned my head. Mari's dead, empty eyes were boring straight through me, just like before.
"Ma… Mari… th-that's…"
"Yes, Mommy."
Why did I feel this kind of fear from Mari as she crept closer to me, little by little, across the bed?
At last she came right up to me and slipped snugly into my arms.
She looked up at me and said nothing, as if waiting for my answer.
"Th-that's… well, you see…?"
It was no use. I had absolutely no idea how to explain myself.
From the top of my head to the tips of my toes, my whole body felt like it was burning with shame.
What on earth was I supposed to say to a child this small?
If I said the wrong thing, I might end up planting some very strange ideas in Mari's head.
But telling her the truth was out of the question — Mari was still far too young.
As I sat there stammering and failing to get a single word out in front of her, Mari looked at me, gave a faint little smile—
And then—
Chup—
She left a short kiss on my cheek with those tiny, adorable lips.
"It's okay, Mommy."
"……Euh?"
"Mari can wait. Until Mari and Mommy can live happily together, just the two of us."
"Ma… ri…?"
From a child not even half my size, I felt as though I had become the prey.
When Mari stood up on the bed, I — still sitting — naturally found myself looking up at her.
With a smile that looked almost sadistic, Mari stroked my hair.
"So, Mommy."
"When that time comes… you'll do lots and lots with Mari, right?"