Chapter 68 of “As A Result Of Breaking An Otome Game, The Villainess Young Lady Becomes A Cheat! (Part 1)”
Eyes that were not smiling at all were looking down at me.
I felt a chill run down my spine.
…I still hadn’t told my mother that I was the Gift of the Red Star.
I also hadn’t told her that my memories as Izumi had returned since the day I collapsed after drinking that ale…
…After all, how could I just say such a thing?
Who would just believe that their own daughter was someone else named Izumi who had lived in a different world?
My brother accepted me, but that didn’t mean that my mother would accept me.
If she rejected me, what would I do?
When I thought about it, I couldn’t say a word.
“Why does a twelve-year-old Charlotte have knowledge about things that we adults don’t know?”
Mother released me from her arms, but she didn’t seem to have any intention of letting me go.
“Well…well, it was a book…”
“What kind of book was it? Your mother is very interested in it and would like to know.”
“Eh…but I’m sure you’ll find it boring, right?”
“No, I don’t think so. If Charlotte likes the book, then your mother will try her best to read it.”
She was smiling while pushing me harder and harder.
For a while now, I had been sweating and my heart was beating painfully.
“What’s the matter with you, looking so pale? Is it bad?”
Ugh…it would be so much easier if I could just collapse here.
“There isn’t any book—isn’t that what’s thermally bothering you?”
My mother tilted her head and laughed.
…What should I do?
I couldn’t think of any words to get through this…to convince my mother.
I bit my lip and held my skirt tightly, desperately trying to hold back the feeling that I was about to cry.
Don’t cry…think of the best solution.
At that moment…
“Cha-r-lo-tte~?”
My mother smiled and called my name once more with a suggestive tone of voice.
…it’s all over now.
The little bit of confidence I had left crumbled away in that moment.
I guess I’ll just have to tell her everything honestly…
After I tell them everything, if they don’t accept me, I’ll have to leave the mansion alone.
I’ve got Cheat-san, so I won’t have any trouble surviving.
But…
In that moment as I was about to burst into tears…
“Mother, stop it.”
“—Wha…!”
Suddenly, my brother swooped in and came hugging me from behind.
“Brother!?”
I was so startled by the sudden shock that my tears, which had almost stopped, were now about to overflow from relief.
My brother looked down at me and smiled.
“You don’t have to worry about anything.”
“…okay?”
What could possibly be okay about this situation?
And yet…
“Don’t worry. There’s nothing to worry about.”
My brother repeated the words ‘it’s okay’ once again.
“…really?”
“Yes. So don’t cry.”
After wiping the tears from my eyes, he gently stroked my head.
And then…
“Mother, you’ve gone too far. If you torment Charlotte any more, I will get angry too, you know?”
He spoke to Mother in a reproachful voice.
“It’s because I’ve been wanting to talk to you since Lucas told me that the Red Star Izumi’s memory had returned. I was just being mean to you because you were always so friendly with Lucas. I’m sorry.”
She stuck out her tongue like a child who had successfully played a prank.
Her tongue’s sticking out!!
(***T/N: Specifically, her mother is doing a “tehepero” which is what Charl always does after doing something crazy. A tehepero is basically sticking your tongue out and hitting your head as if to say “my bad, teehee~”)
That’s…no way.
…Huh? How does my mother know about Izumi?
What the heck does this mean?
My mind was so confused that it went completely blank.
“Charlotte’s secret was not only known to me, but also to Mother and everyone in the mansion.”
My brother said to me as I was trying to wrap my head around everything.
“…Huh?”
With a stupid voice, I looked up at my brother as if he was crazy, and his slightly narrowed eyes looked down at me.
“Charlotte is the type of person who is too worried to speak about it. So I told everyone properly.”
What?!?!
As I looked around, I saw Suke-san and Kaku-san laughing while nodding widely.
“So, no matter what kind of magic Charlotte used, everyone in the mansion was not that surprised, right?”
Well, that’s…that was true.
Ice cream, carbonated water, and dried fruit had all been played off happily, as if ignoring the implications.
