It is something she does, but she said to Brooks, "That's a bad habit. It is rude not to sit when a seat is offered to you. I wonder where you learned that bad habit from."
Brooks didn't say that he learned it from her. Instead, he smiled and said, "I'm grateful for the seat, but I'd rather stand."
She scoffed. "Suit yourself."
Then she took a sip of her wine before she asked, "Now what is this very important matter?"
Brooks replied, "It is about the young master. Will you allow him to leave when he becomes capable of walking?"
She rolled her eyes. "Don't worry. I'll keep my word and let him go. I hope that makes you happy."
Brooks sighed and said, "Unfortunately not, my lady. I was hoping that you would…"
She frowned and interrupted him with a question, "What more do you want? Don't go too far, or I won't let him go at all."
Brooks shook his head. "I don't have any presumptuous request. I was just hoping that you would stop him from leaving."
Lady Vena chuckled. "With the way you're worried about him, one might think that you're his father."
Brooks smiled wryly and said, "I truly care for him as a son, which is why I don't want him to leave yet."
"Then why didn't you try your best to stop him during the fight. Don't lie to me because I know that you were holding back. I've seen you fight many times, so I knew that you were not putting in your best."
Brooks replied, "I knew that he wasn't going to give up even at the cost of terrible harm to himself. I didn't want that to happen, so I let him win. I was hoping you would stop him from going, though."
Lady Vena shook her head and turned her attention to the book she was reading.
She said to him without looking at him, "You enabled him while hoping that I would continue to play my part as the villain. Unfortunately, for you, you're out of luck."
"He will be leaving. I have better things than going after him every few days and dislocating his limbs. You might find this difficult to believe, but I don't find it enjoyable at all."
Brooks pleaded, "But he is just a child. Children don't know what is good for them. They are foolish and cannot be taken seriously."
She shook her head. "Not this child. You should know that already. He is too smart and opinionated."
"He is also powerful. If someone that can draw with you or even beat you can't survive on their own, then no one should be able to."
"I ventured out on my own at the third transformation. I made it, so he can too. Don't worry about it."
Brooks insisted, "But I am worried."
She asked him, "Have you seen the wine he made?"
Brooks sighed but nodded.
"That is my point. He was just eight years old when he started winemaking. I thought it was impossible for him to achieve anything worthwhile out of it in ten years. But I knew I was wrong to see that when he showed me his plan. So I changed my estimate to five years."
"Despite how accommodating I was with that estimation, I was still wrong. It took him just two years to produce something worthwhile."
"Not only is it worthwhile, it is highly valuable too. It is so valuable that it makes me regret not asking for more percentage when I invested in it.."
"Thanks to his shrew of a stepmother, everyone in the family now knows he makes wine. They have even tried his wine, and they claimed it was excellent, so he has become famous. He is just eleven years old, yet he has managed to become a wine master."
"If he can achieve that, I'm sure he can survive on his own. Besides, I wanted to let him go and stop supporting him after reaching the seventh transformation. If he wants to become independent a little bit earlier, then so be it."
Brooks knew she was going to say this after she asked him if he had seen Arthur's wine.
The first time he took it, he was sure that it was poison because it wreaked havoc in his body. But he soon forgot his worries about the toxicity of the drink and about everything else in his life.
He fell into a daze from which he didn't wake up until a few hours later. So the so-called wine is not for the weak.
But everyone took it as a challenge to be overcome. And when they survived it, they were able to appreciate its intoxication.
This kind of success meant that Arthur didn't need his mother anymore. Still, Brooks didn't give up.
He asked carefully while taking a few steps back subtly, "If he has to leave, then can I go with him to protect him?"
Lady Vena shook her head. "No. I won't give you up because he wants to become independent."
Brooks asked, "Aren't you worried about him?"
"I am worried. But not enough to sacrifice you. Besides, what's the worst that can happen? Is it not death? I have seen that happen several times, many of which were facilitated by me."
"I will be sad if he dies, but I'll get over it after a while. However, I can't get over you and your great cooking. So no."
Brooks asked, "What about Geltra?"
Lady Vena stopped reading her book to focus on him. Her eyes were narrowed in suspicion. This suspicion was all but confirmed when she saw that he had put a lot of distance between them.
She said with certainty, "You asked me to let you go so that I would feel compelled to let Geltra go after denying you, didn't you?"
Brooks smiled and said, "You see right through me, my lady."
She shook her head. "I wonder where you got these bad habits."
Brooks just continued to smile. He didn't say anything about the identity of his role model.