December 25, year 1000
Caspara Comrcial Road.
As a convoy of opulent carriages drawn by horse-like demons passed by the towering trees on either side of the road, the sound of their hooves clopping against the snow-covered asphalt filled the air.
A single carriage in the centre was surrounded and escorted by four carriages of Aura users and Paladins of strength equal to "Swordman" and "Sword Master" rank.
The carriage in the middle appeared ordinary yet elegant, with its exterior painted in a rich burgundy colour with gold trim that glead in the sunlight.
However, only upon stepping inside can one realise that this carriage is far from ordinary.
The interior of the carriage is a magical space, with a sense of grandeur that far surpasses any five-star hotel room.
But what truly sets this carriage apart is the magical bedroom that lies beyond a set of doors.
Inside the spacious and opulent room, on a king-sized bed that was covered in silk sheets and plush pillows, I was lying there on my mother's lap, gazing around the silk curtains with golden tassels that hung in front of the windows on the side.
Removing the curtains, with my feet stretched and looking out the window as far as the eye could see, I saw the landscape that has been transford into a winter wonderland.
The trees were coated in a thick layer of snow, their branches bowing under its weight, and fields and hills were covered in a pristine white blanket that was dotted with occasional clumps of evergreens that stood out like dark sentinels against the snow.
There is no Christmas in this world.
But just two days ago, snow began falling on the continent of Ardonia, which is now well into its winter season and rapidly approaching the new year.
Even though more than half of the Steeline Duchy can't enjoy a beautiful snowy winter because it borders the sea on the west and has a mariti climate,
But luckily, because the Caspara Comrcial Road is located in the deeper northwestern part of the Steeline duchy, very close to the boundary between the royal capital and the duchy of Spade, I am able to admire this beautiful snowfall like "a white fairy tale wonderland."
Since the day the Archbishop left, a week has passed, and today, my mother and I are on our way to the royal capital for the official ceremony.
After the news of my awakening an S rank title, along with rumours that the Church of Light had accepted as the Holy Son and the next hero, spread, it caused an even bigger commotion in the Kingdom, especially in the Steeline Estate, the Royal Capital, and the Duchy of Spade, than the last ti.
Because of which, this past week, we were inundated with ssages, letters, invitations, gifts, and even marriage proposals from a wide variety of noble and other aristocratic families.
These items arrived almost daily, which added a significant amount of extra work for my parents, who had to carefully handle each and every one of them.
It goes without saying that any and all gifts were gratefully received, but any and all marriage proposals were politely declined, and responses were given to invitations to get together at a later ti.
But out of all of them, there was one that was still bothering .
"Do you really have no thoughts about it? She's a genius; at least et her first and be her friend." My mother suddenly asked while stroking my hair.
"No, mom, I'm not interested, and it's best if you reject them beforehand, lest they cook their fictitious rice and then bla us for hanging them for so long."
My response was flat because I was getting tired of answering her repeated questions about the sa thing.
"You brat! Is that how you talk to your mother?"
She sandwiched my head between her two palms, which turned into fists, and started grinding my head.
"You don't even have a boy friend your age, let alone a girl, and you have the audacity to reject your mother when it's obvious that I am thinking about your wellbeing?"
"Ouch! Mom, Ah!... But mom, I have plenty of friends, and isn't Daisy my friend too?"
"Those kids from the vassal families?" She asked, then sneered disdainfully, "Do those count as friends too? You barely talk to them, don't invite them to play, or do anything else a friend should do."
Then, she turned my head in her lap towards her face, looked in the eyes, and asked.
"Do you think I don't know that you don't even consider them your friends at all? And Daisy? She is your maid."
"But mom, I hardly ever leave the castle, and my social debut was only a week ago; how can I... ah! hurt, mother, it hurts!" I began to speak up, but by the end of my dialogue, my mother's fists grinding against my head from both sides suddenly increased in force, and I "yelped in pain".
After which, looking at my hands grabbing and trying to stop hers, she stopped her hands and asked rhetorically.
"So now that you have the opportunity, why are you missing it?"
"I am not missing any opportunity, and if it's like that, I will make as many friends as you want, but not her, not even in a million years."
