Three Layers of Insurance

[Yes, please trust me.]

Hesitating for a moment, Iris silently put down the elven artifact in her hand.

[Is there anything I can do to help?]

[Thank you very much, I do have something I’d like to ask of you…]

As the golden-haired elf hidden above left, Luke swiftly deployed his domain magic, “Days Like Years.”

The magic’s effect was as its name suggested; the specific principle was to use psychological illusion to dull people’s perception of the passage of time.

It was like being in love, where an hour with your beloved felt fleeting, but during an argument, an extra second felt too long.

Luke was stalling for time right now… When the “Days Like Years” magic deactivated and everyone returned to their normal sense of time, Madame Mary was surprised to find an extra person in the room.

Her son, Count Barge.

‘Why are you here?’

Madame Mary grew even angrier, her tightly clenched hands even drawing blood.

Such situations were not uncommon.

Since he was a child—no, since Count Barge was old enough to understand things and had a tiny bit of independence, he had always made her angry.

After inheriting the count’s title, he had grown even worse, even starting to obstruct her work, as if wishing for her, the cheap woman who had disgraced the family name, to die soon so he could reclaim his rightful power as head of the family.

If Count Barge himself had been capable, it would have been one thing, but he was a good-for-nothing who would be swindled out of his underwear without even realizing it. How could Madame Mary not be furious?

Facing Madame Mary’s interrogation, Count Barge, who had been submissive to her authority for years, instinctively took a step back, looking left and right for cover to hide behind.

‘I asked you why you are here!’ Madame Mary became even angrier.

‘I, I… don’t… don’t… kno…’ Count Barge was terrified, trembling uncontrollably, unable to speak properly.

But this state only lasted for a few brief seconds.

‘Count Barge is here to reconcile with you, Madame.’

Luke said with a smile.

It was also at this moment that Count Barge calmed down, his gaze becoming sinister.

Yes, that’s right, Luke had spread his ‘blackening’ magic to him.

‘Bah!’ The now emboldened Count Barge spat disdainfully to the side, ‘Who wants to reconcile with an old hag like you!’

‘Good, good, good, so that’s what you think! Guards, give this unfilial son a good lesson!’

The guards suddenly looked troubled; no matter how rebellious Count Barge had been in the past, or how much trouble he caused, Madame Mary had only ever confined him to his room, never once telling them to lay a hand on him.

But soon, they no longer hesitated, because Luke had indiscriminately ‘blackened’ them all as well.

‘You wouldn’t dare!’

Count Barge roared.

Seeing that the atmosphere was heated enough, Luke quickly stepped between the guards and Count Barge.

‘Stop, as guards, how can you lay hands on your master? Do you have no shame!’

Honestly, Luke’s words were righteous and standard, but their effect was undoubtedly very weak.

Especially now that the blackening magic had infected everyone in the room, these guards would very likely beat him as well… Although with the Hero’s strength, even if everyone in the Countess’s mansion attacked, they would only end up defeated. However, causing such a ruckus so soon after arriving in the kingdom would have a far worse impact than if he couldn’t control his lower half and got involved with Madame Mary.

Luke, of course, wouldn’t be that foolish, because at that time, the happiest person would definitely be a certain scummy pinkette… But he didn’t plan to take any unnecessary action.

This wasn’t giving up, nor was it waiting for them to fight before stepping in; it was—

‘This is… Her Highness Elia’s power?’ Iris above couldn’t help but exclaim in surprise.

In the center of the room, a white light suddenly erupted from Madame Mary’s chest, and soon, the blackening magic on everyone in the Countess’s mansion was purified.

Don’t misunderstand, a certain scummy pinkette was not present.

But Luke had already figured out some of this scummy pinkette’s style.

For example, even if she wanted to utterly ruin Luke, that scummy pinkette wouldn’t forget to gain benefits for herself.

At the same time, she was particularly afraid of others suspecting her afterwards, so she would hide her manipulations as much as possible.

