Saving My Bias from Mishaps (8)
“Wait… what?”
I should be the one saying that, father dearest.
What could be the reason Hades came to Abel’s room dressed in pajamas at this hour?
We stared at each other in silence before turning our gazes simultaneously to Abel.
The little prankster was smiling like an angel.
Although his smile was the cutest thing in the world, something smelled fishy.
This smell….
It was the scent of a scheming male lead.
“Although today, he….”
“Today?”
“Oh!
It’s nothing.
Hehe….”
I realized immediately what kind of cheeky trick Abel had pulled on us.
It seemed I wasn’t the only one he asked for a wish.
I could understand why a child deprived of love like Abel would want to sleep between his father and his soon-to-be mother.
But….
‘Hades and I aren’t comfortable enough to act all lovey-dovey with each other yet, you know!’
Hades stood dazed, staring at my face.
Then he seemed to have finally realized what was going on as well.
But his reaction was quite different from mine.
He approached us slowly with his signature narcissistic grin on his face.
“No wonder….
He’s never been the type to request something like this from me, so I was wondering why he suddenly asked me to sleep together.”
Right… of course he’d jump to that conclusion.
Hades added, rubbing his forehead with a tired expression, “You should have simply asked me in person if you wanted to get intimate.
Why ask Abel to….”
“I think you’re terribly mistaken, Your Grace.”
“Yeah, sure I am.”
Ha….
I wondered for a moment if I should just tell him the truth.
What should I do with this frustration cooped up inside me?
If my life were a book, surely the readers would cringe at this part.
Although I worried for Hades and his oversized ego, I couldn’t make any excuses for myself and only sighed.
Abel looked like he couldn’t make sense of what we were talking about.
His confused and innocent gaze looked to and fro between Hades and me.
“Come now.
A good boy should go to sleep early and wake up early.”
Hades seemed not at all bothered to sleep together in the same bed as Abel and me.
He nudged Abel further in and settled next to his son.
I was a bit taken aback, but there was nothing I could do.
After all, how could I possibly ruin Abel’s good mood when he was smiling like this?
Finally, as I carefully lay next to Abel, I heard a slight snicker from Hades.
This guy….
“Hehe….”
Abel seemed genuinely happy to be able to sleep between Hades and me.
He turned his head left and right to look at us in turn, blushing and quietly laughing to himself.
So long as you’re happy… I’m ready to take on the life of being misunderstood by some narcissistic duke.
“Umm….
Once Lady Heathcliff and father gets married….”
Abel, who had been quiet, suddenly began to speak.
He was hesitant, as if he were about to say something embarrassing.
“I….
W-what should I call you, Lady Heathcliff?”
Hades broke into laughter.
I, too, smiled at Abel’s shy question.
I knew why he was asking a question that he already knew the answer to.
He wanted affirmation.
I fixed my eyes on Abel and pretended not to notice.
“I wonder….
What should you call me?”
“Mmm….”
I watched the adorable Abel closely as he rolled his eyes side to side, before finally letting out the laughter that I’d been holding back.
“Wouldn’t mom be adequate?
I think I’d like it if you called me that.”
“Oh….”
Abel seemed happy.
It reminded me of my own smile when Abel gave me the flower crown he made in return for my gift.
I felt a little strange watching him smile like that.
How should I put it?
I was surprised and got butterflies in my stomach at the same time.
Could it be that….
Perhaps we….
Would we be able to stan each other some day, Abel?
I was happy just imagining the possibility when suddenly Abel answered like an angel.
“Yes.
I would… love that.” Full of excitement, he turned his gaze to Hades.
“Father, when do you plan on holding the wedding?”
Hades chuckled at his adorable son and answered, “I will bring it up in the meeting with my vassals tomorrow.
And once my marriage proposal arrives at the Heathcliff barony, we’ll decide when to hold the wedding.
Well, once the preparations are taken care of, there’s no need to wait….”
He paused, turned his gaze to me, then continued.
“We’ll pick the earliest date possible to hold the ceremony, since somebody seems eager.”
