Mom gently placed me onto her bed, and I lifelessly closed my eyes. I wasn't willing to budge no matter what happened anymore. Unlike Vyvyan, I feel that Elizabeth is a normal… Eh?!! Huh?!! What are you undoing my belt for?! What are you doing?! Aren't the roles for date-rape reversed here?! I struggled to open my eyes, only to see a terrifying scene. Mom had the overwhelmingly l.u.s.tful gaze she had on that day we bathed together as she panted heavily while undoing and ripping my belt off. I desperately s.h.i.+fted my weak hands downwards, grabbed my belt and muttered: "Don't… mom… don't do this……"

Isn't there something wrong with this predicament?! Not only are the male and female roles reversed, even the ident.i.ty of the individuals in question are wrong!! You're my mom, not a thug! What are you trying to do stripping me when I'm drunk?! So much for thinking you were a normal mom. You're scarier than Vyvyan!!

"Mommy… mommy… mommy wants to sleep with you too….. Mommy has never slept while holding you. Mommy wants to sleep holding you too. That ugly woman could. I'm you're biological mom. I want to too!"

Mom pulled my pants off forcefully and then began to rip my s.h.i.+rt like she was insane the same way she did my belt. Yes, that's correct, Vyvyan does sleep with me, but she at least lets me sleep with my clothes on! What are you doing?! It's very easy to commit a mistake once we're drunk, you now?!

But mom didn't look like she had any intention to reason with me. Mom's gaze looked like the gaze of a mad-woman. It was frightening. She ripped my s.h.i.+rt open and then unb.u.t.toned my dragon armour I wore inside. I couldn't do anything since my arms and legs felt like jelly. I simply let mom strip me as she pleased. Vyvyan didn't it to me when we bathed together last time, so having my mom hold me while sleeping wasn't something unacceptable.

Mom's hands suddenly stopped. She had already undone the b.u.t.tons on my under-s.h.i.+rt, yet she stopped. Mom pressed her hands on my chest and curled her fingers up to form fists. She stopped there for a long time, not taking the next step. Somewhat curious, I went to open my eyes, but two cold drips of water landed on my face just as I intended to open my eyes.

I opened my eyes and saw mom staring at my chest. She curled her fingers up to form two fists and trembled gently. She bit down on her lips hard. Her gaze was br.i.m.m.i.n.g with pain and sadness. She desperately tried to hold her tears in but big droplets of tears fell nonetheless as they ran down her cheeks, dripped onto my face, and splattered.

"Mom?"

I struggled to lift my head up. I didn't know why mom cried. I looked at her face and then realised that I still had the scar Mera gave me on my chest. While the white deer king did save my life, the scar was still left behind. Mom shed tears of pain as she looked at my scar.

I lifelessly lied back down and softly said: "It's alright, mom… It's alright……"

Still mounting me, mom placed her head on my scar and in her hoa.r.s.e voice said: "There's no way you're alright…… This scar……. Mommy has seen this sort of scar before…… It's a fatal wound…… How could you possibly be fine……"

Mom hugged me tightly as she cried and s.h.i.+vered with incomparable pain and fear.

"Mommy… mommy is sorry…… My dear son… mommy couldn't protect you… mommy…. You're still by mommy's side and yet you still got hurt… It's all mommy's fault… son… it's all mommy's fault…… If only mommy wasn't stubborn… you wouldn't have had to suffer so much…… Mommy…. mommy is sorry….."

Mom choked on her tears as she spoke. Her voice was virtually m.u.f.fled by her sobs. I had never seen mom cry so sadly before. The last time I saw mom's tears was when I came out of the sewers. Truthfully speaking, I've let mom see me get hurt too many times.

"I beg you… my son… my most beloved son…… Mommy loves you… mommy really loves you… don't hate mommy… Please… don't hate mommy… mommy… mommy will protect you well in the future… mommy… mommy won't let you suffer any more than you already do……"

Mommy hugged me tightly and kissed my scar. She hugged me tightly fearfully. I smiled helplessly and then stretched my arm out to hug mom. While my arms were very weak, I still tried my best to hug mom back nonetheless. I gently said: "It's fine mom. I love you… I really do… I'm very thankful of you. If it weren't for you… I wouldn't exist, isn't that right?"

"My son…… My most beloved son…… Mommy loves you… Mommy really loves you!"

You know… mom really is a clumsy mother. She has no idea how to love a child, nor does she know how to raise one. However, I understand mom's love for me is genuine. While the way she expresses it is somewhat silly, her hands that bled from needle-work and the tears she shed because of my wound were all very real.

Elizabeth truly loves her son deeply. From the perspective of others, she is a domineering and majestic empress. However, she is also a dutiful mother. If Troy was here with Elizabeth at the start, I think he would be blissful now as well. Both mothers love their son deeply after all.

Mom hugged me tightly, pulling me tightly into her embrace. She sobbed as she gently pat me on my back and softly asked: "Mommy… mommy… mommy can't sing lullabies… mommy is very happy to just be able to sleep with my son while holding him. Son… a-are you happy?"

"I am. I'm very happy."

I leaned into mom's embrace and sniffed the scent on mom. Her fragrance was different to Vyvyan's, but intoxicated me and calmed me down nonetheless. Plus, since I was drunk and had my eyes shut, I slowly fell asleep. Next to me was mom's warmth. In front of me were mom's warm breaths. I felt at peace and happy like a newborn child.

Mom hugged me blissfully. She didn't want to do anything in that moment. She just wanted to look at her son sleeping in peace until the end of time. She had once held her son. Her son was as gentle as he was not long after he was born and she first held him. He revealed a calm smile whenever she held him like that.

She was not the empress of the empire right now. She was just a blissful mother holding her son. Her son was able to accept her and return to her embrace. The bliss Elizabeth experienced came to her too suddenly. While she still didn't know how to make her child happy, she learnt the bliss of being a mother.

How nice would it be if time could stop there?

"Your majesty……"

Castell brought up the medicine the empress had to drink every night to help her sleep, but the two on the bed had already fallen asleep. The empress hadn't changed. She hugged her son with a blissful smile Castell had never seen before as she slept. The empress actually has poor sleep. But right now… she was sound asleep.

The empress used to always fret about something. But her concern was now in her arms. With nothing to be concerned about, she could naturally sleep deeply.

Castell smiled helplessly, left the room and closed the door. Alice saw him bring the medicine out. She waited for a moment before asking: "What's wrong?"

"Her majesty is asleep."