After an exhausting day playing terrible matches all night long, it was time to say goodbye; Leo was still feeling a bit salty from losing four matches in a row, so he didn't come to say goodbye at the door.
As usual, I was accompanied by the small entourage of maids following my every step. While walking back, the words of my uncle kept repeating in my head.
"You should tell your mother," he kept repeating no matter how many times I pleaded with him.
That's just impossible.
I complained in my mind as I looked over at the large mansion in front of me.
"Why the long face, young master?" The cat-like maid asked me.
"I am not feeling all too positive about this." I confessed as I stood in front of the front gates of the mansion.
"I'm sure everything will go well; your mother is a very reasonable person who treasures you a lot. I'm sure she'll agree to your request." The maid comforted me as she wrapped me in a soft and pre-warmed cloak.
They then gently nudged me inside the house.
I saw the many servants cleaning and maintaining the place; they all stopped in their tracks to bow down and greet me before resuming their tasks.
My heart was beating loudly; I didn't want to face my mother, not today. I needed some preparation because right now all I felt was anger; all the few memories were made void because she kept favoring that runt from the Fracture.
Calm down, just pretend like that never happened; she doesn't exist, at least until I finish asking for permission to work with the uncle… This is the ticket to finally leave this house, slowly but surely.
I took a heavy breath and headed towards her room; the moment I did so, the whole mansion fell silent. I could feel all the stares of the many maids directed at me; many of them had stopped whatever they were doing to stare at me.
The closer the stares became, even the cat maid walking beside me seemed uncomfortable at that sight as she began to laugh awkwardly and tried to make some small talk to distract me.
"So? Is there anything you wish for, young lord?" She asked me again.
Why are you asking if you already know? You just cheered me up a few minutes ago.
"Why are you calling me young lord all of a sudden?" I asked her.
"It looks more professional this way, especially in front of so many eyes." She replied with her usual mischievous smile.
"And why did you ask me something like that? You make me look like someone who only meets my mother if I have a favor to ask," I then protested.
"So you're not going to ask her anything this time?" She teased me as she began playing with my cheeks.
"Don't be ridiculous; why would I want to visit her knowing she adopted that fucking girl? I don't think they told you, but when I first visited her, she tried to kill me. Despite that, my mother decided to adopt her." I responded, then pushed her away to stop her from messing with me any further.
If you really cared about looking professional, you wouldn't touch me so recklessly.
I could still see her face drowning in madness, tears streaming down her face, eyes full of fury as she scrambled to pick a card.
If the Dealer's power weren't so limited, she would've killed me that night.
The worst part was… I still didn't know why. Her family saved me, gave me a roof over my head, and fed me. They were extremely friendly till the very end, so why did she turn on me so drastically?
"I'm sure it wasn't intentional." The maid commented.
This fucking maid…
"Why are you defending her? Are you also going to take her side?" I lashed out at her.
"N-no, I just thought that—"
"Keep it to yourself; I don't want to hear it. Don't try making up excuses for her; after what she did, it's a miracle she's still alive." I cut her off before she offends me any further with her comments.
When we reached the door that led to my mother's room, I stopped talking; the silence that followed was deafening; it made my heartbeat sound louder than usual.
After taking a few moments to prepare my heart, I gently pushed the doors open; my mother was already waiting for me, sitting on her bed with her legs crossed, wearing a ridiculous outfit.
Just a pair of jeans that seemed to be ripped to shreds and a white shirt so little it couldn't cover her belly, something ridiculously juvenile for her age.
She tapped lightly on the bed, inviting me to sit next to her. I politely refused with a simple nod and simply stood in front of her.
"A-are you free?" I asked her.
I didn't know how to approach her; all the mental preparations, all the simulations I had in my mind, were crumbling before me.
She nodded as she tried to reach out to me to pat my head, but I pushed her hand away.
"I— The uncle… So…"
No, why, why? I was doing just fine earlier; why does it always go wrong… Courage, courage, say it! I want to sell demonic weapons to my uncle to get an allowance.
"I want an allowance." I managed to say this after a brief pause to catch my breath.
My mother looked surprised.
"Why would you want an allowance? What do you want?"
"Well… just in case… we don't know… anything could happen." I awkwardly responded.
The answer was obvious; I was trying to skirt around the videogames ban but couldn't openly say so in front of my mother.
"Why involve your uncle in this?" She asked.
Her question felt a bit intimidating, as if doing that was something bad.
"My new power allows me to create demonic artifacts and control those who wield them, so I thought I would be killing two birds with one stone." I commented as I looked away; by then my mother had stood up and was looking down.
The moment I saw the light change in her eyes, I looked away. I knew more than ever that if I looked at her at that moment, I would've regretted my whole life.
"Who gave you that power?" Her voice was trembling, yet the air felt dense; something heavy was pressing me down.
"An accident!" I quickly said to justify myself.
I had a feeling that I needed to be quick about it.
"While I was testing Colorful Madness, a low-grade demonic weapon turned into a powerful demon and trapped me in a separate space before Ilay could defeat it," I quickly explained.
"So?" This question felt like a punch in the gut.
So? So what? What more do you want?
"So I absorbed the demon within my pinky finger," I replied.
"Is that its only ability?" She then asked.
"No?"
She didn't press further; she took a deep breath and then turned around to face the window; the worst part seemed over.
"Why are you telling me this now?" She asked suddenly without turning around.
"The uncle thought I should've gotten your permission first before I could start producing and giving him my weapons." I answered truthfully.
"I could easily give you an allowance for you to buy anything you want; why do you want to involve your uncle in this?" She asked me again.
"I wish to learn how to master my powers with his help."
"I am stronger than him; I have more knowledge on this topic than him, so why would you ask him when I'm right here?" She asked me.
She was right, and there was only one answer to her question: because I didn't want to have anything to do with her.
It wasn't logic dictating my decision but spite. It was my way of getting back to her; if she wished to keep the runt in the house, then she would lose her one and only son.
"Because I don't like staying in this house." I confessed to her.
I felt the whole place suddenly freeze. All the lights began to flicker; the lamps broke. All the servants were panicking, feeling my mother's intense emotions.
"And why are you confessing this just now?" She then asked as she finally turned around to face me.
So I raised my eyes to match hers, and what I saw was nothing… Her gaze had turned extremely cold, and her face had stiffened, leaving no emotion to be seen on the surface. Her void eyes kept staring at me.
"The uncle said…"
Her face suddenly relaxed; she forced herself to smile and placed her hand over my head, running her fingers through my hair as her lifeless eyes kept staring at me.
"You have my permission." She coldly declared.
"Go tell your uncle you have my permission." She added, as she added more pressure on my head, forcing me to bow my head to her.
"T-thank you so much."
Once the discussion was over, I rapidly left her room.