Chapter 802: Meet My Parents!
Just as Carmela and Joy were fully immersed in the warmth of the wolf family reunion, a bright, cheerful voice cut through the noise like a ray of sunshine.
"JOY! CARMELA! YOU’RE FINALLY HERE!"
Both women turned to see Skadi bounding toward them, her silver hair bouncing with each energetic step.
Her tail was wagging so furiously behind her that it was almost a blur, and her face was split into the biggest, goofiest grin imaginable.
"Fufufu! I thought for sure you’d be all cooped up in the mansion with your books and your gloomy corner!"
"I was gonna drag you here myself if I had to!"
"But you came! You actually came!"
She exclaimed, her words tumbling out in a happy, slightly breathless rush.
Before they could reply, she spun on her heel, pointing an enthusiastic finger at them.
"Mama! Papa! Look! That’s them! The Joy and Carmela I keep yapping about!" She beamed, a proud grin stretching across her face. "C’mon, c’mon! Let’s go! Gotta do the introductions!"
She lunged forward, grabbing a fistful of her father’s worn tunic and her mother’s flowing sleeve, and began to haul them along like determined tugboats.
"Skadi, don’t drag your poor father like that." Theo protested as his daughter tugged him forward. "I’m not as strong as I used to be, you know!"
"Oh hush, darling." Olga chided gently, covering her mouth with a delicate laugh. "Our daughter is just enthusiastic. Can you blame her? She’s finally able to introduce her friends to us!"
Joy felt her body stiffen as Skadi dragged her parents closer.
A wave of anxiety washed over her, cold and unwelcome.
All across the continent, her name was spoken with fear and trepidation.
The Saintess of Judgment, the woman who punished nobles without mercy, who had slaughtered her entire family.
Even the commoners, who benefited from her work, couldn’t look her in the eye without flinching.
And now she was about to meet Skadi’s parents—the people who had raised the precious, pure-hearted wolf girl she adored so much.
If they looked at her with fear or disgust, if they pulled their children away from her...
’Please.’ She thought desperately. ’Please don’t hate me. I couldn’t bear it if Skadi’s family hated me.’
But as Olga drew near and Joy braced for impact...
...she found nothing happening.
No widening of the eyes in horror. No subtle step back. No whispered prayers.
Instead, Olga’s own beautiful silver eyes, so like Skadi’s, yet infinitely wiser and softer widened in genuine, awestruck surprise.
A delicate hand flew to her lips.
"Oh my! Oh my, my, my!" Olga breathed, her voice a hushed, reverent whisper.
"You...You truly are as breathtaking as your mother, Joy. The spitting image, but with your own fierce light."
Joy blinked, completely thrown off. "M-My mother?"
Olga nodded enthusiastically. "I actually met your mother today, Joy! We spent quite a bit of time together—we even shared some tea and pastries at one of the stalls. She’s absolutely lovely, you know."
Joy felt her heart warm at the thought of her mother making new friends.
"We spoke about so many things." Olga continued, her smile growing. "She talked about the church, about her work, about how happy she is now that she’s free." She paused, her eyes softening. "But most of all, she talked about you."
Joy’s breath caught.
"She seemed so proud of you, Joy. So incredibly proud." Olga reached out and gently touched Joy’s cheek. "She told me how beautiful you are, and I thought, ’Surely she’s just being a biased mother.’"
"But now that I see you with my own eyes..."
She shook her head in wonder. "You’re probably the most beautiful sister I’ve ever seen."
Joy felt a flush creep up her cheeks. "I...I don’t know what to say. Thank you."
Olga suddenly realized she was going off on a tangent and became flustered herself.
"Oh! I’m so sorry! I apologize for rambling on and saying such random things."
She gave a small bow, her cheeks pink with embarrassment.
"I’m Skadi’s mommy, the one who raised this adorable little puppy."
She reached over and patted Skadi’s head, and Skadi absolutely melted into the touch, her eyes closing in bliss.
"But I really have to thank you, Joy." Olga continued, suddenly grabbing Joy’s hands in her own.
Her expression was earnest, almost desperate with sincerity.
"I truly, truly have to thank you for taking care of my daughter all these years!"
Joy opened her mouth to protest, but Olga continued before she could.
"She’s mentioned you so many times whenever she came to visit."
Olga said, her voice thick with emotion.
"She’d tell me about this sister who gave her the best head pats, who groomed her hair when it got tangled, who brought her treats from faraway places and saved them just for her."
"She’d say, ’Mama, Mama, Joy is the best—she always knows exactly what I need!’ And the way she said it..."
Olga’s eyes shimmered. "She sounded so loved. So cherished."
Joy was utterly stunned. The fearsome Inquisitor, who could level battalions with a glare, felt herself crumbling.
"N-No, please." She managed, her voice hoarse. "You mustn’t...I didn’t...It was nothing praiseworthy. I just..."
She swallowed, looking at Skadi, who was watching the exchange with a starry-eyed, proud smile.
"I just enjoy spoiling her. The reactions she gives...they’re priceless. She makes it easy."
Olga shook her head firmly.
"You don’t understand, dear. Even though I know my daughter is strong, she’s a vice-captain of the Holy Guard, after all, I can’t help but worry about her every single day."
Her eyes grew distant, filled with a mother’s eternal concern.
"Every day I wonder: is she eating properly? Is she being taken care of? Is she hurt or injured? Is she happy?"
She bit her lip, her eyes glistening. "It truly breaks my heart sometimes, not being able to be there for her."
But then her expression shifted, brightening like the sun breaking through clouds.
"But then I hear stories about how Julie always tucks her into bed at night, and how Aisha, despite always fighting with her always accompanies her to lunch."
