"Mother!"
Dropping the halberd that I was using as a support while I leaned on it, I dashed towards the one exiting the door at what I believed was the fastest speed ever.
But I quickly stopped my feet just a metre away from her.
It was because, first, she had just recovered, and I might exacerbate her condition with my enthusiasm, and secondly, because I was bare-chested, slick with sweat, and might have been stinking.
But mother did not care about all that, pulling me into her fragrant embrace.
"My darling~, why are you shying away when you want to hug your mommy? I just go for treatment for a few days, and you become so distant. Aiyah, how shy can you be?"
I didn't mind her teasing and embraced her tighter. The warmth finally settled my suppressed anxiety that had kept piling on as I waited and distracted myself from having any dark thoughts, such as losing her once again in this lifetime.
