The sun was setting. Before long, night would cast its curtain over the world. Marie, Dad, and I said our goodbyes to Graste and Rose, and we headed home.
I looked down at my own body. My clothes were covered in dirt and my limbs had a number of small scratches, chafes, and bruises. I had no deep wounds, though. Marie looked no better. We were both in a dire need of a bath.
Dad put the horses away, then joined us as we walked up to the door. Just as we were about to open it, Dad stopped in his tracks.
I glanced back at him. “What is it, Dad? You’re not going inside?”
“Dad?” Marie said. “You don’t look well.”
“It’s n-nothing. Nothing at all, whatsoever,” Dad stuttered.
Uh, obviously something was up. He was so shaken that I honestly wouldn’t have been surprised at what happened next. In fact, I had never seen Dad this worried before. He was always stern but dependable. Right now, he looked like a frightened small animal.
Marie and I shrugged at each other and went inside.
“We’re home.”
“Hi Mom.”
Mom was making dinner in the kitchen. When she heard us, she tottered out to greet us.
“There you are. How was your d—” Her mouth stiffened.
Huh? She was her normal, smiley self, but something was off with her expression now. The smile wasn’t gentle; in fact, it was a little scary.
Feeling uncertain, I cast a glance in Marie’s direction. She shook her head. She was as clueless as I was.
I sensed Dad come up behind us. When I looked back at him, he was averting his eyes from our mother. Mom’s next words were low and echoed through the house.
“Come here, darling.”
She was still smiling, but I could tell she was angry—really angry.
Fear ran through my spine for the first time in my life. Marie and I both sensed it, and we withered from her. It was clear that Dad was even more terrified than the both of us as he trudged slowly after her into the living room. For a while, the house fell silent as Marie and I remained frozen.
Then a voice rang out: “Argh! No, stop! Calm down, Emma!” It was Dad.
His howling was followed by a series of bangs and smacks. The whole house rattled.
“It was my fault!” Dad shrieked. “Oh, no. Not the candlestick! Emma, please put away the candlestick! S-stop! Calm yourself! Forgive me—ouch, oww, argh!”
For several minutes, our father’s screams echoed throughout the house. Eventually, they faded until all was silent. It felt like we were in a horror movie. My ears were ringing. Marie and I were terrified and couldn’t wrench our eyes from the door to the living room.
The door creaked opened slowly. Mom appeared with a perfect smile on her face.
Behind her we saw Dad collapsed on the floor, twitching and spazzing. He still breathed, but he wasn’t doing great. Mom closed the door behind her, and Marie and I stood up straight.
“We messed up,” I said quickly. “You’ve been so understanding and we…we just thought this would be good for us, but it was selfish!”
“D-d-don’t k-kill us!” Marie shrieked.
Surely that wasn’t on the menu, but at this point I really didn’t know what might be served up. It was horrifying to see someone who was usually so calm and happy get violently angry.
“Sit down!” she commanded. Her face was smiling, but her eyes weren’t. Her voice was calm.
Scared out of our wits, we immediately plunked down in the chairs behind us.
“I want to hear everything,” Mom said. “Did you go monster hunting today?”
“Y-yes, ma’am.”
Mom sighed. I’d never seen her like this before. The most upset I’d ever seen her was with a troubled smile on her lips. Dad scolded us from time to time, but Mom almost never did. She would get angry with us when we had gone too far, but she always let us off with gentle reprimands like, “Oh, stop now!” and “Won’t you two listen to me, for goodness’s sake?”
That’s why it was abundantly clear that we had screwed up big time. I felt a heavy ball of guilt grow heavier in my chest.
“Don’t be so dramatic. I’m not going to hurt you.” Despite her grimace, the kindliness returned to her voice.
Marie and I breathed sighs of relief. She wasn’t mad? Well, not at us, anyway.
“Dad told me before he went. He didn’t know if you were going monster hunting specifically, but he said that you were probably going to try something dangerous. So, he went to check on you two. And that’s fine. It’s not particularly rare for children your age to go on monster hunts, and Dad was there to protect you.”
“So…what’s the problem?” I asked.
