"Vaan, we need to talk."
Astra spoke as she walked into Vaan's room. Her eyes then fell on her Pupil and her Son and,
"Oh?"
She raised her eyebrow.
Then, a playful smile appeared on her face and,
"I didn't know you two got this close." She commented, her eyes fixed on her Pupil.
"T-T-Teacher! I-It is not w-what you th-"
"It is exactly as you think, Mother."
Elara's face turned red. She panicked when she realized the position she was in in front of her Teacher, her first reaction was to deny everything at come up with an excuse, however, before she could say anything, Vaan jumped in.
"V-V-Vaan!"
Elara shouted.
"What?" Vaan tilted his head in confusion as he looked into Elara's eyes. Seeing him looking at her like that, Elara was at a loss for words.
"This feels so comfortable~" Vaan muttered as he changed his position, making himself more comfortable on his fiancé's lap.
Elara's face turned as red as a tomato, her eyes continuously moving between Vaan, who had closed his eyes and was enjoying the moment, and Astra, who was looking at the scene in front of her with the biggest smile on her face.
She was the captain of the Vaan Elara Ship, and she always knew Elara was the perfect one for Vaan, and seeing her idiot son finally making some move on the best girl there was, Astra felt proud.
Just look at how adorable that girl was, blushing and panicking in front of her as if she had been caught doing something wrong.
Astra couldn't help but chuckle thinking how this was the same girl who always took the blame for her idiotic son's mistake and whenever she did, she stood against her confidently, even willing to go as far as taking punishment in Vaan's stead.
Well, as much as Astra was enjoying this situation, especially her future daughter-in-law's reaction, right now, she was here for something else.
"Gabel, Keep the Spell Directories here and leave."
Astra ordered.
"As you command, Lady Astra." Gable did what he was ordered and quickly walked out of the room.
Astra then turned towards Elara and smiled,
"Elara, would you please step out for a moment? I need to have a conversation with Vaan."
"T-Teacher, Vaan is hurt, I-I cannot move…" Elara replied with a nervous look on her face.
"Huh?"
Astra frowned in confusion.
Then, she glanced at her son, who was avoiding her eyes and Astra finally understood.
'How can you lie to this angel?' Astra used sound magic.
Vaan avoided her eyes.
Astra sighed, then, he sat on the bed next to Elara and,
"Don't worry, I will take care of him."
Elara glanced at Astra for a while, then she gently lifted Vaan's head from her lap, Astra placed her leg in place of Elara and gently placed Vaan's head on it. Astra then started ruffling her son's hair.
"I apologize for interrupting your private moment," Astra spoke as she glanced at Elara.
"No! No! You do not have to apologize, Teacher. I am sure Vaan would want to spend some time with his Mother as well." Elara quickly shook her head.
"Is that so…?" Astra smiled mysteriously as she glanced at her son.
Vaan smiled wryly.
"T-Then I'll be taking my leave now, Teacher," Elara spoke as she walked out of the room.
Once only Astra and Vaan were left in the room, Astra's hand, which was gently ruffling Vaan's hair moved towards Vaan's ear and,
"Aaaccckkk!!"
Vaan groaned in pain.
"You dare lie to my pupil, Boy?"
"Aaaahhhh! M-Mother! That hurts!"
"You think I am trying to massage you here!? Of course, it hurts! That's my intention!"
"I apologize! I am sorry for lying to your pupil! Are you happy now?" Vaan quickly gave in. The all-mighty underworld gang leader was nowhere to be seen.
"Apologize to her, not me, you fool."
"It is not like I had any other option either…" Vaan mumbled.
"What did you say?"
"I said that I am only doing this for your own good."
"Oh?" Astra raised her eyebrow.
"Would you please elaborate?"
"Don't you want Elara to be your daughter-in-law?"
"I do, yes."
"You want that to happen in this life, don't you?"
"Huh? What kind of question is that?"
"It is a perfectly reasonable question, Mother. Don't you see her blushing and panicking before? Do you think I will make any progress with her if I don't lie to her? What do you think her reaction will be if I simply ask her for a lap pillow randomly?"
Astra started thinking.
She could imagine Elara's flustered face as she tries to think about different ways to run away in embarrassment.
