"Well honey, these women were selected by your father, we can't just ignore his wishes, you have to pick a woman from among them."
Hearing his mother's words, Kruxe was just about to open his mouth to speak, but Amelia held up a finger silencing him.
"How much do you love Rita," she asked.
"With all my heart" Lien answered without missing a beat.
"Mtchew" Amelia sighed, her sigh coming out like a muffled yawn.
"you're not just the prince of a kingdom, you're also the son of a coastal noble, I'm sorry but the choice of who you marry isn't really in your hands, the fact that you even get to choose who to marry from among a list of women is already a great enough boon."
"But I'm disqualified from inheriting anything from the viscount, why do his wishes still matter in my life, why does he get to control me, I should just be a prince" Kruxe couldn't help but complain.
"He might have denied your claim to any of his fortune or an inheritance, but he never denied you as his son, you still bear the Don family name and as such still fall under him."
A look of frustration came over Kruxe's face as he refused to succumb to this fate but his mother spoke up once more,
"But Since you're so intent on Rita and she seems to also feel for you, then you can marry her as your second wife."
"Huh..".
"Really.."
Amelia's words were so surprising that even Cletina who had been silent couldn't help but exclaim while Kruxe sought clarification.
"Yes, as the face of the family and the one who holds seniority, the first wife can't just be anybody, but I'll convince your father to let Rita be the second wife, and even if he decides to be stubborn, he can't say anything about her being the third."
Though his mother spoke of him marrying one or two women whom he would rather not marry, the fact that he could have Rita as his legal wife was worth the trouble in Kruxe's opinion.
Kruxe looked to Cletina, victory dances going on in his heart as he watched her face let out the barest of twitches at the unexpected turn of events, but she kept quiet.
"Alright that's enough talking this is a celebration," Amelia said, putting a plate in front of Kruxe, "Kruxe have a taste of the Arowana, I made it just the way you like it, stipped in sauce".
"With his mother assuring him that he would soon have the woman he wanted as his wife, Kruxe happily followed her words, taking in the beautiful sight of the Arowana his mother had prepared and not failing to shower her cooking with praises."
.....
Minutes had passed since Kruxe was promised he would one day be able to hold Rita in his arms as his wife.
With such good news, Kruxe's irritations had faded away, and at the moment he was digging into the meal before him with relish.
Having first finished the Arowana sometime ago, Kruxe was now slicing into a piece of beef he had just put on his plate, and just as he was about to put the tiny piece he had sliced off into his mouth, he paused as he felt a gaze on him.
A little bit red on the face, Kruxe looked up, not at all surprised to see his mother was the one staring at him, but he did feel embarrassed by her gaze.
"Mom" he called out with a bit of frustration.
"Oh common, what's wrong with watching my baby boy eat?"
"I'm 19 now stop calling me that" Kruxe further complained, glad it was just the three of them in the room at the moment.
"Well, I hope Rita is ready to spend sufficient time in the kitchen because she won't find it easy filling that tummy of yours."
Hearing his mother's words, Kruxe couldn't help but feel more embarrassed, but he tried defending himself.
"I'm not a glutton mom, it's just my rigorous training that makes me eat so much."
"Sure, sure, sure" Amelia, said, her hands raised, but the lack of conviction in her tone had Kruxe crying internally at his misjudged character.
After her last words, Amelia went back to eating, and while Kruxe was grateful for this, he couldn't help but stare at her.
Kruxe smiled as he watched her dip a piece of fish in the red soup beside her and eat it.
The look of relish and contentment on his mother's face filled Kruxe with happiness, yet as he stared at her face, he couldn't help but tighten his fist in resentment and pure determination.
Needing to eat, Amelia had pushed all her hair to the back and taken off her gas mask, revealing to the world her enticing pink flawless lips, and at the same time, her son's cruelty to her once peerless face.
On the right side of her face, the hair which had once kept it hidden was no more, and the four red protruding vein marks that stretched from the top of her head all the way down the left of her face were revealed.
The more Kruxe stared at these veins, the angrier he felt, and seeing how much they had damaged his mother's face to the point that she couldn't open her right eye anymore, made him want to kill the very cause of this problem, himself.
"Kruxe,"
"Kruxe"
The voice called the second time and this time it got his attention.
"Huh," Kruxe dumbly muttered, not realizing that his mother had caught his actions.
"I thought we agreed this wouldn't happen again," Amelia said, and Kruxe seeing the hurt in her eyes knew he had messed up.
"Mom, I wasn't…" Kruxe tried to explain, but his mother was hearing none of it as she got up, but Kruxe quickly stood up, leaned over, and caught her left arm before she could leave.
"I'm sorry, please stay" Kruxe quickly said solemnly looking at his mother with a remorseful gaze7