LIGHTNOVELSTORY Chapter 395: Survival Through Reliance
"Let's go, Abi!" Camila held onto my mother's hand and escorted her towards the workplace in the kitchen. "Let's leave this pervert behind and continue on with our cooking."
"Y-Yes, Camila!...I'm coming!" My mother gave me one last look before hurrying to Camila's side, afraid that she would be caught by me and dragged away if she stayed beside me for too long.
I simply smiled at the sight of the two ladies working in the kitchen and found it laughable how I was treated like Enemy Number One in my own household.
Camila also seemed to be acting a bit cold towards me right now, but I'm sure that she's still trying to appeal herself to my mother at the moment and doesn't want to give me too much attention for now, since it would be a bit too much for even her to be all lovey-dovey with me in front of my mother when she just joined the family.
It also seemed like she wanted to be the head lady of the household in the sense that she was the one who maintained the balance between all the family members, so to do that and be fair, she had to act like she was impartial with me when others were around.
But I was sure that if we were alone together, she'd be just as attached as my mother and wouldn't let me separate with her at all, rubbing her face all over my chest and taking in my scent like she loved to do.
I wanted to cook breakfast today since it was my turn today. But since Camila had already come over to help my mother do exactly that, I decided to forget taking over and let both of them handle it today, expecting a divine meal that would put me to sleep since both of them were cooking together.
I was about to go to the sofa and catch up on some of the dramas that me and my mother watched together that I missed.
But I was stopped by a call that came from Camila.
"Now, just where do you think you're going, mister?...Do you think that you can run off and relax while both of us ladies make you your breakfast?"
Camila turned around as she was peeling an onion and stared at me with narrowed eyes, like she was looking at someone escaping from the work they were given. She then continued saying, as she passed the onion to my mother to cut,
"I don't know how it was like in this household before. But now that I'm here, I'm making sure that everyone in this house puts in the proper amount of effort to maintain this household."
"...And that most definitely includes you, Kakfa, so don't think that you can just slack off and dump all the chores of the house onto your poor mother, like you probably did before."
Camila pointed at me and looked like she was telling me that there was no way she was going to let me be the man of the house, who completely lived off his women and did absolutely nothing around the house other than eat and sleep, like her husband used to do.
Before I could even say anything in response, my mother spoke up for me herself, knowing that her son wasn't such a person at all.
"No, Camila, you misunderstood, Kafi." My mother quickly said so that there were no misconceptions made. "Even though I understand that you're used to seeing most of the men in this world move away from any sort of housework thinking that it's a woman's job, my Kafi isn't like that and is quite the gentleman who helps me out a lot around the house."
"Oh, is that so?" Camila remarked with a slightly surprised look on her face as she stared at me with a slightly suspicious look on her face. She then continued saying, "Well, I always knew that he was different from the rest of the men in this world with the way he acts, but I thought with how much of a tyrant he is, he would surely bully you, Abi, and make you do all the chores."
"No, it's definitely not like that, Camila." My mother quickly interupted as she said with a guilty look on her face, "A-Actually, as embarrassing as it is, Kafi is the one who does most of the chores in the household from the laundry to wiping the floors, while I'm the one who spends a carefree time without doing any sort of work whatsoever."
Camila perked up as she threw a perplexed gaze at my mother, not expecting it to be the other way around.
She wondered if my mother was actually really good at disciplining me even though she looked like she couldn't even bear to shout at me, which made sense in her eyes seeing as to how respectable of a man I grew up to be.
"I know what you're thinking, Camila, and it's really not because I ordered Kafi to do all the work in the house." My mother said after guessing what Camila was thinking. She then looked at me and said with a sigh, "It's just that Kafi here doesn't let his Mommy do any of the chores around the house at all.
He does it all himself, saying that I've already done enough by raising him up till now and now it's his sole responsibility to take care of me instead."
