Betrayed By The Hero, Loved By The Lord-Chapter 38: A mother’s wishes (2)

"Have you decided to turn into a butler for my mother?"

Selene looked away from the window to Xavier who didn’t seem to have anything better to do today. "What do you mean? I am only standing here. You did not need to stand with me. I sent you to sit."

"It is a bit cute how you think I would listen. She will be here and Harold or someone else will escort her to you. You do not need to stand here," Xavier said, preferring to sit elsewhere than stand here. What was there to be excited about?

"I have sat around all morning. I don’t mind standing a bit to see when she arrives. I am nervous," Selene confessed.

"Really? I couldn’t tell," Xavier sarcastically replied.

"You are the last person I need around when I am nervous. You are not of any help. Do you plan on sticking around the entire time we speak? Would your mother be so angry that she would do something I need to be protected from?" Selene asked, her nerves growing with each passing minute.

"No, I will not be there for all of your conversation, but I will linger. It isn’t that she might physically harm you. My mother can be a bit brutal when she speaks. You will certainly not want to respond in a way that upsets her, so I will do it for you. Her carriage is arriving," Xavier said, peering out the window. "It is not too late for us to leave and be elsewhere."

Selene playfully tapped his hand as if scolding him. "We are not going anywhere. Unless you want them to be back and make so much noise on your estate, we should get this over now. I am going down to the drawing room."

Xavier followed Selene despite not being interested in speaking to his mother. Something about his father was bound to come up and he wasn’t in the mood for it.

"Before she comes inside, I want to ask. Do you dislike your mother?" Selene asked, trying to understand their family relationship from Xavier.

"I don’t. I adore my mother but it is hard to be around her when her husband is near," Xavier replied.

"I see. That is good to know. I had hoped you would have a good relationship with one of them. I couldn’t imagine not being close to a parent. You must be her precious son so it is why she is willing to give this a chance. It is sweet," Selene said, less worried about Xavier now.

"I am not one to care about having close relationships with relatives. Most of them give me a headache. You are lucky that I will not introduce you to many of them. You may thank me as you see fit. Perhaps with a kiss right here," Xavier tapped his cheek.

"If you are not careful, that kiss might be a bite. I might not let go once I have your flesh in my mouth," Selene said, glancing to her right. Of course, she found Xavier smiling.

"Don’t tempt me with such a good time, Selene. I might take you to a room to have you bite me."

Selene was speechless. What about her biting him would be fun? He was underestimating how hard she would bite him.

"Go away," Selene shooed Xavier away. His playfulness would only ruin her talk with his mother.

Xavier stopped following Selene but he intended to find his way back to her in a moment.

Selene wondered what control she had over Xavier now that he did not follow her. "I can hear you trying not to laugh, Agnes. It is not funny."

"Forgive me, Milady. Your interactions with Lord Blackthorn are funny. You speak like you have been married for years. I will do better at not letting my laughter slip," Agnes promised.

"At least one of us is having fun at the moment. I hope this goes well," Selene muttered.

Selene went to the drawing room, entering it just before Josephine was escorted there by Harold.

"You have grown well," Josephine said, giving Selene a quick look over. "You resemble your father so much more now."

"I was always told I look like my mother. It is wonderful to see you again, Lady Josephine. It has been far too long since I last saw you," Selene greeted Josephine with a curtsy.

"Still so well-mannered. How did you end up with my son? I did not think we would ever meet like this. All night I have wondered what I missed between you two when you were young. Sit," Josephine said, taking her seat opposite where Selene stood.

They were not ready for hugs.

Selene sat down with Agnes standing behind her.

"I have heard about the divorce. A pity you had to go through with it. I like to think that when our kind marry, it is forever but many make it impossible to stay with them. It is why many have chosen not to waste their time with marriage. It is more for the humans," said Josephine.

"I think marriage isn’t bad as long as you find the right person. I believe I have found the right person with your son." Selene replied. Her nervousness went away now that she sat before Josephine.

"I do find it a bit odd that it wasn’t long ago he was preparing to rest and now he is getting married. It is quite convenient for you with your recent divorce. He didn’t speak a word of you. It is like the two you recently met and decided to get married. That would be a little rash," Josephine said, suspicious of the union.

The only thing Josephine believed was that Selene could never just ask or force Xavier into marriage. Selene didn’t have any kind of power to do that. There had to be some kind of feelings involved but was it enough to jump right into marriage?

Selene bit her tongue. She and Xavier had not discussed what story they would tell of how they came to be.

"Then again, that boy never tells me anything. I heard the coffin is gone so you have some kind of effect on him. I have been trying to get rid of it for some time now. If you are as I remember you then you are a lovely woman but I must be honest that I am wary of union," said Josephine.

"That is how I expected you to be. I know that my parents were labelled as traitors," Selene said, the words passing her leaving her lips left a bitter taste. "My status is not the greatest right now but I am happy here with your son. I don’t know what I would do without him."

"That is wonderful to hear but I still wonder if you don’t know what to do without Xavier or his status. I will not interfere with the wedding. I know my son has good judgment to know if you were using him but as his mother, I have to wonder what your intentions are. I hope that you are in love with him. Xavier doesn’t need anything that will push him away from love," said Josephine.

"I will never do that. I want Xavier to be happy as much as you do. I have not come here to hurt him. If you would just give me the chance to prove myself to you, your doubts would go away," Selene confidently spoke.

Josephine wanted that to be true. "Sitting here with you is my start of giving you a chance. I have many things to ask you so try to answer them without any lies."