CHAPTER 3: A Mother's Love is Terrifying

"♩♪♫♬"

With the sound of a joyful hum traveling across the air, along with the sound of a gentle fire and sizzling pan, Leon watched with interest as his mother Ada happily cooked in the mansion's kitchen that had hardly been used.

How did their mutual crying session from earlier turn into this? It was rather simple. After their tears subsided, Ada helped Leon move back to his room to discuss their thoughts.

But before any meaningful discussion could take place, the young man was overcome with an immense hunger. Plowing through the bowl of porridge his mother had cooked up for him in an instant.

It wasn't as if his body was afflicted with indigestion, his sedentary lifestyle simply caused Leon to not eat out of a lack of motivation.

As such, now that his mind was being managed by a more proactive personality derived from『Wild Hunt』, Leon wished to provide his emaciated body with the nutrients it had been deprived of.

Overcome with a sense of hunger that had yet to be satiated, Leon unconsciously asked for his mother to provide more food for him with the air of arrogance he once had as a feared criminal.

Realizing the extremely rude manner he talked to her, the young man wanted to retract his words as soon as possible. But rather than seeing a face full of hurt and shock, his mother instead began to show an expression of radiating joy.

'Of course! Let Mom cook for you! Please let Mom cook for you! I'll cook you anything you want!'

With a burst of vigor and purpose, Ada began to question what he wanted to eat. After saying he was fine with anything, the beautiful woman rushed to her car to take out a few bags of ingredients she had recently procured for herself.

Thus was how Leon currently ended up in the situation he was now in. He waited patiently by the dining table of the mansion as his mother eagerly cooked up a whole feast for her beloved son.

"I-I'm not sure if it's up to your tastes, Leon. But I tried my best. Please enjoy!"

Speaking with hesitation and anxiousness, Ada made herself scarce after she laid out all she had cooked for her son on the table.

Seeing his mother be so afraid of him, Leon recognized just how much work he needed to put in to make his relationship with Ada one that is shared among family members.

But as loathsome as he was to admit it after seeing his mother cower away from him in fear, his mind was more occupied by the tantalizing allure of the food in front of him.

So, as a compromise between both desires of seeing his mother happy and stuffing himself full. Leon boldly declared with his voice as he readied his spoon and fork.

"Thank you for the food mom!"

Hearing her son's words, Ada was shocked once again at having her affection reciprocated by her beloved child.

Her lips arched upwards as her cheeks grew red with emotion at being able to love her son openly after so long.

"Enjoy the food, Leon"

With her blessing, Leon quickly began to devour the food presented before him. In short, he was absolutely amazed at the sensations that ran across from each nerve ending on his tongue.

The richness. The savoriness. The heat of the spices interspersed with the sweetness of the herbs. It was an absolute festival of taste on his tongue.

As he immersed himself in the food, the sight of his mother Ada once again caught his attention as his hunger became satiated enough that he could think of other things besides food.

It was a little sad for the mother of a child to simply watch on the sidelines when so many chairs were empty across the dining table he currently ate upon.

So, with a hint of embarrassment coloring his cheeks, Leon once again put into practice the oath he swore to take in this new life as he reached out to his mother.

"You could join me at the table, you know? It's a bit much to expect I could eat everything here…"

Leon struggled to find a selection of words that matched the idea of family that he had in his mind, as such, it felt much more distant compared to what he wanted to achieve.

Realizing this, he opted to try again with a much more intimate way of speaking. But unknown to him at the time, his mother was already struggling to keep herself sane with the modicum amount of affection his previous words displayed for her.

"I also want to eat with my mom…"

And like a dam bursting open, Ada fell into the effects of the violent current and quickly took up her child's offer to eat together.

"O-Of course! It would be my honor and privilege to eat with you, Leon!"

"You don't need to describe it like that, Mom. I want to do this with you more often after all"

"Y-You want to do this more than once?! As in, once every year?!"

"What? Once a year? No, more than that"

"H-Huh?! Then, every few months?!"

