Huh, so the Arch Elf situation was really that big of a deal here?
We were going to have to fight the Arch Elf at some point. Ludie would need to fully awaken in order to defeat him, so I assumed it would still be a bit further down the road.
From there, we started talking about Yuika and Yukine’s weapons of choice and their fighting styles.
Our meal came to an end, though I had been so nervous my memory of what we talked about or how the food tasted was hazy. We all headed to the hotel where Ludie’s family had booked rooms for us.
Despite my earlier statement, I did have some recollection of how the meal had played out. Ludie’s father had barely said a word, just looking on with kind eyes as his daughters talked.
As if to make up for it, Ludie’s mother and little sister had talked almost nonstop the whole time, or at least it had felt like it.
Lilou in particular still seemed like she had more to say and asked if we would chat with her again tomorrow, which we readily agreed to. We decided we would visit the castle where Ludie’s family lived the next morning.
With all that in mind, I was getting ready to take a shower and get a good night’s rest—until the intercom in my room suddenly rang.
Assuming it was Yuika or Nanami stopping by, I looked at the camera screen in front of the door to find a gorgeous elf woman.
“Hwah! What the—?!”
It was a very familiar face. Ludie’s mother, to be exact. I quickly made myself look decent before opening the door, inviting her in and apologizing for making her wait.
“I should be apologizing for dropping by so suddenly.”
“Oh no, it’s okay.”
Yeah, so what was going on here? There wasn’t an event like this in the game, right? So why was Sophia here? My head was left spinning.
“Is it all right if we chat for a little bit?”
“O-of course.”
For the time being, I invited her to take a seat in the room’s chair. I then turned on the hotel room’s electric kettle and began to rummage through my luggage to see if I had brought any ultra-high-quality tea leaves with me, but Sophia laughed and urged me not to put myself out on her account.
Still, I had to prepare something for her at least. In the end, I brewed the black tea I often made for myself and handed her a cup.
“Thanks.”
“…Um, did something happen?”
“There’s something I wanted to be absolutely sure I talked with you about,” she said.
…Okay, seriously, what the hell was with the situation?
“Wh-what exactly would that be?”
“First, let me ask you something: What do you think of Ludie?”
The fact that she had led with “first” had me worried.
“Ludivine? Err…”
“You usually just call her Ludie, don’t you? That’s fine. So, do you think Ludie’s cute?”
“E-er, well yes, she is cute. I think she’s a brilliant and sharp-minded girl.”
“Really? Well, I can ask you more about that stuff another time, but since it’s so late, I’m going to get straight to the point, okay?”
She smirked a bit as she continued. I wondered why this was, but right now, I felt the same way I did when talking to Marino—as though I was being seen through.
“Let me ask you, Kousuke: Do you know anything about Seeds of Possibility?”
Oh yeah, I definitely knew all about those, sure.
“What are those? I’ve never heard of them before.”
However, I answered with a lie. I had a feeling that if I admitted to knowing about the Seed now, it would only lead to trouble. Immediately after saying this, however, I pontificated over why she had asked me this and realized I might’ve been better off telling the truth.
“Hee-hee, now that’s quite the interesting answer.”
Great, now she was laughing at me conspicuously.
I unconsciously heaved a sigh. This was just a guess on my part, but I think I knew why she was asking this.
“Claris said something, didn’t she?”
Sophia nodded.
“Yes, I made her tell me all about it. Though, if Claris came up to you and said she was thinking about resigning, you’d press her for a reason why, wouldn’t you?”
Yeah, that made sense. I hadn’t specifically forbidden Claris from mentioning the seed, and her telling her employer was fine.
“You knew full well how valuable it was, didn’t you?”
“Yeah…”
“Why did you give it to her?”
Though I tried to come up with a plausible reason…
“I guess, because at the time, she had helped me out a lot and I owed her? I’d prefer it if you didn’t worry about it too much.”
“Come now, that’s impossible. Even our nation has been unable to track down one of those.”
…From an outsider’s perspective, this was probably one of those have I done it again? moments, huh?
“Ah-hah… Yeah, makes sense. But I still don’t really think it’s something to be concerned about.”
“Of course it is. Though, if I’m being honest, Claris has her own life to lead, so I think it’s fine for her to do what she wants.”
Sophia paused for a moment. And then…
“But it’s different when my daughter comes into the picture,” she declared.
“I see what you mean; Claris is Ludie’s bodyguard, yes.”
While I figured this wasn’t what Sophia had meant, I feigned ignorance for the time being.
“…That’s not it. You gave Ludie a seed, too, didn’t you?”
Had Claris blabbed to Sophia about Ludie, too? It wouldn’t be out of the question for her to mention it, and I wouldn’t have been surprised if Ludie had brought it up herself.
“…I did. Did Claris tell you about that, too?”
“Hmm, how to put it? I know Marino and Hatsumi are very talented instructors, but that still can’t explain some of the magic my daughter is using. All of the sudden, she’s firing off spells she showed no signs of ever being able to cast, and she’s using magic she previously had zero aptitude for.”
Yup, that was definitely Seed of Possibility’s doing. It wasn’t a surprise Sophia had found her daughter’s improvement unusual.
“That in and of itself was an effect I’ve only ever heard spoken about in legends before. What now, then?” she said with a strained smile.
“Ummm, er…”
Seeing me struggle with how to answer, Sophia laughed. She then apologized.
“Personally, I’d hope you wouldn’t be too worried about giving her one, either.”
“…All right, we can leave at that for now. I see that Marino really was telling the truth.”
Marino? The truth? Hmm…
“I don’t really want to know, but I still have to ask,” I said. “What did Marino say, exactly?”
“She said you’re quite the devilish boy.”
“She said what about me? That Marino, I swear…”
“I’m just kidding. Though, she did say if I wasn’t careful, you might make me fall for you.”
“Wouldn’t you say that basically means the same thing?”
“Maybe.”
“That aside, Your Majesty, are you sure you should be in a room of a boy described like that this late at night?”
In a roundabout way, I tried suggesting she leave. If she stayed here any longer, I felt like my life bar would drop to zero.
At this, she clapped her hands.
“Oh right! Now about the way you address me.”
“Where is this coming from?”
“The way you address someone is a very important part of getting closer. The way you’ve been referring to me so far just doesn’t click with me. Not at all. Use something else.”
“Um… You are the empress, right?”
“Sure, that’s my formal position. But I’m also Ludie’s mother, okay?”
So she was telling me to address her as I would a friend’s mom? She was easily over a century old at this point, so I couldn’t call her something I would a young woman, but at the same time, “auntie” was definitely off the menu. In which case…
“How about Mrs. Tréfle?”
“Hmm, I suppose, but I’d be fine with ‘Mom,’ too.”
Hmmm, yeah, there was no way in hell that was happening!
“Ah-hah, hah…”
All I could do was weakly laugh and nod.
“In that case, it’s fine if I just call you Kou, right?”
Absolutely, Your Imperial Majesty! Except hearing you call me that makes my heart all jittery inside!
“Kou, yes, that will do. Perfect. I look forward our long and happy acquaintance.”
She looked me over before suddenly saying, “Were you about to go to sleep, by any chance?”
“Um, yes.”
“I’m sorry about coming by so late like this… Oh, I know!” she said before getting up and sitting down on the bed. “Would you like to sleep alongside me? I’ll even sing you a lullaby. Lilou always goes right to sleep when I sing to her.”
“Uhhhh? Ummm, I-I can’t let you do that. I’m not even one of your children in the first place!” I said in fluster before Sophia burst into laughter.