Angel Monarch-Chapter 365: Mother and Son

Henry and his mother walked away from the conference room, leaving Vicky chatting with Antal.

Deep down, Henry felt worry about his girlfriend, but currently his mind couldn't focus on anything other than Elizabeth.

The tall woman changed little since the last time they met. Her long, blonde hair fell down to her back, glistening under the corridor's artificial light.

Her piercing dark golden eyes stared forward, desperately avoiding her son's presence.

They walked in silence, which became awkward near immediately. Henry had no intention of beginning the conversation with his mother, which forced Elizabeth to take the first step and break the uncomfortable atmosphere.

"You became taller, and more muscular… You must've inherited Valerie's genes with your body. But at least you received my beauty!"

Henry snorted at her mother's attempt at lightening the mood.

Out of his two mothers, people always considered Valerie as the less beautiful. She was tall, 2,4 meters, and muscular, which looked esthetically pleasing, but not quite the regular feminine beauty Elizabeth possessed.

He also inherited Valerie's dark blue eyes, while his golden hair came from Elizabeth.

"Are you saying Valerie isn't beautiful?" He asked with a cheeky smile, causing Elizabeth to stumble in her step.

The Queen coughed in embarrassment, while trying to wish away the heavy blush from her face.

"What?! Of course not! She is the best, hottest woman in the Universe!…"

While her mother went on a rant, why Valerie was the best, Henry laughed hysterically. It took Elizabeth an entire minute to realize that Henry's words weren't serious.

By that time, the blush persistently deepened, to her utter dismay.

"You little bastard! I thought I raised you better than to make fun of your parent!"

There was no malicious intent behind her words. Even though they sounded cruel, Henry didn't take offense at all. Instead, he used this opportunity to make another remark.

"Bastard, eh? Did you cheat on her? That's why I'm a bastard?… Don't tell me I was born outside of marriage!"

Elizabeth just rolled her eyes and sighed deeply.

"You know you weren't actually conceived, right? And yes, technically you were born outside our marriage, since neither of us gave birth!"

Henry's laughter stopped as he recalled her mothers telling him about his 'birth'.

For the longest time, humans struggle to find a solution to same gender reproduction. They made facilities where you can adopt children, or you can even impregnate a random woman, basically paying for a baby.

However, in the Old World, they perfected genealogy. They could edit a person's looks even before birth, by changing their DNA.

Even after birth, and during adulthood, anyone could've changed their gender. They could also reproduce with the new organ.

These technologies either didn't work, or were lost during the Apocalypse. It took years to gather enough information and hire the right doctors. With their help, they finally achieved their dream by having Henry.

The doctors changed Elizabeth's egg, so it could facilitate what a man's reproductive organ produces. They then took out one of Valerie's eggs and made Henry inside the lab.

They used a machine, which facilitated a woman's womb. This was necessary, since putting the inseminated egg into either mother could've brought unknown complications.

When two Evolved have a child, they become part of the mother's essence flow for nine months. That's why most child born from Evolved parents are Evolved as well, inheriting the parents' abilities.

This, although amazing for raising a powerful populace, it also made every Evolved semi-infertile.

The reason the doctors didn't place Henry back into either mother, because it would've killed him instantly. The outside conception also meant the fetus was a regular fetus. A Stellar's or even worse, and Ethereal's essence flow would've destroyed the fetus instantly.

At least that's what the doctors believed, and neither mother wanted to chance it.

Sadly, this meant Henry wasn't born as an Evolved, but that didn't stop him from achieving the status!

They continued to walk in silence, but the awkwardness lifted from between them. A few minutes later, they arrived in a random, cozy lounge room, where they sat on the sofas facing each other.

Near immediately after seating themselves, Henry stared into her mother's dark golden eyes, and spoke… "So, what did you want to talk about?"

Elizabeth took a deep breath. Her eyes kept jumping all over the place, trying to avoid gazing into her son's dark blue, judging eyes.

It was clear the Queen struggled to say her next words, and Henry soon understood why.

"I wanted to apologize for how we parted ways… I've said many awful things that I didn't mean… I also sorry for not contacting you for nearly two years, but you know me… I'm quite stubborn… I understand if you don't forgive me, but… I just wanted to get this off my chest…"

Henry stared at her mother with mouth agape. Tears welled in the woman's eyes, and finally she forced herself to stare at her son's surprised expression.

"Are you dying or something?" He blurted out before he could've reconsidered.

The sadness and regret left Elizabeth's eyes, and only confusion remained. A small frown grew on her face as she narrowed her eyes at her son.

