The carriage and the wagons had been travelling for almost two hours now.
The bumpy road shook both of the wooden vehicles as they slowly edged their way deeper into the forest, their destination being none other than the transportation station.
Coco vividly rembered that she felt sick the mont the carriage she was riding with her husbands last ti got transported through the station and had been sick until they reached the main city’s gates.
She doesn’t know if she had got rid of the motion sickness, or whatever it is, by now, but that wasn’t really what worries her the most.
"Are you okay, Coco?" Heiren asked, his eyebrows furrowing in worry as he stared at his wife.
Ever since they got inside the wagon, Coco looked like her mind was sowhere else and didn’t bother joining the hushed conversation between them and Jacques, Renaldo, as well as Jonathan.
The diators tried to pass the ti by talking to their wife’s friends, who are also their friends, but all of them couldn’t stop themselves from noticing Coco’s strange behavior since they left the house two hours ago.
Only when Heiren asked her just now, did she fall perk up and look at them.
"?" She blinked, her eyes looking a little puzzled and out of it. "Huh? Y-Yeah.. I’m fine. Totally fine. Completely fine.. Haha.."
"That doesn’t sound reassuring." Jacques comnted, her eyebrows pinching together in worry. "Are you really okay, Coco? What’s wrong? Did you forget sothing?"
"It’s.. Not about forgetting sothing." Coco mumbled, bringing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around her knees.
The nine of them are inside the wagon and are sitting on the floor, but they have soft foams under them with a couple of quilts to make themselves comfortable, so the ride wouldn’t get their backs hurting.
It was safe and comfortable, but Coco didn’t feel at ease due to her mother’s last words.
"Then what’s wrong?" Jacques prodded and left her husband’s side to crawl towards Coco, making Quizen scoot away from his wife to give so space for her.
The pink haired woman stopped right beside Coco and squeezed herself on Quizen’s previous spot, which earned her a scowl from the diator.
Jacques didn’t care and instead, focused on her friend. "Is this about your mother?"
Coco flinched, evidently letting her friend know that she hit the bull’s eye. "N-Not really.. But you can say that, too.."
"Not really?" Jacques repeated and raised an eyebrow. "Sure, let’s go with that."
"I an.." Coco mumbled and slowly trailed off, her face twisting into a frown. "I know that mama is strong and all, that she’s wealthy, powerful, and soone with a higher nobility title than Baroness Hughes."
So, it was about her mother. Everyone simultaneously thought before discreetly letting out a sigh of relief one way or another.
"But she’s still my mother, you know?" Coco murmured under her breath, breath caught in her throat as she recalled Cleora’s words once again. "I can’t help, but feel worried knowing that she’s putting herself in danger for ."
Alhai was sitting on Coco’s other side and he humd softly before he wrapped his arm around his wife.
"Is this because mother said that the carriage was a decoy?" The diator asked, his voice low and barely above whisper, but still sohow loud enough for everyone to hear.
"The carriage is the—" Renaldo gasped, but Jonathan reached forward and covered his mouth.
If Alhai didn’t say the words aloud, it ans that there are people around them that can’t be fully trusted, and that thought alone terrified Jonathan out of his mind.
Renaldo and others were quick to catch on Alhai’s little action, their own mouths shutting in hopes that it would help keep them safe from danger.
"What a smart bunch." Alhai chuckled and tightened his arm around Coco, pulling her closer until she was practically sitting on his lap which made Jacques groan.
"Seriously?" The pink haired woman hissed and glared at the diator. "Stop being so possessive! I’m trying to comfort her!"
"I can comfort my woman just fine." Alhai retorted with a huff, lifting his chin up and turning his face away to focus on Coco instead. "Anyway, was I right, my wife? Is it because of our dearest mother?"
Coco sniffled, but no tears were shed. She nodded her head and buried her face on Alhai’s neck.
Alhai humd and hugged her tight, his hand sliding up her spine to rest behind her head and hold her closely against him.
"Don’t worry." The diator mumbled and pressed a kiss on her head. "She’s your mother, and she’s one of a kind of a mother. She won’t let anything happen to you, much less to herself."
Everyone shared a look because they know that Alhai is right.
From what Cleora had told them so far, she went looking for Coco the mont she could and had been looking for her for so long— she would be damned if she were to let sothing happen to her and had herself separated from the person she had been looking for, no?
"You have to trust your mother more, Coco." Kairo spoke up from his spot, which was right across from Alhai. "She’s strong. I could tell."
Coco shifted in Alhai’s lap and blinked, her eyes eting Jacques’, but she responded, her words directed to Kairo rather than the woman she’s staring directly at.
"I guess I can trust you on that.." Coco whispered, her voice slightly breathy at how badly she was holding back from crying.
Unlike Zaque and others, Kairo is a hybrid.
Not to ntion, for so reason, he was the original Cleora’s familiar before her mother took over her body.
If he said that she’s strong, then she’s strong.
"Thank you." Kairo smiled and lowered his head, making Heiren nudge him with his elbow and had him groaning in pain.
"Look alive." The diator mumbled. "You’re not her servant. You’re her lover."
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