Chapter 265: Emi's Argument!!

Emi’s Argument!!

* * *

“Eh…?”

I want to leave the island.

Upon hearing these words from me with my head deeply bowed, Lairine froze stiffly.

“W-Why…? Why are you suddenly saying that…?”

And she started to get flustered with moistened eyes.

No, it’s not sudden.

I clearly said before that I’m running away from home.

What’s with that surprised reaction as if it’s out of the blue?

“Hey, Emi-chan? If you stay here, you can eat delicious meals every day, you know? There are warm and soft futons, you know? There’s nothing here that can hurt you, you know?”

“But there’s Kenu-chan, right?”

“Kenu-chan will be fine as long as I’m here!! Even if I’m out for work, arrangements are in place so I can immediately fly back if Kenu-chan starts to emerge!! Emi-chan, you can at least buy time until then, right? Right? There’s no reason for you to leave this place, is there? Emi-chan, let’s live with Mommy forever and ever from now on? Let’s live happily together forever and ever!?”

“No.”

I let out a sigh.

This woman, who as usual only speaks for her own convenience, is gradually getting on my nerves, but I grit my teeth and endure it.

Fighting won’t get us anywhere, so I took the approach of negotiating.

Calmly and sincerely.

And without falsehood, I face Lairine.

“Why noooot!?”

With moist eyes and a nasal voice, Lairine shouts.

On the other hand, I clearly, understandably, and politely convey my reason.

“Because I dislike you.”

Whoosh!!

An exceptionally strong wind passes between us who have fallen silent.

The gazebo creaks.

The swaying of the pillars making creaking sounds settles down after more than ten seconds.

During that time, Lairine kept her head down the whole time.

Her long hair swaying in the wind gets in the way, and I can’t read her expression at all.

“…No.”

And after the silence, the words Lairine finally squeezed out were these.

“No! No no no no no! I don’t like that! Do you have any idea how many years it took for me to meet you!? 300 years!? Emi-chan! After all that time, I finally met you, the one I should love! And yet, saying goodbye already!? That’s… I absolutely hate that!! I love you, Emi-chan! I absolutely don’t want to part with you!!”

Saying that, Lairine swept away the table in the gazebo, approached me, and shook my shoulders.

She’s very close.

So close that our eyelashes might touch.

The mental pressure is quite intense, but I must never yield!

“Deal with it. I dislike you to death.”

“I love Emi-chan more than anything in this world! I love you so much! That’s why I’ll never let you go! Always together!! Because I’m Emi-chan’s mother!!”

The argument is at a standstill.

While suppressing the urge to throw a punch that I’m tempted to do, I try to deal with it as calmly as possible.

If I get excited along with the other party who is already excited, the conversation won’t move forward.

Especially with this woman who operates on a logic different from ordinary people, there’s no telling what she might do if she gets excited.

At worst, as Extra-sama said before, my limbs might be torn off and I might be confined.

Careful attention is necessary when dealing with her.

My body unintentionally stiffens from the tension.

And here, a sudden call.

What?

Extra-sama.

Huh, what is it?

At Extra-sama’s quite serious tone, I unintentionally hold my breath.

I can definitely assert that with certainty!!

That’s not something you should be saying right now!!

And seriously, you’ve been persistent with this pergola thing!!?

…

…But hahaha.

Thanks to that, the tension in my shoulders has loosened up nicely.

Thank you, Extra-sama.

What’s the will of the pergola?

Don’t say nonsensical things with momentum.

…Anyway, putting aside the comedy in my head.

I held Lairine’s hands and gently removed them from my shoulders as much as possible.

And while holding those hands, I firmly grasped them with my small palms.

While holding them, I stared straight into Lairine’s eyes.

“You don’t want to be apart from me because you’re my mother?”

“That’s right!”

I sighed and shook my head.

“That’s no good. If you’re truly a mother, you must be apart from me.”

“Huh!? W-What are you saying!?”

Hearing my unexpected words, Lairine was startled and flustered, blinking her eyes.

Ah, poor Lairine.

You, who longed for a family, didn’t know what a family truly is because the more you longed for it, the farther it was from you.

I’m not knowledgeable enough about family to say such a pretentious thing either.

Rather, if I were to compare myself to the general public, I think my understanding of such things is shallow.

But I know this much for certain.

A family, a child…

I am not my mother’s doll.

If you keep me by your side and continue to love me, is that truly love?

…There’s no way that’s the case!

I’ll teach you that now, Lairine.

…To the point where you’ll be at a loss for words!