A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

Chapter 495 - Mother-in-Law [2/3]

Silence fell in Runa's room as her gaze panned between her son and his supposed wife.

""W— Wife?!" she finally cried out, eyes bulging slightly, before pointing a trembling, accusatory finger at Erik. "You rascal! You dared to get married without me?! Your own mother?! Just you wait until I recover from whatever this is and punish you good!"

"And you…!" she continued, narrowing her eyes as she panned her finger over to Elora instead. For a moment, silence fell again as Runa and Elora looked in each other's eyes. Clearly, Runa was judging her supposed daughter-in-law.

Elora appeared calm, but there was an almost imperceptible tremble, that Runa mysteriously managed to pick up on, despite her weakened body and vision. Likely, it was motherly instinct.

"Oh~! You're nervous!" she then exclaimed as her eyes began to twinkle and her lips split to show her teeth. "That's good, because if you hurt my precious son I will rip you apart!"

Elora smirked slightly. She saw a piece of her own mother in Runa. But before she could answer, Erik pulled her from the armrest and on to his lap. "Don't threaten my little ember, Mom," he said protectively. "Without her, I wouldn't have made it back to you, and you would be either dead or enslaved."

Runa was momentarily caught off-guard and forced to blink a few times. But then she recovered, and simply raised an eyebrow. "Well… I absolutely want to hear more about that, but right now I don't care."

She looked at Erik with an intense gaze that carried a deep, carefully hidden suspicion of the world, "I need you to promise me that you'll be careful, Silvy. If Edda taught us anything, it's that we can't trust anyone but ourselves. That means you and me, Silvy…"

Slowly, she panned her gaze over to Elora again, "…and no one else."

Elora looked back with a complicated expression. She could somewhat understand Runa's suspicion, but she'd hoped for a happier first meeting.

Meanwhile, Erik sighed helplessly, but then resolutely shook his head and sighed, "I can't promise that, Mom… Elora's my wife, I love her, and I trust her. I'll never guard myself against her."

Instantly, anger sparked in Runa's eyes. "Dammit, Erik!" she cursed, showing her anger through the use of his real name. "Don't you remember what happened last time?! Your father was killed, and so was everyone else! No one saw Edda's betrayal coming! So how can you be sure this one is trustworthy?!"

Erik looked at her with carefully hidden compassion. He didn't want her to think he was pitying her, but neither did he think her current attitude was healthy.

Personally, he'd never been in this state. His bond with Elora allowed for a level of connection that simply didn't allow for suspicion between each other. He could literally feel her love for him, and she his.

Even if betrayal happened despite that love, their bond would warn them. Thus, it was easy for Erik to live with absolute trust in his beloved wife.

Careful not to throw Elora off his lap, Erik leaned forward to kiss the back of Runa's hand. "Elora is not Edda, Mom. How about we tell you our story, so you can judge for yourself?"

Runa looked at her son sombrely, occasionally sending a suspicious glance to a somewhat wry Elora. But finally, she lowered her weak body back into the pillows with a sigh. "Alright… it's clear I'm not going to convince you right now, and I don't want to sour our reunion."

She smiled gently at Erik, "And I really do want to hear about everything that happened to you since that day. More even than I want to know how I ended up in this place, though I'm sure that will be a part of your story eventually."

"At the very end, yeah," Erik confirmed while leaning back in his chair. He was still holding Runa's hand, while Elora leaned back with him. "Are you sure you want me to just start at the beginning?"

"Please," she nodded weakly, yet her eyes never leaving Erik's face. "I want to know everything about you."

"Alright, Mom," he sighed, before frowning after memories from the day of Edda's betrayal came to him. "So, after howling into the air, I took off into the forest, while Edda and her hunters were in pursuit. They almost caught me, but then I saw a light, and everything changed…"

* * *

Some hours later, a soft snoring permeated the room. Erik and Elora looked at Runa with complicated expressions. They'd reached about halfway into their life on Söl before Runa couldn't keep her eyes open anymore and slipped into unconsciousness. Her soul still didn't allow her to stay awake for long.

"I think she was softening up to you before she fell asleep," Erik smirked a little wryly. "That part where you finally realized your true feelings for me when my body was being torn apart due to an imbalance between the Arcanist and Runebound systems certainly helped."

He took Elora's chin in his hand and smiled at her, "I still remember how frantic you looked back then. The panic and growing love I felt through our bond actually soothed my pain, you know?"

Slowly, Elora's complicated expression melted into a gentle smile. She had hoped for a more successful meeting with her mother-in-law, but so long as she had Erik on her side, what did anything else matter?

Yet, her gentle smile turned into a playful one just as fast. "Yeah, well, what about when that budget third ranker Jonas wounded me, or when I suggested using a berserker technique? You're no better than me!"

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"That's fine, I don't want to be," Erik chuckled as he closed the distance between them and kissed his wife on the lips. For a few minutes, they made out passionately, but lovingly, as the last of Elora's anxiety over Runa's suspicions melted away.

Finally, they separated again, and the two looked into each other's eyes for a moment. Then, Elora sighed, and rested her head against his chest again. "Anyway… I guess we'll need to wait a little with the harem thing," she chuckled.

"I'm sure it won't be that bad…" Erik smiled as he patted her long crimson hair. "First of all, she's currently missing the last five years, and from what we've heard from Naeku's family, it seems like she wasn't quite this jaded back then… so perhaps things will improve as she gets more memories back."

Elora nodded in acknowledgement, but didn't say anything as she simply nuzzled up to him closer.

"Also… that thing I refused to do with Alice? We could do it with my mother, I guess," he suddenly sighed, causing Elora to raise a curious eyebrow.