The outrage, the disrespect... the way immeasurable. The blonde woman stared at the kid in disbelief, wondering who gave such a small frame so many balls.
"Disrespectful brat!".
The woman lunged for a punch the same way she'd punch a grown man. However, she found herself planted harshly on the ground with shock and pain.
Even Historia gasped and realised things weren't being very 'funny' with her mother getting stomped on the ground like that. The lady, for her part, couldn't begin to believe how that small kid had enough strength to throw her down like a rag doll. She, an adult, was overpowered by a kid.
"Ugh!"
Arthur jumped on her stomach and looked down at her with contempt.
"It is called Jiujitsu. I know some of it... just enough to deal with menopausal karens like you. By the way, look at you...? punching a kid, truly a scum" He hissed like a snake.
The woman fumed and tried to release her grasp, but it only changed for worse when in their struggle, Arthur put her on her stomach and restrained both her arms, sitting on her butt.
"M-Move!" She screamed and thrashed about.
"Historia, get her legs" Arthur ordered the blonde girl, who was in her own world.
"E-Eh?"
"Grab her legs tight in place. We're going to have so fun with mom~".
Historia felt reluctant, but seeing that for the first time, she was finaly going to have some fun with her mother, she accepted.
"Historia!" Her mother called her name for the first time. It didn't sound friendly, but for the little girl, this was progress.
She held onto her mother's legs as tight as she could, in one of those rash movements, her heel crashed against Historia's cheek, making the girl yelp and almost release her grasp.
*PA!*
!!!
The woman gasped and felt a hot sensation on her butt that sent a wave of pain into her mind. Her butt just got slapped.
"Be quiet, Karen", Arthur frowned, "You hit Historia again in front of me, and see what will happen".
With a promise of more pain, the woman settled down, "W-Who is Karen?! My name is Alma!"
"Okay, Karen. I was saying... I know your weakness, I'm going to show it to your daughter so that she knows how to deal with you in the future".
"You..."
He turned to look at the girl who was almost crying from the hit she received just now. It was strike one for Arthur; two more strikes, and he wasn't about to give this woman a chance.
"It is like this, Historia. When your mom gets annoying, you just lift her armpits and get crazy!".
And so the torture began.
"Haahahaha! Stop!!!"
Karen, no, Alma... laughed hopelessly with tears in her eyes as she struggled to escape. However, her laugh and smile only fueled her daughter's strength.
"S-Stop hahahaahaha k-kid where are you touching!? hahahaha!".
"You're quite soft, stop resisting and enjoy the process. See, Historia? When your mom gets stupid, just do this. It works with all of them".
"Yes!~"
...
By the time Arthur stopped, there was foam —lots of it. The woman lay defeated, muddleheaded and contemplating how she ended up in that situation. Nevertheless, the berserk figure of the boy tickling her was saved in her mind forever, like a nightmare that could never be forgotten.
"Phew... she's a hard one, but she's got them big too" Arthur cleaned the sweat off his forehead.
"Eh? What's big?" Historia asked.
"*cough!* her perseverance".
"Mom looked like she had a lot of fun!~".
Even after she let go of Alma's legs, she didn't stand up or retort. Historia took that as a sign that her mother was no longer angry and that she enjoyed herself.
"Hehehe... she had more than just fun, Historia".
"I-I will... revenge", Alma mumbled finaly, cleaning the foam off her mouth slowly.
"Huh? You want more?! Look, Historia... she wants more!".
"N-No!" Alma panicked and crawled away. She saw the two monsters approaching. Especially her daughter, she looked hideous and scary with that cute smile of hers, convinced that she was having 'fun'.
"Mom is having fun!~"
"Let me go, you psychotic kids!".
**
**
An hour later, Historia and Arthur sat at the table, painting some stuff while Alma cooked some sandwiches with a vengeful, cold, but helpless expression.
"What's wrong with that face, you want more tickling? I am sure laughing a bit will make you feel better".
"I am okay... thank you", She said with cracked teeth.
They had their dinner where Historia showed Alma a drawing she made of the three of them 'playing' together. Funny enough, she also drew the foam in her mother's mouth.
"..." The woman didn't know what to do or say, so she just took it and sighed. Historia yawned, and Arthur tucked her to sleep. She was smiling brightly and joyfully... maybe the best day of her life.
"Thanks, Arthur".
"Anytime, sweetheart. You know what to do when things get ugly, right?".
Historia smiled and did a tickling motion.