"But why not? From what I have heard, Isabelle's a smart girl for her age and even has a B rank title, which caused quite a stir in the kingdom a year ago. Do you seriously don't even want to et her?"
"NO!"
"You!"
My resolve was unwavering, and this ti I didn't even bother to listen to my mother, which undoubtedly caused her to look at with an annoyed expression on her face, which then turned serious.
It's because of what I planned for the Spades that I rejected their proposal, and also because of my personal hatred that I didn't want to even consider having any relationship with them, even in na.
I want them to know that the daughter they are so proud of isn't even comparable to my shoelaces, and I want them to experience how it feels when their oh-so-proud and arrogant daughter is rejected in such a cruel manner.
Moreover, aside from all of these, there was another deeper aning to my decision.
"Now that I think about it, it's not only her; if I rember correctly, it's the sa with the other people from the Spade family; you never once visited them, nor have you ever let visit them since you learned to speak," she looked at with a piercing gaze.
"Tell the truth, Luke; what is it that you're hiding from ?"
"It's nothing, mom; I just don't like them; in fact, I despise them just as much as those greenbergsno, even more than them; ever since I was a child, hearing their na makes queasy. I don't know why it is so, but I don't want to have anything to do with them, especially that girl, Isabelle."
If what I'm thinking is correct and the novel didn't show the whole truth, then soone other than the protagonist had a hand in the Spade family betraying my mother.
And those people might not even show up if I shook the Greenbergs, but when a giant like the Spade family is threatened, everyone has to co out in the open.
That's why I have to attack from all sides while also maintaining a safe distance to keep myself and my family safe.
Otherwise, wouldn't it be fun to eat Isabelle legally as her fiancee and then dump that b*tch like a scumbag?
Sadly, I have to make do with another fun plan.
When my mother heard my words, her eyes squinted instantly.
"What do you an by, as those greenbergs?"
"Yes, like those greenbergs, they are not good people, mother."
Sniff~!
And imdiately after speaking those words, I turned my eyes and face red, and I acted as if I was about to burst into tears.
which worked wonderfully, as my mother imdiately panicked, thinking that her tough stance hurt and that she had wronged the innocent .
"Hey, don't cry, baby. Mama wasn't scolding you; I was saying it for your good, and if you don't want to have any connection to them, then don't."
"They pressured to marry your dad for political reasons without my consent, and even though it resulted in your birth, which was a blessing from God in the midst of misfortune, that fact about them does not change, and as a result, I do not like them either."
My mother is a soft hearted person for her own people, and I know for a fact that she deeply loves her parents.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have married my dad even if she was forced, and so I know that it must have been quite difficult for her to speak these words, but she did nonetheless because of her love and trust in .
"MOM~!"
"Okay, okay, just know that Mamma always loves you. But tell , why were you hiding the fact that you dislike them from ?"
"Because they are your family." I replied while intentionally lowering my head, acting ashad.
"And you aren't? You fool."
She gently hit on the head, then hugged in her arms and spoke.
"You don't have to hide anything from , okay? For mommy, you're her most precious thing. Mama loves you the most, and no one cos above you in my heart."
"ummm...." With a low hum, I snuggled into her arms lovingly, then pulled back my head, looked at her as if I rembered sothing, and asked.
"Mom, what about their proposal?"
"Naturally, I would reject them; anyway, those high-nosed, self-righteous people didn't even try to ntion it from their own mouth directly and just hinted at it in their words throughout the whole letter. So now I would act as if I didn't understand them at all and let them enjoy the taste of their own dicine. Hehehe, wouldn't that be fun?"
'Mom But aren't you too from the Spade family?'
Although this line appeared in my heart, I hurriedly suppressed my thoughts and changed my expressions before my mother noticed them and made this innocent suffer again.
Then, acting all surprised, I asked, "Really?"
"Do you doubt it?"
"No, no." I hurriedly waved my hands.
She nodded at with satisfaction, but then her face turned serious again as she spoke.
