SIDE STORY 29

 

The mother of Hong Yoo Hee came to her mind.

 

A mother who was still alive and healthy on Earth.

 

A mother whom she could only watch from a distance and not say that she was her daughter because Hong Yoo Hee was still alive.

 

And another person.

 

It would have been nice if she could watch that person from a distance like the mother of Hong Yoo Hee, but that was impossible.

 

The eyes of Cordelia blurred.

 

She suddenly could not properly see in front of her because of her overflowing tears.

 

Countess Chase.

 

The mother of Cordelia Chase.

 

She barely remembered her mother.

 

She could only remember the moments when she was hugging her mother lying in bed, as if she was clinging to her mother.

 

The warmth of that time.

 

The coziness.

 

She could not properly remember.

 

She only recalled a warmth that felt vague, but something she liked, though she did not know if this was a faint memory of just her imagination.

 

She was happy that Jude was reunited with his mother.

 

Because Cordelia knew well the situation of Jude.

 

Because she knew very well that Jude and Kang Jin-ho did not have a mother.

 

So she was happy.

 

Her delight at her beloved Jude meeting his mother was so great that she felt her heart about to burst.

 

But she envied him at the same time.

 

She was quite envious of Jude who was reunited with his mother that she also felt sad.

 

‘Mom.’

 

I want to see you too.

 

I want to meet you too.

 

I want to see mom too.

 

Her joy and sadness were entangled into one and became a mess.

 

Cordelia burst out crying like a child.

 

And Jude reacted to that crying.

 

He was also seriously crying, but did not miss noticing the tears of Cordelia.

 

“Mom, mom. Over there. Over there.”

 

Jude was unable to calm his emotions and could only repeat the same words.

 

He barely spoke as he panted and turned his head to look at Cordelia. Beckoning at the crying woman, he said.

 

“This is Cordelia. My wife. The person I love the most in the world.”

 

Those were words that came out naturally.

 

He could not organize his thoughts, so he spoke like a child.

 

“Cordelia, this way. Come here.”

 

The sobbing Cordelia responded to his continuous hand gestures to come.

 

It was the voice of Jude after all.

 

Just like Jude, Cordelia did not miss noticing the voice of Jude despite being a crying mess.

 

“Sob. Sob.”

 

Cordelia approached and wiped her tears with the back of her hand. Jude wiped her face with a handkerchief and let her blow her nose once.

 

Those who were watching laughed a bit.

 

And because of that, Cordelia became red-faced and barely opened her eyes to look at Yuna.

 

She saw Yuna with a faint smile while looking at her.

 

Blue hair and green eyes.

 

It was a slightly distinct color combination, but she just thought that it was beautiful and mysterious.

 

‘She’s Jude’s mother.’

 

It was true.

 

She could see the face of Jude all over the face of Yuna.

 

Above all, those green eyes.

 

Mysterious eyes that seemed to draw you in the moment you look at it.

 

“I-I’m Cordelia. Jude’s wife. N-Nice to meet you, mother-in-law.”

 

Perhaps because of her sobbing, her head did not work properly.

 

Her greeting posture was proper because of her etiquette training, but her greeting was a mess.

 

But Yuna did not care about that.

 

She had a wide smile as she stretched out her small hand and lightly caressed the cheek of Cordelia.

 

Cordelia unconsciously leaned her head against the warmth transmitted through the hand, and Yuna said with a smile again.

 

“You’re Cordelia. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

 

“Me?”

 

Cordelia blinked and unknowingly asked back.

 

From where did she hear about me?

 

My father-in-law?

 

Count Bayer?

 

And what did he say?

 

What does Count Bayer think of me?

 

Her mind suddenly became confused again.

 

‘H-He didn’t say anything bad, right?’

 

Since he’s my father-in-law.

 

And I haven’t done anything wrong to my father-in-law.

 

‘I-I ran away from home a lot.’

 

We must have seriously worried him every time we ran away.

 

But it was all due to circumstances that father-in-law knew now.

 

So it will be fine.

 

Yes, yes, it will be fine.

 

But what is this ominous feeling?

 

She vaguely felt that something was wrong.

