Aria could see the confusion in her son's eyes as she explained why she was disappointed with Draven.
"Arthur," she says in her loving tone, "Mommy really doesn't want you to hate your father; both Draven and I know how this kind of thing creates deep wounds in our hearts, and we don't want that for you."
"I don't hate him," Arthur says, wondering what kind of deep wounds his parents have.
Arthur still doesn't know what to think of his father since the story Aria told was very brief, leaving him with many questions.
"Why didn't I know about his plans?" Arthur asks. "How did I not notice that your marriage was not going well?"
"Because that should not be a problem for children to care about," Aria lovingly says. "We wanted you to have a perfect childhood; at least, I always wanted that..."
She sighs. "But I'm not sure of anything about Draven anymore, except the fact that he hasn't changed at all in these fourteen years,"
"When I found out about his plans, I was very angry and wanted to send him flying out of this world with my magic,"
She pauses and tries to smile, but her expression is just sad and disappointed.
"But I couldn't be the kind of mother who keeps her children away from their father; I couldn't take your father away from you and deny Eve the chance to have one," Aria honestly explains.
Arthur can see that his mother suffered a lot because of that and is still suffering. Even though she doesn't love Draven anymore, she spent several years pretending to be a perfect couple with him so that Arthur and Eve could have a perfect family.
"You did your best," Arthur lovingly says and holds both of Aria's hands affectionately. "But from now on, you should not sacrifice yourself alone when we can deal with everything together."
Aria becomes thrilled upon hearing the words of her son. As a mother, she only wants to protect her children and take care of everything herself, but as a woman, she yearns for a partner to share her burdens as she never saw Draven like that no matter how hard she tried.
Arthur begins to connect things in his head just as Aria does and comes to the conclusion that he never noticed something so evident.
"This explains why you don't sleep in the same bedroom, and father always seems sad when talking about girls..." He comments in a low tone. "I think I always knew but simply didn't want to see it."
"It's okay," She uses her fingers to caress his hand, "Mommy is fine as long as you and Eve are happy."
Arthur smiles at her, yet he can't help but feel bad. "But you still seemed friends until today... perhaps Draven gave up on his plans?"
"I wanted to believe that," She responds. "I thought he could be a good father even though we weren't a couple, but I don't think so anymore after what I saw in his eyes this morning..."
Arthur becomes confused, and Aria hesitates a bit but is still honest with him. "When Draven was talking to me about the shadows within you, I could see in his eyes the determination to change you,"
"I'm sure he was talking about taking you away from me, probably to that shitty academy full of people like him, fucking hypocritical nobles!"
Arthur can see that his mother hates Draven's supposed allies, which makes him wonder why.
He doesn't know what to expect from a noble academy that probably specializes in training people with Astral Beasts. Yet, it's certain that people like Draven must naturally feel aversion to people with hearts full of shadows like him.
"This is really my fault," Arthur sighs, now even more regretful for having revealed his dark side to his father, leading his situation with Aria to a breaking point.
"No, of course not," Aria exclaims while holding his face and making him look into her beautiful eyes. "There's nothing wrong with you, dear,"
"We all have shadows within us; yours are just a bit different because they are like the proof of everything you've suffered, everything you've faced until you came to me… until you became my beloved son."
Aria very much wants to make Arthur feel good, so she places a tender kiss on his forehead. "Your father may not agree with who you are, but Mommy loves you very much as you are, perfect like this."
His mother's words warm Arthur's heart, though he can't help but notice how wonderful her kiss feels.
"Her lips are so soft... and warm... damn, what the hell am I thinking about??" Arthur realizes how his body missed that feeling.
It had been some time since the last time he received a kiss from his mother, which was quite common when he was just a kid, but he started to avoid it when he began to feel more like a young adult.
The memories of Liam make Arthur see the world in a different way, but the hormones in his body are still those of a teenager, so he feels like any boy between fourteen and twenty years old.
But now, instead of being timid about receiving a kiss from his mother, Arthur is just happy to have her love.
"I want to enjoy everything you want to give me... every part of your love." He thinks while looking into her shining eyes.
Aria can see Arthur's feelings reflected in his big blue eyes like hers.
Seeing that someone she loves so much also loves her intensely is extremely gratifying, especially when it's the love of a son for his mother.
But Aria feels those feelings much more intensely, perhaps due to her nature or things she doesn't understand, but she is extremely happy that her son loves her.
"Oh, my~" She smiles charmingly. "Mommy is getting very emotional; we better take a break before I start crying."
Arthur can't contain his smile, but then his stomach growls, clearly hungry, making him embarrassed.
"Oh, dear, I'm sorry," She looks at him lovingly. "Mommy had promised you a delicious breakfast, and we've been here for so long... you must be starving."
Just thinking about the wonderful food that Aria always makes with so much love, Arthur's stomach growls even louder, and his heart fills with warmth.
"I think I really need to eat," He comments excitedly.
Aria nods and then gets up before pulling him by the hand. "Let's go to the kitchen; Mommy will take good care of you."
Arthur follows his mother excitedly upward the stairs back to the small library on the second floor of the house.
But before they leave through the secret passage, she stops and looks at him with a deep expression.