"Months? No! Why would you think that? More!"

"Weeks?!"

"No, mom! Days! I want to eat with you every day!"

Leon was bewildered by his mother's skewed sense of time. On what planet would a son ever limit his mother eating with him to once a year?

'Oh, right, this world isn't the same as the one I remember'

It was then that he remembered that the world he currently inhabited was one where men were rare in the population and were greatly protected and sheltered.

He didn't possess much information as he had been a recluse for so long that simply wasted away in silence, but he had some tidbits of information.

One was that men generally looked down upon women. Often being spoiled and getting their way with little to no resistance in most situations.

Realizing this, Leon decided to break down such perceptions as much as he could with his mother.

So long as she held those views, it would be hard for him to foster a sense of familial love between them both.

Locking eyes with his mother once again, Leon decided to push her towards acting rather than cowering in fear of the potential consequences of acting on her desires.

Relying on his experiences of swaying minds as a criminal with his acting, he began to put it to good use rather than maliciousness.

"Mom…perhaps…you don't want to eat with me?"

"?!"

With a fake expression of being hurt, Leon effectively coerced Ada into eating with him at the dining table. Playing on the beautiful woman's maternal instincts to have his way with her…in a non-malicious sense.

"Of course not!"

Denying her son's speculations, Ada quickly took a seat to affirm her words. But before long she began to realize what she had just done.

Facing her son with a red face of bewilderment, she was only met with a gentle smile on Leon's face as he greeted her arrival with joy.

"I'm really happy that I'm able to eat with you like this, Mom"

It took Ada a moment to process all that she saw and heard. For so long, she walked on eggshells around the child she had raised and loved.

Of course, she never once blamed him for his behavior towards her. Simply accepting it and doing the most she can to make him happy.

So many years of locking away her heart made her hesitant to accept the love her son was currently showing her right then and there.

What if this was a momentary whim? What if he reverts to how he was soon? Countless questions made her hesitate to simply accept…that she had the chance to be happy.

'What are you doing, Ada? Preparing to have your heart broken when your son is trying his best to reach out to you?'

Ada accosted herself one last time before she let go of all the fears she had accumulated over the years.

They weren't completely gone, but she was now moving forward without them hindering her way forward.

Ada didn't know if it was just a temporary time of happiness, but regardless, she loved her son above all else. Even more than her dreams and ambitions. So if she could have the chance to live like a family with him once again, no matter how short it may be…it would have been worth it for her.

"It makes me happy too, Leon. To be able to be like this with you once again. It makes me so, so, happy"

Seeing the genuine unburdened smile on his mother's face begin to radiate her beautiful features resplendently, Leon began to converse with her over food.

Their few minutes of hesitation soon turned into hours of chatter. Both doing their best to make up for the time they lost throughout the years.

No longer will they journey through life as separate lines to never be intercrossed, but as two lines running in parallel. Able to trust that the other is by their side always.

…

..

.

With the plates of food slowly becoming empty, Leon and Ada both chatted with one another for so long that noon had now slowly begun to turn into the evening as the setting sun radiated the mansion with a serene orange hue.

The mother-son pair filled in one another about the aspects of themselves that they had been lacking information in for so long.

Such as their interests, their daily happenings, and other such things. For example, Ada described what her life was like after he had secluded himself from her and the outside world at the mind-boggling age of four.

With the mansion being used as her son's safe haven, Ada opted to simply focus on earning money to support her child's new choice in lifestyle.

Living in her office and immersing herself in work. She would sleep on the sofas that lined her personal workplace, cook her meals in the communal kitchen, take baths in a nearby public bathhouse, and went out to shop for herself and her son whenever she had free time.

Hearing all this, Leon kept a serene and understanding smile on his face while insulting his past self with a string of curses and profanity that could cause an old woman to have a heart attack in shock.

While Leon was doing his best to learn about his mother which his previous self refused to do, Ada teared up with every tidbit of info the young man gave about himself.

