Living as the Villainess Stepmother

Chapter 144 - Showing Gratitude (1)

Lila felt relieved after realizing that all Hir needed was time to adapt to the changes. It would have been awful if the relationship between Hir and Lacias became awkward thanks to her excessive intervention.

"...Fa... Fa... ther won't understand me, right?" Hir was still unfamiliar with the word father so he had a hard time forming a sentence with it to ask his mother.

But despite his stutters, she understood him perfectly. "Not at all. Lacias must already understand how you feel."

"I hope so...." He responded meekly.

Lila held his hand tighter, which caught Hir by surprise making him retreat into a bashful smile.

"I won't make ... my fa- father wait for too long, mother."

"Don't worry," She answered lovingly, "your will is enough.."

To Hir, Lila's voice seemed very understanding, he felt that even if he became a thief she would feel compassionate towards him.

"Mother...." He looked up at her with adoring eyes.

"Yes?"

"Do you want me to become a knight?"

"Why the sudden question?" She asked, trying to contain herself from the cuteness.

"Um, um. Because you seemed happy when I told you I want to try learning swordsmanship?"

She knew there was no point in mentioning that she was happy because things were going the same way as in the original novel. But she really did feel proud of him.

"I was just glad that you showed interest in something. And I would still be glad if it was something else." It was still true of course.

"Still, I like swords!" His eyes seemed to jump from joy. "They're really fun!"

Lila smiled back at him warmly. "It seems like you do. If you're happy, I'm happy too."

"I want Hizette to teach me various techniques soon! I'm impatient because he said that I can move on to the next level only after I've mastered the basics...."

Hir seemed to enjoy talking about his training as he continued talking about it. "Hizette told me that it normally takes a few years just for the basics.... Ummm, but I don't want to do that, I want to be amazing now...."

"I'm sure it took Hizette a lot of time as well."

Hir suddenly remembered what his teacher told him. "He said that he still practices every day...."

Time flew by as they spoke for hours on end, and before they knew it, the moonlight shone through the windows illuminating the static dust. Lila noticed his yawns and tired eyes, so she walked him to his bedroom.

"Hmm...." He seemed to have nothing against the idea so he walked with her willingly.

*

After his short breathing sound became regular, Lila got up from the bed and blew away the candlelight. She couldn't help but notice the powerful light coming from outside.

The moon is enormous today.

She instinctively drew the curtains to let less light in through the windows.

I heard that on days when the moon is too bright, the body gets tired.

Lila, who understood the responsibility of parenthood, quietly left the room not wanting her son to wake up again. He must have been tired from using his body that wasn't used to swordsmanship training.

As she closed the door behind her, a figure suddenly appeared in front of her

*

"Hizette? What are you doing at this late hour?"

His silver eyes fluttered from surprise. He clearly didn't expect Lila to be inside. But was soon forced to answer.

"I heard a sound coming from his room so I waited... I wasn't expecting time to fly by so quickly." It sounded like he was trying to justify himself even though she never scolded him.

"So what brought you here in the first place?" She asked curiously.

"The young master left something behind at the training room, so I came here just in case to bring it back."

"I see." She responded, trying to fight back the urge to ask what it was.

As if reading her mind, Hizette opened his palm to reveal Hir's brooch. He most likely misplaced it while training and forgot about it.

"I will pass it on to him," said Lila, calmly taking it from his hands.

"Did you make this yourself, madam?" Asked Hizette catching her off guard.

Lila chuckled to herself, "It must be very noticeable. I'm not skilled, am I?"

"Huh? No, that's not what I meant...."

Seeing Hizette in an unusual panic seemed funny to her. As he caught her mocking glare, he cleared his throat and straightened his face.

"The young master treated it preciously, so it must be a well-made brooch."

Lila nodded in appreciation. "Thanks for saying that."

Hizette reacted awkwardly to her gesture, he clearly did not know how to react to compliments. Lila was impressed by how he was able to give one in the first place. All in all, she was glad to have him as Hir's teacher, thanks to Hizette in the original work, Hir was able to escape his living hell if just for a moment.

"If you have time, would you like to go for a walk together? I also have something to talk about." She wanted to thank him again for all of his efforts and thank him for being reliable.

Is this how parents feel?

"Ah...." He was showing signs of hesitation. It seemed like he didn't want to interact with her without Lacias's approval. It was understandable considering Hizette's innate personality. If he was Lugar, he would have readily accepted it. Lila changed the mood playfully as she could read his thoughts in detail.

"We went together last time though."

"Because that was an order."

"So is that a rejection?"

Biting his lip at Lila's playful voice, Hizette seemed to think the offer up again.

"It's okay if you have something important to tell me."

"Is that so?"