13 A mother's plight. *

My mother is a well-respected member of society. No. It'd be more accurate to say that she's the most ideal woman in the entire nation. Kind, competent, rich, strong, a loving family member, and drop-dead gorgeous? It was as if she went around checking every box for idealism she came across.

Needless to say, her qualities made her adored by commoners and nobles alike. I would go so far as to say that some people even worshipped her. And it really went to show when she took me outside the castle. Which if I may take the liberty to point out, was a rare occurrence in and of itself.

My buttocks were stationed atop her arm as I stared at her face.

Gentle grey eyes, long eyelashes, a single horn in the middle of her forehead, light green hair, skin unbefitting of a woman nearing her 40s, and a kind smile. Her outer appearance was that of a quintessential demon.

Underneath the visage she showed to the world, there was a chaotic woman. Sure she was always composed on the outside. Even after giving birth to me she just laid there as if she experienced no discomfort at all. But that was just a false front.

This woman was clumsier and more over the top than you'd ever imagine.

If she were to face me those three thousand years ago, she was the type who would've unironically said 'YOU FILTHY DEMON LORD, WE'VE COME TO STOP YOU AND SAVE THE WORLD!' And felt no shame in that at all.

Mom was manly and somewhat insensitive when it came to how much emotional weightage she applied to events. Ah, before this gets out of hand, let me clarify, I don't mean to say that men are insensitive. I don't want to be cancelled when I'm just three years old. What I do mean is that Mom would rather hold her issues and qualms inside than express them openly to anyone.

She was the type who would head into the bathroom to cry and then act as if nothing had happened.

This usually wouldn't be a healthy disposition to have in life, but everyone around her is so supportive, that I could hardly imagine that her mental health could deteriorate beyond the healthiest of levels. Of course, if something were to affect her, I'd be the first to help her out.

As she noticed my gaze she looked down at me and gave me a wider smile than anyone else.

She loved me more than I could ever imagine. I mean why wouldn't she? She had tried for a whole decade before she had me. That was why I didn't even try to deny a bit of her love.

From the first day, I thought of her as my mother. The thought of her just being an aide to my reincarnation or someone who was unrelated to me never crossed my mind even once. I died when I was 13 in my previous life. Mom was old enough to be my mother had I actually had one my previous life.

So to me, she was someone I needed as much as she needed me.

"Are you excited to go out?" She asked.

"Nnnh!"

I rested my head against her collarbone.

'Would I have appreciated this moment as much as I do right now, had I not retained my memory?' I didn't know the answer to that, but I was sure that at the very least I would be happy.

We stepped outside the gate after greeting every palace staff member we met on the way and set out on our journey.

The modern world had something known as convenience stores. A place where you could buy almost anything you might need in daily life. And this may come as a surprise to you but, the convenience stores were very convenient.

There was at least one of them almost around every corner, open 24*7, consistent with their items…

Needless to say, they were the lifeline of the common folk.

Usually we'd let some servant of ours do the shopping for us, but my parents thought that it might be nice for me to see the outside world from time to time even if it was a hazard to my safety.

Being the son of the military head probably put a huge ransom target on my head (especially because of the political tension between the countries), and under my own volition, I was powerless to protect myself.

That hardly posed a threat, though, as I had Mom, the strongest person in the country as my guard.

Not to mention, I'll soon also have Yuu-chan look after me too. But only when she becomes powerful enough. I'm sure she has an even bigger target on her back than I do.

As we walked around the street, the people to our sides greeted us enthusiastically and my mother responded to all of them humbly.

This wasn't an act she was putting on. The generals of the army don't need a good public image as long as they are competent. She didn't have any reason to be so kind, yet she was. It was just her nature.

In my previous life I wasn't loved by the people. I put a huge barrier between those inferior pieces of turds and myself. Well, they were always up my case so it was only natural. They either wanted me to fix their lives or wanted to take my position and live a leisurely life.

Sort of had it coming either way.

BUT THAT WAS ALL IN THE PAST!

The me now is kind. I greeted all the people I met on the way to the convenience store as well, like a good boy.

