Chapter 50 – My Mother’s True Feelings

If parents are devout, it’s not strange for them to believe that having a child with foresight and holy power is a sign from the gods, urging them to devote their lives to the world.

“As the years passed and you stopped having dreams and seemed to become more ordinary, I thought my prayers had been answered. But now… I just don’t know. Your father is gone, and you… you’re like this…”

I hugged my mother tightly.

“It feels like it’s all my fault.”

“No, Mother.”

“Live your life the way you want to. Perhaps that’s what the goddess truly wants.”

Hmm, it seems like my mother is really misunderstanding something. I wiped the tears from her cheeks and smiled.

“Really? I can live however I want?”

“Yes. I’ll help you with whatever you choose.”

“Then, I want to get a divorce, hide away somewhere, and just laze around until I die.”

I grinned at my mother, who looked up at me in shock.

“I’m not that good of a person, really. I’m not even that religious. I’m so caught up in my own life that I don’t care whether others live or die. So, don’t worry.”

My mother seems to think I’m someone special. But I’m just an ordinary person. If the goddess wanted to save the world, she would have come down herself.

“Think about it. If the goddess throws in a bit of foresight and a small amount of holy power and expects me to save the world, she’s being pretty unreasonable. If she’d given me at least magic or swordsmanship, then maybe…”

My mother looked utterly shocked by the blasphemy coming out of my mouth. I couldn’t help but laugh at her wide-eyed expression.

“If the goddess wanted something from me, she would have given me a sign. So please don’t think it’s your fault or that we’re being punished. Father’s death was just an accident, and the way I am now is the result of my own choices.”

Thinking about how my mother must have been silently suffering all this time made me feel so sorry for her. I decided then and there that I had to live well and show her how happy I could be, so she would never again think about sins or punishments. I made up my mind to be as carefree as possible.

I spent a long time talking with my mother as we lay in bed together. She showed me the account where she had been steadily saving money, and I was astonished.

“When did you manage to save all this?”

“I told you I was preparing.”

When?

“You weren’t really listening to me, were you? I mentioned that I was teaching etiquette to the Imperial Wizard Corps.”

“Oh…”

Now that she mentioned it, I did vaguely remember her saying that. But it was right after I had tried to awaken, so I had only half-listened. Well, considering that Benjamin is the only noble in the Imperial Wizard Corps right now, and even he is taking etiquette lessons from my mother… It must be hard to find etiquette teachers because of the empire’s distrust of wizards. This is like… a complete blue ocean opportunity!

“Listen to this. There’s one thing I’m grateful to your uncle for. He put the deed to that cottage in my name.”

“How can you say that?”

“I actually received a letter from your uncle. He said he didn’t know the house was so old and in such poor condition because it was purchased through an agent. Whether that’s true or not, I decided to accept his apology.”

“… Really?”

“Compared to many widows, I’m in a better position. So many were thrown out with nowhere to go…”

“Mother!”

I snapped, and she chuckled.

“Do you want to read the letter too?”

I was curious, so I nodded quickly despite my annoyance. My mother brought out a large letterbox and pulled out a thick envelope. It contained a long, emotional letter from my uncle. As I read through it, I burst out laughing.

“Aren’t these tear stains?”

“It looks like it, right? It seems Benjamin hasn’t been giving him money, so he can’t even step outside the mansion. Now that he’s in the nobility, he can’t work due to his reputation, and no one would hire him anyway. Poor man… There are more letters here if you’re interested.”

Looking down at the box filled with letters, I couldn’t help but chuckle. No doubt, they were all filled with my uncle’s whining.

“So, did you decide to forgive him after reading his letters?”

“Not exactly. Forgiving him is the most painful thing for him, after all. Here, read this.”

I initially thought my mother was about to give me some cliché about forgiveness being a form of revenge, but when I read the letter she handed me, I finally understood what she meant. Thanks to my mother’s forgiveness, my uncle was now hopeful that Benjamin would also open his heart to him soon. He was even asking my mother to talk to Benjamin on his behalf.

“So… did you talk to him?”

“Of course. He asked, so I told him exactly what he wanted to hear.”

“And what did Ben say?”

“He cursed.”

I burst into laughter again, rolling on the bed. My mother laughed along with me.

“Your uncle is quite amusing, isn’t he? As if my words would change Ben’s mind. So I told him that since Ben seemed to be in a better mood, he should try writing a letter to Ben too.”

That’s some real psychological warfare.

“So, did Benjamin get a letter? What happened?”

“I’m curious too, but Ben got so angry that I didn’t dare ask… He did apologize for the bother, and since then, no more letters have come. I’m thinking about writing to him first, just out of curiosity.”

