I’ll Never Go Back to Bygone Days! - 27

That night, I was lying in bed, thinking back on what happened during the day. The person I spent my whole life thinking of as my mother was just a stranger, and my supposed twin sister was actually my half-sister… At some point, I just gave up on trying to make it make sense. All I could really think was, Yeah, that makes sense. The chefs and maids back home always said it was strange that I neither looked nor acted like the two of them, so I guess they were right.

I was honestly more surprised at my father’s side of the story. He really made that false registration because he was worried about me?

I mean, Mother abused me because she thought I might not be her child, so if she’d known the truth, I’d probably be dead by now. And there were so many times I thought I was going to die, back home…

I just wish he’d brought all of this to an end sooner.

Although, he was being forced into working for Marquis Akroid, practically living in captivity, so I guess it couldn’t be helped. Because he committed his crime for my sake, I wanted to ask that his punishment be lightened, but a lot of people told me not to do that. Instead, I asked for a letter from him.

I… want to know what kind of person my real mother was. I’m sure Margrave Sargent – my mother’s brother and my adoptive father – would be happy to tell me, but I want to hear it from my father.

I fell asleep, a lot of things still on my mind.

***

I had the next day off. Sir Glen told me I should spend the day relaxing in my room, but it didn’t look like that was going to be possible. My new status as a research fellow at the Institute and my adoption were officially announced, so I’ve been receiving letters constantly all morning from people desperate to meet me, at least once. Hmm, what am I supposed to do with all of these?

I thought for a while, but I couldn’t figure out what to do. I ended up leaving it all to Gina and Martha. Gina dealt with the various messengers, receiving their letters, and Martha sorted through them. Having the two of them to help was really nice.

Suddenly, Martha paused. “Lady Chelsea, you should take a look at this one,” she said, handing me a letter from the Margravine of Sargent… my adoptive mother, that is.

I opened the letter. It was an invitation to have tea some time today since they’d be leaving the capital tomorrow. Hmm. I’ve met my adoptive mother, but I haven’t had a chance to really talk to her. And once they go home, I probably won’t have a chance to meet her for a while.

“I want to have tea with my adoptive mother.”

“Understood. Let us get you ready, then,” Gina responded with a smile.

Around the third afternoon bell, I visited the room where my adoptive parents were staying. When I went inside, I was greeted by Sir Marx and my new mother.

“Sorry for calling you here so suddenly,” she said, an apologetic smile on her face. “My husband wanted to meet you, too. That’s why I sent that letter, but he got called up suddenly for a meeting.”

“Mother, we should sit first…”

“Oh, right! Come, dear, we have sweets,” she said, taking my hand and leading me to the balcony, where we sat down. Their room was on the west side of the castle, so we could see the Institute and the Spirit Tree from here.

“Hmm, it’s quite rare to see such a large Spirit Tree. Their numbers are sharply decreasing and most of them end up cut down before they’ve fully matured,” my mother said, having noticed me staring at the tree. The tree shook, as if in response to her words. 

The image of Ele, in kitten form, suddenly came to mind. 

“I wanted to have tea with you today because I wanted to ask you what kinds of things you usually do.”

“The things I usually do?”

“Your daily schedule, the things you do at the Institute. What do you usually do?” she asked, her eyes sparkling like a child. 

“In the morning, Sir Glen and I have tea together in order to increase my mana capacity,” I began, thinking about how my days usually go. I noticed her stop moving. “Oh, um, there was a study recently that showed eating delicious food increases your mana capacity. I have barely any mana and pass out really quickly if I try to use it, so we’ve been trying to increase my mana capacity with food before proceeding with my research.”

“Yes, that makes sense… No, wait, it doesn’t. By ‘Sir Glen’ you don’t happen to mean His Royal Highness Prince Glen Arnold, do you?”

“Yes. I didn’t know this until recently, but he is actually His Majesty’s younger brother.”

She smiled. “What do you do in the afternoons, then?”

“Sir Tris joins us, and I produce various seeds.”

“Er, wait a minute,” my mother said, putting her hand on her chin, deep in thought. 

“Mother… I believe she is referring to Tristano von Folim, the holder of three Skills and son of the Marquis of Folim,” Sir Marx said. 

She opened her eyes wide with surprise. 

“Huh?! Sir Tris is a Marquis’ son?! I had no idea…” I was surprised, too. He’s the son of a Marquis and he still speaks that casually… I can’t believe it!

“Yes, you’re surrounded by quite amazing people, Chelsea. So, what do you mean by ‘producing seeds’?”

“My Skill allows me to create any seed I want.”

First I made pumpkin seeds. Then sunflower seeds. Small seeds, big seeds… 

“I think I can even produce non-existent seeds, and even Spirit Tree seeds…”

“Wait a minute,” she said, a little louder than before. She tilted her head in thought, and I noticed Sir Marx, standing next to her, break out into a cold sweat and shake his head slightly. 

Oh, I think I wasn’t supposed to say that. 

“…Spirit Tree seeds… You mean that one, don’t you? That Spirit Tree… is it really…”

Again, the Spirit Tree shook. 

“I-I can’t tell you anything more because it’s a secret,” I said, putting my index finger on my mouth quickly. 

She stared at me, blinking several times, then smiled gently. “That gesture… You really are just like your mother.”

It was my turn to blink in surprise. “What was my mother like?”

“Hmm… I’m not sure you should hear it from me,” she said with a smile. “I know! You should ask your grandparents about Sophia.”

“O-okay,” I replied, caught up in her energy. 

“Perfect! Let’s go back to the Margraviate together, then!”

“Huh?”

“Now that that’s been decided, Marx! Bring Stacy, too!”

He sighed. “…Got it. I shall make arrangements to bring my fiancee and aide, Stacy, along with us. Chelsea, you should keep this in mind: once my mother makes up her mind to do something, she will absolutely do it.”

“Mhm. It’s nice to have a son who gets me! Come now, Chelsea, you should get ready, too.”

“Huh?!”

And so, we began to prepare to head to the Margraviate.

***

AUTHOR’S NOTE:

Well, this marks the end of the first part of Chelsea’s story! Thank you all for reading! 

Please give me your thoughts; it’ll encourage me to work hard on the next volume!