Uh, did you not just go berserk on Dad? That was terrifying! Not wanting to push it, I kept those thoughts to myself.
“You shouldn’t be coming home completely exhausted and covered in scratches and bruises. I know that you want to get stronger, Marie, and that you want to research magic, Shion. I also understand that fighting monsters may be necessary to achieving those dreams. You are both exceptional kids, mature kids, but still kids. That means your parents need to look out for you.”
Marie and I once again looked down at our own bodies. It was certainly true that this wasn’t what kids looked like after they spent all day playing outside. Our clothes were tattered, and our bodies were scraped, battered, and bruised. Exhaustion was written all over our faces. She was right: kids shouldn’t look like this.
“That man—your father—can lose himself in whatever he’s doing and thinks of no one besides himself. He was trying to get you as much experience from fighting monsters as possible, right?”
Bullseye. Graste had said the same thing, but I felt like it would be a slightly hypocritical complaint, coming from me.
“It was your first time monster hunting, and your father went too far. I’m mad at him for that. He thought you two were up for it, and maybe you were, but you’re just little kids. There’s a limit. He should’ve taken it easier on you two. To be very clear, I want with all my heart to support you kids, but there are limits. I won’t stop supporting you—your life belongs to you and to you alone. Even as your mother, I can’t—shouldn’t—control you.”
Mom paused to look slowly at Marie and me.
“So long as you don’t recklessly hurt or belittle others, you’re free to do as you please. You don’t need to hold back on your dreams just because you’re still young. Go ahead, learn your magic, learn your swordsmanship, but this is my one request: that you care for yourselves. Value your own lives, and don’t take any risks, especially ones that can kill you. Please.”
She moved closer and hugged us both. “I’m happy so long as the two of you are alive. And if you’re happy, then I’m even happier. So, go and live the lives you dream of.”
I get it. Mom had been worried about us and the worst possible case scenario. She must’ve imagined it the whole time we were gone. So, when we got back, ragged and exhausted, she could tell right away that we really had been in a dangerous situation.
“I’m sorry, Mom,” I said. “I’m sorry for worrying you.”
“Mother, please forgive us,” Marie said. “We shouldn’t have gone without telling you.”
Mom chuckled. “It’s all right. You know, it’s a big help to me as your mother that you always listen to and understand the things I tell you. Just remember that you have your own thoughts and ideas, too. Those might even be different from what your father and I think. But that doesn’t mean that your ideas are wrong. So, just talk to us next time. Okay?”
“Definitely,” I said. “I’ll talk to you about it next time!”
“Y-yeah, me too!” Marie chimed in. “I’ll tell you, Mother!”
“Thank you,” Mom said. “Don’t hold back, got it? Sometimes you’ll be wrong, and I’ll have to stop you, but for anything that’s important to you, I’ll do anything I can to help. Remember that! Dad and I are on your side. No matter what happens, we’re on your side.”
I felt Mom’s warmth seep into me. I felt calmer. The exhaustion I’d been feeling just moments before vanished into thin air. This warmth was like nothing I’d ever felt before. Back in my former life, I’d never been able to feel truly calm and at peace.
Once more, I thought of how fortunate I was to have been born into this life.
“That’s the end of that,” Mom said. “Now, why don’t you clean up before dinner, hmm? I asked some villagers to help fill the bath, so it’s all ready.”
“Yeah, sure!” Marie happily headed for the bath.
Since plumbing didn’t exist in this world, water for a bath was drawn by hand. For that reason, only upper-class families like ours could take proper baths. We didn’t have any live-in servants, so if we wanted to bathe, Mom or Dad would have villagers prepare the water and pay them a fee once every few days. I wouldn’t have been able to enjoy luxuries like this if I’d been born into a commoner family.
Incidentally, ever since I’d come to consciousness here, I’d always taken a bath by myself or with Dad. I think the reason for that speaks for itself.
But then…
“Shion, why don’t we all enjoy the bath together today?” Mom’s warm, kindly smile was pointed right at me.
I could hardly shake my head “no” to that smile. I couldn’t remember many times that I took a bath with Mom since I was a baby. That wasn’t exactly going into the bath together, it was just her bathing me.