Honestly, I was genuinely slightly worried I that wouldn"t wake up.
Fortunately, I did.
I only found out how foolish what I did was afterwards. The stuff I drank was primarily a poison Mommy Elizabeth prepared. If it wasn"t for my half-elf DNA, I would"ve died instantly. As I"m only half-elf, my human composition wasn"t affected after my mana was destroyed. Vyvyan swiftly replenished my mana to save me from a life-threatening danger.
However, I ended up scaring the daylights out of them. When I came to, my two moms leapt over and hugged me tightly. I nearly died from suffocation instead of poisoning.
While hugging me tightly, Vyvyan sobbed, "Son… my son… you scared Mommy… you scared Mommy… Don"t do something silly again. Never do something silly again. Mommy won"t argue in front of you again. Mommy promises… Don"t scare Mommy…"
"Yeah, yeah… Son… Don"t do that sort of thing again… Mommy won"t argue or fight anymore… Mommy will withdraw the army. Mommy won"t start a war, so don"t do that sort of stuff… How is Mommy going to live if something happens to you…?"
On the other side, Mommy Elizabeth hugged me tightly. I felt something incomparably soft, yet heavy as a mountain press against me. My head was, basically, wrapped up tightly as the fragrances from all directions and softness cut off my oxygen supply.
"I"m relatively weak right now, so if you two don"t let go, I"m actually going to die!"
Luckily, they seemed to realise my predicament, and thus, let go of me. Vyvyan quickly clasped my head first and stroked my face. I looked at Vyvyan"s anxious and terrified blue eyes. She hastily asked, "How are you, son? Are you feeling sick anywhere or nauseous? Did I provide you with enough mana? Son, say something… don"t scare Mommy. Hurry and say something…"
"Mom… I…"
I felt a painful sensation in my throat when I went to speak, and my voice was raspy. However, after hearing my voice, Vyvyan let out a big sigh of relief. She powerlessly leaned her entire body onto my chest as she gripped my clothes and loudly wept.
Elizabeth cupped my face from the other side and turned it so that she could see my face. She looked at me with an apologetic and regretful gaze. She sobbed, "Don"t scare Mommy… Don"t scare Mommy… How could you do something so silly, Son…? How could you do something so silly…? It"s all Mommy"s fault… It"s all Mommy"s fault…… Mommy promises… Mommy promises… Mommy won"t do that in front of you again… Mommy will not do that again, promise. Mommy won"t attack the elves… You can go wherever you want. You can return to the elves if you want… Mommy just wants for you to be safe and sound, okay…? Mommy just wants to see you safe and sound…"
Vyvyan raised up her face smothered with her tears to look at me. She tightly gripped my chest and loudly sobbed, "Mommy, too. Mommy, too… You can go anywhere you want. Mommy won"t stop you… Mommy will support all of your endeavours… as long as you don"t do something silly again… You scared Mommy… You scared Mommy to death… If something happened to you, how would Mommy live on? Mommy has no family. What would Mommy do…?"
"It appears that the self-inflicting pain tactic worked."
My original plan was to talk them out of it if I could, and if not, then that would be my last resort. However, the self-inflicting pain tactic I had in mind was meant to be me consuming poison myself. I never imagined that they enter killing mode so quickly. The poison I prepared for myself was with Freya, which had yet to be delivered, so I had to resort to consuming the poison they prepared.
Since Elizabeth to dare to poison her own drink, it proves that the poison she used was ineffective against humans. Similarly, Vyvyan dared to poison her drink, which meant that her poison was ineffective against elves. I made a gamble with my half-elf nature, and it would seem that I won the gamble.
My moms were totally powerless before my self-inflicting pain ruse. Regardless of how much they hate each other, they won"t fight for as long as I"m around.
I think the continent should erect a tablet in my honour just for that alone. I put my life on the line to save the continent this time. I bet n.o.body on this continent imagined that their lives were saved by one man.
"Who said I"m the safety switch for the two rulers? I"m the safety switch for this world."
"Moms…"
I looked to my two moms and struggled to swallow my saliva. Such a simple action now hurt immensely. Fortunately, I"m okay. I don"t feel too weak. I just feel lightheaded; my vision is a blurry, and my throat is sore. I think I"ll recover after a few days.
Vyvyan wiped her tears then looked at me with a determined look. She held my hand, "Go on, Son, and tell me. No matter where you decide to go, Mommy will agree, as long as you can return home on time. Worse comes to worse, Mommy shall follow you. Mommy doesn"t need a throne or nation. Mommy just needs to stay by your side. Everything is fine, as long as Mommy can see you."
Although she said that, I could feel her hand that was holding mine quivering a little.
Elizabeth grabbed hold of my other hand and shook as she said, "Mommy, too. You can go to the elves" side if you want. Mommy can understand. Isn"t Nier pregnant? Mommy can raise your child, and then come look for you after. Mommy doesn"t care. You can go wherever you think is better. As long as you"re alive and as long as you can live well, Mommy will come to you."
While they said that, I knew that, deep down, they must want for me to stay with them. They drew their weapons on each other over where I was supposed to go. They just handed over the right to choose to me now.
If you"re asking me, Vyvyan definitely wants me to return with her while Elizabeth definitely wants me to stay. I"ve only defused the war from exploding, but I still need to resolve the issue of where I"m going. That was the origin of the reason of the war. If I don"t resolve it, they might try to poison each other again.
Getting one of them to voluntarily back down is the way to resolve their conflict.
To me, it"s simple to answer the question of which side I should go to. The answer would be: neither. I no longer want to stay here with humanity and fight with this group who want to play politics, nor do I want to return to the elves with my tail between my legs and be an Elven King with no accomplishments to his name. While the two options are the simplest and most realistic, I don"t want such a setting, where it"s all been set in place.
"I want my own territory."
"This territory is Mommy Elizabeth"s. The forest belongs to Mommy Vyvyan. If I continue living in their shadow forever, the tragedy with Luna will repeat itself. I want land where n.o.body questions me. I want land where I can be revered by all in peace."
"I want to become a true King…"
"Mom… I… I, actually…"
My two moms leaned in closer and tightened their grip on my hands. Their beautiful faces were full of nervousness and eagerness.
"I don"t want to go to either place… Mom… I want to go to the North. I want to go north of the large canyon. I want to go and see the land there… I want to become a new King…"
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