Based on these two points, and considering Iris was tracking him from the side, ready to catch them in the act at any moment.

Therefore, while she had cast reverse purification magic on Madame Mary, she had also prepared three layers of insurance even deeper.

One was that once someone came out to uphold justice, the negation magic would be actively triggered, dissolving the reverse purification magic.

The second was to prevent only Madame Mary from calming down while other guards still surrounded Iris, preventing her from denouncing Luke’s crimes. So she had also prepared soothing magic, allowing everyone around to calm down at once, no longer having any thoughts of fighting.

The third was to ensure that this matter, aside from Luke’s misfortune, was perfectly resolved, or perhaps to create a stark contrast, or perhaps to make people praise her foresight and accumulate another wave of popularity.

So her final preparation was to make Madame Mary go from a ‘blackened’ state directly to a state of clear-mindedness… No, not just Madame Mary, she had even calculated Count Barge into it.

‘Yes, a dirty and despicable woman like me isn’t fit to be your mother.’ After the holy light shone, Madame Mary no longer had her previous domineering aura. ‘You’ve always been in pain, haven’t you? Everything controlled by me, everywhere you went, people would despise and bully you because of me… I knew it all, but I never once helped you, just let you be…’

Facing his mother’s heartfelt apology, Count Barge was no longer as rebellious as before, but could only silently lower his head, unable to do anything.

‘What the hell, it was just short of a perfect ending.’

Luke couldn’t help but sigh.

His reasons for not taking action, besides the scummy pinkette having a backup plan, were that he didn’t want to overly expose his mind-reading ability.

But the premise was that everything went smoothly.

Now though… Luke turned to look at Count Barge, giving him a mental nudge.

‘No, I never disliked you!’ Count Barge excitedly stepped forward. ‘You sacrificed so much for me to grow up strong, for me to inherit everything from my father, how could I possibly dislike you?’

‘You don’t need to comfort me. If you didn’t dislike me, why did you do so many things that made me angry?’

‘I only hated myself, hated my weakness and incompetence, hated that I couldn’t help you. That’s why I tried so hard to prove myself, to tell you that you no longer need to worry about me, no longer need to sacrifice so much for me… I wish you could finally rest well!’

‘How could that be…’

Madame Mary couldn’t believe it.

But more than doubting her son’s words, what she found even more unbelievable was that a despicable woman like herself, reviled by thousands and scorned by countless, could still be cared for by her son.

Soon, Madame Mary was moved to tears by this small matter.

But this wasn’t enough.

‘I believe there are no parents in this world who don’t wish for their children to succeed and live happy, joyful lives,’ Luke said to Barge.

These words were somewhat absolute, but falling on Barge’s ears at this moment, they were just right.

He didn’t know about others.

But Madame Mary’s reproaches and restrictions on him all these years, were they really just her thinking he was a good-for-nothing, as they outwardly appeared?

No.

Perhaps there were many in the world who scorned and mocked him as a good-for-nothing, but among those people, Madame Mary would definitely not be one of them.

The various conflicts between them arose simply because he wanted to prove himself, while Madame Mary wished for him not to be too hasty, prioritizing his health and safety.

After all, Madame Mary didn’t need him to be stronger than others, didn’t need him to compare himself to anyone… she didn’t even need him to make any progress.

Madame Mary only hoped that after she passed away, he could still live well, live alone, and be happy and joyful.

Oh god, why did he only understand such a simple thing now?

Why, despite being such a simple matter, had they been estranged for so many years?

How much pain must his mother have suffered all these years?

Coincidentally, while Barge was regretting, Madame Mary, after being moved, also began to regret.

She regretted always treating her son as an ignorant child, regretted being so foolish as to not even see that her son was thinking of her… she regretted everything she could regret.

But this wasn’t enough.

Regret alone was not enough.

Luke looked at the two of them, smiling:

‘It’s still not too late to make a change…’