I’m the Future Crazy Male Lead’s Mother – Chapter 23

Author: isuzuuy

I slightly raised my chin and spoke haughtily.

“I am someone who has been entrusted with an important mission by His Majesty Emperor Scarlet.”

Letti standing beside me was a little concerning, but I could probably make up some excuse later.

“B-By His Majesty the Emperor?”

An important mission. It was a slight exaggeration, but technically, it wasn’t entirely untrue.

I did have the very important mission of creating a new source of food, after all.

Even if I was doing it for my own benefit.

“Yes. As part of that mission, I came to commission Mr. Ralph to make some machines and tools for me.”

“…….”

Ralph looked at me with a slightly surprised expression before his fearsome face flushed faintly.

“D-Did His Majesty perhaps know about me?”

For some reason, Letti blinked and scratched the back of her head.

I firmly shook my head.

“No. You’ve been doing these things without telling anyone, haven’t you? Like secretly repairing the city walls even though it wasn’t something that would make you any money.”

“Gasp……”

“His Majesty doesn’t know. But I do. And through this commission, I want to let him know about your abilities.”

“!”

Ralph’s body trembled slightly.

Heh. He was hooked.

I smiled inwardly as I pulled out the designs I had tucked inside my coat and handed them to him.

“Here. I want to have these made.”

“Ahem!”

Ralph hurriedly took the designs with a completely different attitude from before and spread them across the table.

He narrowed his eyes and studied the designs for quite some time before looking at me with interest.

“This… is quite interesting. What are you planning to use it for?”

“For cooking rice.”

“Huh?”

“There is such a thing as keeping things secret, you know. You understand that this kind of work requires absolute confidentiality.”

“R-Right! Ahem.”

As though he had almost forgotten, Ralph smacked his forehead with his palm before quickly covering the designs with his thick hands.

Then he cautiously looked around, rolled up the designs, and tucked them away.

“Fine. I’ll accept this commission.”

I smiled.

It was the perfect deal for my plans going forward.

***

“That was a truly fascinating negotiation. It reminded me of the heated debate between the Empire’s chancellor and the minister of the Kingdom of Adrin over the Tishen River two years ago.”

“……?”

Sitting in a café, I blinked while sipping orange juice through a straw.

Noble ladies here really were knowledgeable about political affairs.

I had always hated current affairs and politics.

Well, whatever. I assumed it was a compliment and grinned.

“Thank you. Oh, and what we talked about back there has to remain a secret. I did lie about a few things, actually.”

“Lie?”

Letti tilted her head as she adjusted the yellow cloth over her head.

“Which part of what you said was a lie?”

“Ahem. What I said about His Majesty the Emperor. That was a little exaggerated, so please forget about it.”

“Hmm.”

Letti seemed somewhat displeased.

But then, why did I feel as though someone was watching us?

I looked around, feeling as though tiny holes were opening all over my skin.

The main street was bustling with people enjoying the festival. There were boys selling newspapers, elegantly dressed noblewomen, and dignified middle-aged gentlemen strolling along.

Nothing seemed particularly unusual.

“By the way, Letti. Don’t you feel like someone keeps staring at us?”

“…….”

Letti, who had been dismantling a piece of bread she had bought on the street with fascinated curiosity, suddenly stopped moving.

Then she stood up abruptly and spoke meaningfully.

“Hmm. They came earlier than I expected. It may cause trouble for you if I remain with you, so I think it would be best for us to part ways here.”

“Huh?”

Oh no! We hadn’t even visited the ‘Give Me Three Seconds and I’ll Poison You’ shop yet!

I needed to make some poison for pest control!

I was extremely reluctant to part with my friend, whose affection for me had been steadily growing.

But I couldn’t stop her when she decisively walked away.

“Let’s definitely meet again if we get the chance.”

“We will.”

Letti spoke as though she were predicting the future, then disappeared.

She seemed to be heading toward a quiet alley.

I gazed wistfully at her retreating figure before suddenly realizing something.

She had left behind her large glasses!

“Ah!”

So I grabbed the glasses and chased after her.

But how had things ended up like this?

“Letti! You left this—!”

The alley I entered in search of Letti was filled with black-masked men.

They had drawn their swords and surrounded Letti in the center.

Their vicious blades gleamed ominously in the darkness.

I appeared dramatically at the entrance of the alley, holding the glasses high in the air, and blinked several times as I tried to understand the situation.

Several masked men and one person being threatened in the middle.

‘A kidnapping?!’

Once I understood what was happening, I clenched my fists.

Those menacing swords were certainly frightening, but if I grabbed Letti and ran toward the main street, I felt like we could somehow make it out alive.

I had to save my female friend who was in danger!

“Cilia……?”

I gently ignored Letti’s bewildered call and headed toward her.

The masked men had surrounded Letti to prevent her from escaping, but they seemed just as confused as I was.

