The villain's way to tame the protagonist

Anilisa lifted her heavy, wet skirt and saluted like a lady. The bright and lively smile on her face did not have the gracefulness that a lady should have.

The woman blinked. “How was my dancing?”

Anser touched his face with his hand: "You splashed the rain on my face, mother."

"eventful!"

Anilissa snorted, pulled Anser out from under the umbrella held by Savile, and at the same time shook her hands and said, "Savile, you go back first."

"...Yes, ma'am."

The old man nodded slightly and disappeared on the spot.

Anser, who was dragged into the rain, looked up at his mother with a blank expression: "I want to go back and rest, mother."

"No!"

Anilissa refused outright, crossed her arms, and said, without any aristocratic air, "Your irresponsible father hasn't been home for so long, so you have to take responsibility for the work I usually tease him, Arthur."

“…I don’t think that makes sense.”

"A woman doesn't have to reason with a man, and a mother doesn't have to reason with her son."

Our Lady Hydra raised her head with great pride: "So, I can be doubly unreasonable."

The helpless young Hydra could only sigh: "So, how are you going to play a trick on me?"

"Dancing, of course."

"With you?"

"You wish." Anilissa shook her wet blonde hair and splashed the rain on Anser's face. She was very proud of her taste and dance steps and declared, "I won't dance with anyone other than Mel, and neither can you, Arthur. And you're so small, dancing with you is like playing with a kitten...hiss, it seems quite fun."

The woman held up the side of her face and looked at Anser with an expression that seemed like she wanted to torment her pet cat.

But in the end, she gave up the idea. She didn't know whether it was because of the agreement with Flamel or because she felt it was not a good idea to treat her son as a cat.

She raised her hand and pointed, and a bunch of flowers swaying in the rain on the roadside pulled their roots out of the soil. Like the "matchstick men" that Anser had seen in that world, they staggered in front of him, lifted up their lush petal skirt, and gave Anser a lady's salute.

Anser looked at the "flower man" in front of him, then looked at his mother, and brushed back the strands of hair that were wet by the rain and stuck to his forehead, and asked, "Are you taking revenge on me for not taking you to the dance just now?"

"No--oh--" Anelissa replied in a drawn-out tone.

In order to satisfy his mother's playful desire, Anser could only reach out to pick the branches of the flower girl and dance with it in the rain.

Anelsa hummed a tune, her hands swaying lightly like an orchestra conductor, and the continuous heavy rain gradually became softer as her thoughts progressed, and combined with the sound of swaying flowers and plants and the sound of the wind, it began to transform into a long concerto.

While playing the music she liked, Anilissa looked at the boy dancing with his eyes closed, admiring her cute and handsome son's calm and elegant demeanor even in the wind and rain. While muttering, "I wonder which little girl will get the chance," she asked with a smile, "Who is Arthur's dance partner today?"

"The youngest daughter of the Deep Blue Duke who came all the way from Eastport."

"Oh... who was that?"

"A girl of no consequence."

"What does it look like?"

"It's far worse than my mother."

"I didn't ask you to compete with me! Who can compare to me, really!"

As if she was talking about family matters, Anilisa lifted her wet skirt and casually sat down beside the flower field at the entrance of the manor. Surrounded by flowers, she held her chin with both hands and saw through her son's thoughts at a glance:

"Even if you compliment me like this, the dance won't end early."

"Just the truth."

"Ahem... Yeah! It's indeed the truth."

Anelisa's mood became cheerful, and the sun broke through the clouds, covering only Ansel and his dance partner like a spotlight. The light cast on him moved as he moved, making Ansel the focus of the world.

"Besides her looks, what advantages do you think she has?"

"Quiet, considerate, gentle, knowledgeable... and likes me from the bottom of her heart." Ansel calmly responded to his mother's headache-inducing question.

"No need to repeat that last point! I know every girl likes you."

Anilissa's short heels hit the ground as her legs swung, making a crisp sound. She also expressed disdain for Anser's words: "Mediocre! There are too many girls like this in the world. They are not qualified!"

"There are only thirteen Grand Dukes in the Empire, Mother."

The woman snorted, "There is only one Anser in the Empire."

"You are always hostile to the 'gentle' characteristics of women."

"What do you mean, are you saying I'm not gentle enough?!"

Anilissa was furious. Anser's flower dance partner stretched out her roots and gently tripped his ankle, but Anser turned around and twisted it, making a beautiful dance move that drew applause.

"It means that your mother is free from worldly desires, and that is why you are able to capture your father's heart."

"...That's pretty much it."

Aenelisa muttered, and began to direct the wind and rain, changing the music for Anser.

Her music can be said to be completely disorganized, just a flow of pure emotions, sometimes with perfect rhythm, sometimes inexplicable, but Anser can always adjust the most perfect dance steps in this elusive change.

The boy dancing in the wind and rain is perfect in every aspect and there is nothing wrong with him.