She was overcome with emotions as he described his lack of motivation and general apathy toward life and the outside world.

When asked by Ada what had led him to such an extreme way of life, Leon pondered and struggled to find an answer.

But he eventually found one as he accessed a memory far into his past in this current life. It was when he was four and still lived together in the mansion with his mother.

One of her assistants had left a file for a case she was working on, and he grabbed it out of interest.

Unfortunately for the young Leon, it was a case outlining a rare incident in the world of reversed chastity. Severe sexual exploitation of countless young men.

Though he was too young to get all the details and technical jargon, there were explicit photos that illustrated the severity and horrendous scale of the crimes.

Shocked by being exposed to such content at such a young age, Leon began to fear women and the outside world greatly.

It didn't help that whatever form of media he could access began to reinforce this perception. Leading to a lifelong abhorrence of being born into such a world.

Hearing this, Ada couldn't help but embrace her son with a hurting heart. But it had little effect on the current Leon who now possessed the memories of his past life who had done much worse.

'Though I still appreciate the sentiment'

Basking in the warmth of his mother's love, Leon assured his mother that he had come to terms with what he saw that day and that he wanted to repair the damage his misconception had caused.

"Mom, I want you to move back to the mansion. I want to be a family with you again"

To summarize things, further tears were shedded profusely by the beautiful blonde woman as her son tried his best to calm her down.

But though it was chaotic, progress had been made. Their wounds hadn't completely healed, but now they were on the first step to recovery.

…

..

.

"I'm finally family again with my dear Leon…hehe♪…hehehe♪"

Giggling happily to herself as she walked through the front garden of the estate, Ada couldn't help but express her joy as she relished the fact that she was now connected with her son once again.

After years of isolation, she could finally live out her family dreams that she had long kept in her heart for so long.

What was she doing now? After talking with her son for so long, he had urged her to move back in him with, much to her delight. So she was now making her way to her office to pick up the scant few belongings she had to move back into the mansion.

As she reached the front gate of the estate and her car, Ada turned back to see the door to the mansion still open with Leon standing there looking at her.

"Have a safe trip, Mom!"

With a joyful wave and well-meaning shout, Ada's heart melted once again as she returned her son's farewell.

She was half tempted to race back to her office to be by his side again, but as a prosecutor of the law, she held herself back from doing so.

Entering her car with fully tinted windows and starting the ignition that awakened the engine with a low hum, Ada's goofy smile of happiness soon turned cold as she began to ponder on other matters.

"So because of the mistake of one of my assistants so long ago, I was stripped away from my son…"

Her heart grew cold as she realized that because of a single person's error, she had to endure such torment. To watch eleven years of her child's life go by. To lock away her affection so that he may be able to not live every day in fear of women and the outside world.

Now that her son was no longer able to look upon her, Ada let loose all the anger she had been so desperately trying to hide from him.

"That case Leon mentioned. I remember it clearly…along with all the people who were assigned to it to assist me…"

Ada's thoughts were unbefitting of an agent who was tasked with the swift execution and implementation of the law, but this was no ordinary situation that required ordinary thoughts.

A young boy was traumatized for a decade due to an assistant prosecutor accidentally leaving traumatizing content within his reach.

Ada's mind perfectly recalled the assistant's name, face, information, and current position within the office of prosecutors.

Though she was able to immediately fire the woman, Ada much preferred to have her punishments be long and tormenting rather than swift.

𝙎𝘾𝙍𝙀𝙀𝙀𝘾𝘾𝘾𝙃𝙃𝙃...

As her mind processed in great detail what she would do, she eventually arrived at her destination. Bringing her luxurious four-seater car to a halt in front of a large glass entrance.

Recognizing the exclusive number plate on the car's front and back ends, countless women rushed forward to act accordingly.

Exiting the car with her flowing blonde hair fluttering in the wind with grace, and her verdant green eyes radiating a cold glint rather than the bright kindness with her son, Ada Greenfield made her return to her personal castle and fortress. The National Office of Prosecutors.

