Arthur realized that she was in a bad mood, but this time he didn't say anything. He didn't want to poke the bear and make it angry.
Lady Vena was silent as she thought about her meeting with the patriarch. She also thought about the last part of the meeting.
After chastising them, the patriarch had said to them, "You may go. Just remember to tell me whenever he needs anything next time. Take this as warning. If you fail the family in this, I might actually turn you over my lap and spank you mercilessly."
He warned them again, "I'm telling you now that I mean it. For your sake, I'll advise you not to test how much I mean it because you will not like the result."
She and Augustus had bowed to him and said, "Yes, patriarch."
Then they withdrew themselves as fast as possible.
On their way back to the party, Augustus said to her, "I guess I need to suck up to my son now."
She had sneered and said, "You mean my son. He has never been your son because you have never been a father to him. You will need me to help you get in his good graces."
Augustus nodded in agreement and said, "You may be right. But I don't agree with everything you said."
He became silent as he thought about what she said and what he had done for Arthur as a father.
She stopped to hear what he had to say. She wanted to know what he had to say in his defense.
She wished she hadn't done so after she heard what he said next.
He had said, "You're right. I was never a father to him. I am currently a stranger to him. But that is better than your situation."
She laughed a laughter of derision and asked, "How so?"
He replied confidently, "You're a bad mother to him. You have to threaten him with death in order to bring him to this party. So how much favor do you have with him?"
"At least I am a stranger to him. I haven't done anything unforgivable to him. I can introduce myself to him and give him gifts. This should make me get a position in his heart that is better than yours."
"So while you're right that I was never a father to him. You're wrong in believing that that is a bad thing. You're also wrong to think that I will need you to get in his good graces."
She glared at him and said, "We will see about that."
Then she marched away to look for Arthur.
The two of them lolled around for Arthur. They didn't find him where they left him, so they went their separate ways in search of him.
She was the one who found him first. Then she made him leave the party as soon as possible so that Augustus wouldn't be able to get to him and buy Arthur's favor.
She was gloomy because she was thinking about what Augustus had said. She admits that there is some truth to what Augustus said, which is why she was in a bad mood.
She doesn't think she was a bad mother to Arthur. It is true that she had done some bad things to him, but most of the things she did to him were for his own good. But Arthur might not think so.
Especially the matter of her kidnapping Arthur to bring him to the party and choking him to make him stay at the party. She had done that in order to suck up to Augustus, but the person she should have been sucking up to was Arthur all along.
She thought angrily to herself, "It is his fault that I did it. If he hadn't been hiding his strength and talent from me, his kind and generous mother, I wouldn't have treated him that way."
She was angry at Arthur for making her commit such a mistake. But she didn't dare to show her anger to him. She could only smile sweetly at him.
Despite doing so, the damage had already been done. Apparently, he can't say that she isn't a bad mother.
Arthur was also thinking of a lot of things. All of the things he was thinking about are related to the matter of the evening and the party.
He first thought about his mother's weird behavior. Then he thought about the power of that patriarch.
He promised himself then, "This kind of insult cannot go unanswered. I must touch him all over like he did me when I reach the third mortal coil. What a pervert."
He is angry, but not that angry because of the gift the man had given him. It made up for the slight insult he had felt for being touched all over.
He chuckled and said to himself, "I guess this must be why prostitutes do their job and why they do it even if they hate it."
He should feel dirty for being bought off like that, but he is too happy because of the bow and quiver. Anytime he tries to get angry, his anger dissipates when he strokes the smooth golden bow.
He also thought of Tyson. Tyson surprised him by not acting superior to him.
Maybe he was supposed to have some prejudice towards Tyson, but he didn't because Tyson was just a child to him. He is a man with three times as much living experience as Tyson, so he was willing to give Tyson the benefit of the doubt.
He was willing to be friendly with Tyson if Tyson was willing to be friendly. If Tyson had decided to discard this kindness, then the boy should prepare himself for a world of hurt.
Fortunately, things didn't go in that direction. Tyson was as cute as he thought the boy was. Even though the two of them rarely met each other and weren't familiar with one another, they had a good time chatting.