Giggling, I put the letters back in the box. I’ll have to ask to see them again when I need a good laugh.

“Anyway, about that cottage. Since we’ve saved up quite a bit, I was thinking of renovating it to open a school.”

“A school?”

I was surprised by how ambitious her plan was. The cottage is unnecessarily big, and the garden is unnecessarily spacious, so there’s certainly enough room, but…

“It’s quite far from the capital. Will there be students willing to travel that far for etiquette lessons?”

“Not an etiquette school… A boarding school for girls.”

“A boarding school?”

I was even more surprised. A school was one thing, but a boarding school?

“But wouldn’t that cost a lot of money…?”

“Don’t worry. Adriana has decided to invest.”

“Oh, Mother… But will it be profitable? Who would send their precious daughters to such a remote place to learn?”

My mother spoke in a hushed tone.

“This is a secret, but the Imperial Wizard Corps is soon going to start recruiting female wizards.”

“What?”

“There are so few wizards that each one is valuable, and they can’t afford to be picky about gender. At first, they only recruited men because they were worried people might feel uncomfortable, but now that everyone realizes how rare wizards are, they’re going to start recruiting women as well.”

More students for my mother. But why build a school in the countryside?

“Don’t the knights and wizards also hire staff for support and administrative work?”

“Oh!”

I exclaimed and jumped to my feet.

“There will be jobs in the royal palace for commoner women too!”

“Exactly. At first, they’ll likely start by accommodating the female wizards, but eventually, it’ll expand.”

“Mom, this is going to be a huge success!”

“Right?”

Commoners will do anything to become even a maid in the royal palace, pulling all their connections and even resorting to bribery. The same will be true for administrative staff positions.

No matter how slim the chance, they’ll try to seize it. Although there have been schools for girls before, the one my mother is the headmistress of is bound to thrive. There will be a flood of people trying to get noticed by the Marquis of Hershey’s aunt. If I had the money, I’d want to invest, too. Unfortunately, I don’t have any.

“And I’ll continue teaching the wizards. Anyway, with Benjamin drawing the teleportation circles, distance won’t be an issue for them.”

“Wow, Mother, you’re amazing!”

I clapped my hands. Seeing my mother’s pride subtly rise, I felt a mix of amusement and a strange, hollow feeling. Ah, my mother isn’t someone I need to take care of anymore. But if my mother succeeds, I could live with her after getting divorced, couldn’t I? As if she read my mind, my mother embraced me.

“Right? Mom’s amazing, isn’t she? So don’t worry. I’ll take care of everything. You don’t need to worry about anything; just do whatever you want, even if it’s getting a divorce.”

Why am I tearing up again? As I was getting emotional, my mother suddenly pulled away and asked in a subtle tone.

“But… did he say he’d agree to the divorce?”

I was so caught up in the moment that I didn’t grasp what she meant at first. Why is she bringing that up now…? When I nodded, a sudden fire sparked in my mom’s eyes.

“He’s really willing to get a divorce?!”

Her voice was furious. I was so confused that my tears almost dried up. Didn’t you just tell me to do whatever I wanted? Just now…

“…Mother, I really want to get a divorce.”

My mother hit her chest in frustration as she spoke.

“Fine, if that’s what you want, go ahead. I can’t stop you from wanting a divorce. But he can’t just agree to it like that. If you ask for a divorce, he should be begging on his knees, not just agreeing to it so easily!”

Ah… Only now did I understand my mom’s reaction the night Ian mentioned divorce—the night I had that nightmare. When Ian said he wouldn’t divorce me, her relief made sense now. I had thought she was secretly against the divorce, and I felt hurt. But as I sat there, lost in thought, my mother suddenly got up from the bed, looking exasperated.

“It’s okay for you to feel that way. That’s fine. But him? No way! How dare he!”

“Mother, Mother… Just hold on a second.”

I was so startled that I hugged her around the waist.

“He should be begging for forgiveness, not deciding on his own whether to divorce or not!”

“He did! He did! Ian got on his knees and begged for forgiveness, so please calm down.”

“That insolent… What?”

“He got down on his knees, cried, and begged for another chance, but I said no. So please, don’t get too worked up…”

After finally calming my mother down, I sighed in relief. She was fuming but then suddenly became calm.

“He cried?”

I quickly nodded.

“Yes…”

“You did well.”

…What did I do well? No matter how I think about it, I don’t think I did anything right. Running away like a child at my age… Come to think of it, my mother was always prepared to be poor again. If I had even hinted that I couldn’t stand married life anymore, she was ready to leave with me at any moment. I had forgotten all of that…

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m the one who’s sorry.”

My mother sat next to me and hugged me. I buried my face in her shoulder and sobbed for a long time.