II. The Impact of Her

~ Five ~

I bit my inner cheek as I avoided her gaze.

I knew that look on her face right now and she wasn't amused.

"Robert?" a stern voice came out from her lips.

I sighed in defeat, looking at her apologetically.

"Would you mind explaining to me why Gonzalo entered your room with a stack of reports?" she asked as she gestured at Gonzalo briefly.

"As I said, Mother, I've been feeling better since last week. And instead of staying in bed or doing nothing the whole day, I figured I could go back to my reports," I explained.

"Robert, your father and I already gave out orders for you to be exempted from royal duties until we see fit," she scolded. "Why do you keep defying our orders? Is that hard to follow?"

"Mother, it's not that I want to disobey your orders," I protested. "But what you want me to do will just keep me sick for a much longer time. If I continue to do nothing, I will never truly heal."

"But do you have to do an immediate stack of reports on your first day out of bed?" she continued as she pointed at the reports. "In our eyes, you're not completely healed and yet you think you can handle this much mental work?"

"Mother, it's better to immerse myself in working instead of staring out the window the whole day," I said, a bit annoyed. "I want to get my body back to work as early as possible. Even James would want for me to do that.

"Why would you think that your father would want you to go back to work right away?" Mother responded. "If you must know, he's the one who wanted you to keep resting until you fully recovered. He even went out of his way to do half of the piled reports on your desk. Your father isn't as bad as you think he is."

I chuckled, knowing where this conversation was headed to and I didn't want to have this argument, especially when I just got back from being injured. "Mother, you're reading my words wrong. I'm not saying he's the villain in this. All I'm saying is as his heir, he will surely understand why I want to resume my responsibilities. As he would always say, the sooner--"

"The better." Another voice entered our conversation, making us turn our heads to the door. "It seems that your son has learned a lot after your trip to Middle Earth," he continued as he approached us. "Gonzalo, stand. There's nothing to worry about," he added, passing by Gonzalo.

"I thought you were still in the meeting. How did it go?" Mother asked, kissing James on the cheek.

"They were getting difficult, especially with their demands. They want to benefit from the cause and at the same time, claim all the glory that will be received from the plan," he explained.

"Well, that's a shame. It would've been a wonderful opportunity to showcase our partnership with them," Mother frowned. "And their products have potential to be a good source of revenue for the kingdom."

"Oh, don't worry too much, my wife. There are a lot of opportunities out there," he smiled at her, holding her hands. "Anyways," he slowly turned Mother around to face me, putting his hands on her shoulders. "What are you two arguing about?"

Mother and I just looked at each other, waiting for one of us to tell James what was going on before he arrived.

"We're not arguing, to be exact," I started, putting my hands behind my back. "I was just explaining to Mother that I'm fully capable of going back to work and that you would agree with me on that matter."

Mother looked up to James and he looked back at her, talking with their eyes. "Well, if your mother was the one who gets her way, you would be staying in bed until we say so," he said after a sigh. "However, you are your own person, and if you think you can handle a few reports today then do so. But don't strain yourself. The Medicine King said that you may be feeling better but your wounds still need a bit more time."