Chapter 5

VOL . 2 CHAPTER 05: PATRICKS MOTHER

We headed to the town in the middle of the territory after talking with Patricks father . The family residence was located within the town surrounded by the rampart .

During the journey I ask Ryuu .

Hey Patrick, is your mother really scary? Your father told me to be careful around her .

Uh I dont think so? My mother is just like any other ordinary mother out there .

Patrick stammered when he tried to answer my question . Well, lets just see for ourselves what kind of person his mother is .

However, I imagine there would be a rift between us . Historically speaking, a future daughter-in-law and mother-in-law have been fighting each other without honor since the day humans gained sentience . Ive never actually seen those kinds of scenes personally, though .

And I believe Patrick had an older brother . I want to meet his brother, too .

Say, what is your brother like?

Eh, you want to meet my brother right? I have a feeling he wouldnt want to meet you, Yumiela .

Did he hate me even though I havent met him? My stomach started to hurt .

The reminders to fly as slowly as possible didnt get through to Ryuu, soon the town came into view .

The atmosphere was a little tense due to the emergency, but there were no signs of a major disturbance .

Lets see, where do I land?

See that mansion in the middle? Thats the Counts residence . Land in the garden over there .

Ryu slowly descended toward the house Patrick pointed to . So thats Patricks house . The landing spot for Ryuu seemed to be clear, the space was large, large enough for a training ground .

Suddenly a woman ran out of the residence . She waved her hand at us, her long silver hair swayed and glistened, reflecting the sunlight .

I guess she would not be much older than me . But Im pretty sure Patrick didnt have a sister Is that his brother? Wow, I didnt know my brother-in-law was this pretty .

Perhaps, is that Patricks

Oh, Mother!

Between an older brother who dresses as a woman and a youthful looking mother, the latter was more realistic .

As I thought about some random stuff, Ryuu softly landed on the ground .

Yosh, this is the first daughter-in-law and mother-in-laws face off . Ill use my Level 99 power to give the first strike .

Hopping off of Ryuus back, I rushed over to Patricks mother and bowed deeply .

Nice to meet you, my name is Yumiela Dolknes . Please take good care of me!

Araara~ dont be so formal, okay?

Thank you for your kind consideration!

I called off the preemptive strike due to a political decision .

When I lifted my head, Patricks mother stared intently at my face . Just as I was wondering what she was thinking, she grabbed my cheek and started rubbing them softly with a grin .

Cute! Patrick was right, your face isnt changing at all! But my son said he could understand the expressions on your face .

Mother, youre making Yumiela uncomfortable .

No, Im not feeling uncomfortable at all . Feel free to touch it all you want .

If being touched on the cheek is all it takes to build a good relationship, then so be it .

As she rubbed my cheek at her leisure, I observed Patricks mother . She looks really young, almost like she was in her twenties .

With his youthful mother, humble talent and generally good-looking, Patrick could be a highly appropriate protagonist for a bishjo game . Ah, a protagonist requires a distinctive heroine, but is there anyone with that characteristic?

After a moment of fondling my cheeks, she leads us into the house .

Come on, come on in . Uh, Ryuu-kun wont be able to enter, is that okay?

Yeah, its not a problem .

When I turned around, Ryu was using his tail as a pillow as he started to doze off . Cute . He did fly quite a distance today, guess he must be tired .

Ryu could sleep anywhere, on that note, so can I . Children are like their parents, apples dont fall far from the tree .

What a lovely person my mother-in-law is, for her to show how much she cares about Ryuu . You cant really rely on other peoples evaluations .

As we were escorted into a parlor-like room . His mother, who walked in front of him, turned around as she opened the door and said .

Patrick, shouldnt you be somewhere else? Its been a long time since youve been home, and Im sure there are some people who youd like to meet .

I have something to report about the recent attacks towards our country

Its okay, I can hear the report from Yumiela-chan .

She interrupted Patrick .

I nearly forgot that we were currently in the middle of a face off between daughter-in-law and mother-in-law . Separating Patrick from his mother

To which he says with a sigh .

Mother, please dont say anything strange in front of Yumiera . And please dont do anything strange, Yumiela .

Eh Patrick, youre leaving? And I would never do anything strange .

He whispered in my ear before he left .

Please dont mention anything about Remrest in front of my mother .

I felt his breath on my ears as it made me shiver . Stop it, I didnt like Patrick because he has a great voice . Please dont do this kind of stuff . Although he can do it one more time if he has to, or possibly two or three times, or at worst, as many times as he wanted . Nope, its absolutely not something I want to do .

Um what did Patrick say just now? I couldnt wrap my head around the conversation at all . Oh, could he say it again! Its all about conveying the information accurately . Well, it cant be helped .

I was about to tell him that I didnt hear him and if he could say it three more times, but Patrick had already disappeared .

I know how this gonna go . Shes going to change as soon as her son is gone . I often saw it in daytime dramas .

I was trembling with trepidation, Patricks mother opened her mouth .

