"Alright, you can take your fiancée to meet your mother."
Dan said to Thorn as he saw him off.
Thorn walked with Hinako through the vast, luxurious palace corridors. She walked beside him, her eyes wandering over the beautiful architectural details surrounding them . the towering ceilings, the intertwining arches, and the intricate carvings decorating the walls. Yet a large part of her thoughts was not focused on what she was seeing, but on what awaited her.
A faint sense of nervousness slowly crept into her the closer they came to their destination. She was about to meet her future mother-in-law for the very first time, and that alone was enough to make her anxious. But her unease was doubled by something else she had noticed earlier when she had once asked Thorn about his mother. She had seen how his expression had changed at the mention of her into something resembling quiet sadness instead of speaking. Back then, she had understood that there was something unusual about his relationship with his mother.
Eventually, they arrived at one of the palace's enormous wings. Thorn explained that it was reserved for his mother and his younger siblings. They headed toward the vast garden connected to the residence.
Hinako took in the scene before her. In the middle of the garden sat a beautiful young woman with dark skin and long gray hair flowing down her back. Her belly was noticeably swollen, showing that she was in the late stages of pregnancy. Beside her sat an exceptionally beautiful young woman with blue hair and blue eyes, dressed in a black robe. Her expression was completely calm and emotionless. Around the two women, several young children ran and played throughout the garden. Every one of them resembled Thorn, with sky-blue hair and blue eyes.
The moment the children saw Thorn, they all rushed toward him at once, competing to be the first to reach him. Their joyful voices filled the garden.
"Big brother! Big brother! We missed you!"
"Why were you gone for so long?"
"Big brother's back! Big brother's back!"
Thorn knelt down before his younger siblings with a warm smile, one that rarely appeared on the face that was usually calm and serious. Hinako found herself pausing at the sight. She had never seen him smile like that before.
"I'm sorry, everyone. I couldn't play with you during this past period."
he said gently as he wrapped one arm around some of them while patting another on the head. He spent a few moments calming their excitement and listening to the overlapping stories and complaints they all tried to tell him at once. Only then did he slowly make his way toward where his mother was sitting, surrounded by his younger siblings, while Hinako quietly followed behind, observing everything.
He stopped in front of his mother, bowed respectfully, and said,
"I missed you, Mother."
Then he turned toward the young woman in the black robe seated beside her.
"I missed you too, Big Sister."
Nira answered in her usual cold voice, though there was a trace of happiness beneath it. Her expression remained unchanged, as if no emotion had surfaced on her face at all. After all, she had helped raise Thorn, so he was a dearly beloved younger brother to her.
"How have you been, little brother?"
"I'm doing well, Sister."
Thorn replied before shifting his gaze back toward his mother, who had remained completely silent since his arrival. Her expression had not changed in the slightest, and her empty eyes showed neither joy at seeing him again nor deliberate coldness. They simply remained utterly still, as though everything unfolding before her was nothing more than an ordinary everyday scene.
Noticing the prolonged silence, Nira glanced sideways at Yuko and lightly nudged her with her elbow.
After that, Yuko seemed as though she wanted to say something, but she froze, searching for the right words and finding none. Several more seconds of silence passed.
Thorn spoke in a voice carrying quiet acceptance.
"It's alright, Sister. Don't pressure Mother. That's simply the way she is, and there's no need to trouble her while she's in the late stages of her pregnancy."
Then he turned toward Hinako and continued naturally,
"I brought my fiancée so you could meet her."
Hinako stepped forward. She still hadn't fully processed the complicated scene she had been witnessing ever since they arrived. She bowed politely before Yuko and Nira.
"It's an honor to meet you, Mother... Sister."
Nira replied in her calm yet gently welcoming tone.
"Welcome to our family."
As for Yuko, Thorn's mother, she merely gave a slight nod of acknowledgment without adding a single word.
They spent some time together in the garden before Thorn took Hinako to meet his other mothers and the rest of his brothers and sisters throughout the palace's many wings. One meeting followed another, each adding another layer to the image Hinako was slowly piecing together of this enormous, complicated family that she had now become a part of.
After Thorn and Hinako had left, Nira turned toward Yuko, who was still sitting in exactly the same position, staring in the same direction.
Then she said,
"You really are hopeless."
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