"Bruce…" Meredith whispered as she slowly opened her eyes.
Bruce heard Meredith's voice and stopped talking with Empress Lockwood. He walked to Meredith's bed to examine her closely.
"Meredith, it's me!"
When Meredith fully opened her eyes, she saw a stranger looking at her lovingly. She didn't know who this person was, but he felt very familiar to her.
"Who are you?" Meredith asked.
"Who else but your boyfriend" Bruce smiled.
"But my boyfriend doesn't look like you…" Meredith started to touch Bruce's face while complete ignoring his voice, the one thing that remained the same.
"This is my real face, remember my secret?" Bruce held her hands.
Then, everything clicked in Meredith's head as she finally noticed that the stranger in front of her has the same voice as that of her boyfriend.
"Bruce… You look like a pretty boy now" Chelsey lightly giggled as she examined his face closely. She didn't care about Bruce's appearance before until she saw his real face. The man of her dreams went from slightly perfect to fully perfect.
"Hmph, I told you that many girls fell for me before!" Bruce was very pleased to hear his girlfriend's praise. He couldn't wait to brag to Deion about it.
"Ahem" Empress Lockwood cleared her throat.
"Mother!" Meredith sat up from the bed when she finally realized her parents were in the room with her and Bruce.
"How come you didn't call out for your dad?" Emperor Lockwood was saddened by the lack of affection from his daughter. He dropped everything in the kingdom to see his daughter only to get ignored.
"Dad, I'm sorry but I just didn't expect mother to be here" Meredith slightly blushed.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Empress Lockwood asked.
"It's nothing, mother…" Meredith took back her previous statement because she didn't want to deal with her mother right now. Ever since she was young, her dad and grandpa spoiled her the most while her mother was extremely strict with her. She always thought that her mother didn't love her as much as her siblings.
"Silly girl… Obviously, I would go with your dad to see my dear daughter" Empress Lockwood knew what Meredith meant. Unlike her father, she had to be strict with Meredith because only Meredith had the potential to become the next ruler of the kingdom. If Meredith grew up spoiled and obtained anything she ever wanted, she would not fit to be the next ruler.
Empress Lockwood came over to Meredith's bed and hugged her tightly.
"Mother… I'm sorry…" Meredith began to tear up. She knew her mother loved her very much but the situation between both of them had been complicated. She wished both of them could return to the time where everyone in the family was happy.
"Such a touching moment right father-in-law?" Bruce turned to Emperor Lockwood only to find him crying as well.
"Why are you crying?" Bruce asked Emperor Lockwood.
"None of your business!" Emperor Lockwood held back his tears after getting caught crying in front of Bruce. He still didn't like Bruce at all.
"Father-in-law, we are about to become a family soon"
"You can tell me anything" Bruce put his hands onto the shoulders of Emperor Lockwood.
"Over my dead body brat!" Emperor Lockwood shook Bruce's hands away from his body. Every time he met this brat, he would get bullied by him. Such an absurd thing is happening to the mighty emperor of the water kingdom.
"It's true because Meredith and I are expecting a baby!" Bruce decided to mess with Emperor Lockwood.
"WHAT!" Everyone in the room exclaimed.
"Meredith, are you pregnant right now?" Empress Lockwood looked at Meredith with great concern. Her daughter was far too young to be a mother.
"Mom, I'm not pregnant!" Meredith immediately shut down Bruce's ludicrous announcement while blushing like a tomato.
"Bruce, stop messing with my dad!" Meredith sent out a threatening glare at Bruce. Every time these two meets, Bruce would always put her father in a tough spot in retaliation against her father's disapproval of him. She really wished these two people would make up already.
"You brat, I'm going to kill you!" Emperor Lockwood wanted to strangle Bruce at that moment since he just had a mini heart attack. His precious daughter having a baby at the age of 18 was unimaginable.
"Father-in-law, it could happen anytime so please expect me to become a part of your family very soon" Bruce retorted back which enraged Emperor Lockwood even more.
"It's not happening because you're dead today!"
"Come on old man, I'm not afraid of you!"
"STOP IT, BOTH OF YOU!" Meredith yelled at the two men who were about to kill each other again.
"Dad and Bruce, both of you need to get out of my room"
"You guys are not welcomed until you guys learn to tolerate each other"
The two men stared at Meredith not knowing what to do.
"Get out now!" Meredith pointed her finger to the door.
"Okay…"
The two closed the door and left the room. They wanted to see Meredith, but they had to resolve their issues before they could walk back in.
"Fufu, that was clever of you my dear" Empress Lockwood smiled at her daughter.
"Those two are like cats and dogs. They never liked each other, and I really want them to at least try to be amicable" Meredith sighed.
"Why don't they like each other?" Empress Lockwood asked curiously.
Meredith began to tell her mother about everything that happened last time both of them met each other for the first time.
"Haha… You know your dad gets offended whenever someone calls him ugly right?" Empress Lockwood laughed when Meredith mentioned Bruce calling her husband ugly.
"Bruce has a sharp tongue against anyone that tries to hurt him. It got to the point that both of them were about to kill themselves to settle the feud" Meredith was saddened when thinking about the two most important men in her life.
"Mother, what should I do?" Meredith asked her mother for advice.
"They both love you very much so I'm sure they'll settle their differences soon" Empress Lockwood reassured her daughter. She thought that Bruce was a fine candidate to be her daughter's husband. His talent alone has already qualified him for her hands in marriage.
Few moments later, slap sounds were heard outside the door. The women looked at each curiously but didn't go out the room to check. the two men walked back in the room with a hand mark on each other's face.
"Meredith, we settled our differences." Bruce said with an annoyed expression.
"Yeah, we did…" Emperor Lockwood also had the same annoyed expression.
"You both are idiots…." Empress Lockwood shook her heads at the two children.
"So, you guys will act amicable with each other in the future?" Meredith asked.
"Yes, we will" Bruce smiled at Meredith. He and Emperor Lockwood had agreed on a temporary truce until Meredith completely recovers. They both had recognized that they may very well will be family in the future and it was in their interests to be amicable to some degree.
Meredith knew that the grudge between the two men wasn't completely gone but at least they're trying to make things better.
"Very good" Meredith smiled.
"You guys must be hungry. Let me cook everyone a meal" Bruce decided to showcase his cooking skills in front of his mother-in-law. He was certain that she will favor him once she has a taste of his cooking.
"Bruce, you can cook?" Empress Lockwood her had doubts. It was not common for powerful men to cook. Even she herself doesn't know how to cook food. All of the food were cooked by the imperial chefs and so no one in her family has any culinary skills.
"Yes mother-in-law, I've been trained by one of the finest chefs in the world" Bruce nodded.
"I can't wait to taste your cooking then" Empress Lockwood was now even more intrigued about Bruce.
"Hmph, he's probably just bluffing" Emperor Lockwood didn't believe that Bruce is an actual chef.
"You guys can continue to chat while I prepare lunch" Bruce ignored Emperor Lockwood and moved to the kitchen. He pulled out various expensive ingredients from his storage ring. Unlike his normal meals that he cooked for Meredith, he planned to create a dish worthy for royalties.