"Other than letting me cook some times after a long argument that I somehow won, he wouldn't even let me wipe the countertop...A-And in case I did try to do some work, he would take out a long ruler out from nowhere and slap it around to scare me away from doing any sort of work."
My mother looked at me with a wronged look in her eyes for being treated like a student who was being punished for doing something she shouldn't do when she simply didn't want to put all the strain on her previous son and wanted to help her out.
"A Queen never picks up a broom to clean her castle, mom, so why should I allow you to do anything in this household when you already have a loyal servant like me lying around?"
I stated as I rolled my eyes at my mother's complaints, indirectly telling her that she was never going to wash a dish in her life ever again.
"See, Camila, this is what I'm talking about!...He says weird stuff like this all the time and always shuts me up when I bring up this topic!"
My mother complained to her older sister like she was asking her to do something about it while blushing from being called a 'Queen' in front of Camila.
She then continued saying, with indignation in her voice,
"Every mother's desire is to make sure that their children live a comfortable life with absolutely no hardship whatsoever, which you should know as a mother yourself."
"But what am I supposed to do with a son like this who once suggested carrying me around the house, saying that he didn't want me to overwork myself from walking room to room!"
"...A-And even worse, he suggested that he should be the one wiping me down after I p-pee, saying that he didn't want me straining the muscles in my arm by doing so."
My mother complained about the way I coddled her in the household and also innocently believed that I was helping her wipe down just for the sake of it, when that was one of the lewd desires that I disguised like a favour.
"Hmm~...Looking at what you're saying, Abi, your son really does act like an overload in your house...But not the one that massacres neighbouring countries, but instead one who forces his own people with treasures to the point that all their pockets are stuffed with gold coins."
Camila looked at me with a slightly surprised look on her face, not expecting my love for my mother to be so high.
She also wondered if she also wasn't going to be allowed to do any housework in the future and was going to become the lazy partner, she was just complaining about.
"But unfortunately, Abi, even though I know you want me to make Kafka change his decision and let you work again, I simply can't do that."
Camila said with a wry smile to my mother's sudden dismay, thinking that there wasn't a thing that her powerful older sister couldn't do. She then continued saying with an apologetic look on her face for not living up to her expectations,
"Not to mention that Kafka is actually doing a really good thing by letting you rest, knowing that you moved here to retire with your family...There's also the fact that even though I may act all tough in front of Kafka and may seem impenetrable against his intentions, that's simply a front that I can only resist so much."
"...In actuality, I'm just like you, Abi, when it comes to how resistant I am against his desires, and I also can't actually go against him over some of his decisions that he's firm on because of how much control he has over me."
Camila honestly admitted to being the one who fell for the other more in this relationship of ours with flustered cheeks for acting so tough, only to tell that she was just as fragile as my mother in the end.
My mother was shocked by this revelation since she thought for sure that Camila would be the one to put a leash over me, and her lips parted wide at the sight of her so-called shield shattering right before her eyes.
"But don't worry, Abi!" Camila frantically consoled my mother after feeling guilty for bringing up her hopes, only to obliterate them in the hand. "I-I may not be able to control Kafka regarding certain matters that he's absolutely stubborn on...But I'm sure I have enough deterrent force to protect you from him!"
My mother's dim eyes lit up once again, like she finally saw the light that was disappearing when she heard Camila's promise.
My mother looked at Camila like she was putting all her trust in her, which Camila acknowledged and looked like she was ready to protect her little sister from me, even if she had to sacrifice herself to do so.
"Oh really? You really think that you can stop me when I'm coming for both of you at full throttle?..." I chuckled at both of them like I heard a hilarious joke and said as I looked at both of them who were supporting one another, "...We'll see about that."
Camila gulped when she heard my words, which she knew were probably true, knowing how hard it was to go against anything I desired. She then showed a fake smile to my mother to give her some confidence, when she herself wasn't so confident about pushing me away.
But unfortunately for her, my mother could sense the nervousness on her usually calm face and knew that they could only rely on one another to protect themselves from the hungry wolf that lived in this household...