"Fresh air, would be better!"
"Huh?" Did she explain to him what she wanted? But why? His look was turning more and more baffled as he did not understand what his mother was upto.
"I said, fresh air would be better than sleeping and taking rest!" the words came out more like frustrated and angered than calm and soft as she had thought.
"Of course, then shall I ask your maids to escort you to the garden?" He waited for her to nod but her face turned uglier. "Or shall I escort you personally to make sure that you are feeling better?" he asked in an unsure tone when finally she nodded with a cold and aloof face but her eyes looked relaxed.
"Hmm, that did not sound too bad. Flow, go and arrange the snacks on the gazebo. We are going to eat them after our walk." The maid bowed her head as she disappeared from there while the other maids followed both of them towards the garden with a strange look on their faces.
The walk was not at all warm and joyous. Luci was walking as if he was walking on eggshells with a face that was shouting, "I will find out your goals soon. I can not be deceived by your actions at all." while the woman had an ugly frown on her face as if she was forced to come out of her shell and now she was blaming all of them.
As if each of them owed her their life, she would make sure to take it tonight.
The maids were no better. They were scared that they would be at the receiving end if a brawl would happen between the mother and son pair.
They tried their best to even not take breath loudly, afraid that they could lose life because of it.
"Mother, are you still feeling unwell?" he asked slowly, trying to break the awkward silence. Even when his mental age was 20, he could not bear the pressure, the silence of his mother ensued on him.
"I am not that weak. You should be worried about yourself. You are a kid after all, I am thinking of taking you on a holiday vacation." her hands clenched into a tight fist as she announced it while her eyes stared at him from the corner of her eyes.
Her heart was beating fast while waiting for him to react but all he did was blink. She frowned when a whole minute had passed yet he did not nod or accept her decision.
She was getting a bundle of nerves but she did not know how to express it to him. He wanted to live like a child. He complained that she had taken away his childhood and now when she was trying to return his childhood to him, he was behaving so strangely.
"A vacation?" Where was he, who was he? No, the question was who was she? And what is she doing these days?
It looked like they had taken the test but did not even know the syllabus. He had thought that he could read her with close eyes then what was the situation now.
"Yes, the summer will be approaching soon. I am thinking of going to the summer palace when the hunt program is organized." the hunt program? His mind started to overwork when he recalled that his mother is the host of the hunt program every year from the time he had turned seven.
But before that, that woman.. Used to host the program and used to insult his mother. Was she trying to run away from the hunting program ? Could it be that she was insulted there before? But how could it be? She was a cold and ruthless woman who would never let anyone trample on her.
But even if that was the case, he did not want to spend time with her alone. He was only going to remember those cold and bitter days and would resent her further. He only needed to be closer to her when Len was around or when he wanted to know about her next plans.
Spending weeks with her alone would only increase his misery and hateful memories. No, he would rather refuse than suffer later.
"I am thinking of asking Lennox too. We all could have a picnic there.`` Just when he opened his mouth to make an excuse, her words jolted him from slumber and he nodded.
"I was only going to suggest that it would be great if we both have some precious time alone but your idea is good too." she had a knowing smile on her face but her expression did soften when she looked at the sly look in his eyes.
He ran towards the nearest bushes and brought a white rose for her.
"Mother, it would look good in your hair." with a smile he passed the flower to her as he knew that she hated roses. Though he never knew the reason, he knew that she felt appalled by them.
"Thank you, why don't you help me in typing it in my bun." he blinked once again at the absurdity of the situation. He had never tied a rose in the hair of a lady and he wanted to let that moment go for his lover but why was he feeling guilty when she was looking at him with that expression in her eyes as if he was the bad one here.
"Sure.. why.. Why not!" he nodded and then decided to do the work half heartedly. After all, he is a kid, he did not need to do things properly.
"You know Luci, you are the first man who offered me a rose. I will always treasure it." man! He was a boy, a 5 year old boy. Though he chided her in his heart, he still gulped and did the task perfectly feeling guiltier.
But at that moment, he felt like his mother was too lonesome.