Seeing his mother's reaction, Vaan nodded,
"See? A little lie is important to get close to your future daughter-in-law.
Your son is working hard, you know?"
"Are you now?"
"Of course I am." Vaan nodded.
"That is good." Astra then smiled as she patted Vaan's ear which she pulled.
Vaan closed his eyes.
"A little lie is allowed, but make sure not to hurt that girl, she has already suffered enough. Is that clear?"
"Don't worry, Mother. I never do something that would disappoint you or Elara."
"Good Good."
Astra nodded continuously. She felt much more comfortable around Vaan these days. The previous tense relation the two of them had, things were a lot better now.
"Anyways, why are you here, Mother? I doubt you would send Elara away if you just wanted to spend some time with your son."
Suddenly, Vaan questioned, still not moving away from his mother's lap.
Astra, who finally recalled why she came here for, paused, then, with a small smile on her face, she glanced at Vaan and,
"You are quite lucky, Boy."
"Hmm? What do you mean?" Vaan frowned.
"You wanted to permanently deal with Roland, didn't you? I guess you won't need to challenge him to a duel to do that, after all."
This time, Vaan's face turned serious as he glanced at his mother and,
"What are you talking about, Mother?"
"Medics found Dreamweave in Roland's body and it was not a small amount either.
Roland is an Addict."
"What…?" Vaan's expression changed.
"Mhm, I was surprised as well. Dreamweave is strictly banned in the Vesta City, if you are caught dealing with Dreamweave in any way, it is a punishable offense.
'Roland Frostmoon was addicted to Dreamweave and attacked Vaan Astra Vesta under the effects of the withdrawal symptoms of the Drug.'
If we use this, we will have enough 'reason' to imprison Ronald for his entire life, if not kill him."
Astra spoke as she carefully observed her son's expression.
"Of course, we would also need to do a thorough investigation. The fact that a promising heir of a Family as strong as the Frostmoon Family was addicted to Dreamweave means that the Drug has spread all over the City right under our nose. I would need to send my best people to look into this matter and capture everyone responsible for this, of course, that is not something you should be worrying about.
I only came here to inform you about this, you can get your revenge on your enemy without having to go through all that trouble."
Astra smiled.
Vaan glanced at his mother, he wasn't sharing his mother's happiness.
"Mother…"
In the end, having no other choice, he decided to seek help.
"You don't seem very excited?" Astra frowned.
"Can you… bury the matter regarding Dreamweave for a few days…?" Vaan questioned.
"Hmm? What do you mean?" Astra was confused.
"…"
Vaan turned silent as he stared at Astra.
Seeing him acting like that, Astra narrowed her eyes,
"Vaan, you did not get yourself involved with the Dreamweave, did you?" She questioned in a solemn tone.
"No, of course not! I am not a fool! I will never touch those things."
Vaan quickly shook his head.
"I just… I just want your help…"
"I will not help you unless you do not tell me the complete truth, Vaan. What are you planning?"
"It is regarding Seraphina."
"Seraphina?"
"I want to use the Dreamweave to corner her."
Astra narrowed her eyes, "I am listening." She spoke.
Vaan sighed.
In this situation, he finally decided to reveal his plan.
…
10 minutes later, when Vaan was done explaining everything, Astra glanced at her son and,
"So you already knew Ronald was addicted to drugs."
"Yes."
Vaan nodded.
"And this new maid of yours…"
"Lily."
"She was Seraphina's personnel maid?"
Vaan nodded his head again.
"What makes you think she is loyal to you now?"
"She has no other option." Vaan's answer was quick.
"Even the most Loyal of Dogs do not return to the owners who tried to kill them.
And I also have Aldric keeping an eye on her all the time."
"Aldric was one of Seraphina's men."
"That doesn't matter, I have Lily keeping an eye on him."
Astra furrowed her brows.
"As long as the two of them keep an eye on each other, I do not have anything to fear."
"What if the two of them betray you at the same time?"
"They will not. Even if they wished to betray me, they would never reveal that to each other out of fear of getting caught. The two of them will act like chains to each other, stopping them from making any foolish moves.
Also, none of them have any reason to side with Seraphina.
Only fools stay on a sinking boat."
