CHAPTER 4 – A MOTHER’S LOVE, A FATHER’S RECOGNITION (1)
“Mother, Father, listen! Listen! It’s amazing!”In the living room, dinner was about to be served. It was a calming and tender atmosphere, until the door was opened in a flurry.
The excited high-pitched voice of a boy – my voice – reverberated throughout the room. My father, who was drinking beer, faced me with a questioning look while my mother, who was setting the table, gazed at me with a mix of concern and bewilderment. I ignored how Mother glanced at me as if doubting my sanity.
“A really amazing thing happened! It’s super amazing, super duper amazing!”
I uselessly repeated the word ‘amazing’ in an attempt to convey the significance of my discovery – completely belying the fact that I had lived for a total of 24 years. Consumed by excitement, I was unable to give a clear explanation.
“Wait a minute, Gerald&h.e.l.lip;is it more important than eating dinner?”
“&h.e.l.lip;”
Father’s sarcastic remark threw cold water on my enthusiasm.
In the living room, a sphere of light shined down from above. Father and Mother sat at the four-person table while my baby sister slept soundly in her crib. Mother probably fed her earlier. She had a lovable peaceful expression as she slept.
On an unrelated note, the menu for tonight was ham, egg, mashed potato and onion soup. It was a humble fare, but eating Mother’s cooking never failed to warm my heart. And so, while appreciatively smacking my lips, I recounted my time in the storeroom.
“&h.e.l.lip;and it was written in the magic language. I didn’t understand it at first but, for some reason, I suddenly got this headache, and then I was able to read it.”
By the way, I didn’t mention that I regained the memories from my past life and pushed all the blame onto my ‘mysterious headache’.
It’s not a lie&h.e.l.lip;technically&h.e.l.lip;
“Hmm&h.e.l.lip;so something like that happened. It’s hard to believe, but it’s impossible to to deny it seeing this.”
Father crossed his arms while inspecting the light overhead (that I had created earlier with my magic). He was frowning and seemed to be deep in thought.
“Strange things happen, don’t they&h.e.l.lip;”
On the other hand, my mother remained unperturbed.
“We don’t know anything about magic. Is it even possible for our son to suddenly be able to read the magic language and cast spells?”
“That’s true&h.e.l.lip;I didn’t think that our son would learn how to read that grimoire we received 10 years ago. Gerald, can you lend me that book for a little while?”
“Sure.”
I handed the book, which was on my lap out of the way of the food, to Father who was sitting opposite me. He effortlessly lifted the heavy book and started examining it from various angles.
Then&h.e.l.lip; “Hopeless&h.e.l.lip;looks like I can’t read it. Do you want to have a look too, Cecilia1?”
Mother shook her head.
“No, I’m okay&h.e.l.lip; It would be convenient if I could do the cooking, cleaning and washing with magic, but I enjoy it.”
“Even so&h.e.l.lip;haven’t you wished you could use magic like in the stories?”
It seemed it had brought out the kid in Father; his voice was laced with excitement.
“But I’m also busy taking care of Sierra2-chan3.”
“Cecilia, you didn’t exactly answer the question&h.e.l.lip;”
“And I don’t like violence, you know&h.e.l.lip;”
“Like I said, that’s not really an answer.”
Father’s expression soured after hearing Mother’s casual response. I understand her feelings though&h.e.l.lip;
“Besides, Russel, we’ll be as busy as ever taking care of Sierra-chan. Surely Gerald-chan will be able to help out with his magic from now on?”
Mother gently smiled, her gaze moving from Father to me.
“Right, Gerald-chan?”
“&h.e.l.lip;please don’t add chan.”
“But Gerald-chan is my cute child.”
“Again, that’s not an answer!”
“But you haven’t answered my question either.”
“He’s at the age they start acting like grown-ups. I understand it’s tempting to tease him, but go easier on him, Cecilia.”
“Father, not you too!”
When I raised my voice in irritation, the two of them smiled warmly.
It was a picture of a happy family.
It was the very image of happiness.
It was in total contrast to my past life. And yet, unexpectedly, there was a nagging feeling of unease.4
AUTHOR’S NOTEThank you for the amazing support, I plan to work hard as long as it lasts.
Again, thank you for your continued support.
1 セシル -> Cecile (French) -> Cecilia (latinate)
2 シエラ
3 j.a.panese honorific of endearment, for the none of you that haven’t seen this before.
4 Subtle foreshadowing is subtle.