 

Something that she was reluctant to just ignore and dismiss.

 

After all, she was Cordelia.

 

Her ‘sixth sense’ could be considered as the best in Pleiades.

 

‘What is it? What is it?’

 

Mother-in-law is smiling really brightly.

 

Why?

 

Why do I feel ominous?

 

The worries of Cordelia did not last long.

 

The answer immediately came, or rather, it showed up.

 

“Why? Are you scared?”

 

A mischievous voice full of playfulness.

 

At the familiar voice, Cordelia lifted her head to look at the carriage, and her eyes quickly widened as she raised her voice.

 

“Ah! V-Violent Avalanche?!”

 

Why was he here?

 

Jude was also perplexed.

 

He already knew that his mother was a wild god, but that and Violent Avalanche, who was another wild god, visiting here was a different matter altogether.

 

Why was he here?

 

And if Violent Avalanche told them about Cordelia…

 

“Fufufu.”

 

Anxiety spread across the faces of Jude and Cordelia as Violent Avalanche snickered quite wickedly.

 

And it was at that moment.

 

“Mother, this is my wife, Adelia.”

 

Gaël broke the delicate atmosphere and introduced Adelia to Yuna.

 

“I’m Adelia. It’s a pleasure to meet you, mother-in-law.”

 

When Adelia calmly greeted her, the eyes of Yuna began to sparkle.

 

“Adelia? You’re Adelia? Aerith’s child!”

 

Yuna jumped in place and Adelia was surprised, but widely smiled and nodded her head.

 

“Yes, mother-in-law. I’m Adelia.”

 

Adelia was only five years old when Yuna had to leave the Bayer county.

 

She vaguely remembered Yuna, and Yuna remembered the small and pretty child Adelia.

 

“You’ve grown up so beautifully. You’ve grown up really pretty. You resemble Aerith a lot.”

 

Yuna poured out various words of praise, and turned her head towards the happily smiling Count Bayer as she pulled his sleeve.

 

“Why didn’t you tell me? Huh? That Adelia became Gaël’s wife.”

 

The expression on the face of Count Bayer seemed to melt as soon as Yuna said ‘Huh?’, and he cleared his throat and replied with a grin instead of fixing his expression.

 

“That’s because I wanted to see your surprised face.”

 

“Oh my, you mean guy!”

 

As Yuna pulled his sleeve again, Count Bayer chuckled and the spectating servants around them all thought.

 

‘As expected, their tendency to play pranks was inherited.’

 

Should we add that it’s like they’re in their own world now?

 

At the mood that felt like time and space had shrank, as well as the distance of their hands and feet, the servants tried to remain silent, but Gaël laughed again and spoke.

 

“Anyway, mother. We can’t stand here the whole time, so let’s head inside. My children are also inside.”

 

“Gaël’s children? Adelia and Gaël’s?”

 

“Yes, mother. Our children. They’re twins.”

 

Adelia shyly answered, and Yuna jumped up from her spot again.

 

“Aerith’s child has a child? And it’s Gaël’s too?”

 

Yuna excitedly stamped her feet like a child and began to pull the sleeve of Count Bayer.

 

“You didn’t tell me this either! You mean guy!”

 

“Hohoho.”

 

Count Bayer chuckled again and the servants thought.

 

“Cute.”

 

They were cute.

 

Very cute.

 

“Ahem, ahem. Anyway, let’s go inside.”

 

Still possessing his reason, Gaël urged again. Yuna nodded and held the arm of Count Bayer who escorted her into the mansion.

 

And around an hour later.

 

After Yuna and Count Bayer greeted the twins, rubbed their cheeks, held their fingers, and had a fun time, everyone gathered in the drawing room and talked.

 

“That’s what happened.”

 

Violent Avalanche told them a surprising story.

 

Cordelia blinked at his brief but shocking story.

 

“Blade Song…”

 

The older brother of Yuna.

 

It was none other than Blade Song.

 

They were not really blood-related siblings, but it was true that Blade Song was the guardian of Yuna.

 

“It’s similar to the relationship between Great Storm and Gentle Snow Breeze.”

