Honey : The Empire's Treasure 363 I Am Your Mother...

Two hours before Ailwin led everyone into his office…..

"Your mother?" Ailwin was taken a back.

"Yes." Mika nodded her head. She wouldn't go into anymore details than that.

Realizing that she is serious, he escorted her to makes.h.i.+ft his office on the s.h.i.+p. There, he logged into his monitor and opened the comms for her to use.

"There, everything is all set up…" 

Ailwin left his chair then stood behind it waiting for her to take a seat.

"Um...Ailwin, this needs to be a private conversation." Mika didn't want to tell him to get out, but he needed to leave.

"You want me to leave?...I thought you had something to tell me, isn't that why we are calling your mother?"

"Ha...Ailwin, do you really want the first time your meeting my mother to be through a screen... Where I have to explain why I'm on your s.h.i.+p, unsupervised, instead of at school?"

She has a point…

Ailwin thought about it. If he was planning to marry Mikaela then he figures he needs to leave a good impression on his future mother-in-law.

"...fine."

Leaving Mika alone in his office, Ailwin stood in the hallway waiting for Mika to finish when he saw Kaze walking by.

"Where are you off to?"

"Food." Ailwin nodded his head. Kaze looked at him and then at the closed office door. 

"You?" 

Recognizing how foolish he looks standing outside his own office, Ailwin explained the situation.

"Mika needs to comm home, privately..." 

"Mmm…" Kaze nodded, understanding the reason him standing in the hallway.

"Kaze!" Ailwin reached out and grabbed the other man's arm suddenly. Making Kaze jumped, surprised by the change in Ailwin's behavior.

"W-what?"

"You work in the Amara clan for years, right?" Ailwin's eyes began to sparkle.

"En."

"Then you should know things about Mikaela and her mother that outsiders wouldn't know, right?"

Ailwin wanted to give Mika time for her to tell him her secret, but he was somewhat afraid of what it might be. Plus, the waiting was just making it worst, he rather she just tell him than to wait for approval from someone else.

"Erm...well...not, exactly…"

Spotting the fl.u.s.tered look on Kaze's face, Ailwin looked at him a bit baffled by his answer.

"What do you mean 'not, exactly'? I recall you being part of one of the branch families of the Amara, you also worked for them since you were a fledgling…" 

Though, Ailwin had taken Kaze into his camp, it didn't mean he didn't do a background check on him.

"...that is correct...but…"

"But...?"

"I...I never paid much attention to Miss Mikaela and her mother, Lady Lyra….no one did, actually…" Kaze looked away from Ailwin's probing eyes. 

Remembering when Lord Mano gave him the a.s.signment of watching over his youngest daughter, Kaze wanted to run away from the babysitting job. It's one of the reasons he messed up on the first bodyguard mission at Lord Tasar's house.

"There has to be something you can tell me about Lady Lyra then…" Ailwin initially thought what Kaze said was tragic. 

However, after recalling his own memories of his childhood with his family, he guessed it isn't all that uncommon for family, clan members, and even servants to ignore the weak.

Yet, once that thought entered his mind, he shook it out.

There is no way I can put Mikaela and "weak" in the same sentence...and anyone who can raise a fledgling like her, can't possibly be "weak" as well…

Kaze tried to remind himself of Lady Lyra's personality, but for the life of him nothing was popping up.

"Kaze?"

"Give me a minute...I can't seem to…"

"Have you even met her before!?" 

"Of course, I have!"

"Well then?"

"She's…"

"Yea…"

"...tall?" 

"..."

Ailwin held his head, "...she's tall? That's it! That is all you can tell me...she is tall."

"Let me think on it and I'll get back to you." Kaze felt it was weird that he couldn't describe Lady Lyra, but more than that he felt embarra.s.sed by Ailwin's scornful stare.

"Go! Just...just go." Shooing Kaze on his way, Ailwin couldn't but to send sneering comments at his back.

"Useless...I ask for one think….can't even remember one person...what's in your brain, just water?" Although Ailwin was muttering, he and Kaze were the only two people in an empty hallway. He didn't have to speak loudly for it to echo into Kaze's ears.

Annoyed that Ailwin was ridiculing him, Kaze glared back.

"What! Did you remember something?"

"No."

"Tch...useless. I swear we can keep ourselves hydrated in a desert with how much water is in his head." Ailwin muttered, looking away from Kaze.

Blowing out a breath, Kaze wondered why he has two masters with sharp tongues.

G.o.ds have mercy on us if they ever have children...

Inside the office, once Ailwin left, Mika swiftly typed out her mother's personal link and waited for it to connect.

"Mikaela?" Her mother's voice and face pop up on the monitor.

"Hey…" 

"I was wondering when you were going to call, especially after I received a letter from the academy asking when you will be returning from your sick leave." 

For the past few weeks, Lyra's intuition was telling her daughter was causing trouble, largely due to that video of Lula start circulating.

Together with the letter she received from the academy, asking when Mika would be return from sick leave, Lyra knew her daughter was up to no good.

*Cough* *Cough*

"Mommy, I didn't feel so good...so I took a couple of days off from school." Mika said the last part underneath her breath.

"Where are you?" Lyra didn't recognize the room Mika was in.

"Um...about that…" 

*Sigh* "What did you do now?"

"Ack...Mom! What makes you think I did something!?" Mika was slight offended that her mother thought that she was creating trouble all the time.

"Mikaela, I am your mother." Lyra simply said.

"....." Mika waited.

That's it? That's all I'm going to get as an answer, mom!