Reborn As Noble

Chapter 1617: A Mother’s Tantrum and a Daughter’s Patience ( 1617 )

Gloria, seated with her family at another table, watched the commotion with an amused smile. Liana had moved onto Azariah’s lap, swinging one leg casually over both Qamara and Enania, pinning them in place with effortless elegance.

Edwyrd, who had been watching the scene, glanced at Gloria and tilted his head.

”Um... Gloria?”

”Yes, brother?” Gloria nudged her glasses up.

Edwyrd pointed with his lips toward where Liana sat with her sisters, his arms crossing.

”Oh, that?” Gloria smiled, crossing her arms under her breasts. ”Liana must be planning something for them. Knowing her smile, I’d guess she’s planning their training. Something to keep them busy during the vacation.”

”Oh.”

Edwyrd nodded, then turned his head back toward them.

”L... Liana! My leg! My leg!”

Qamara tapped repeatedly on Liana’s leg, her voice rising in panic.

”Ara~ It will be a good time for sisterly bonding~ Don’t you agree~?”

”No!”

Enania wiggled desperately, trying to free herself from Liana’s leg.

”I never agreed to that! Let me go!”

Gloria smiled at Edwyrd.

”Don’t worry about your wife. They’re just bonding~”

Edwyrd glanced toward Azariah, who was sitting stiffly beneath Liana with a resigned expression, before he nodded and turned to look at their mother, Genevieve, who was still puffing her cheek and glaring up at Gloria.

Gloria let out a weary exhale.

”No.”

Genevieve huffed.

”You’re so cruel, Gloria! All I want is to be with my husband! Is that so wrong? Is it a crime to want to be near the man I love?”

”No means no.”

Gloria narrowed her eyes.

”Father is meeting with my father-in-law and the kings. Important matters. Diplomacy. Politics. The future of nations. If I let you go to him now, I’m sure the two of you would start exactly what you always do.”

Genevieve gave her a pleading look, her lips pursing. She reached out and laid her hand on Gloria’s arm.

”Pleaseee... I promise I won’t be a bother. I’ll be quiet. I’ll stand beside him and say nothing. I just want to be near him. That’s all. Please, Gloria. Please.”

Gloria glanced down at her mother’s hand on her arm and let out a flat stare.

”I don’t trust you. The moment you go to Father, you’ll be clinging to him. After that the two of you will start kissing. Then touching. Then holding each other. Then making those sounds. In the open. Without care about who’s around. And everyone will feel awkward. Do you know how embarrassing that will be?”

She hissed, lowering her voice.

”Father has only been away for a little while. It hasn’t even been thirty minutes yet. Thirty minutes, Mother!”

Genevieve’s eyes shimmered. Her lips pursed. She took Gloria’s arm and shook it gently.

”But I miss him...”

Gloria shook her head and hissed low.

”Father isn’t going anywhere. And he’s not even that far!”

She pointed with her finger toward where Sythaeryn stood with the kings, deep in conversation.

Genevieve huffed.

”I don’t care! I want to be with him!”

She began to rise from her seat.

Gloria gripped her wrist and put her firmly back into the seat. She leaned in, her voice dropping low.

”You and Father have already been given a special villa where the two of you can enjoy your moment without any interruption once this gathering is done. Now eat your meal and stop whining!”

Genevieve puffed her cheek again and shot a glare at Gloria before turning away with a huff. She stabbed her meal in frustration, muttering under her breath.

”Cruel... strict... heartless... mean to her own mother. What did I do to deserve a daughter like this? I carried her for months. I raised her. I fed her. And now she treats me like a nuisance.”

Gloria rolled her eyes.

”Yes, yes... I’m cruel, heartless. Whatever you say, Mother.”

She nudged her glasses up, her voice flat.

”But remember. I’m your only daughter. The only one of your children who inherited your human traits. The only one who took after you instead of Father.”

She picked up her fork and knife. The silver caught the chandelier light as she cut into the tender meat with slow, elegant precision, each slice even and clean. She lifted one piece to her lips and ate it gracefully, chewing slowly.

Then she smirked.

”Ah~ Maybe I should ask Young Master about that magic he mentioned. The one that can permanently change a person’s traits and appearance. To make someone fully elven, just like Father and my brothers.”

She cast a side glance toward Genevieve.

Genevieve’s fork stopped mid-stab. She turned her head slowly, her eyes shimmering, her lips pursing and trembling.

”You wouldn’t dare!”

Gloria smiled sweetly, giving her a sideways glance with a smirk.

”Ara~ I don’t know~”

She lifted her fork, the piece of meat gleaming on the tines, and brought it slowly to her lips. Her eyes slid toward Genevieve as she bit into it, slow and deliberate, chewing with a satisfied smile.

”Since a certain someone keeps calling me cruel and refuses to listen to me~”

Genevieve’s lips trembled. She rushed toward Gloria, wrapped her arms around her, and sobbed in protest.

”No! You can’t! You already inherited Father’s dark hair! That’s not fair! The hair is already his! You can’t take the rest of me away too!”

She hugged Gloria tighter, burying her face against her breasts, and kept protesting into the fabric of her dress, her voice muffled but insistent. She shook her head back and forth against her daughter’s chest like a child throwing a tantrum.

”You can’t change your traits! You can’t. I won’t allow it. You’re my baby. My little girl. The only one who looks like me. If you change, then there won’t be any part of me left in this family. Please, Gloria. Please don’t.”

Gloria smirked. She raised one hand, waved it lightly at her ear with a shimmer of magic, and tucked her hair back. Her ear was now pointed, long and elegant, exactly like a full elf’s.

”Like this, Mother?”

Genevieve’s eyes widened. She gripped the front of Gloria’s dress with both hands and shook her body frantically.

”Change it back! Change it back right now! This instant! I said change it back!”

”Mother, my dress! My breasts will—”

Genevieve released the fabric instantly, only to bury her face against Gloria’s breasts again. She hammered her knuckles against Gloria’s shoulder, her voice cracking.

”You’re cruel! You’re so cruel! Change it back! Please! Change it back!”

Gloria shook her head and smiled. She raised one hand and gently caressed her mother’s head, her fingers stroking through her long blonde hair.

”I was only playing around, Mother. I won’t do that. I would never do that.” She flicked her fingers, and the point of her ear softened back into its natural curve. ”It was just a disguise spell. Nothing more. I’m happy with the way I look. I’m happy to carry a part of you with me.”

She paused, her smile softening.

”But only if you listen to me. Just for tonight. Just behave yourself tonight, and you can keep your daughter looking exactly as she is.”

Edwyrd chuckled from his seat, watching his mother cling to his sister like a child. He shook his head and mumbled under his breath.

”I wonder how Gloria handles Mother so easily. She never listens to any of us.”

Genevieve slowly pulled her head back, her lips still pursed and trembling. She glanced up at Gloria with wide, wet eyes.

”Really? Promise?”

Gloria smiled.

”Yes, Mother.”

She gestured toward the plate.

”Now eat your meal.”

Genevieve buried her face against Gloria’s breasts again, her voice muffled.

”Don’t want to... I want you to feed me...”

Gloria smiled and patted her head. She cut a small piece of meat from her plate and lifted the fork toward her mother’s lips.

”Mother. Here. Say ahh~”

Edwyrd chuckled again, a soft, low laugh escaping him.

”I don’t know who’s the parent and who’s the child anymore...”

( End Of Chapter )