When I went down to the living room, four servings of carbonara were already set on the table.
“Hmm? Where’s dad?”
I asked my mother who had set down her fork.
“Golfing.”
Now that you mention it, I haven’t seen him since morning.
“Hmm, too bad Sharl came all this way.”
“It’s your fault for bringing her here without telling me first.”
She would have refused if we told her beforehand.
“President, is carbonara alright?”
Toko asked Sharl.
“Yes, I like it very much.”
Sharl speaks in formal language.
Probably because my mother is here.
“Didn’t you eat this at a family restaurant before?”
“Your attempt to show you know me is annoying.”
Toko quickly shut me down.
“Don’t fight. Come on, everyone, please sit. Let’s eat while it’s hot.”
With mom smiling and saying this, we all took our seats and started eating the pasta.
“It’s delicious.”
Sharl smiled after taking a bite.
“I’m glad to hear that.”
“I boiled the noodles!”
Hmm.
Surprisingly, Toko helped out too, it seems.
“Thank you so much for letting me visit so suddenly.”
Sharl is completely formal.
Though as usual, she’s not frowning like she does at school.
“Not at all. I was a bit surprised, but we’re very grateful to you for tutoring our child. Tsukasa isn’t very good at either magic or studying… yet he somehow managed spatial magic… even on weekends, studying… ”
This mother of mine… she cries too easily…
“Don’t cry. If you keep going, I’ll sound like a complete idiot.”
“Complete idiot, pass the pepper. Mom, the seasoning is too light.”
I thought it was a bit light too, so after adding pepper to my own portion, I passed it to Toko.
“… Sorry about our rather insensitive behavior.”
After saying that, mom took a bite, tilted her head, took the pepper from Toko, added some to her portion, and placed it in front of Sharl.
“It’s wonderful.”
While saying this, Sharl lightly added some pepper.
The four of us then continued eating lunch and planned to study in the afternoon. At some point, mom brought us coffee and cake, so we took a little break. I think we managed to focus on our studies.
Still, as always, I’m clueless about the curses.
“Ugh, this is so hard. Do you think we’ll pass the test with this?”
“I don’t think so. To be honest, I doubt it myself. It is the third year course after all, and the study of curses is an especially hard subject.”
Well, there’s no way I’d pass that then.
“Can we skip the curse test?”
“I think that’s fine. It’d probably be better to focus on other fundamentals at the moment.”
“Yeah, let’s do that.”
“Alright. But, it’s getting late, so I’ll go home now.”
Looking at the clock, it was just before five in the evening.
“Thanks.”
“Oh no, it was rather sudden, plenty was difficult to manage, and I do have things to say to you, but it was good to get to finally talk with Toko.”
You’ve got a whole list of complaints, huh.
“Sure, it was a bit rushed, and maybe a bit forced, but if we didn’t do that, you probably wouldn’t talk to Toko for a long time.”
I can’t imagine Toko and Sharl talking at the academy.
Besides, Sharl is in a position where it would be difficult for her to publicly apologize to Toko, who is from La Folle.
“Yes, it’s true. I admit that. So I won’t complain. But, if possible, I would have preferred it if you explained the situation and brought Toko to the park or somewhere like that.”
Isn’t that a complaint?
“Mom, you don’t like it?”
“Yes, for multiple reasons. I saw a tremendous amount of internal conflict, and when she started crying, I was terribly confused about what to do.”
If a parent at a friend’s house starts crying, that’s panic-level stuff.
“She cries too easily. Don’t worry about it.”
“I can see how much your mother struggles… ”
After Sharl said this and stood up, I stood as well and saw her off to the entrance.
“It’s fine to leave here. See you tomorrow, or rather, on Friday.”
We hardly meet at school except on Friday.
“Thank you for today. See you later.”
“Yes, thank you very much.”
Sharl smiled brightly and left.
Thinking about retreating to my room, I turned around, only to lock eyes with mom peeking out from the living room.
“Tsukasa, come here,”
Mom beckoned me over, so I entered the living room.
“What?”
At my inquiry, mom frowned slightly.
“Tsukasa… you know that she is the next head of the Iver family, right?”
“Yes.”
“And you are aware that the relationship between Iver and La Folle isn’t good, right?”
“Everyone says it’s like cats and dogs.”
Everyone says that.
“… Knowing this, why did you two become friends?”
“Sharl was the one who first showed me around the academy. Besides, she’s been helping me with our curse lessons and studying. She’s extremely kind.”
And she’s beautiful too.
“Curses lessons… yes, I can see why you’d think she’s a wonderful person.”
“Plus, why does befriending someone require a reason? You were so angry when I fought with classmates in elementary school, remember? What’s with this now?”
You used to tell me to make friends with our neighbors.
“You’ve grown into a very honest and kind child, even if you’re a little dumb. Mom and Dad are very proud of you.”
“Cut out the ‘dumb’ part.”
It’s the truth though.
“Tsukasa… absolutely do not tell grandma that you’ve become friends with Charlene.”
“I wouldn’t. My allowance might be in jeopardy, you know.”
That would be serious.
“That’s right…”
Mom continues to look at me intently.
“What is it now?”
“No, just… keep doing your best.”
“I’d keep trying even without you telling me.”
I’ve got a left arm on the line here.
“Is there anything you want? I’ll buy it for you as a special treat.”
“Trident.”
I want it so much.
“Is there anything you want? I’ll buy it for you as a special treat.”
Please buy it for me…
Thank you very much for reading.
If you found this story “funny” or if you are “curious about the next part,” bookmarking or rating it ★★★★★ would be a great encouragement for my writing.
Thank you very much!
