Chapter 403: Too Young To Understand
Sigrid approached cautiously, confused by the sudden shift in atmosphere.
"What’s going on with you all? Why are you looking at Sir Luca like that?"
She assumed they were angry. That perhaps they blamed him for playing his little prank that had made them all cry.
"There’s no need to be wary of Sir Luca." She assured them. "He’s actually a very good person. He would never do anything to harm your children. Please don’t misunderstand his intentions."
But to her surprise, none of them even acknowledged her words.
Instead, Nella’s mother, a centaur named Claudia with short chestnut hair, grabbed Sigrid’s arm with startling intensity.
"Sigrid. The Hero hasn’t eaten lunch yet, has he?" She leaned in eagerly. "You should bring him to my house! I’ve made a wonderful stew. I’m certain the Hero would appreciate a proper meal after everything he’s been through."
"No, no, no—send him to my house instead!"
Another mother immediately jumped in, shouldering Claudia aside.
"Claudia’s swordsmanship may be exceptional, but her cooking is absolutely dreadful. "
She shot her friend a disdainful look before turning back to Sigrid with a brilliant smile.
"Tell the Hero to come to my home and taste the bread I’ve baked fresh this morning!"
But before Sigrid could respond, a third mother pushed her way forward.
"Forget about the food! Can’t you see the Hero is covered in filth? He’s been rolling around on the ground with our children all morning!"
She turned to Sigrid with an eager smile.
"Let me take him to my house. I’ll draw a bath for him. A warm, soapy bath. And I’ll wash ’every inch’ of his body myself."
A collective intake of breath rippled through the group. And then—
"Absolutely not!" A fourth mother snapped. "If anyone is going to help the Hero bathe, it’s me! I have the softest hands in the village!"
"The Hero needs rest, not baths! My house has the most comfortable beds. He should come lie down, and I’ll make sure he’s properly cared for."
"Rest? What he needs is someone to tend to his wounds! My mother taught me how to check a person’s vital signs. I’m extremely thorough."
"My house has the best view in the village! He can relax on my patio and I’ll show him the scenery myself. I’ll stand very, very close so he doesn’t miss a single detail."
"Sigrid! Tell him to come to my house! I have the finest wine!"
"I have the most comfortable cushions!"
"I have the largest bed!"
"I’ll cook him a feast!"
"I’ll sing for him!"
The mothers were shouting over each other now, their voices rising in a cacophony of competitive enthusiasm. Sigrid found herself at the center of it all, completely overwhelmed.
"Hold on—wait—everyone, please, just let me—"
But Claudia grabbed her arm again, glaring at another mother with murderous intensity.
"The Hero is coming to my house!" She declared.
"The hell he is!" The other mother shot back. "If you want him, you’ll have to go through me first!"
"You think I’m afraid of you?!" Claudia yelled back, drawing her own blade. "Bring it on! Winner takes the Hero home!"
Swords started emerging from sheaths.
Not for battle against monsters. Not for defense of their queen.
But for the right to bring a man back to their homes.
It was, Sigrid reflected, perhaps the most undignified thing she had ever witnessed her fellow knights do.
"Everyone, please!" She tried again. "This is completely inappropriate! Think about what you’re—"
"Stay out of this, Sigrid! This doesn’t concern you!"
"You don’t understand what’s at stake here!"
"When you’re a mother, you’ll understand!"
Sigrid threw her hands up in exasperation, completely at a loss for how to restore order.
But just as they looked like they were about to start swinging—
"Mama?"
The single word cut through the fight and every mother froze mid-argument, their heads turning slowly toward the source of the voice.
Nella stood at the edge of the group, her expression one of pure, innocent confusion.
The other children had gathered behind her, watching their mothers with bewildered eyes.
"What are you doing? Why are you pointing your sword at Auntie Filia?"
The mothers’ faces erupted in mortification.
"N-Nothing, dear!" Claudia stammered, hastily sheathing her sword. "It’s nothing at all! We were just...just..."
"Sharpening our swords!" Filia blurted out. "Yes! We were checking to see if they were still sharp! Completely normal behavior!"
"Exactly! No one was fighting! We would never fight among ourselves!"
But Nella was not fooled.
"Don’t think I’m stupid, Mother." She said, pouting. "You’re obviously fighting. I can see it with my own eyes."
She pointed at Claudia accusingly and added,
"And you’re the one who always says fighting between centaurs is wrong! That it goes against the knightly codes. So why exactly are you fighting with your own friends right now!?"
The other children joined in, their voices rising in a chorus of adorable condemnation.
"Yeah! What are you doing, Mama? You’re being a bad mother!"
"You should be punished! I command you to swing your sword fifty times as punishment!"
"Mommy is a bad mommy! You have to apologize to Auntie Jella right now!"
