Lady Vena explained, "You're still weak. Your cultivation has also been reduced. I don't know to what extent. But it might be so bad that you might never be able to cultivate again."
"Do you understand what I am telling you? You might have become a cripple because of your injuries. So don't bother about revenge for now. Stay home and recover first."
Arthur squinted his eyes and asked her, "Are you sure?"
He is doubting her because there is nothing like what she said on his system. According to his system, he is fine. Only his stamina has reduced somewhat. So he suspects that she is lying to him and she is up to something.
She nodded in affirmation. "I am very sure. You've lost a lot of strength and might become a cripple. So stay home to recuperate instead of running around making more enemies."
He thought of something and asked, "Mom. Did you send those men after me to injure me so that you could come and save me and have me stay at home with you?"
Lady Vena laughed and shook her head in amusement. She laughed so much that she teared up.
She wiped the tear from her eyes and said, "You have such a wild imagination. What do you take me for? Do you think I am that crazy?"
He replied with confidence, "Seeing as you haven't answered my question, I am inclined to think you had a hand in this."
She snorted. "Well, I didn't. I am not that crazy. You have just offended too many people. Trouble was bound to come."
He said, "I hope you are speaking the truth and that it didn't have anything to do with this."
Her eyes became cold when she heard what he said. She asked in a cold voice, "Or what?"
He was silent because he didn't know what exactly he would do. He knows that he will be angry, but he doesn't know what extent he should reach for revenge.
She sneered at him and said, "Tell me, Arthur. What would you do if I had sent people to attack you? Will you kill me? Will you kill your mother because of a dead dog?"
He thought about it and said, "I won't kill you. But I will injure you and imprison you so that you will experience what it feels like to lose your freedom. Then I will take something that you love so you will understand what it feels like to lose Ruff."
She cocked an eyebrow and said, "Would you look at that? My boy Arthur thinks he is all grown up now."
"But you still have a lot of growing up to do and more things to learn. Your plan is good, but you don't have the strength to execute it. Even if you did, you still can't hurt me by taking away something I love because I don't love anything."
"When you're free and unfettered like me, the loss of someone won't matter much to you. That's a lesson that you need to learn."
He hummed and said, "If that is so, then you shouldn't mind it if I take Brooks away."
Lady Vena chuckled. "Good one. You got me there. I will miss Brooks if you take him. It will be very difficult for me to live on without his food."
He chuckled too. "I don't know if you're exaggerating or if you truly care about Brooks only because of his cooking."
She snorted. "What does it matter to you? What matters is that I still have a weakness that you can use to hurt me. You should be proud of yourself for identifying it."
He shook his head and said, "I just hope I never have to use it."
He looked at her straight in the eye and said seriously, "I truly hope that you had nothing to do with those people."
She ignored his threat and said, "Let's say for a moment that I did send those people to injure you so much that you were nearly crippled and killed your dog. Is it really a good idea for you to threaten me like this?"
He nodded. "It is not a bad idea because you did it to keep me under your thumb. So you still want me alive."
She scoffed. "You think too highly of yourself. I don't care if you live or die, so I didn't send those men to you, and if I did, I wouldn't have spent so much money to save your life."
"If there is a mistake I made here, it is spending a thousand gold coins to save your life. If I hadn't, I wouldn't have to listen to you ungrateful brat accuse me of almost killing you."
"You're worse than ungrateful. At least an ungrateful person has the decency to be content with not thanking me. But you're so full of yourself and pompous that you dared to accuse me of the attempted murder of my son."
He thought about it and said, "Thank you for saving me. I'm sorry for doubting your sincerity."
She shook her head. "What you did was half right and mostly wrong. You were right to doubt me. I could have truly orchestrated your calamity and swooped in to save you."
"Then I would deny that I saved you and instead claim that you came to me all so that you would feel indebted to me. So you were right to be suspicious."
"What you did wrong was to voice your suspicion. If I did what you suspected, now I would know that you're on to me. I might have to silence you or silence my accomplices so that you never find a link to me."
"You were supposed to lay low with your suspicion, investigate me silently and carefully, then nail me suddenly with proof and retribution. That's how it's done."
He sighed and said, "You're right, mother. But I must say that this is why I suspect you. You're too diabolical."