Chapter 179 Bonding Time With Mommy

As expected of Emilia who loves sweets almost as much as I do, the quality of all the sweets she prepared were perfect~

I did hear Emilia muttering "Money~ Money~ This is going to get me so much money~" in the corner when I was done though.

I noticed that no one else was inside the room with us, not even the old man or the patissier from before was here.

Seeing Emilia's current state where she's inspecting the scales while muttering to herself, I think she had instructed them to leave the room just now or something.

Walking up to her, I tapped her on the shoulder which caused her to jump in surprise at the contact, going so far as to leap out of her seat to drop into a crouch with her hand on the handle of her blade.

"O… Oh… Lady Aster. Please don't surprise me like that. I'm a little jumpy when it comes to things like this…"

"Ah, because of those assassins right?"

She nodded, "That is correct, Lady Aster. So… How were the swee-- You ate everything?!"

I looked back at the empty table that was originally piled high with plates upon plates of various types of sweets but was now empty.

"Umm… Yes? Sorry, were some of it yours? I tend to lose myself when I'm eating sweets."

"N… No… I'm just… I didn't think… I thought… Forgive me for asking this… But how is Lady Aster able to maintain your body shape?"

I scratched my cheek, "Umm… I engage in a daily training regime to keep myself in shape? And umm… In case the dragon scales weren't enough of a giveaway, I'm a Mercenary and Dungeoneer…"

Emilia's gaze shifted to the dragon scales she had laid out on her table, "Oh… Oh of course. Could I ask what kind of training Lady Aster does to keep yourself in shape? I've always had to watch what I eat to keep myself from growing fat…"

Well, that's not too hard so I simply told her my exercise regime which even Odeta had chosen to follow and adapt for her own.

She blinked a few times at me, "Ah… I see. Although that running part would be a little difficult for me to do since I'm on a ship… I usually just do sword swing practices though… I'll see if I can incorporate Lady Aster's regime into mine."

I shrugged, "You're free to change it however you want to suit your needs. So I just want to ask… I can come back here whenever I want to eat more sweets right?"

Emilia turned to look in the direction of the empty table before turning back to me, "Of course, Lady Aster~ You just need to bring one of these Infant Dragon scales along and I'll definitely prepare a feast for you!"

Oh, is that all? I have tons of those so that wouldn't even be a problem!

At first I had thought about using them to find someone to craft weapons or armour for me, but I figured that Infant Dragon scales weren't that good as compared to grown dragons so I'd rather wait until I got my hands on better materials while keeping these around for now.

Hey, I'm a hoarder ok? I like to collect and keep stuff. You never know when they might be useful like right now!

I stretched out my hand, "Deal!"

Emilia grasped my hand enthusiastically and we shook over it.

With my daily guarantee of sweets secured, I went back to the suite in high spirits.

When I walked through the door, I found that only Mother was in the sitting room with no one else around.

"Ara, ara? Welcome back my little one~ How was the party?" She asked while patting her thigh.

"Oh, the party was ok I guess, I didn't really stay for the whole thing though," I told her while moving to sit on her lap.

Mother hugged me from behind and patted my head, "Ufufufu~ Was the party not to your liking? Or were there some people who annoyed you?"

"Not at all Mommy. I just found somewhere else that was serving even better sweets than the one at the party so I went there instead."

"Ara, ara? Is that so? Ufufufu~ I suppose there's no need to for the Victor family to disappear then~"

"Eh? Disappear?"

"Ara? Don't worry about it, my little one~ So how was the sweets at the new place?"

I felt my own lips curl up in a smile as I remembered the delicious treats I had eaten just moments ago, "It was really good, Mommy. Still not as good as Mary's but they were still delicious!"

"Ufufufu~ I'm glad to hear that~ My little one is so cute~"

I then turned to look at the room the woman I fished up was in, "How is she, Mommy? Actually, where is everyone?"

"Mmm… Mary is watching over that woman now and your friends wanted to go look around the ship as well so little Katsuki and Sebastian went with them. I believe they won't be back until late. Does my little one wish to join them?"

"I think I'm good. It's been a rather long day after all so I think I'll sleep early tonight."

"Ara, ara? Then how about my little one sleep with Mama tonight? It's been so long since we've done that~"

I hesitated but decided it wasn't really a big deal so I nodded, "I… I guess I don't mind."

"Ufufufu~ In that case, let's get you washed up first~"

Mother then proceeded to lift me up in her arms in a princess carry without much effort, surprising me with the unexpected action.

"Mo… Mommy?!" I protested, trying and failing to wiggle free from her arms.

Mother pretended not to hear me and carried me over to the master bedroom's bath. Only then did she let me down before proceeding to strip me out of my clothes.

"Ufufufu~ Look at you~ You've grown up splendidly my little one~" Mother giggled when I was completely bared without a shred of cloth on me.

I pouted at her, "It's not like this is the first time you've seen me, Mommy…"

"Ufufufu~ But it has indeed been a while since we last bathed together with just the two of us, haven't we?"

Well… After we left the Dragon Sanctuary, there weren't really many instances where I was alone with Mother. Even Odeta had joined us for our meal times now.

Not that I'm complaining, mind you, I was simply stating facts.

While I was contemplating that, Mother had already stripped herself and she proceeded to sit me down at the washing area to start washing me.

"Ufufufu~ Has anyone ever told my little one that your hair is beautiful?" Mother asked while running her fingers through my hair.

"Ah… Lisa did."

"Mnn~ I suppose she would. She truly adores you a lot, doesn't she?"

I would go further and say that she was obsessed with me but yes… Of course I wasn't going to say that out loud so I simply nodded instead.

"Ufufufu~ My little one has such beautiful skin too~" Mother commented while washing my back.

"Unn… I have Katsuki to thank for doing my skincare routines…"

"Ah yes, she's really diligent, isn't she? She's really cute~"

She really is, Mother gets it too~

Mother finished washing me and I told her I would wash her back as well.

"Ara, ara? If my little one is offering, then I would gladly accept it~"

I took the washcloth and began scrubbing on Mother's pristine and smooth back.

"Mommy's skin is beautiful too," I complimented.

"Ufufufu~ My little one has indeed become a lady killer~ Have any new girls joined your harem recently?"

I groaned, "No, Mommy… I'm not actively trying to gather one, you know?"

"Oh I know that, but they can't help but be drawn to you. My little one is destined for greatness after all~ What about that Emilia girl? Or are you more interested in Prifa?"

"I don't even know either of them that well, Mommy… Besides, I barely even spent any time with Prifa."

"Ara, ara? So I take it Emilia is next then? Ufufufu~ My little one is already aiming for the heir to one of the largest companies in this World~ How exciting!"

"I'm not 'aiming' for her Mommy… If anything, we're just acquaintances who both like sweets for now."

I saw the corner of her lips lift higher but she chose not to comment on my words.

Once I was done with her back, the both of us got into the bath that was designed to hold only one person, so I had to sit in between Mother's legs with my back leaning on her.

One of her hands was wrapped around my waist while the other was patting my head affectionately, sometimes even planting kisses on the back of my head from time to time.

"Ufufufu~ This feels good doesn't it?" Mother asked while continuing her pampering.

I let myself soak in the water and nodded, "Yes, Mommy…"

With that, we drifted in a comfortable silence and simply let ourselves soak in the warm water of the bath.

In case you were wondering, we just had a normal bath and I slept in Mother's bed that night. Nothing else happened, really.

It was just a normal Mother and child bonding time.