"And how you, Joy, take such good care of her..."
She looked directly into Joy’s eyes, and Joy felt seen in a way she hadn’t in decades.
"It lets me breathe. It tells me my puppy is safe, and loved, and happy. You have given a worried mother peace. That is a gift beyond measure."
Then, a shy, almost girlish hesitation came over Olga. She fidgeted with the hem of her sleeve as she said muttered,
"I...I know this is terribly forward of me, we’ve only just met, but..."
She looked up, her expression hopeful and embarrassed.
"May I hug you? After all the love you’ve showered on my daughter, I feel I must shower just a little bit back on you."
Once again, Joy’s brain short-circuited.
This was not in any protocol. This was not how interactions with the parents her own subordinates went.
Yet, her mouth moved before her mind could argue.
"Of...of course. Yes." She nodded stiffly, like a rusty automaton "A hug is...permissible."
She awkwardly spread her arms, her posture rigid and Olga didn’t hesitate.
She stepped forward and enveloped Joy in a hug that was pure, undiluted motherhood. It was soft, warm, and smelled faintly of lavender and baked bread.
She gently guided Joy’s head to rest against the incredible, pillowy softness of her bosom.
For a single moment, Joy stiffened, then...she melted. It was like stepping into a sunbeam after a century in the cold.
It felt like...coming home.
Meanwhile, Theo was trying to figure out how to introduce himself.
Unlike the commoners who feared Joy, Theo knew exactly what she did.
He knew the darkness she waded through, the evil she fought. He respected her for it.
But seeing his wife embracing Joy made him feel awkward about approaching.
Before he could decide, however, Joy found herself swarmed by tiny bodies.
"Mama, move aside! We want to see her too!"
"She’s so pretty!"
"Look at her hair! It’s so long and pink!"
Four little wolf girls had surrounded Joy, their eyes wide with wonder.
They were climbing over each other to get a better look, their tails swishing excitedly.
Joy froze, terrified that if she made even a single move, she’d knock one of them over. She stood stiff as a stone, not daring to breathe.
"Big Sis Joy." Said the oldest, Nunu, who had twin tails and a very serious expression. "You’re even more beautiful than Big Sis Skadi said."
"She said you were pretty!" The second oldest, Momo, chimed in. "But you’re like...SUPER pretty!"
The third, Tutu, reached out and touched Joy’s hair reverently. "So soft." She breathed. "Like silk."
The youngest, the three-year-old named Fufu, who had been clinging to Cassius’s head earlier said nothing.
Instead, she simply crawled up Joy’s body like a little monkey and settled herself on her head, letting out a satisfied "mmmm."
Joy felt like she was going to pass out from happiness.
Olga quickly interjected. "Oh my, darlings, please don’t crowd her. She might not like—"
"No, no, it’s alright." Joy said quickly, her voice coming out in a breathless rush.
She looked down at the little ones with the most tender eyes she’d ever possessed.
"It’s completely fine. They’re so...they’re so..."
"They’re so cute...I want to eat them up..."
Unfortunately, four-year-old Tutu had the hearing of a bat. She gasped, her tiny body trembling violently.
"B-Big Sis...you want to eat Tutu?"
Her voice wobbled, on the verge of tears.
"You want to eat Tutu whole? Tutu is very smol...not much meat!"
"If you are hungry, p-please eat...eat a big sausage instead! Tutu wants to live!"
She ended with a desperate, adorable little wail.
Joy panicked, her eyes widening in horror. "No! No, sweetheart, I didn’t mean—"
Just then, the eldest sister, Nunu, patted Tutu’s head with the patience of a much older child.
"Tutu, she doesn’t literally want to eat you. It’s a...a grown-up expression."
"It means she finds you so cute, her feelings are too big for normal words. Right, Big Sis Joy?"
She looked up at Joy for confirmation, her expression wise beyond her years.
Joy nodded frantically.
"Yes! Exactly! Precisely that! I would never eat you! I would protect you from anyone who tried!"
"See?" Nunu said to her little sister, who sniffled, her tears slowing.
Joy was astounded. This child looked so young, yet she spoke with such wisdom.
Unlike Skadi, who was goofy and puppy-like, Nunu seemed like the responsible, mature one.
But her musings were interrupted by Momo, who thrust her fluffy tail toward Joy with reckless abandon.
"Big Sis Joy! Big Sis Joy!" She squealed. "I heard from Big Sis Skadi that you absolutely LOVE to brush tails and give head pats!"
"I love those things too! Can you do that to me? Please, please, please?"
Fufu, still on Joy’s head, offered her own tail as well.
Joy felt tears of pure joy pricking at her eyes.
"Really? You’d let me?"
"Of course!" Momo nodded, pushing her head forward. "Do your magic!"
Joy gently reached out and started ruffling Momo’s silver hair. The little girl’s tail began wagging furiously, and she let out a sound of pure contentment that melted Joy’s heart completely.
She felt like she was going to die of happiness.
But then Fufu pouted, clearly not wanting to be left out.
"Me too! Me too! I want patty-pat!"
"Sorry, sorry!" Joy quickly reached out and started petting Fufu as well.
The little girl’s ears twitched with pleasure, and Joy felt another wave of pure bliss wash over her.
Soon, all the sisters were clamoring for attention.
"Me too, Big Sis!"
"Fluff my tail!"
"I want your hands in my hair!"
"Throw me in the air and catch me like Big Brother Cassius does!"
Joy felt like she was floating in the clouds.
Four little Skadis were surrounding her, their souls as pure as the original, and they were all fighting for her affection.
Even when she’d actually been to heaven, she hadn’t felt this happy.
