Chapter 65

Sure, here is the translation:

---

"Sure, Mom."

It was my first meeting with Mom.

‘Like, like this all of a sudden?’

I was flustered and didn't know what to say.

Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump.

My heart was pounding fiercely.

‘What should I say? What should I say first? Nice to meet you? Or introduce myself? Should I pretend to know her?’

I froze, and after a long while, I managed to open my mouth—

“Um.”

Thud. Mom picked up the ball I was holding.

Then she turned around and disappeared as if running away.

“…? Hey, wait a moment!”

My reflexively extended hand was meaningless as Mom was already far away.

‘What, what is this? She doesn’t even want to pretend to know me?’

I just stood there, blinking.

Glancing to the side, my roommates were tilting their heads in confusion.

“Ahem.”

I cleared my throat and slowly lowered my hand that had been extended into the air.

I felt both embarrassed and flustered...

It was a strange feeling.

* * *

‘What is this.’

When Cheshire spotted Liss in the schoolyard, he stopped unconsciously and continued to observe her.

Seeing her pale face and trembling expression while looking at a stranger was unlike the usual Liss.

The woman also seemed flustered.

“Hey, wait a moment!”

Liss tried to stop the woman.

For some reason, the woman avoided her as if she had encountered a ghost.

‘Do they know each other.’

Liss's expression, standing there, made Cheshire unable to move.

She looked both dejected and confused.

What happened?

Who is that person?

Does she need to be asked if she's okay?

It was a face that Cheshire had never seen before, one that didn't match the always bright Liss.

* * *

‘Attack’ class theory lesson.

Cheshire and I started our lessons with the other kids in the afternoon.

‘This is so boring.’

I thought as I flipped through the magic formula book.

The theory lesson was nothing special.

It was just about drawing and memorizing the magic formulas for the attack class.

Of course, since I didn't need to visualize the magic formulas in my head, it didn't apply to me.

‘Sigh, but to avoid revealing my true identity, I have to pretend to memorize them.’

I looked at the magic formula and copied it onto my notebook.

The breeding facility's textbook contained magic formulas from B to F ranks.

The higher the rank, the more complex and difficult the magic formula, and of course, the more powerful the attack.

‘Wow, but it would take a whole week to memorize just one B-rank formula, right?’

I was initially surprised but soon understood.

If magic could be used just like that, it would be amazing...

‘I should memorize them even if I don’t need to! Focus! Liss!’

I slapped my cheek.

If I just stood there, I kept thinking about the mom I met earlier, and my head got complicated.

‘What was that look in her eyes?’

I had a pretty good idea why she didn't want to meet me.

Was it because she was afraid I might pretend to know her?

Still, even if we met by chance, she disappeared without a word.

Was she angry about something?

Did I do something wrong?

My head was filled with dozens of question marks.

“...Liss.”

“...”

“Liss.”

“Ah, yeah!”

I was startled by Cheshire's voice and snapped back to reality.

“Why have you been so spaced out lately.”

“...Me?”

Cheshire pointed at my notebook.

I was supposed to be drawing magic formulas, but there was an unexpected drawing of a person.

A woman with a ponytail.

My fingers had unconsciously drawn my mom.

“Yeah, that’s right. I was spaced out. Why was I...?”

“...”

I thought it wouldn’t be a big deal, but the shock of meeting my mom was greater than I expected.

‘No, how could it not be a big deal? It’s my mom. The first mom I’ve ever met.’

I sighed deeply.

“Do you know that woman?”

“Huh?”

“Outside, you gave a ball to some kid.”

“Oh, you saw that?”

“Yeah. Your expression was a bit strange in front of the female researcher. Do you know her?”

“Ah.”

I thought for a moment and then said casually.

“She’s my mom.”

Cheshire's eyes widened.

“What? That woman is your mom?”

“Yeah. I just met her for the first time.”

I had mentioned my mom to Cheshire before, but I hadn’t specified who she was.

That’s why Cheshire looked quite surprised.

“Was it the first time you met each other? Then why did your mom just leave without saying anything?”

“Yeah, I know... Ah! The baby was crying, so maybe she was flustered?”

“...”

