Tea Talk
Sitting down in a small and comfortable room next to the banquet hall, with a full view of the snow covered garden, everyone is quite tense as the servants prepare both sweets and tea. Scarlet didn’t seem interested in participating and is still at the banquet hall.
“I’m glad to finally meet the ones who took care of my daughter in person. Especially you Duchess, my daughter seems quite fond of you.”
“Ah- Yes, I’m glad to meet you as well, your Majesty.”
“Speaking of, whenever my daughter is getting too heavy for you feel free to hand her to me.”
“It’s still fine so far.”
“I see…”
The Queen sips some tea before looking at Sher Aka.
“I hear you wanted to become the mother of my daughter in my stead, is that correct?”
“It is.”
“Is that still an ambition you hold?”
“If Rose chooses me I’ll gladly be her mother, yes.”
“Sigh In that case I have no other choice…Melina please bring it here.”
“As you wish, your Majesty.”
Getting a bit of a smug look on her face, Sher Aka scoffs, “Are you trying to bribe me to not be her mother? Because that’s not going to work.”
Ignoring her comment the Queen receives a thick looking notebook from Melina and answers, “This book is filled with my notes on Rose. Her habits, her likes and dislikes, her needs, her fears, everything I could think of. I wasn’t sure whether you’d prefer the instructions to be written in Elvish or Uni so I translated them into both languages. Neither of these languages are my native tongue so I apologize if I made some mistakes in terms of how it is written. I did however make sure to check that everything is at least understandable even if my sentence structures might be a little awkward from time to time.”
A bit stunned, Sher Aka receives the book and skims over it.
“This is…Very detailed. Why are you giving this to me?”
“Because no matter how hard it is, it is a mother’s job to ensure her child is happy. Whether it is just temporary for your travels with her or if you do manage to steal her away from me I’d like to make sure she is taken care of as best as possible. For that same reason I would also like to extend the offer to you that if she decides to stay with you over me, I will still financially and with my status support the both of you as much as I can. That child has suffered enough, she deserves to be happy.”
“...”
“Thank you, your Majesty. I will make sure to read these instructions carefully and apply them as needed.”
“Also, I have already discussed this with Rose but I want to inform you as well. I have given her a magic item that in case of a mortal wound, poison or any other effect that would otherwise kill her, activates and brings her back to us. It is linked to the best hospital we have and I insist that if it gets triggered Rose will stay here. Even if she chooses you over me. If being with you kills her I’d rather take her in against her will. Is that agreeable with you?”
“...”
“Yes, if that’s the only condition for her traveling with us I’ll gladly accept it.”
“And how about you two?”
John answers, “Well…If Rose would take a blow that would kill her then we weren’t fit to be with her anyways.”
“As long as the magic isn’t too over sensitive I agree with John. If we would get her killed then we were never fit to take care of her in the first place.”
“Sigh I am glad we were able to come to this agreement. Now, if I may ask, what plan do you have to reach A-Rank?”
Looking at each other a little confused Rayla answers, “We don’t have a plan, why do you ask?”
Tapping her fingers on the arm rest the Queen answers, “Because Rose told me she’d only feel safe about her getting her curse removed and staying at home once she’s independent by becoming an A-Ranked adventurer.”
Thinking for a bit Rayla asks, “She said that? This is news to me.”
Sher Aka interjects, “I vaguely remember a conversation like that. Didn’t you say something about settling down after reaching A-Rank?”
“Right! Now that you say that, there was something like that.”
Suddenly the Queen takes on a more serious tone, “So you were the one that put that ridiculous idea in her head.”
“I wasn’t planning to, in fact I believe I was saying that because I tried to convince her not to risk her life by becoming an adventurer for life. I just thought A-Rank sounded good because we’d have a decent amount of money and we’d be strong enough to defend ourselves.”
“If you were able to convince her of this ridiculous idea then perhaps you can convince her to give it up as well. If she just wants a place to settle down in I can just buy her a mansion somewhere.”
“I can try but Rose rarely changes her mind once she makes a decision. She probably thought this through pretty well and I doubt it’s just the house aspect that bothers her. She is really scared of being abandoned so having the means to fend for herself is her way of dealing with that.”
“I am aware…But it would already be of big help if you could just reduce that goal to B-Rank. That child must not be on the battlefield. Every second fewer than she plans to be on the battlefield is already an improvement.”
“...”
“Like I said, I’ll try.”
Massaging her temples the Queen says, “Rose said you have dreams you want to accomplish. Mr. John, same sex marriage is legal here.”
“It is?”
“Yes, do you want to become a citizen?”
“I…I don’t know this is so sudden.”
“Then how about you Duchess, I’m sure I can finance your dream of becoming famous and getting a harem.”
“I appreciate that but I want to help Rose as well.”
“You- Gaaa! I need to calm myself.”
“Why? What’s the matter, your Majesty?” Rayla asks.
“What’s the matter…Do you know how utterly frustrating it is to talk to a bunch of children about my daughter’s future? You Mr. John are still an adolescent, you Duchess just barely became an adult of your short lived race and you Ms. Sher Aka are just hell bent on raising her despite just being a young adult yourself. Yet you all seem to have the cockiness and confidence of being able to cruise through life and just tagging my poor daughter along on the ride with you.”
Visibly not taking no for an answer she then picks up Rose out of Rayla’s arms and leaves the tea room with the words, “I’ll see you again when she wakes up.”