THE HERO'S SON IS A MONSTER-Chapter 63 - 1

"Oh... that’s true..."

"..."

Everything went just like the doll ’predicted’ from the encounter with Rouge to Lupa’s proposition. However, Alexandra was growing more suspicious by the seconds. She just realized something, a reasoning error that the doll pushed her to make.

Let’s say that this doll could truly see the future or at least possible futures. That didn’t prove her goodwill at all. In fact, she could be working together with her rumored master so that Alexandra would end up dead. It would be unusual to mention her master’s intentions then, but if that was their plan, she had to admit it was clever. You wouldn’t suspect someone trying to save you, at least usually.

Of course, there was still the possibility that the doll was sincere. But even then, she couldn’t be sure she could trust it.

She had proof that it lied to her or at least didn’t tell her the whole truth. For instance, she didn’t mention Rouge, well, Anju’s reaction. Of course, if the doll had asked her to get close to a person who would almost kill her, Alexandra would not have obeyed, but this leaves the question of how many other things like that she chose to leave unmentioned.

To put it bluntly, Alexandra had no control whatsoever over the situation and that worried her to no end. When she chose to trust that doll, she thought it was a logical and clever decision but now, she realized that it was totally baseless.

"*sigh*"

"My mistress..."

"Minus 3 points."

"Huh?! What did I..."

Looking at her mistress’s face, Minium could tell that she was seriously thinking about something. Maybe she had a plan in mind after all. Probably, otherwise, she wouldn’t have ignored the recommendations of the doll they met earlier. Besides Minium was suspicious of the latter and as long as her mistress didn’t let her down, she would make sure to be as silent as possible...

She would try anyway.

"..."

Well then, how was she going to get rid of this problem?

Something had been stuck in his throat for some time now, and it wasn’t just words.

She tried to swallow forcefully, but it didn’t help at all. In fact, the situation had gotten worse. Now it wasn’t just itchy – it had become painful. Should she try to take that thing out of her mouth with her hand? Yes, it had to be the right thing to do. She just needed to...

"*blerg*"

Had she just done... and on her mistress?

"... What is-"

"I-I’m sorry!!! I-I’ll clean you up right now!!!"

"W-What’s wrong with you?!! What do you think you’re doing?!! Do you even have an idea of— Argh!!! First this stupid doll, then this stupid girl, and if that wasn’t enough, I realize I just spent most of my money on a stupid piece of furniture!!!"

After her outburst, Alexandra squeezed the area between her eyes and breathed heavily, making a noise like a steam engine trying to forcibly cool itself.

"Calm down. Calm down, Alexandra. It’s only the first day. You can’t break down now," she said in a low voice.

Minium, for her part, had tears in her eyes.

Was it because of his mistress’s reproaches? Or was it because of the reproaches she made to herself? She couldn’t say it. All that overwhelmed him was fear and shameful smells. She couldn’t help but sob quietly. At least as quietly as a child could.

Quite quickly, the noises she was making annoyed her mistress who gave her another murderous look.

"What? What again? Why are you crying? Did I do something to you? Hey, I didn’t touch you, did I? Or do you want me to give you a real reason to cry? I’d be more than happy to do that, you know? So before you force me to do something I’ll regret later, shut the hell up."

While Alexandra’s voice wasn’t as strong as earlier, her tone was considerably more menacing. Minium tried to stop crying but only choked herself as a result; thanks to that, her sobbing got louder the more she failed to stop herself.

Alexandra’s gray eyes were growing more and more metallic. It would have been no surprise if she suddenly raised her hand on Minium at that point. In fact, it was somewhat surprising for the latter to not have beaten up by now. But if she didn’t stop herself soon, that would probably be the least of her worries.

She had to stop somehow. She had to. But she couldn’t. The more she thought she had to, the more she failed and the more her master’s gaze was growing cold. She would be thrown away. If this continued, she would be thrown away. Actually, she believed it to already be the case prompting her to cry even louder. There was no end to this.

"Dear customer, dear customer."

A gentle voice interrupted the scene by redirecting Alexandra’s death glare to its owner. It was the blonde girl from earlier, Anju. She had a hard-to-decipher expression on her face that made her instantly look more mature and level-headed. Alexandra had never seen one except for her, but, in her mind, she looked just like a hotel receptionist should.

"What is it now?" she asked as politely as she could in her current mood; that is to say, not politely at all.

"If you may allow me to show you the way to the facilities, I would be very honorated."

"... That’s honored. Either way I—"

"Excuse my mistake. Not just now, but earlier too. Allow me to apologize properly." The girl bowed deeply before pursuing, "I beg of you."

"... Why so polite all of sudden oh girl of nobility?" Alexandra asked, visibly on guard. "Behaving that way with me now won’t change my opinion of you."

"Please," the girl pleaded, standing back up.

Alexandra got even more confused. The girl before her sounded truly apologetic. It was to the point she wouldn’t have gotten surprised by Lefresne barging in to take a meal, probably dragging Zazzera with her.

"...Hmph. If that humors you. I am not so heartless as to ignore an attempt to sincerely apologize," Alexandra said after a short pause. She didn’t fully understand why she even bothered. Maybe thinking about her former friends softened her a little? "Either way, I am giving you a chance to amend yourself. You had better live up to my expectations!"

Anju bowed again. "But I will."