“And we’re not living together anyway. So, um, maybe she just didn’t want to pretend to know me.”

Cheshire stared at me as I mumbled.

Her gaze made me feel both embarrassed and uneasy.

“Eh, I don’t know.”

I collapsed onto the desk, feeling as heavy as a waterlogged cotton ball.

* * *

We probably won’t meet again, right?

“Meow!”

...I thought that a few hours ago.

I was flustered when I saw her at the restaurant where I came to eat dinner.

Kai smiled and extended his hand to me. In his small hand, like a maple leaf, was a candy.

“Are you giving it to me?”

“Yeah! Meow, eat it!”

It seemed he remembered that I had given him the ball earlier.

I carefully took the candy from his hand.

“Thank you.”

“Yeah, meow!”

Kai turned and walked away.

‘Brother...’

I watched Kai’s back as he walked away, feeling a strange sensation.

I didn’t feel anything when I didn’t know.

But now that I know he’s my half-brother, it feels really strange.

“...”

As I stared at the candy Kai had given me, my eyes caught the juice on the tray.

I quickly picked it up and ran to Kai.

“Huh?”

“Hey, thanks for the candy. I’ll eat it well! And, here! I’ll give you this!”

Kai, with his big eyes, looked at the juice I offered and then smiled brightly, taking it.

“Thank you, meow!”

“Yeah, hehe.”

“...Kai!”

I flinched.

‘It’s Mom.’

Even though I had never heard her voice before, it was already familiar to me. I stiffened.

Mom, who had rushed over, picked up Kai as if scooping him up.

“Mom! Meow gave it to me!”

“...”

Unlike earlier, Kai was completely happy, but Mom’s expression when she looked at me was even paler.

‘Why is she like this? No, why is she so wary of me?’

Mom’s eyes were shaking as she looked at me.

“Do you have something to say?”

“Huh?”

“Or... did he do something wrong?”

“...?”

I was flustered and waved my hands.

“No?! It’s not like that. I received candy from this kid. Um, so the juice is, I gave it to him out of gratitude...”

“...”

“Is there a problem with that?”

Her silent, piercing gaze made me awkwardly laugh.

“Take it.”

“Ah.”

“Yay! My juice!”

Mom returned the juice to my hand and, avoiding my gaze, quietly said,

“Um, yes. The child is still young and doesn’t understand. If he talks to you again... just tell him to go away. And if you have something to say, talk to me, not the child.”

“...”

I finally realized.

Mom was worried that I might say something strange to Kai.

“I won’t ask about what happened earlier. Please don’t do that again. I’m asking you.”

Earlier?

I looked down weakly and then suddenly raised my head.

Indeed. She seemed to misunderstand that I had taken Kai’s ball and bullied him earlier.

“Um, earlier...”

But I didn’t have time to explain.

Mom was already walking away.

“Ugh, wait a moment!”

Please stop! I tried to grab her and explain—

‘Cheshire?’

I saw Cheshire.

He, who had been eating, was now standing in front of Mom.

“Hey.”

Cheshire’s voice was unusually angry.

“What did he do wrong?”

“Huh?”

“What did he do wrong?”

Cheshire pointed at me, and Mom turned around, flustered.

“Earlier, the lady’s son was crying because another kid took his ball. Liss returned the ball.”

“...”

“And just now, the kid came to Liss first. And this juice is...”

Cheshire walked over and took the juice from my hand.

Then he gave it to Kai.

“Juice!”

“This is the juice that was just served for dinner. It’s not poisonous.”

Cheshire’s aggressive attitude surprised me.

Mom was also flustered.

“Oh, I see. I’m sorry. I misunderstood earlier. And the juice, this...”

“The kid didn’t do anything wrong. He didn’t mean to bully the lady’s son.”

Cheshire cut off Mom and grabbed my hand.

And he added, glaring at Mom with a scary look.

“So don’t look at him with such a suspicious eye. He didn’t do anything wrong, so don’t make him feel awkward.”

“...”

“If you’re worried about your son, just tell him not to go near Liss. You should teach him that.”

I opened my mouth wide at Cheshire’s words.

“Let’s go.”

Cheshire left the speechless Mom, grabbed my hand, and walked out of the restaurant.