Why dont you come in and sit down instead of just standing there? Im glad that Yumiela-chan came . Ive been wanting to meet you for a long time .

Yes, excuse me .

Should I take the fact that youve been wanting to see me for a long time to mean that you were looking forward to bullying your soon-to-be daughter-in-law? I think as I prepare myself, sitting down across from her .

So, how far have you and my son gotten?

W-what do you mean with how far?

Oh! Youre blushing a little! Yumiela-chan is so cute!

Ehhh?

What? Maybe shes just a normal person? Maybe I was being too harsh towards her, Im embarrassed . If you think about it, Im not the bride since Patrick is the one joining Dolknes family . There was no such thing as a face off between daughter-in-law and mother-in-law from the beginning .

Besides, theres no way someone who is so kind would turn into a nightmare .

Now, lets talk about what happened on the battlefield first . There seems to be alot going on .

Theres an attack from Remrest . But, all their troops have withdrawn . So, the Count will have to stay at the border for a little longer um, mother-in-law?

Hahahaha! That garbage worm from Remrest! If youre going to run home with your tail between your legs, it was better to stay in your place . Hmph, if I were on the battlefield, Id chase you to the ends of the earth and youd never see the sun again!

I was amazed . The way people can change so much in an instant .

She has a gleeful glint in her eyes as her mouth twisted up in a crooked manner . It really was scary .

U-um there wasnt any damage .

Damage?! What do you mean there was no damage?! Im sorry now that Yumiela-chan is here, I cant give you a satisfactory welcome . I knew we had to exterminate Remrest .

Wow, she really was serious . Im glad . But Id be happier if shed calm down .

I think this is what Patrick was warning me about earlier . Who cares about how good his voice was or whatever?

But I really need her to settle down soon . I have to say something, something clever

If you wish to wreck Remrest, I will accompany you .

Ah, I added fuel to the fire . No, I just thought, maybe this would make her like me

Its okay . If it happens, Patrick and the count will stop us . Between me and her, Im just a girl with an accelerator and gasoline in her hands . We will leave the brake and oil coolant to the men .

While I dont know why she hates the neighbouring country to such an extent, if I said anything to oppose her my words will only anger her more .

However, Patricks mother suddenly lost her expression . Her blank expression was the scariest . Its not something I can say though .

I could hear my own heartbeat pounding heavily . Her blank expression lasted only a few seconds, but for me, it seemed like an eternity .

Then again, she suddenly smiled . How scary .

Oh my, excuse me, I got a little heated . I cant drag Yumiela-chan into this .

Its okay, I dont mind . I believe that the country you mentioned is safe for the time being . There seems to be an internal division in the country, besides, I dont think we can afford to send out another army .

Thats good to hear . So tell me, how did you and my son meet? That boy always leaves out the important stuff .

I think the first time we spoke was during outdoor training

I kept on talking, pretending that nothing her outburst had not happened, but inwardly I was freaking out whether or not she would have another outburst .

We probably talked for half an hour or maybe a quarter to hour, which was around the time Patrick came back . Hes late .

Mother, Yumiela just had a long journey, so let her rest for today .

Forgive me, Yumiela-chan, I just got carried away .

No, I enjoyed our talk .

Thats a lie . It was terrifying .

Afterwards, Patrick lead me to the guest room and asked about our conversation .

Do you think youll get along with my mother? You didnt talk about Remrest, did you?

Im sorry .

Ah I shouldve been there with you, too .

More importantly, what Im wondering is why did she change when she heard about Remrest .

But before I could ask, Patrick explained it to me .

I know many people dont like their neighboring countries . But my mother is special, no one hates them more than my mother .

Yup, I can see that .

The reason why my mother seems to hate them so much its because they crashed her wedding .

Eh?

Did he say her wedding? That wedding where you wear your wedding dress, cut the cake, and say your vows?

My mother was from a central marquess family and her parents strongly disapproved of her marriage to my father . The day before the wedding, which was finally pushed through, there was a skirmish with the neighboring country . So there was no wedding, and my father had to go to the border for reinforcements .

Indeed, I would be angry if someone ruined an important once-in-a-lifetime event . If someone interrupted my wedding to Patrick, Id be like what? Whats wrong with that? Dont you have to wear a dress? I mean, shouldnt I have to behave myself in front of everyone? Isnt it rather lucky?

Why is it customary to hold an event like that in the first place? I wouldnt want to do it if I didnt have to . The only downside is that I wont be able to eat the big wedding cake .

Hey, are we going to have a wedding, too? Im talking about the future here .

Of course . We wont let anyone get in our way, and well do it no matter what happens, grandly at that .

Or we can just skip it, you know? Patrick, you dont like that stuff, do you?

Im not a big fan of extravagant events, but I think weddings are a different story .

Jeez, why are you so excited about this, Patrick?

Wedding

There was something about the wedding, with its happy image, that just didnt sit well with me .

We still have a long way to go, so lets put that event on hold for now .