Arthur was silent as he stared at Liliana with an incredulous look in his eyes. He knew his mother well. Liliana was a kind and friendly person to everyone, but she was also very wary. How could the old woman now allow Arthur to enter her yard so casually? Wasn't it obvious that Arthur was currently in another person's form?
"Why are you staring? Didn't you say that the garden in my yard is very nice?" Liliana asked.
Arthur's reverie was broken. He smiled awkwardly at Liliana as he did his best to contain the turmoil in his chest at the moment.
"Can I really see?" Arthur asked later.
Liliana smiled and opened the gate to her yard, letting Arthur in once more.
"Thank you, ma'am. That's very kind of you," Arthur said.
Liliana walked in first, while Arthur followed behind her.
Arthur stared at his mother's shoulder with a sadness he couldn't contain. The misunderstanding that happened last time because of Eve, made Arthur and Liliana's relationship strained, or rather Arthur was the one who kept his distance from his mother because he thought that Liliana had evil intentions that wanted to separate him and Eve.
Ah, how ridiculous that thought seemed. Looking back now, Arthur felt dumber than a donkey. How could he judge someone who had sacrificed so much for him. Yet he was the one who knew best about Liliana's extraordinary character.
"Please take a look around. I want to put the groceries inside first," Liliana said later.
Arthur nodded politely in agreement. He looked back at Liliana's back until she disappeared behind the door. Only then did Arthur look around at his surroundings.
Liliana's house was not very big, but she had a large yard. The front yard was planted with flowers and fruit trees, while the back yard was planted with vegetables. Since Arthur was a child, Liliana has rarely bought vegetables from supermarkets because her garden is more than enough for her own consumption.
While reminiscing about his mother's garden, Arthur's feet unconsciously stepped slowly around the yard. He stopped in his tracks when he saw one of the flowers that Liliana seemed to treat very specially because it had its own special place.
"It's flowering already," Arthur murmured when he saw the plant.
It was a black orchid tree, a special gift from Arthur two years ago on Liliana's birthday. Arthur had gotten the seeds of the rare flower from a business partner from overseas. And when Arthur gifted the plant to her, it was still an immature plant, so it had never flowered at all.
"The flowers are beautiful, aren't they?" Liliana's voice startled Arthur a little. Arthur turned his head and found Liliana standing not far from where he was.
"Those are my favorite flowers. A rare black orchid," Liliana explained as she approached Arthur.
"The flowers are beautiful." Arthur responded.
"Yes, it is. Apart from being beautiful, it also smells very fragrant and distinctive. I really like to breathe it in, especially in the morning," Liliana said again. The old woman seemed to smile, but the look in her eyes was sad.
"You seem to think the flowers are very special. Was it a gift from someone special?" asked Arthur, pretending not to know.
Liliana nodded.
"It was a gift from my son. He ordered these flowers from the interior of a tropical country, especially for me." Liliana recounted the story while flashing another sweet, yet wistful smile.
Arthur gasped at the look on his mother's face. His guilt was piling up. He wanted to hug his mother and apologize, but of course he couldn't do that.
"Your son must love you very much," Arthur said later, trying his best to keep his voice from trembling.
Liliana nodded.
"Of course, he's my only son. Of course he loves me very much. He's been a kind and sweet boy since childhood. He's also very intelligent. I'm very lucky to have a son like him." Liliana replied proudly.
Arthur was silent for a moment and sighed slightly as his chest grew tight. Were all mothers in the world like that? Even if they have a poor relationship with their son, they would still praise and boast about him in front of others?
"Your son is lucky to have a mother like you." Arthur muttered in a low voice, but it still sounded clear to Liliana's ears.
Liliana turned to Arthur and smiled for the umpteenth time. The old woman then patted Arthur's shoulder lightly and rubbed it.
"You seem to be missing your mother," Liliana said.
"How do you know?" Arthur asked back.
"Because you seem to be seeing your mother in someone else. Like me now, I see my son in you, a stranger I've never met before," Liliana said.
"I'm also missing my son," Liliana added.
Arthur could only stare sadly at Liliana without being able to say anything. He increasingly realized that he had hurt his mother so much recently just because he was defending Eve. Arthur then looked down with regret that felt deeper and deeper.
"You're right, I do miss my mom a lot," Arthur said later. "My mother also loved gardening in the yard."
"Is that perhaps why you were standing looking at my garden? Because you immediately thought of your mother?" Liliana asked.
Arthur nodded. There was no way he could say that Liliana was his mother.
"Your mother seems like a very nice person, yes." Liliana muttered in response.
"True, my mother is a very good person. The kindest person I've ever known. But unfortunately, I'm not a very good child. Lately, I often hurt my mother's heart. I've misunderstood and thought a lot of bad things about my mother." Arthur muttered with his eyes straight ahead.
"Then have you met your mother and tried to mend fences with her?" Liliana asked.
Arthur shook his head. "I can't do that. Not at the moment."
"Why? You should."
"I can't," Arthur muttered, shaking his head once more. Of course he couldn't because he was now someone else.
Liliana looked at Arthur for a moment, then sighed.
"Do it before it's too late. Otherwise, you'll regret it like I did," Liliana said in a lower voice than before.
"Regret?" repeated Arthur. Of course he was feeling regret right now. But why did his mother have to regret it? She was innocent.
"My relationship with my son also deteriorated for some reason. I regret not taking the first step to come and fix it. I thought it would be better for us not to see each other for a while so that things would improve on their own. But now my son has disappeared and I don't know where he is, without us ever talking." Liliana spoke with teary eyes.
Unconsciously Arthur's tears fell, but he quickly wiped them away. It turned out that it wasn't just him who was overcome with regret, but his mother as well. Liliana must also feel guilty about everything that happened between them. Arthur didn't know how to tell Liliana that it wasn't his mother's fault. He didn't want Liliana to be too sad and blame herself.
"What you did must have been for the good of your son. Madam. There's no need to feel too guilty. I'm sure your son is just hiding out to calm down. He must be fine." Arthur tried to comfort her.
Liliana looked back at Arthur and smiled.
"Thank you. You were the first person to say something nice to me after my son disappeared. Everyone else just said horrible words," Liliana said with emotion.
"You don't need to listen to those terrible words, ma'am. Just believe that your son is doing well. He loves you very much and will never leave you," Arthur said reassuringly.
Liliana smiled with tears welling up.
"Thank you for saying that," she said sincerely.