I’ll Be The Warrior’s Mother

Kaywhin approached compliantly. Yelena’s hand touched his sleeve. She held onto it and pulled her husband closer, closing the distance between them.

Their bodies had already been acquainted like this several times, but Kaywhin’s solid shoulders and back stiffened at the touch, like it was the first time.

Yelena tilted her head a long way back and looked into Kaywhin’s eyes.

“Darling.”

“…Yes.”

“Why are you getting better at enticing me?”

“I’m sorry?”

There was a hint of embarrassment in Kaywhin’s voice.

“Have I… enticed you?”

“Look at you.”

Yelena let go of Kaywhin’s sleeve and slowly swept her hand across his shoulders.

“You have no idea what you do to me.”

The laughter that slipped from Yelena’s lips was filled with the nerves that fluttered within her body.

“What should I do… You’re too dangerous…”

[Bloody hell.]

Yelena ignored the Holy Sword’s voice as usual and wrapped her arms around Kaywhin’s neck.

But then, right before their breaths became entangled, they heard an unignorable sound.

Knock, knock.

“Is someone there?”

“…”

“I’ll ask again. Is someone there?”

“Should we pretend we aren’t here?” Yelena whispered quietly.

As if notifying them that Yelena’s idea was futile, the voice from the other side of the door spoke again.

“I’m opening the door.”

Then, clack, the door to the terrace opened without permission.

“…”

Yelena sighed and lowered the arms that were around Kaywhin’s neck.

“What is it?” Yelena asked with a sour voice.

The person who had entered the terrace was a palace servant. He bowed.

“I apologize for my impertinence. His Highness the Crown Prince is urgently seeking Duke Mayhard.”

“His Highness… the Crown Prince?”

Conscious of the servant, Yelena just barely managed to address the crown prince formally. She furrowed her brow.

“What business does he have with my husband?”

“I was not informed of the details.”

“I can go with him, right?”

Yelena took a step forward. But the servant shook his head.

“His Highness has expressed his intention to meet with Duke Mayhard alone.”

“What?”

“I’ll be right back.”

“Kaywhin.”

Yelena snapped her head towards Kaywhin. He smiled softly.

“Don’t you trust me?”

“…I trust you, but I can’t trust that punk, the crown prince,” Yelena whispered quietly enough to be out of the servant’s earshot.

“Nothing will happen that will make you worry, Wife,” Kaywhin reassured.

“…”

“If you wait here, I’ll be right back.”

“What if the crown prince doesn’t let you go so soon?”

“Still, I’ll come back.”

Yelena’s eyes flickered like a candle. Kaywhin’s resolute words that sounded like an oath calmed her down a little.

“…If he says anything insulting to you, don’t just let him get away with it.”

“I won’t.”

“He doesn’t have the right to speak rashly to a duke just because he’s the crown prince. You know that, right? Get angry at him. Do not, under any circumstances, hold yourself back.”

“Okay.”

After entreating Kaywhin a few more times, Yelena unwillingly bid him goodbye.

“…I’ll be waiting.”

“Pardon me.”

The servant looked at Kaywhin’s belt.

“I apologize. You cannot have a sword in possession when you are alone with His Highness.”

The servant’s eyes landed on the Holy Sword. Weapons weren’t prohibited inside the banquet hall, but things were different when it was a private meeting with the crown prince.

“If you leave it with me, I will keep it in the royal castle’s storage room until your meeting is over…”

“I’ll hold onto it.”

Yelena readily drew the Holy Sword from her husband’s belt and held it to her chest.

“Everything’s okay now, right?”

“…Yes. We shall go now.”

The servant exited the terrace with Kaywhin.

As soon as the door closed, Yelena sank down on the chair closest to her. Even if she didn’t want to, she couldn’t help but sigh.

“Whew.”

[What is it? Is the crown prince that infuriating of a person?]

“You don’t know about him?” Yelena asked abruptly, puzzled by how the Holy Sword seemed not to know about the crown prince at all.

“He wanted you. At the Countdom.”

[I’ve only just recently gained consciousness. Before that, I was asleep.]

“…Really?”

[I was influenced by your power. I gain consciousness when a being who can break my seal is close by.]

“Hmm…”

Hearing about that ‘power’ always felt brand new, since Yelena had never even imagined possessing such a thing.

“Anyhow, that means you must have been asleep for a very long time. Is that why you talk so much?”

[Me? A chatterbox? That’s my first time hearing it.]

“A chattersword is more like it.”

[Anyhow. Is that important right now?]

Yelena killed time with her petty bickering with the Holy Sword.

When she started nervously tapping the table with her fingertips, the terrace door opened.