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‘I knew we’d probably need to go get her if we survived the battle, so I went ahead and tracked her down.’

‘By yourself?!’

‘No offense, but finding her was a lot faster on my own.’

‘But! Agh!’

‘I thought about having you kidnap her before we attacked the castle, but if we’d ended up dying there, then she would’ve been kinda screwed. And besides, I wasn’t in a hurry for you to meet that awful woman again.’

‘That’s my mother you’re talking about.’

‘I know. I don’t like her.’

‘Garovel...’

‘Hey, I understand that she’s important to you. And even if she wasn’t, we wouldn’t just let her get taken hostage. But that doesn’t mean I have to like her. I still think she’s a terrible mother.’

‘Don’t... don’t talk about her like that.’

‘Why shouldn’t I?’

‘Because she’s my mom, you asshole!’

Garovel fell quiet a moment. ‘Fine.’

A while of silence passed until Hector said, ‘...So how is she?’

‘She’s not living in your old house anymore. She’s still in the process of moving out, but she’s staying in a hotel at the moment.’

He’d seen her on the news, though not recently. All the media attention he’d gotten had of course spilled over to her. Hector could only imagine what she’d had to endure over these past few weeks. Even if time would have somehow changed her opinion of him, he knew that not nearly enough of it had passed. There wasn’t a chance in hell that she wanted to see him again.

‘She changed her name, too. She’s Vanessa Cole, now.’

‘I guess that’s why the reporters have stopped hounding her so much...’ He hesitated with his next question. ‘Did she... lose her job?’

‘I think so. Though, I imagine she quit. Just being related to a criminal isn’t grounds for being fired. Or at least, I’d hope it isn’t.’

‘Maybe, but... I’m not just a “criminal” in the public’s eyes.’

‘True.’

He took a deep breath. ‘Garovel... what do I even say to her?’

‘I don’t think you should lie to her, if that’s what you’re asking.’