Mama Emeritus III

Chapter 15: A Powerful Woman

Y/n wakes up, her eyes flutter open to see a peacefully sleeping Terzo holding her. She kisses him quickly, "I'll be back, love." He grumbles something under his breath, but lets her go. She slips out of the bed, and hurries to the bathroom. She needed to see Primo and have some Latin lessons. She brushes her teeth, washes her face, then snaps her fingers. Her hair was in a claw clip, no makeup, a fluffy, comfortable crewneck, and baggy jeans. She walks out of the bathroom quietly, Terzo now laid on his stomach, sprawled out across the bed. Y/n giggles, but quickly covers her mouth so as to not wake him. She exits the room silently and starts walking to Primo's office.

The halls of the ministry carried both an eerie and comforting feeling for Y/n. Yes, most of her childhood and memories are from these ancient halls, but the lies, deceit, death, and grief contained within the walls was enough to make her despise them. She turns the corner, feeling strange at the lack of humans and ghouls in the halls as it was nine in the morning. She quickly knocks on Primo's door, small memories coming back while looking at the nameplate. He opens the door, adorning his robes and traditional Papa makeup as always, "Morning, Y/n. Come on, we shall get started." He closes the door behind her as she sits at his desk.

Y/n looks down at the big, red book in front of her, the Aeneid. Her fingers graze over the golden letters decorating the front, "The Aeneid, still taught today in many Latin classes." Primo says, sitting down and putting his reading glasses on, picking up his copy, "Do you remember the first line?" Y/n thinks for a moment. She opens the book, and recognizes the words she reads aloud, "Arma virumque cano" pauses for a moment, "I sing of arms and a man." Primo smiles, "Well done. I'm impressed that you remembered." Y/n smiles and looks up at him, "My mother used to read it to me, in Latin, I thought it was just a secret adult language." She laughs recalling the fond memory. Primo smiles back at her with a shake of his head, "Oh your mother, always focusing on studies." You both take a moment of silence, the realization that she's gone causes a sorrowful atmosphere, "I know she'd be very proud of you." Primo says after a few seconds, "Thank you." Y/n whispers, not wanting to cry, "So," She says cheerfully, trying to change the subject, "How are we doing this?"

Terzo groans, still exhausted from last night and angry at the Clergy members. They could simply not try for her hand until the trials, but their desperate murder plots shows how much they want Y/n for their own. He gets out of bed and decides to shower before his meeting with his mother and father. Some details about the wedding needed to be finalized and Y/n would not have the capability to determine them, so he said he would. The last thing he wanted was for Sister Imperator to have a say in their day, Y/n would strangle him on the altar.

Fixing his robes and cleaning up his makeup, Terzo is content with how he looks. He snaps his fingers and is in Sister's office, his father sitting beside her, "Welcome, son." Sister hissed, "We have some things to discuss." Terzo rolls his eyes, but sits down and stays quiet, "Who are going to be your groomsmen?" His mother fakes a smile.

Terzo sighs, knowing how she'll react, "My best man will be Omega, my brothers will be next." His mother sucked in a breath, ready to tear into her son, but Nihil put his hand on his shoulder, "It is his wedding." He says. Sister sighs and writes down the names of the groomsmen, "For the trial," She pivots, "How do you want the order to go?" Terzo thinks about this long and hard. Sending Y/n off to live with the others for a month was the last thing he wanted to do, but it must be done, "Belial, Behemoth, Beelzebub, Asmodeus, Satanas, Lucifer" Terzo says, his mother nods approvingly, "Glad you're taking the traditional route." She smiles, he frowns, "That's all for now, son, thank you." Sister says, Terzo stands and leaves quickly, taking a deep breath the moment the door shuts behind him.

Y/n yawns, turning another page in the Aeneid, "Y/n," Primo says sympathetically, taking his glasses off and shutting his book, "Why don't we stop here for today?" Her head rests lazily on her hand, "Okay." She mumbles, shutting the cover. Primo laughs slightly as she wipes the drool off of her face. Y/n was the daughter he wanted, the child he helped raise, but could never claim. Y/n stands, leaning on the desk for a second, her numb legs waking up, "I'll see you at dinner." Primo says with a warm smile. Y/n nods, not completely absorbing what Primo said, and leaves.