After all, they didn’t stop me as I casually walked between them with my face scrunched up like a deflated balloon.

I tilted my head at a 45-degree angle and spoke ominously.

“Hey, hey. This is my territory, you know? Pretty brave of you to extort money right in my territory.”

“…….”

The masked men were startled by my appearance, but they didn’t get drawn into my nonsense.

Hmm. These guys were well-trained.

Usually, if someone spouted nonsense like that, you’d at least expect them to wonder what kind of lunatic they were dealing with.

But these men merely glanced at me.

I broke into a nervous sweat inwardly and quietly stepped beside Letti. Then I grabbed her wrist.

“I’ll take this one as payment for the spot.”

It wasn’t quite as successful as I had hoped, but I managed to create a brief opening.

One step.

Two steps.

Just as I was almost pulling Letti free from the men surrounding us—

Tap.

I heard the masked men all turn toward us at once.

“Run, Letti!”

I tightened my grip on her hand and pushed off the ground with all my strength.

“Huff, huff……”

“Wait. Stop for a moment.”

“Letti, snap out of it! This is dangerous!”

I shouted as we hurried along, but Letti instead grabbed my wrist and pulled me back.

“That’s not it…… The way ahead is already blocked.”

“Gasp?”

Just as she said, the exit leading to the main street was already blocked by masked men.

I stopped with a screech.

So this was why they had been following us so leisurely!

I hurriedly turned around to look at the masked men pursuing us.

They approached slowly, without even the slightest sign of exhaustion.

They looked relaxed, as though they were watching mice trapped in a jar.

“Come quietly.”

Just as the man who appeared to be their leader spoke in a sinister voice—

“Oh? Oh my.”

A familiar voice that had no business being here came from above.

“Why is Big Sis here?”

Startled, I whipped my head upward.

Men in black armor were crouching on the rooftops, looking down at us.

They looked almost like crows casually perched on telephone wires and gazing down at the ground.

These people were definitely……

“Tch! The Black Hawks?!”

The moment they appeared, the masked men all began to move.

A rough hand shot rapidly toward Letti.

“Eek!”

I shoved Letti aside and punched the face of the man who lunged toward us.

From experience, I knew that my arm strength was no weaker than that of an ordinary adult man!

“Ugh?!”

As the man staggered backward, the men crouching above us leaped down to the ground.

Despite falling from such a height, they landed with incredible stability.

Even though they were wearing full armor, not a single scraping sound could be heard.

The moment they landed, they began subduing the masked men.

One of them approached me.

His face was hidden beneath a black helmet resembling the head of a hawk.

“Oh, Big Sis. If you’re here, we’re going to get scolded by our lord.”

“……Leon?”

“Hehe.”

It was Leon, the leader of the Black Hawks, who always carried around a notebook titled The Path to Gourmet, grilled lamb skewers exceptionally well, and ate with remarkable delicacy.

He kicked one of the masked men and sent him flying into the distance before scratching the back of his head.

The sound of his fingers scratching against his helmet rang out.

‘Why are these trash bags here?’

I blinked several times, unable to understand what was happening.

I glanced at Letti, but judging from her lack of surprise, it seemed she had known this was going to happen.

She merely adjusted her disheveled yellow cloth and hummed thoughtfully.

Once the Black Hawks appeared, the situation was quickly brought under control.

The unconscious masked men were handcuffed and neatly piled up in one corner.

I was still standing there dumbfounded and looking around when I heard two male voices coming from the entrance of the alley.

“My goodness! If you were planning something like this, you should have told me in advance!”

“No, I’m telling you, I don’t have any authority here. Why are you complaining to me? Take it up with your master.”

“What do you mean, his master?! His Majesty is the master of all his subjects. Duke Siastor!”

What?

Duke Siastor?

Startled by the familiar name and voice, I whipped my head around.

There stood Dazar.

And beside him was the man I had encountered earlier at the imperial palace—Lord Hael—limping along on the leg I had kicked.

“Uh?”

“……What the?”

The black-clad bastard standing in front of me was undoubtedly my irritating future in-law, the very same man who had been surrounded by the army of mothers at the ballroom just moments ago.

“What are you doing here?”

“What about you?”

We glared coldly at each other, locked in a tense standoff.

Then Letti stepped between us.

She adjusted her disheveled yellow cloth, gently took the glasses from my hand, and put them on neatly.

“Ahem. I-I am Scarlet’s shadow knight. I was deployed here by His Majesty the Emperor’s command.”

“What?”

“I-I was assigned the role of pretending to be the Emperor and drawing the assassins out!”

Letti was doing her absolute best, but her acting skills were worse than the earthworm crawling along the ground nearby.

Did it rain yesterday? Why was there an earthworm……?

For a moment, I watched the earthworm squirming along before furiously turning the gears in my head.

‘Aha. Letti is Emperor Scarlet?’