The mothers were utterly flabbergasted.
How could they possibly explain to their children that they had been fighting over the chance to bring the Hero back to their homes?
To cook for him? To bathe him? To potentially make him a father figure for their daughters?
It was impossible! There was no explanation that wouldn’t make them sound completely insane!
But before the situation could deteriorate further, Luca stepped in.
"Now, now, girls." He said gently. "Your mothers would never lie to you. I’m sure they were just...excited about something. Nothing to worry about."
The children looked skeptical, but Luca’s intervention had defused the situation.
"Anyway." He continued. "I’ve brought something that I think you’ll all be very interested in."
The children’s attention immediately shifted. Nella’s ears perked up.
"What is it? What did you bring?"
Luca smiled mysteriously.
"My wives back at the elf village told me that centaurs absolutely adore fruits. That you’re some of the biggest consumers of elven produce in the entire continent."
"That’s true!" Nella confirmed eagerly. "I love fruits more than anything in the world!"
"Me too! I love spring berries the most!"
"I like the sweet ones! The ones that make your tongue tingle!"
"I like the crunchy fruits! The ones you have to bite really hard!"
The children had completely forgotten their mothers’ strange behavior, their attention now entirely focused on Luca.
Luca laughed, holding up his hands. "Alright, alright, I understand. You love fruit."
He paused, and his eyes sparkled. "But what if I told you I have a fruit from my own world? Not from this continent, not from the human world. From a completely different world entirely?"
Gasps of wonder rippled through the small crowd.
"Another world?"
"That’s amazing!"
"What does it look like?"
"Is it sweet? Is it sour?"
"Can we try it?"
"I want some!"
"I want some too!"
Luca laughed at their enthusiasm. "Then follow me. I’ll show you."
He turned and began walking, and the children immediately fell into step behind him like ducklings following their mother.
But just before he disappeared around the corner, Luca glanced back over his shoulder.
He met the gaze of each mother in turn, and his lips curved into a small, knowing smile.
’I’ve got them.’ That smile seemed to say. ’You’re welcome.’
And then he was gone, swallowed up by a sea of excited fillies, leaving the mothers standing alone in the courtyard.
—
For a moment, silence reigned.
Then, one by one, the mothers’ legs seemed to give out beneath them.
Claudia sank to the ground first, her hand pressed against her heart, her face flushed with something that was not quite embarrassment and not quite desire.
The others followed, collapsing into graceless heaps on the smooth stone path, their earlier aggression entirely forgotten.
Sigrid rushed forward, her heart lurching with alarm.
"What happened? Are you hurt? Did you injure yourselves during the fight?"
But Claudia only shook her head weakly, a dreamy smile spreading across her face.
"You don’t understand, Sigrid." Her voice was soft, almost reverent. "You don’t understand what he just did."
Another mother nodded in agreement, her expression dazed.
"You’re too young. Too innocent. When you become a mother and you want nothing more than to see your child happy, then you’ll understand just how appealing the Hero truly is."
"He’s so handsome..." A third sighed dreamily.
"So mesmerizing..."
"I’ve never seen such an attractive man in my entire life!"
Sigrid’s face turned bright red.
"You all have husbands!" She stammered, utterly scandalized. "You can’t just—"
The mothers’ expressions immediately soured.
"Don’t mention them!"
"Please. We were having such a nice moment."
"Comparing them to the Hero is like comparing a pebble to a mountain."
"Just let us enjoy this. Let us imagine, even if only for a moment."
They were all gazing after Luca with expressions of pure, unabashed longing.
Their eyes sparkled. Their cheeks were flushed. Their lips curved in dreamy smiles.
Sigrid stood there, utterly baffled, watching the women she had known her entire life reduced to lovestruck fools by a man they had only truly met today.
But then she realized something that made her even more uneasy.
It wasn’t just the mothers.
The same children who had marched to war against him less than an hour ago were now following him around like loyal subjects attending their king.
And she, Sigrid, commander of the Galloping Brigade, was beginning to feel something she could not quite name.
If things continued at this pace, he would have the entire village wrapped around his finger within a week!
’Is he some kind of succubus?’ She wondered, only half-joking. ’Does he possess some magical charm that makes people fall for him against their will?’
But even as the thought crossed her mind, she knew it wasn’t true.
Luca’s appeal wasn’t magical—it was genuine. His kindness was real. His warmth was authentic. He wasn’t casting spells or manipulating minds; he was simply being himself, and that self happened to be impossibly, irritatingly, irresistibly charming.
She watched the mothers continue to moon over him, their earlier aggression replaced by a dreamy, lovesick haze.
And she realized, with a sinking feeling, that integrating Luca into the village wasn’t going to be difficult at all.
It was already happening.
And there was absolutely nothing she could do to stop it.