"But about the Spades, if they are also behind this matter or are sohow trying to deal with us, then there would really be a need for concern; they are called the protectors of the North for a reason. Thankfully, we now have the support of the Church of Light, whose influence in the Spade Duchy is only second to that of the royal family and the Spade family."
I nodded my head, opened my mouth, and was just about to speak when,
Knock! Knock!
Soone knocked on the door and interrupted .
"Co in!"
My mother amplified her voice with her aura and ordered the person outside to co in.
Following my mother's command, the gate opened, and a small green haired girl in a French maid dress, looking like a cute ani character, entered the room with a tray full of deserts in her hand.
She wasn't surprised to see in my mother's arms, as she got used to our mother-son intimacy while suffering all kinds of troubling experiences.
Behind her was my maid, Daisy, who was keeping a strict eye on Selina.
However, just as Selina entered the room and started walking towards us,
Whoa!
Her leg tripped, and
Bang!
Selina fell face first on the floor while the tray in her hand was launched into her hair.
which my ideal maid Daisy then effortlessly caught without even spilling any content on the ground.
Ugh!
In the split second that it took Selina to regain her bearings, she turned her head, glared at Daisy while gritting her teeth, and groaned in pain as she lay on the ground.
Her face was red where it had hit the ground.
You guessed correctly; it was Daisy who intentionally tripped Selina.
I have to say that my Daisy follows my orders to the letter, though it seems like she has found another kind of enjoynt in creating trouble for Selina in the past seven days.
Looking at such a situation, a strange pleasure rose in my heart, and not wanting to miss this opportunity, I imdiately shouted at Selina.
"What kind of waste is it that they don't even know a single thing, and what's this? You can't even walk properly now?"
Hearing those words, Selina looked at with hurtful eyes filled with rage.
She knows that it's all an act done by us and that we're intentionally doing this to her, but even so, what if she knows?
"What are you doing there looking at like that; did the cat get your tongue?"
"That, I am sorry."
"Sorry, who???"
"... M-master, I am sorry."
Even though her voice was a little rough and her palms on the ground were clenched into fists, she still bowed her head with her trembling body and apologised to .
However, I ignored her apology and then looked at Daisy, who was back on her spot after serving us the desert.
"Daisy, it looks like this new maid under your command has still not learned properly; go teach her a few more lessons until we reach the Imperial City."
"Yes, young master."
Hearing my words, Daisy had a strange smile on her face, while Selina couldn't help but have her face turn pale because she knew what kind of lesson she was going to get.
She stood up staggeringly and was about to say sothing, but before she could, she was instantly dragged out by Daisy, who didn't allow her to say a word and just pulled her out of the room before closing the gates again.
Hehehe! Enjoy, Selina.
You ask, why was Selina, with her arrogant nature, so obedient to even after suffering such humiliation?
Simple!
because there's hope.
Hope that as long as she wins my trust and is successful in making drink those potions again, she will have a chance to turn things around and have her revenge.
Isn't hope such a wonderful thing?
Poor Selina doesn't even know that what she had with her wasn't any sort of charm potion but just a red-colored sweetener.
Even those Greenbergs wouldn't have thought that their plan would fail before it even began.
They sent their daughter to , not knowing that they were sending their good daughter into a lion's den, where the chances of her coming out unhard were zero.
Isn't it just sending it for free?
"Hehehe." I grinned in delight.
This was a small event in our journey.
After which, my mother and I sat calmly, talking sotis, eating deserts, and then looking out of the window in the middle.
Where the snow begins to fall heavier, each flake twirling and dancing as it descends to earth.
Painting the world in a serene and peaceful atmosphere
But despite the cold outside, I feel warm and cosy inside the carriage in my mother's arms, enjoying the beauty of the snowfall from the comfort of the carriage.
Ti passed in such a way that the scenery outside the window continued to change.
And with the speed of our carriages, which were travelling at almost several hundred kilotres per hour, the snow that was with us when we left the Steeline was now nowhere to be seen, as we finally, after a few more hours of travel, reached our destination in the heart of the Royal Capital, the Imperial City.
'Finally, it's ti for to scam these people from the Church of Light and start my plans for targeting my lovely saintess.'
HEHEHE
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