“Ahaha….”
He looked at me like I was a pitiful woman who was nervous about the marriage not getting through.
It had yet to be a month since I arrived at the duchy, yet I was confident I could write a book with a title that goes something like <Guide to Interpreting His Grace Duke Louvremont’s Facial Expressions>.
I then asked, trying to change the mood before it became too weird, “Umm, Your Grace.
Won’t there be trouble at your meeting with the vassals?
Count Gasfelle isn’t very fond of me, after all….”
At first, I was only trying to change the subject, but I realized that this was a real concern when I said it aloud.
I recalled how Count and Countess Gasfelle looked adamant in their disapproval of a poor noblewoman like me marrying into the Louvremont family.
I turned my worried gaze to Hades and saw him frown at me.
“Why are you worried about that?
The meeting with my vassals is a mere formality.
Who are they to say whom I bring into my own castle?”
“That’s right, Lady Heathcliff!
You have nothing to worry about.”
The father and the son both looked at me with resembling faces and reassuring eyes.
“Abel, it’s gotten late.
You should get to sleep,” Hades said as he pulled the blanket over Abel.
Abel seemed to want to talk a little more but nodded because he didn’t want to disobey his father.
Then he asked, “When I fall asleep… will you be returning to your chamber, father?”
After a moment of silence, Hades shook his head, “No, I will be by your side until you wake up.”
Abel’s face lit up, and this time, he turned towards me.
“What about you, Lady Heathcliff?”
I answered immediately with a smile, “me too.”
“Ehehe….”
Relieved by both of our answers, Abel clenched the blanket just below his chin and finally closed his eyes.
I closed my eyes just like him, but I knew it would take me a while to fall asleep.
I felt as though I had become a child the night before a spring picnic, unable to sleep because of anticipation for the next day’s events.
* * *
That night, I had a fantastic dream, perhaps thanks to the wonderful events that happened that day.
I knew I was dreaming because Abel, who was only 10 years old last night, was now all grown up in front of me.
I was a little surprised that he looked almost identical to Hades, but Abel from my dream called me….
“Mom!”
…So I could gladly take him in my arms when he came running toward me.
“Thank you for raising me.
I would have never grown up the way I did if you had not been in my life.”
“Abel….”
“I love you more than anyone else in this world, mother.
Even more than Deborah!”
“Oh my….”
Abel squeezed me against his chest as I stood dazed, overwhelmed with joy.
His shoulders were broad, and his body was warm.
Is this what it feels like to be a mother with a well-grown son?
I started out as a lowly stan, then became a successful fan when Abel gave me that flower crown, and now he was all grown and was calling me mother!
“hmmb….”
I managed to swallow my tears of joy and snuggled deeper into Abel’s arms.
He used to be a little boy who could fit right into my arms, but now, he was all grown with big, broad shoulders and a chest as wide as the Pacific….
Ah, he has grown up into such a fine young man!
“Aisha.” At that moment, Abel suddenly called my name.
Haha… this silly boy, calling his mother by her first name.
Of course, I didn’t mind him calling me Aisha, but Hades might consider it rude and scold him, pretending to be a strict parent like he often did.
“Aisha.”
Hmm?
Suddenly I realized that, like his face, Abel’s voice calling me sounded exactly like a certain man I know.
I raised my head from Abel’s chest.
Now that I looked at him again, the man in front of me was undoubtedly Hades.
Hades gave me that narcissistic, overconfident smirk that I was very used to by now.
“I’m aware that my overwhelming charm is unbearable to you, but a woman like you… can be quite a handful.”
What in the world was he talking about?
Now that Abel’s all grown up, I might as well finally tell him the truth.
Although this was just a dream, I finally decided to come clean with Hades.
It was then that my eyes shot wide open.
“Ah….”
When my eyelids lifted like a flash of lightning, I was greeted by a view I had never seen before.
In front of me was smooth, tanned skin with very firm….
‘Chest?!’
I raised my head in panic and saw Hades chuckle at me with a look of mocking.