 

Even though Great Storm was a bird and Gentle Snow Breeze was a deer, they were like brother and sister.

 

“Then mother-in-law is…”

 

“I’m a wolf with deer horns. My father was wolf wild god and my mother was a deer wild god.”

 

Cordelia was amazed at the explanation of Yuna, and Jude turned to Violent Avalanche.

 

Violent Avalanche nodded and continued.

 

“Yuna is a very unusual case among the wild gods. Because it’s rare for a child to be born among the wild gods.”

 

Most wild gods were not children of someone.

 

The wild gods evolved from the energy of nature that combined with the artificial spirits who were products of the Artificial Spirit Ruler Project.

 

“So… Yuna, or Blue Blizzard, is a child who needed to stay in her sanctuary for a longer time.”

 

“Blue… Blizzard?”

 

Jude asked again and Yuna nodded.

 

“Yes, that’s my wild god name. But I am Yuna. Yuna Bayer. Because that’s my name as a person.”

 

Yuna spoke with a warm expression as she turned to Count Bayer who took her hand and nodded his head.

 

“Well, that’s why I didn’t know at first. It’s the first time I’ve heard of the name ‘Yuna’… Because I only remember the little wolf pup named Blue Blizzard who is the younger sister of Blade Song. This is the first time I’ve seen her transform into a human.”

 

Jude and Cordelia lightly nodded their heads at the words of Violent Avalanche, before they turned to Yuna again.

 

Perhaps because of hearing the story, they seemed to feel in Yuna the unique power they felt when they met Blade Song.

 

“Moving on, this is the summary. Having been depleted of her power because she had been away for so long, Yuna returned to the wild lands. And she fell into a long sleep in order to recover her power in her dragon vein sanctuary. But that ‘incident’ happened.”

 

That incident.

 

Cordelia pursed her lips inwards and Jude coughed.

 

What Jude and Cordelia had done to awaken the Golden Dragon King.

 

Because of the series of explosions that occurred in all the dragon veins in the wild lands, the Golden Dragon King woke up as planned, but the price was not cheap.

 

Almost all of the wild gods lost their sanctuaries.

 

“It’s all right.”

 

“Mother?”

 

“It’s really all right. Although the sanctuaries were destroyed, our homes were gone, and the people who relied on the sanctuaries had to relocate… thanks to you, I was able to wake up like this. And I was able to meet Lex again.”

 

Each time Yuna spoke with a bright expression, Cordelia flinched as though she was being stabbed by a knife.

 

“So don’t worry too much. I really appreciate what you did.”

 

And she cheerfully smiled again.

 

Cordelia awkwardly laughed and quickly sent a <Message> magic to Jude.

 

[I-Is she talking in a roundabout manner to make us feel bad?]

 

[Uh. I don’t think she’s that kind of person.]

 

There’s a hidden meaning in her words, but she probably doesn’t have any specific intention.

 

Yes, that’s right.

 

She just enumerated the facts with a bright manner.

 

As Jude and Cordelia comforted each other with awkward smiles, Violent Avalanche grinned and spoke.

 

“Why? Are you going to say that because I no longer have a home, there’s no danger to my home?”

 

A stab again.

 

He still had that in his mind.

 

It seemed like he still held a grudge at his rocky mountain that got blown away.

 

So the lips of Cordelia only squirmed as she had nothing to say at the truth, and the shoulders of Violent Avalanche shook up and down as he enjoyed the triumphant feeling.

 

But it was then.

 

“That’s a nice way of thinking. As expected, Elder Violent Avalanche is wise.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“It is, right? If you don’t have a home, your home is not in danger. It’s a way of thinking outside the box.”

 

“No, w-what I mean is…”

 

Yuna spoke with sparkling eyes, and Violent Avalanche was flustered and stuttered while Cordelia blinked her eyes.

 

And Cordelia realized.

 

Yuna glanced at her and lightly winked.

 

‘Ah.’

 

Should I say, as expected of Jude’s mother?

 

She’s basically cheerful, but also quick-witted.

 

Cordelia covered her smile with both hands, and Yuna gently smiled in front of the aggrieved Violent Avalanche.