Max merely spared the maids a glance before returning his attention to Lara. She inspected a few more times before heaving a sigh of relief.
"For you to be so strong, it would seem Regard did not slack off on your training."
Max had a solemn expression. "It was hell, mom. He beat me up so much." He feigned tears.
Lara knew he was playing as she twisted his ear.
"Ow, mom, you're only adding to the pain." He cried out.
"Naughty boy." Lara chuckled.
Laura and the others stood at the side as they watched the reunion of this mother and son.
"Speaking of your godfather, how is Regard?" Lara asked after letting Max go.
Rubbing his ear, Max replied. "The old geezer left me to go on some weird mission."
Lara felt slightly worried. "Is everything okay?"
"Oh come on, mom. Try to at least care for your son more before thinking about that old geezer." Max pouted.
"You are looking for a beating."
"I'm a grown-up now."
"Not grown enough to escape a good spanking."
"Okay, okay, mercy on this young one."
Max felt refreshed seeing his mother so happy. It was almost as though they both forgot the circumstances in which he had left home all those years ago.
For now, what mattered was that they were okay and in good health.
After escaping from Lara's beating, Max turned his attention to the carnage spread around the clearing.
At this time, the maids had gotten to picking up what they could and packing up the rest.
Max asked. "What happened, mom?... This forest isn't close to dad's territory, so how come you are over here and what's more, without guards. Do you know what might have happened if I hadn't made an appearance?"
Lara sighed. "I know I was careless but I was left with no other choice. Max my child, a lot has happened since you left home."
Max furrowed his brows. "Tell me."
Lara contemplated for a moment before ultimately deciding to tell him. It was best if he knew about the situation of things before he headed back to society.
"Two years after you left home, One of the Emperor's relatives was murdered in cold blood."
Max was surprised by the information. "How did this happen?"
"He was assassinated. Following that, a few other nobles were murdered. After so much time investigating, evidence finally pointed toward a rebel faction forming within the Empire."
"Rebels?"
"Mn, they hold a deep grudge with the nobility of the Empire and would stop at nothing to wipe us out. The Emperor took this as a case of the commoners rising against his rule and after a little persuasion, he allowed the nobility to act as they please.
"This caused the nobility to enter into a bitter struggle with the same people they are meant to protect. Right now, the war is at a stalemate with both sides suffering losses, though it seems like the noble faction are slowly gaining the upper hand."
Lara paused while taking a deep breath with Max waiting for her to continue. Recent events taking place were indeed quite surprising.
"In all this, innocent people suffer without a way out. The nobles won't be bothered to help out since they blame the commoners for daring to rise, leaving the common folk with no one to turn to."
Max could basically figure out the rest. "So out of goodwill, you left home to help out?"
Lara slowly nodded with a helpless smile. "You know me too well."
Max sighed, unable to fault his mother's pure heart. "Hah, it's fine but why did you come alone?" he couldn't exactly take the four dead guards or the maids as protection. "Did something happen with him?"
Lara naturally knew whom Max was referring to. The Duke of Winterroll, Lord Frederick Rion, and also his father.
"He is part of those that supported the decision to wipe out the rebels, in fact, he is one of the generals leading the army against them, so, naturally, he has a grudge against the commoners."
Max could tell that Lara was trying to justify something that his father did. "What did he do?"
"…He denied my request to help the Empire subjects. 'why should I feed the same bastards that started this mess in the first place'… those were his words to me.
"Obviously I didn't agree with his words and insisted on going. He ended up relenting but what he gave me when I left was enough to show that he wasn't at all agreeable."
Max clicked his tongue. "So he didn't leave you with protection?"
Lara smiled. "I told him I was strong enough to protect myself."
"Mom…" Max felt helpless. Strong enough and yet still ended up in the situation he found her in?... That was enough to prove otherwise.
"I know but I had no choice. To be honest today's incident was unexpected."
"Uh-huh." Max rolled his eyes.
"Honestly. The only reason that bastard Dan managed to capture us was because of a sneak attack."
Max feigned surprise. "Tell me more."
"You…"
Max chuckled. "It's fine I guess. I'm here now so your safety is assured, you can count on me."
Lara chuckled. "That's good."
"Lady Rion, should we be on our way?" Laura came up to them.
Max asked at that point. "How are your wounds?"
Laura quickly responded. "Oh, I'm better now. Thank you for saving me once again and also, I apologize for how rude I was."
Max shrugged. "It's fine, you helped me save my mom so it's all water under the bridge."
Lara turned a bit curious. "I'm quite curious to know how you found her though, according to Laura's words, you were nowhere close by when she was caught."
Max pointed to his nose. "I traced her scent. It was oddly familiar, so I decided to check it out."
Laura felt weird as she realized that Max sniffed her out.
"And then you decided to swoop in to save the damsel in distress?... Such a good boy." Lara praised.
"Actually I wasn't bothered about what would happen to her." Max was frank causing Laura to puff up her lips as she retorted. "Shameless."