"Good girl. I may be gone by the time you wake up. I will see you later".
"U-Uhm".
**
**
[Arthur's POV]
It was quite an eventful day. I hope I accomplished what Frieda expected of me. Once I returned to the living room, Alma was there, reading her book. She saw me come, frowned and put the book away as if I was going to slap it out of her grasp once more.
"We're cool, chill"
I sat down, and there was tea that she had prepared. I looked at it twice and didn't touch it; the sandwich may not be poisoned because Historia was there, but who knows about this? She frowned and sipped her own as to 'signal me' that it was okay to drink.
"Nice, it is not poisoned~".
"If I wanted to kill you, I'd grab a knife, kid; I am not that prude", She hissed.
I shrugged my shoulders and sampled it. I was shocked... it was a very good tea. This woman, all she does is laze around, doesn't look like someone capable of making good tea.
"Thanks for the tea. See? You can be a sweetheart when you try, Karen".
She frowned, and if her tea didn't kill, her gaze certainly could.
"... okay, Alma", I rolled my eyes. Trolling her was good, but if I want her to have a good relationship with Historia, I should try to be a bit more respectful.
"Are you going to apologise yet?" She mumbled.
"Apologise for what?".
"For slapping my book away, and for your blatant disrespect".
"..." I said nothing and continued to sip my tea. She also drank her own, and we remained in a deadlock until we both finished. She signalled to me, asking if I wanted more, and I declined.
"I did that with a proper justification. Historia is my friend. I think she's a sweet girl. I don't know how hard your life is or how wrong things went since her birth. It is not her fault... what you're doing is wrong".
"You talk like you know... b-because of her I lost everything I worked so hard for!".
Her insecurities and deeply ingrained wrath resurfaced.
"... Regardless, it is not her fault... if anything, it is Rodd Reiss' fault. You are powerless to do anything to him, so you'd rather release it on your daughter? That's depressive behaviour. Besides, are you that dumb, Alma? She could be the key for you to obtain more than what you have lost. The best thing you can do is to have a good relationship with your daughter and be a good mother to her... do you think she's not going to inherit anything from her father?".
The woman gasped as if she hadn't considered that, but eventually laughed.
"H-Hehe... good mother...? If you care so much about her... are you okay with her mother being a whore?".
It was my time to gasp. I sort of imagined, given her situation and her going out in intervals well dressed. There is a difference between a prostitute and an escort, but they're essentially the same: a sex worker.
"Because that's what I do for a living, kid. I am an escort... after losing everything, this is the only thing I can do. Do you think I can be a good mother?!"
"I will pay you", I said.
"..."
"Whatever you charge for the hour, I will pay you twelve hours daily. I will pay for your time, so you are mine, Alma. And what I want you to do is spend your time being Historia's mother, that's all".
The woman didn't say anything for a long time. I went to sleep in Historia's room, not before telling her to consider my proposal. I couldn't think of a better way to solve the situation than this.
You can't convince anyone to love anyone. They can only do it by themselves. I hope, whether she's being paid or not, that with time Alma will start to see Historia as her daughter.
The next day, the carriage arrived to pick me up back to my house. I greeted Mr James.
Alma stood in front of me, watching my every move... it seemed like she was still considering.
"I have to go. Next time I come, I will bring you the money for this month, so give up on your job and call your pimp to stop or whatever. If I learn that you carried on, I will do everything I can to take Historia away from you. Are we clear?".
The woman clenched her dress and bit her lips.
"U-Until I see the money, I don't plan to change anything... do you think I can just trust the words of a kid? It doesn't matter to me how rich your family is, I don't trust you".
I sighed, "Then I will come tomorrow with the money, and I want you to resign the same day".
She stretched her hand forward to accept our little 'contract' and we agreed upon it.
Only, I hoped that I could keep this a secret from Historia in the long run.
...
"Mom, I need two million dews..." (Arthur)
"Here you go" (Vannir)
"... aren't you going to ask me what for?" (Arthur)
"Do I need to? It is not like you're spending it on women..." (Vannir)
"... Hehehe... not really. I will make it back, promise" (Arthur)
"You don't have to. Just keep working diligently as you have been doing, you have already made us more money than measly two million" (Vannir)
"Thanks, Mom~ I love you" (Arthur)
"S-Stop your futile lies. We have a meeting tomorrow with your father; there is a man I want you to meet. He's famous and he's from Shiganshima, he's a doctor we're going to associate with".
"Oh? What's his name?".
"Grisha Yeager".