"Welcome back, Chief Prosecutor Greenfield"

A long line of competent women shivered in fear as they bowed to welcome the woman who stood at the top of their hierarchy.

Ada reigned in her ambitions and aspirations the moment she conceived Leon, but her sights were set so high that the position of Chief Prosecutor was something she settled for.

Such was the frightening appetite for success for the attorney who was nicknamed the devil-like angel of justice, and now, she would indulge in her first act of personal interest in her career as a servant of the law.

"Call up all the assistants who worked on the case I will specify. I wish to have a deep talk with them all"

None could dare to stop Ada once she had decided to do such a thing. She was too well-connected and necessary in society to ever possibly be hindered from doing such a thing.

That night, the National Office of Prosecutors would learn what awaited anyone who dared to slight her. Further cementing her position as the apex predator of an already hyper-competitive workplace.

…

..

.

"Phew~"

Exiting her car, Ada released all the tension she had accumulated after pulling through with her personal punishment for the person who had traumatized her son, along with warning her current assistants to keep their vigilance using the unfortunate victim as an example.

Though it may have been perceived as extreme, to the women who learned what had become of such a mistake, there was no sympathy to be had.

In this world of reversed chastity, the protection of men was valued above all else. To traumatize a young boy for so long, intentional or not, was an unforgivable crime among the executors of the law.

'If anything, I was being lenient by leaving it at a two-hour-long scolding and a transfer to a department with little chance at upward movement'

There was so much more that Ada could think about with that situation, but now that she was nearing the mansion where she would once again be living with her son, the beautiful woman pushed aside all those unpleasant thoughts to thoroughly enjoy the present scenario with her child.

Opening the door quietly as she held a small box of the belongings she possessed during her habitation at her office space, Ada made sure to be quiet as it was currently late at night.

'Perhaps Leon is now sleeping. Best that I don't disturb him'

Moving with grace and silence after years of doing her best to not displease her son during their time apart, Ada quickly made her way to the living room where she was met with an unexpected sight.

"..."

Leon sleeping peacefully on the couch in the living room. Seemingly having waited for his mother to return. Unfortunately for him, he was unable to resist the encroaching desire to sleep after digesting the feast he had eaten earlier.

Going closer to him, Ada gently examined her son's features. He was undoubtedly a handsome young man who would wreak havoc among the women in the outside world.

Couple his appearance with a kindness that was rarely seen by men in their society, she was sure that there would be many to covet her one and only child.

"..."

Her verdant green eyes let out a cold glimmer at the thought of having her child taken away from her so soon after she had reconnected with him.

Her heart grew so cold that she considered continuing to keep him isolated from the world at large, but just as her mind was beginning to tread on dangerous territory, Leon began to move in his sleep, breaking Ada away from her thoughts.

Leon's expression was pained as if he was reliving a series of unpleasant experiences back to back.

"Get a grip on yourself, Ada"

Seeing her son like this, Ada was reminded that his isolation from the world caused him to cry like he did earlier in the day. It caused him to collapse in front of her very eyes.

She desperately wished to keep her treasure of a son all to herself, but a mother looked past personal desires in favor of what was best for her child.

And the best thing for Leon…was for him to grow…to experience new things. To not be limited by the walls that had cultivated such melancholy in her heart. And that would mean she too would have to learn to let him go. To allow him to explore the world on his own.

"..."

Ada was quiet, but her heart had begun to settle on the choice of a mother rather than her own selfish desires. But…just as she did a while ago with her assistants…the woman would indulge in her first instance of selfishness after such a long streak of selflessness.

𝙁𝙒𝙊𝙊...

She rested on the sofa before wrapping a blanket around herself and Leon. Snuggling up to her son before the embrace of sleep captured her mind fully.

She had decided to let go of her inhibitions to show her affection, so surely her darling son would allow for some physical intimacy between them both, right?

"Goodnight, Leon"

Planting a tender kiss on the young man's forehead, the mother and son drifted off into sleep. Awaiting a new day that promised much more for them both.