"I mentioned to you not to talk about Liam and Nyx to your father and other people since they can't understand it, but your sister is not included in this,"
Her expression quickly becomes caring. "Your sister loves you very much, and I'm sure that will never change, so you should be honest with her,"
"But Eve is just a kid now, so such things would make her very confused," She explains.
"I understand," Arthur's eyes shine full of love and affection when he thinks about his adorable little sister. "I will only tell her when she is an adult and ready to handle it."
"Good," Aria nods. "For now, let's keep these things as our little secret."
Arthur agrees and then follows Aria to the kitchen. She quickly grabs a cute apron full of hearts and starts preparing breakfast for her son.
In this world, there is electricity, which is usually generated by magical means, and since Aria is a great mage, she has many things that remind Arthur of Liam's world.
There are appliances like refrigerators, stoves, and even crystal screens that can replicate images in real-time.
But Arthur was never very interested in technological tools since this world has so many other amazing things.
He finds it incredible how Aria has tools that work automatically but usually just uses her magic to make simple tools work on their own.
Of course, such magical tools and means are only possible for her because she is a great mage, but the other people in the village still live in an almost medieval method, relying only on a few simpler tools that they buy from Aria and traveling merchants.
So, Aria's access to good magical tools helps her prepare the most delicious food Arthur has ever tasted.
Right now she is charmingly humming while making an omelet for him with some eggs, bacon, and some vegetables planted in the house's garden.
The aroma of good food mixed with the loving perfume of his mother makes Arthur feel very comfortable.
"It has never been so good to be home..." He thinks while watching his mother.
But his eyes are instinctively drawn to how that apron seems tight around the bottom of her hourglass-shaped waist.
"It seems so tight..." He can't help but notice how the apron's ties tighten her extra-soft parts, creating tiny fat folds that look so perfect and hot.
Arthur is so happy with how perfect his relationship with Aria is that he doesn't want to ruin it by letting dirty thoughts arise in his mind.
He feels such desires growing more and more within his body, so he knows he can't contain such feelings for very long.
"I need to redirect it to someone other than my mother!" He thinks, and the first person to come to his mind is Nyx.
"Yes, it seems right with her..." He starts thinking about young Nyx's beautiful body to try to take Aria's wonderful curvy and mature body out of his mind.
But that doesn't work so well since they compete in totally different categories, absolute winners in each one, of course.
"Why is it so hard???" Arthur feels that he could burst due to the tension at any moment with such thoughts in his mind.
While he has a hard time trying to contain his desires and thoughts, Aria finishes making the omelet.
"Here, dear," She puts it on a plate at the table in front of Arthur and also gives him clean cutlery. "Eat everything; Mommy made it with all love just for you."
Aria's loving words make Arthur feel even more guilty for having strange thoughts.
"Thanks, Mom!" He starts eating the omelet, which is wonderfully good, as always, but somehow, even the taste of the food seems better now.
Aria smiles lovingly while watching Arthur eat her food; pleasing him fills her heart with happiness and pride.
While he devours the omelet with bacon, she takes a jug of strawberry juice from the refrigerator, a tall glass, too, and fills it before placing it in front of Arthur.
"Have this too," She speaks in her heart-warming tone.
Arthur feels that his body is so warm, not due to the omelet but because of the burning desires growing within him.
So he is quite grateful for the cold juice and drinks half of the glass in a long gulp.
Aria closely watches Arthur pouring that cold liquid into his mouth, the movements of his muscles, and especially the drops of sweat running down his throat and chest so hot...
She can't help but feel her body also getting warmer quickly. "You have to stop Aria... this isn't right..."
Arthur finishes drinking half of the juice and lets out a long, relieved sigh before wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.
"This was so refreshing!" He smiles at Aria. "Your juice is perfect, Mom."
"Oh my~~!" Aria can see that Arthur is talking about the strawberry juice she made, but that phrase sounds so much different in her mind.
"What's happening to me???" Aria asks herself mentally.
She tries to control her emotions, but her body only gets warmer, so she quickly grabs the glass of juice and drinks all the rest that Arthur left.
She just wanted to use that cold liquid to cool her desires, but the strawberry juice goes down her throat with something else, a sweet and so delicious taste that leaves her whole body in ecstasy.
She quickly looks at the glass and sees a last drop of what's left of Arthur's saliva running along with hers...
"What have I done?!?!" Aria wants to regret that decision, but her body feels so good that it's impossible.
Arthur is not in a better situation.
He just saw his mother drink from the same glass he had left a lot of saliva on.
This is not the first time they share the same glass or cutlery in the house, but it was never something that Arthur paid any attention to since he was just a kid for most of his life so far.
But now, with those new feelings growing inside him, it's impossible not to notice how such a thing should seem weird…
Yet, Arthur has to deal with other feelings, especially one that quickly arises in his heart, a very possessive feeling.
He doesn't care if Aria has as much of his saliva as may it be, but he doesn't want any other person's saliva to enter her mouth ever…
"What kind of idea is that?!?" Arthur also struggles against his own desires, like Aria,
Both unaware that this is not a battle they can win against nature itself.