Now that I think about it, when I used magic for the first time, a pillar of fire had come rushing out, but nobody had said anything…was it because they expected I’d be able to do it…?
If that was the case, I wished someone would have said something sooner…
If they could accept Izumi and Charlotte so easily, what was I even worrying about this whole time?
As I was in a daze, something softly touched my cheek. It was my Mother.
“I’ve known since you were a baby that Charlotte was the Gift of the Red Star.”
She smiled at me with a soft, gentle smile, different from the one she had given me previously.
“When Lucas was three years old and looked at the newborn Charlotte, he told us, ‘Charl has red stars in her eyes.’ I immediately had a mage I knew take a look.”
As a result, my ‘red star’ was officially identified, and in order to protect me, all the servants in the mansion were made aware of it, and a thorough ban on talking about it was put in place.
The Avi family had a lot of servants. It would not be surprising if it were to leak out from someone’s mouth, but until now, I had never heard anybody say anything that would suggest secrecy.
How tight-lipped…
In other words, everyone had known about my secret and still treated me as normal.
Thinking about this, I felt a warmth grow in my chest.
“I think I know what you’re thinking and worrying about. But I am Charlotte’s mother, you know? Whether you are the Gift of the Red Star or not, you are still my precious daughter and our precious family.”
“Mother…”
Like a sponge in my heart, her words slowly and firmly seeped into me.
The fact that I had been accepted by my mother made me happier than anything else.
Tears naturally welled up in my eyes, and my vision gradually began to blur.
“Charlotte.”
Mother opened her arms wide and embraced me along with Brother.
“I love you. Your mother always wishes for your happiness. Charlotte, Lucas, thank you so much for being born.”
With these words from my mother, my tears completely started flowing.
These words were similar to the last words that my mother had given me during the stampede in the game.
The words that I couldn’t convey in the game were now being delivered to my Brother like this. Of course, my mother and everyone else was still alive.
That made me cry even harder.
I will never let this happiness disappear.
I was going to clear the remaining two levels of the dungeon, no matter what it took.
…And that was all I could remember. I had no memory of anything after that.
I just kept crying while clinging to my mother, and when I came to, I was on my bed.
Just how many times had this happened to me…?
And when I think about it, what was I doing in the kitchen? But the fact that the worries I had been feeling ever since I woke up on that fated day were resolved was a big deal. My heart felt a little lighter.
I feel bad for Kaku-san and the others who kept looking over my shoulder and pretending not to see me…
As a thank you, I would make them a special ice cream next time.
Speaking of ice cream, about the extra rum raisins…apparently, as I was crying myself to sleep, everyone at the mansion had been enjoying them.
I thought I would just make them again, but my brother told me to ‘wait a minute.’
He said that the rich taste of the ice cream only seemed to dilute the alcohol, and even though it was just a small amount, he thought I should eat in moderation for my body’s health.
“You should only make this on special occasions, okay?” He said that with the face of a demon lord.
So scary…I’m sorry.
However, he made some concessions and said that it was okay to use mei-soaked fruits for foods that were cooked in a way that reduced the alcohol content. In other words, it was okay to use them in baked goods.
Well, now that the way is clear, I can at least taste the flavor for now.
My mother also became addicted to dried fruits.
As soon as she started eating the dried fruits I gave her, her constipation and anemia were instantly relieved, her skin became soft and smooth, and her youth was further enhanced.
Through word of mouth from my mother, rumors about the wonder of dried fruits spread all around, and for a while, I was extremely busy making dried fruits.
Later, dried fruits became revered as ‘food of the gods’ by all women, and became an indispensable part of this world. What a surprise.
As dried fruits became widespread, mei soaked fruits became popular among cooks and pastry chefs. The variety of flavors and cooking methods had increased considerably.
Woohoo! Hooray for all-you-can-eat delicacies!!!
Later on, thanks to the anti-aging effects of the dried fruit, I would soon gain a twin brother and sister that never existed in the game…but I didn’t know that yet, so I continued to diligently make tributes to the Demon Lords every day.
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T/N: Both Lucas and the Mom are pretty scary. Hang in there Charl!
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