Their curious gazes fell upon me. Even if mother had lost her strength now, and it is known to the whole world, she is still someone who many respected.

Even when she was used by others for their own gain, most people still respected her, so naturally, others were eager to know who the person she was with was.

Was it her man? Or someone else?

Faced with the question, I wanted to know what her answer would be.

Will she introduce me as her son? Which I am.

Or will she introduce me as her man?

I was fine either way. Nothing was going to change what we have anyway.

Mother also understood that I was waiting for her answer, so she raised her head to look at me.

There was nothing but endless love for me in her eyes, and then, with a soft and gentle voice, which was barely audible, and was spoken just for me, she said,

"Who are you to me?"

She asked me. Here I was waiting to know what she was going to tell the entire world, and now she shifted it to me?

Clever of you, mother.

But I was suddenly hit with a clip that I saw back on Earth. For some reason, that answer fits this situation more.

'You are my family.'

She is my family, and she will be the one with whom I start my family.

But nah... I loved her and I am not afraid to announce it to anyone, even less in front of these people whom I will never meet again.

I turned to look at the knight captain, who was giving me quite a strange look.

Aha, he must be one of those admirers.

Knowing that, I pulled away my hand that was entwined with mother's and wrapped her waist, pulling her body closer to me. This action wasn't noticed by many, but just him.

I could see a visible shift in his emotions from my actions.

"And who are you to ask that? I am someone whom she loves more than anyone. And a Knight like you should focus on your duty rather than the relationship with the guests that come today. What will happen if someone sneaks inside today to ruin the banquet thrown by the king himself, just because you were busy with asking the relations of others? A knight like you, who is also a captain, shouldn't be so careless."

I was firm with my words, and I was clearly trying to demean him. Even though he was doing his duty, my words changed the view of others. Clearly, it wasn't his work to ask that.

This marks my first step to building my personality as a dutiful man, who cannot see other people who do not do their job properly.

I can confirm it from the whispers of the people around me, all of whom were on my side.

But there were still some who were stuck at my line of 'I am someone she loves more than anyone'.

Even though I do not care if all of them knew about our relationship as lovers, it will be a hassle for now.

So let's clear it up.

After giving the knight captain some disciplining words, I turned to look at mother and asked, "Shall we go now, mother?"

As soon as my words fell, all of the whispers quietened down.

The look on the face of the knight captain was a sight to behold.

He might be wondering if it would have been great if I were her lover, but nah... I wasn't.

I am her son. So that means his 0.0000000000000000000000000000000001% chance of having her was already lost.

But neither of us cared about anything there and walked ahead.

As soon as we were put from that place and entered through the main gate, the turmoil erupted from our back.

It was a complete shock to them.

"Do you feel what I did was wrong?" I asked mother after entering inside.

Even though I knew she did not care about that but I still wanted to ask.

And as expected, she shook her head and with a soft and timid voice, she said,

"I was actually a bit nervous, though. I thought you were about to tell them that we are... umm, you know~ I got a bit disappointed."

Her words turned into whispers at the end. It was even hard to understand what she said at the end cause it felt like gibberish.

"Ahhh~ you are turning red, mother. If you are that disappointed, then I will gladly announce to the whole world that 'this woman beside me is taken and she will become my wife', shall I do that?"

I asked with a curious rise in my eyebrow. She got flustered when I said that, and she didn't even raise her head to glare at me now.

There really are many things that I will never understand about women, even after everything that happened between us, she still gets flustered so easily.

Even though she pretends as if she doesn't feel much sometimes, I can tell she is always happy when I talk to her in a teasing way.

Without knowing, my emotions had softened, the warmth that I feel from her is the best medication that I can ask for. It was so good that I unknowingly blurted out,

"I love you, mother."

This further escalated her embarrassment cause her ears turned completely red, her mind was about to explode from too many confessions from me.

But this wasn't the only thing happening right now, a certain someone was growling like a beast, raging for not getting the attention.

I love you too, wifey. Don't be so mad, okay? I will think of a good line for you too.

Sigh, how am I going to manage them for the rest of my life, and there are 2 more that I will make mine.

It is gonna be hectic for me.

***

Thanks for reading, everyone.

Wait a bit, the next chapter is coming.

Stay tuned for more...