Help! My Moms Are Overpowered Tyrants, and I’m Stuck as Their Baby! - Chapter 41

Chapter 41: The Calm Before the Execution (Or So I Thought)

I grumbled, but let them drag me along.

Even as suspicion prickled at the back of my mind.

Mara, practically vibrating with excitement, led the way down the long marble corridor, while Elira walked beside me with a small, knowing smile that somehow made me even more suspicious.

“Where are we going, exactly?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at Mara’s back.

She threw a grin over her shoulder. “Somewhere nice! Trust us, Princess.”

“Trusting you is how I ended up locked in the kitchen pantry that one time,” I muttered.

Elira chuckled softly. “This time is different. No pantry involved.”

“Forgive me if I don’t find that comforting.”

[ They’re definitely up to something. ]

“Obviously,” I muttered under my breath.

Mara led us into one of the smaller drawing rooms—well, ‘smaller’ by palace standards. The ceiling was still absurdly high, and the windows tall enough to make me question the architect’s sanity. But it was cozier than most places in the castle, with plush armchairs, a low mahogany table, and sunlight streaming through the windows in soft golden beams.

To my surprise, a full tea service was already set up, complete with delicate porcelain cups, an assortment of finger sandwiches, and an alarming number of pastries.

I raised an eyebrow. “You two did this?”

Mara beamed. “Yep!”

Elira gave a graceful nod. “We thought you deserved a break.”

I blinked. “I… okay, I’m impressed. And slightly suspicious.”

Mara pouted. “Why suspicious?”

“Because the last time you two tried to ‘surprise’ me, I ended up with pink hair for a week.”

Elira chuckled behind her hand. “In our defense, it was a lovely shade of pink.”

[ You actually looked adorable. Like a homicidal marshmallow. ]

“Shut up,” I muttered, flopping into one of the armchairs.

Mara poured me a cup of tea, practically glowing with pride, while Elira handed me a plate with an artfully arranged selection of pastries.

“Alright,” I sighed, taking a sip of tea. “This is nice. I admit it. But if something explodes, I’m blaming both of you.”

“Not everything we do ends in disaster,” Elira said mildly.

I stared at her.

Mara snorted. “Okay, most things we do end in disaster. But not this time!”

[ I’ll start taking bets now. Explosion or chaos within the hour? ]

I took a bite of a pastry, ignoring the system’s smug tone.

For a while, everything was… peaceful.

We chatted, Mara told me a ridiculous story about one of the palace guards accidentally locking himself in the stables overnight, and Elira shared a surprisingly funny account of an overly dramatic noble fainting because someone spilled soup on his new cloak.

It was nice.

Which meant, of course, that it couldn’t last.

The first sign that something was wrong came when a noblewoman hurried past the open door, sobbing into a handkerchief.

I frowned. “Was that Lady Virelle?”

Mara blinked. “Uh… maybe?”

Then another noble rushed past, this time a middle-aged man muttering, “We’re all doomed,” under his breath.

I put down my teacup. “Okay. What’s going on?”

Elira gave me an innocent smile. “Nothing important.”

A third noble scurried by, looking like he’d seen his own funeral, followed by two villagers who were definitely not supposed to be in this wing of the palace, both of them whispering frantically about “pleading for mercy.”

My blood ran cold.

I shot to my feet. “Oh no. Oh no, no, no. They’re not tell me they’re not.”

Mara blinked. “Not what?”

“Elira, are my mothers planning an execution today?”

Elira froze for half a second too long.

I groaned. “They’re planning a mass execution, aren’t they?”

[ Well, it’s been a while since they had one. Gotta keep the bloodlust sharp. ]

“This isn’t funny!” I hissed mentally.

Mara raised her hands. “I’m sure it’s not a mass execution!”

Elira, to her credit, actually looked like she wanted to reassure me. “Your Highness, I promise, everything is fine.”

“Fine?” I gestured wildly toward the hall. “People are running for their lives! That is not fine!”

[ To be fair, your mothers tend to have that effect on people just by existing. ]

I started pacing, panic bubbling up in my chest. “This is bad. This is really bad. What if they’re going to—”

Mara stepped in front of me, grabbing my shoulders. “Princess! Breathe!”

“I can’t breathe when my mothers are probably out there deciding who gets their head chopped off!”

Elira gently touched my arm. “It’s not what you think.”

“Oh really? Because it looks exactly like one of their ‘let’s strike fear into the masses’ days.”

Mara grinned sheepishly. “Okay, it does look like that. But trust us!”

“Trust you? The same people who once tried to teach me to ‘relax’ by sneaking a live squirrel into my room?”

Elira sighed. “That was Mara’s idea.”

Mara pouted. “It was a cute squirrel.”

[ Focus, kitten overlord. We have bigger problems than emotionally traumatized rodents. ]

I grabbed my head, trying to think. “Okay. Okay, maybe I can stop them. If I find them before the executions start, I can talk them down. Or at least convince them to only execute, like, one person.”

Mara giggled nervously. “No need for that!”

Elira nodded quickly. “Really, Princess. Everything is under control.”

I shot them both a glare. “If you two know something and aren’t telling me—”

“Nothing bad is happening!” Mara promised.

I stared at them, my suspicion growing by the second.

[ Oh, this is going to be entertaining. ]

“Not helping,” I hissed.

Elira stepped in front of me. “Princess, please. Just trust us. No one is being executed today.”

I blinked. “Wait. Today?”

Mara smacked Elira’s arm. “Shh!”

I gasped. “So there is something happening!”

Mara groaned. “We’re terrible at this.”

Elira sighed. “Yes. Yes, you are.”

I crossed my arms. “Fine. If no one’s being executed, then what’s going on?”

Elira smiled sweetly. “Would you like more tea, Princess?”

I threw my hands up. “Unbelievable.”

Mara tugged at my sleeve. “Come on! Let’s not worry about all that! Let’s just… have fun!”

I narrowed my eyes. “If my mothers are planning something awful and you two didn’t tell me—”

“It’s not awful!” Mara insisted.

“Define ‘awful,'” I shot back.

Elira chuckled softly. “You’ll see soon enough, Princess.”

[ Oh, you definitely will. And it’s going to be hilarious. ]

“Why do I feel like I’m about to regret everything?” I muttered.

Mara grinned. “Because you overthink too much!”

Elira poured me another cup of tea, her smile far too serene. “Enjoy today, Princess. Tomorrow will be… interesting.”

[ Oh, it absolutely will be. ]

I sighed. “I’m going to need more pastries.”