Chapter 260: Chapter 260 Desperate Part 02.
That one phrase was enough to push my limit to the edge as my eyes glinted furiously at Soma, who kept his still gaze.
"What do you mean by that?".
I place both hands on the table while leaning my body forward, closing into him. I know what kind of expression I have right now. It was fury with a tinge of loath mixed in.
"Don't try to change the topic?".
"...".
"I thought we were more than this…".
With that, my feelings, which were on edge, had already passed the threshold of no return. With blood that rushed to my head, I slammed the tables, making a clattering noise from my strength; I also heard a slight crack in between.
"Then what do you want? I already offered you something in return for the elixir. What do you want beside it?...".
For the first time in my life, I vent. I shouted up my bottled-up frustration at these single boys who were unrelated to my family and problems. I kept rambling, letting out words that were filled with insults and cursing the world for how they gave my mother that illness.
"...You know my mother is suffering in the next room and what I want from you is one thing, that elixir that can cure my mother illness. For that, I am willing to pay whatever price you will ask. That is all that matters, I only want my mother's safety so please…".
After venting out my feelings, I see no ripple in his calm eyes. Soma kept gazing at my face head-on, discerning something.
"Is that rambling necessary?".
The cold and hard truth that escaped his mouth made me snap, and I began to throw away the table that separated me and him. Then I grabbed his collar tightly, trying to choke him.
"...You!...".
"I didn't want to hear your offer. What I ask is simple, is that how you see me?...".
The moment when I almost snapped and blasted his face with my wind magic. Soma, with his calm gaze, began to speak.
"I have no need to hear your offer or your struggling and I just want to hear your honest feeling. Is that how you see me? No, you see us?".
His calm voice that entered my ear dissipated the flame that almost burned my blood, letting go of my emotion into a rage.
The fog in my mind starts to clear up, and I can think more rationally about his question.
"No…".
That weak reply was all I could muster for an answer. I understand too well what he means with that question.
The time when we first met and all this time we spent together clearly opened my heart that had been lost; it began to regain its full range of emotion that I stashed away and only gave to my most trusted fellow, such as my family and Lucy.
Because of that, I gained many more friends I can call a comrade, and everyone around me also said that I have become softer compared to how I used to be, and I believed all of that was because of the time I spent with him and his close aides.
However, I couldn't think of anything the moment I saw the trace of blood on my mother's lips and clothes. All of my entire world is resting on her figure, and if I lose her, I certainly will not have any will to continue from now on.
My hands were tied, so I chose this method that would work, as I would do in everything until now to gain whatever I wanted. But I am hopeless right now.
"... I'm sorry, Soma. I value you and those girls more than anything else, so please. …P-please save my mother".
"...".
Soma began to stand up from his seat, and while being clutched in his collar, he hugged me close to him, and it made all the grief I held, and the guilt I suppressed burst apart as tears started to flow without stopping.
"I will save you, both!".
With that as his vow, I broke down in his chest, and I screamed out loud. I no longer care what other people in the mansion would think of this, but the warmth he offered and his firm conviction made the darkness in my heart vanish.
From the dark, gloomy alley, it changed into the full bloom of spring of life, giving my languid body some strength to hope, to see the future with my loved one and last to stand beside this sinful junior boy who always gives me a cold shoulder.
***
After I calmed down, Soma slowly separated our closed bodies and summoned a glass vial containing a rainbow-coloured fluid inside.
With a smile that could melt every woman in the world, he presented the vial to me and spoke.
"Now go. I feel refreshed after seeing your true feelings. Feel free to use this one because I have another spare".
"...A-are you sure?".
"Why are you hesitant after all this time? Where is the senior who always acts mischievous and demanding to me gone, hm? I prefer her more compared to this pitiful girl who act hesitant, and indecisive".
Those words hit where it hurts the most. My face grimaces in pain while I slowly take the elixir from his hand.
I wipe the tears that accumulated in my eyes and cheeks before stepping back and seeing him in the eyes.
His current figure was much taller compared to earlier. I never thought that boy could grow so fast in a short period. I took a couple of breaths to regain my calm state,
"Fufu, then, I will take this!".
I flashed the best smile I could muster and acted the way I used to be in front of him. I will only show my real self to my special one and my real self that he likes. My heart starts pounding while gazing at his calm eyes that look at me preciously. "This is bad. I can't hold it much longer!".
"Good, that is how it is supposed to be, now go!".
In the slight breath that passed, I closed our distance and pressed my own lips to him. I didn't want this to end, but there was something I needed to do, so reluctantly, I separated our lips and flashed a grin.
"...Hehe, I love you, Soma".
Before listening to his reply, I dash away from the room, holding the elixir in hand and preventing him from seeing my flushed face.
Once outside, I could see Violet, like a guardian dog, waiting in front of the door with closed eyes. But as soon as she saw me with this expression, her stiff face showed her smile.
"It seems the negotiation process went too well".
"Kuh,, Lets go!".
"Fufu, understood".
This is totally unlike me, and I have never been this embarrassed in my whole life. But with this embarrassed face, I felt a tremendous amount of happiness, which gave me the power to chase away all of my annoyed state.
I hastened my pace, then slammed the door to my mother's room open, stunned everyone inside.
"Sera what are you doing?".
My mother, who jolted her body while reading, saw my expression before grinning in glee.
"What is it? You seemed happy? What happened?".
"Let's talk about that later, mama you need to drink this?".
I show the rainbow fluid inside the glass, which made her and the servants who were inside bloated their eyes in huge shock.
"Sweetheart, where did you get that? Is that real?".
"Just hurry and drink it!".
I opened the lid and thrust the tips of the vial into her mouth.
"Young lady".
Violet and the servants who watched us fell in a panic, whereas my mother obediently swallowed the content while looking at me with her furious eyes.
As the content in the vial emptied. My mother's body glows in a rainbow colour that blinds those who stay near her.
After the light subsided, I fluttered my eyes to see my mother, who closed her eyes, open slowly.
"How was it mama?".
Her pale complexion had gone, replaced by a cherry flush full of life. She clenched her hand several times to check her strength and placed her palm on the chest.
"Hm, I feel refreshed so much that I think I was returned to my younger age".
"Mama".
I dived to her chest and let the tears that had dried out flow again, but the wholesome situation was gone as my mother stretched my cheeks wide and, with cruel treatment, separated our bodies.
"Then, please tell me the story".
"...Ho, khey…".
After being pressured by my mother, I began to tell everything that happened before I came here. My mother lost in thought, began to speak.
"Let's take Soma as your husband!".
"Eh?!".
"What, are you not satisfied with it?".
"I am absolutely happy, but…".
"What are dili-dailyng for. This is what I did when I ensnared your father back then, Strike when the iron is hot".
"Father?".
"Oh, right". I have entirely forgotten about his existence. He began his career in the merchant association and became one of the pillars there.
Because the two of us were searching for the elixir that didn't come out in the market, we single-handedly separated, and I began to build my own capital.
"What are we waiting for? Let's go meet him".
"No, Mama let me do this alone. I can handle it".
"Are you sure?".
"Hm, so believe in me and wait, for I will take his hand".
But I must get permission from Hina first. I wonder if she would tolerate this. No, I will make it happen. No matter what it takes
"Okay, I believe in you".
"Thanks, Mama".
"Hurry up so that I can see my grandchildren when I am still young!".
"Mama!".