"No. I'm quite healthy actually, since I'm a Stellar… But why do you ask?"

The young teenager looked away with a heavy blush as he realized how insensitive his words sounded. Especially when her mother was in such a vulnerable state.

"Uh… Nothing… It's just… You never actually apologized to anyone throughout my life… Even when you clearly done something wrong, you just brushed it off… It's strange you took accountability for your actions!"

After hearing her son's words, a series of emotions went down on Elizabeth's face. At first she became offended, then thoughtful, and finally regretful.

"You are right… I never felt the reason to apologize, because of my position and nature. But since I plan to change a lot of things around here, I'll just add my personality to that long list!"

They both chuckled a bit, then afterward, they stayed silent for a moment. When their emotions calmed down a bit, Henry glanced up and smiled at her mom.

"I forgive you, by the way… I've forgiven you for a long time now… I just wanted you to contact me first, but you never did… Anyway, let's not talk about the past anymore, and instead strive for a better future! So, what did you actually wanted to talk about?"

Elizabeth chuckled at her son's bluntness and incredible perception. He was always great at reading people's real thoughts, even when they could hide it amazingly, like Elizabeth did.

"You are correct, as always! I wanted to apologize for my mistakes, but I also wanted something else from this meeting… Something that would make both your and Princess Victoria's lives easier!"

Henry leaned back on the sofa, his expression changing serious… "I'm listening."

…

Back in the conference room, Vicky happily engaged in an educational conversation about leadership with Antal.

The handsome Stellar had some seriously backward ideas about freedom, but throughout their conversation, he seemed to get more interested in Vicky's theocratic leadership.

"…But isn't that unethical? You simply placed yourself as a leader of your religion, which gave you control over all the Angelic Order's city-states… Isn't that the exact same as deciding to be a dictator or a king?"

Vicky smiled at the grown man, as a parent would smile at their curious child… It was quite humiliating, but Antal didn't even notice, as he seemed too absorbed in the interesting conversation.

"I understand it seems like it, but believe me, I didn't choose this job… In fact, I would be much happier if someone else took my place! I don't think if you've noticed, but I'm a thirteen-year-old girl! I would rather go to school and play with my friends, instead I'm stuck leading a war!"

Antal raised his eyebrows in surprise and looked Vicky up and down once. The realization only hit him now.

Because of Henry's homeschooling about speech patterns, word fluctuations, and increasing her vocabulary, Vicky easily spoke like any adult. ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm

She also gave quite a few speeches to the masses, so her young voice seemed full of wisdom, her words holding a lot more meaning.

When Antal finally noticed how young she looked, he felt a bit embarrassed, but continued the conversation.

"I understand you never intended to take control, yet here you are. Just because you don't want it doesn't mean you can't reap the benefits of leadership! People often misuse their power just to make their own lives easier! A leader supposed to guide the people, not control them!"

Vicky nodded in both understanding and agreement.

"I agree, but elected officials can also misuse their powers! Consider this, a person can hide their real intentions until placed into power, then he can abolish the system, which can impeach them. Also, sometimes, the masses aren't correct, so voting for a leader could yield awful results!"

Antal seemed confused by her words, but at least he didn't get offended by bashing at his favoured voting system.

"Okay, think about it like this. You look down on me, because I'm not elected officially. But by proving myself, I convinced everyone I'm fit to leading, and they all accepted me, even the ones who aren't part of the Angelic Order… Isn't that basically unofficially voting me into power?"

The handsome man looked away from Vicky, pondering on her words.

While he was still thinking, Elizabeth and Henry both stepped inside the room. They seemed to resolve their differences and looked more comfortable standing by each other.

Her boyfriend stepped forward to speak, but before any words could've left his mouth, her mother, the Queen of London, knelt down.

Everyone stared at the woman, surprised, as if she lost her mind. But her dark golden eyes held perfect sanity as she looked up at Vicky.

"The talk with my son led me to a single conclusion! I don't want to be apart from him, and I don't plan on sending him to danger alone! For this reason, today at the end of the Peacemaking Celebrations, I officially renounce by queendom, and offer London to the Angelic Order…"

They all continued staring at the kneeling woman in stunned silence, while a smile grew across her face.

"I only ask one thing in return… You'll have to marry my son!"

Unlike whatever Elizabeth expected to see on Vicky's face, she never would've guessed the young girl would grin widely after hearing her offer.

"Really? I can? That's amazing! Aunt Cass! It seems you have to organize another wedding. I hope that's not a problem!"

A shiver went down the Queen's spine, as if she just committed a terrible mistake, which she would regret!