But looking at such a perfect son, as a mother, Anelisa's smile faded little by little while she was composing music.

She suddenly asked:

"Did you enjoy the dance, Arthur?"

"..."

Young Hydra paused, becoming the only flaw in this perfect dance, but he quickly adjusted himself and replied calmly: "I'm quite happy."

"Then tell me," Anilissa asked softly, "what delicious food is there at the dance?"

"...The steaming of the blue algae lobster is pretty good."

"Besides your little partner, are there any other pretty girls?"

"Mr. Omar's eldest daughter, the female companion of the president of the Keta Chamber of Commerce..."

"Are there any other fun things, interesting people, or wonderful things?"

"..."

The boy who maintained his perfection in the rainstorm remained silent, perhaps because he had no answer, or perhaps because... he could not answer this question.

"Arthur..."

His partner in the flower bush lifted her branches and gently stroked his head.

"How can you be happy if you don't think about eating something nice, talking to some cute girls, or having fun?"

Anser simply responded calmly: "Everyone's definition of happiness is different, mother."

"So you're saying that you're happy even though you look so downcast right now?"

Aenelisa had stepped on the water and came behind Ansher. She pulled the corner of his mouth with her hand and sighed: "That was a dance, Arthur, not at... the negotiation table."

“There is no difference in essence.”

“There’s no difference!”

The woman's voice rose slightly: "You should eat and drink well there, chat up every cute girl and make them unable to sleep every night because of you, or proudly publicize your talents and let everyone flock to you, or do some absurd fun, and then come to me to clean up after you get into trouble... You know, you know-"

Her voice lowered again, revealing a heartbreaking weakness in the heavy rain.

A mother's powerlessness.

"You are clearly only... ten years old."

An age when one should be free and follow one's heart.

Instead of being as perfect as Ansel, who seeks perfection in everything.

Anelsa hugged Ansel from behind and whispered softly, "Arthur, you are not happy at all."

“…I have always been like this, mother.”

Amid the sound of continuous rain, Anser's voice was very soft, so soft that it seemed unreal.

"You're never like this."

Anilisa hugged him tighter. "No matter how much you loved studying in the past, you would always give yourself time to rest and relax. But what about you now? How long has it been since you last practiced archery, traveled, and truly relaxed? You even treat a dance party like a negotiation. It's clearly a place for you to have fun."

She turned Anser around and held his face, which was cold from the raindrops.

"Arthur, what on earth makes you so nervous and scared?"

Anser looked directly into his mother's eyes and responded without any fluctuation in his tone: "You think too much, mother."

"Don't try to lie to me."

Aenelisa held Anser's hand a little harder. She was always so cheerful and lively, not like a mother at all. But now she was very calm and said seriously:

"You know, I'm your mother."

"Mother." Anser said softly, "You think too much."

He just repeated what he had just said calmly and indifferently.

"..."

Anelsa stared in amazement at those clear sea-blue eyes, the same sea-blue eyes as her husband's.

When she took the tiny baby from her husband's arms and looked at those small, beautiful eyes tiredly, the thought in her mind was - So this is my child.

This is the most precious thing in my life.

In the rainstorm, there was only silence between mother and son.

After a long while, Anilissa, who had not spoken, gently hugged Anser and asked:

"Will dancing in the rain be more enjoyable than dancing there?"

Anser also hugged her gently, and put his hand against her cheek with some affection: "Yes, mother."

"That's good..." Anilissa touched Anser's head lovingly, "That's good."

Then she let go of Anser, stood up, and her usual lively smile returned to her face.

"Okay, we're done dancing, let's go back and take a bath and have a good rest."

Ansel nodded slightly, held his mother's hand, and followed her back to his home.

The rain gradually subsided at this moment, a rainbow hung in the sky after the dawn, and the mother and son, holding hands, walked towards home. Everything was so warm.

*

Bang!

The moment the bedroom door closed, young Ansel punched it.

His body collapsed weakly and exhausted, and then he punched the floor again and again. His perfect face was now filled with... hysterical hideousness.

It was verified again.

The scene seen from that memory was like a projection into reality, exactly the same as what he saw in Anser.

And Ansel has done this kind of verification too many times.

In fact, he had known that the memory was the fact, but he could not accept it. He kept looking for the possibility to deny it, but time and time again, he fell into deeper despair.

A false world, a fictional... life.

The boy clutched the expensive carpet tightly, veins popping out on the back of his white hands.

He didn't even dare to continue pounding the floor, for fear that the servants passing by would notice something was wrong. He could only curl up on the floor like a wounded cub, his whole body shaking and making low whimpers.

Every day, every day, this happened in Anther's bedroom.

Almost... just almost, he couldn't resist the collapse and told everything to his mother.

No matter how hard he tried to hide or act normal, he couldn't hide it from Anelissa's eyes.

Because she is a mother, a mother who knows her children so well.

But this is something that absolutely... absolutely cannot be told to anyone.