As we reached the 7/12, the doors split open. Every door nowadays was like this, I was pretty used to it now. It wasn't all that hot outside but the insides were even cooler.

"Irhasshaimase!" The counterman called out. Did he not know that this whole thing is being translated to English? Why respond in Japanese?

{a/n: irhasshaimase is welcome or something in japanese, you uncultured weeb.}

"I'll go get the household stuff, you can pick whatever you want to, okay?" Mom put me down on the ground. "Now that I think about it, this is your first chore, isn't it? Well, do your best!"

"Chore?"

"Unpaid labour you force on your loved ones." She smiled at me while expecting me to not know what it meant. "What I mean is, it is something you do to make your parents happy."

Happy, huh? Fine, mother, I shall do this chore you speak of.

I nodded and headed out.

I pulled a basket out of the rack and headed straight to the sweets aisle.

If I can get whatever I want, I will fill this basket up with every new type of sweet I could find. I don't know how long I'll have to wait before I get an opportunity like this again.

Boxed filled across. Strawberry snacks? Sure. Green tea? Whatever. Blueberry? Eugh… but I'd do with it. The entire basket filled up before I knew it. Or rather, time flew by much faster while I was having fun.

Shopping was surprisingly fun when you didn't use your own money. Even back in the older days, I would buy a lot of selfish things from the state taxes. Always had a blast while doing that.

After filling it to the brim... the basket got a little too heavy for me to carry, but I persisted nonetheless. I dragged it across the floor to the counter where Mom was already getting the grocery checked out.

"Mama, here!"

"You're done already? Are you sure you got everything? We won't be here for a while, you know?" She turned around after hanging the counter man the last item.

"Yes… yes!"

Now feast upon this basket of decadent goods!

"Ara the f*ck…" She stared down at the basket. "I don't think you're old enough for those." She covered her face and burnt red with embarrassment.

'Not old enough for sweets? Is that her way of rejecting these delicacies?'

"I want these Mama." I respect her, but this is a once in a lifetime opportunity.

She looked around to make sure no one was around and sure enough, it was only the counterman there.

"Mouuu…. Stop being so stubborn. You can only buy those after you're eighteen."

"Why can't I buy sweets?"

"THOSE AREN'T SWEETS! THOSE ARE CON-condoms."

"Eh? What are concondoms?" What the heck?

"AAAHHH!!" She stood there covering her red face. "I'd like to pay now, and I'm sorry to inconvenience you, but can you please restock these?" She put the basket on the table. "My kid doesn't know about this and mistook these for candy."

"Yes, ma'am." The counter man said while trying his best to hold back laughter.

'WHAT'S SO FUNNY? WHY CAN'T I BUY THE GOSHDARN SWEETS?!'

After paying, Mom rushed outside and then we walked back to the palace way faster than we walked to the convenience store. Her red face contrasted with her light green hair.

What happened to the composed demon that I praised so much?

Well, I got to see a new side of her today. That was good enough for me.

"Mama, concondoms. You didan tell me."

"Condoms are the things I'm wishing that we used back then right about now."

"Eh?"

"Nothing, dear." She patted my head. "I love you, but sometimes you are a bit infuriating, or rather embarrassing."

Embarrassing? Me? How? I am the most perfect being to ever exist.

'UGHH THIS WAS FRUSTRATING! WHATEVER!'

###

[Yuu-chan!] I called her after walking into the toy room. She was still bouncing on the trampoline. Is that all she did?

[What do you want now?]

[Mom stopped me from buying anything today.]

[Hmm? Even though you finally went outside? That's new. How'd that happen?] She asked completely uninterested.

[Well, I filled my own basket with something called concondoms and she said I was too young to buy them.]

Yuu-chan stopped.

[Do you mean condoms?] She bent down and looked over at me.

[I don't know… she said CONcondoms.] I imitated how she said it.

Yuu-chan slapped her head.

[You really are dumb.] Now, it's her calling me names? Why is everyone being so delusional today?

[No, I'm not!] I replied.

[Just come here.]

She grabbed my hand and we sat down on the trampoline.

[Let's teach you about something you might be unfamiliar with.]

Physical body, age 3. Soul, age 16. I got "the talk".