Chapter 149
Chapter 149
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 149
Chapter Title: Happy Birthday, Astal -1
After hearing Victoria's story, Selene Caisaros showed no particular agitation or anxiety.
In fact, she calmly questioned Victoria further, asking how the events would unfold and where the first attack would occur.
"I see. So ultimately, everything you know came from our Astal, and you don't know the detailed circumstances..."
"Yes, Mother."
However, there weren't many questions Victoria could answer. After all, having only heard about the past from Astal, she didn't know the details of the incident.
Astal had shown a tendency to hide his past even from his companions or lover, like herself.
If she had known this would happen, maybe she should have pressed him more. It might have been different now, after Astal had opened his heart to Victoria.
Realizing, to her surprise, that she didn't fully know about Astal, Victoria's mouth corners drooped slightly.
She could have boasted that she knew him better than anyone else, but it seems that wasn't the case either.
"Being called 'Mother' is quite ticklish. I never thought a pretty girl like you would become my daughter-in-law."
"...Thank you for the compliment."
Victoria tried to ignore the slightly tight sensation in her chest while saying this. The cloth clothes Selene had shared only didn't fit properly in the chest area.
Astal's mother had called her pretty, and she didn't want to be a tactless daughter-in-law asking if there were any larger clothes.
"Who would have thought my son would date a Saint? It's a famous story among minstrels that the Saint and the Hero become lovers, right?"
"That's true."
Selene looked at Victoria with a pleased smile. She had noticed Victoria's close relationship with Astal but hadn't considered them lovers.
How on earth did he manage to win over and conquer a Saint, who could be called purity itself? This curiosity swirled in Selene's mind.
After all, a child's love life is what parents are most curious about.
"How did you first meet? My son must have been very clumsy with women..."
Selene temporarily set aside the Demon King's army invasion and began showering Victoria, who came from the future, with questions.
"Huh? How did you know?"
"My husband was like that. Whenever I tried to court him, he'd put up an iron wall, saying, 'A butler must not lay hands on the young lady.'"
Selene chuckled at Victoria's surprised expression. How perfectly had she hit the mark for the tension Victoria had shown until just now to disappear?
Seeing her innocent and naive appearance, which didn't match the position of Saint, Selene even felt a mischievous urge to tease her a little.
"Does he take after his father's personality a lot?"
"Wouldn't it be strange to say otherwise? They look so much alike, being handsome and all."
"He certainly is handsome... Ah, of course, I have Astal-sama! It's just an objective evaluation...!"
Seeing Victoria waving her hands with an expression pleading not to misunderstand, Selene could see how genuinely simple-hearted she was.
It seemed she was worried about making a slip of the tongue or being rude, as this was the mother of the person she liked.
"My husband always took care of me, a tomboy. He carried me on his back all the way to the mansion when I sprained my ankle, and on rainy days, he'd bring an umbrella."
To ease that awkwardness, Selene told stories of her childhood romance, loosening Victoria's tension.
"Huh? You, Mother? You don't seem like that at all..."
"Haha, really? Well, I was a naive child who didn't know the ways of the world back then. It's different from being the mother of a child like now."
Selene gazed out the window for a moment, reminiscing about memories from long ago.
Memories of a time when she didn't have to worry about making a living and could ignore the world's prejudices and gazes.
But she had no regrets.
Because she was happier now, having given up her status as a noble family's young lady to live with the person she loved.
"If... if I become a mother to a child someday, will I be able to change too? I feel like I'm just a burden to Astal-sama right now..."
"Oh my, why is my cute daughter-in-law saying that? I think it'll be fine just having you by my son's side; it seems like you'd be a source of strength."
"I... I misunderstood Astal-sama and did some terrible things... I cursed and insulted him, and I even became a hostage after being hit by an enemy attack..."
Victoria was confessing her sins to Selene, Astal's mother.
The incident where she was attacked by Memoria, lost her memory, and engaged in a psychological battle with an imposter was undoubtedly her fault,
and she felt she wouldn't have another chance to talk about it so openly if not now.
"That is quite serious. How did you end up making such a mistake? It's good that you're not trying to hide or embellish it, though."
Seeing Victoria like that, Selene felt a bit surprised. She had expected her to fabricate lies to score points with her.
Instead, she was talking about her own shortcomings and asking how to fix them.
"Well... I thought Astal-sama was lusting after my body... When we first met, he tried to remove the flower blooming on my body but failed and then lied..."
"...The first button was put in wrong. I guess our Astal's problem is that he's too kind."
Selene nodded with an expression suggesting she understood. It was routine for him to get misunderstood or into trouble while helping others with magic.
There were times he got his face scratched saving a cat from a tree with magic, and times he almost hurt children while showing off.
"Right. That's why, this time, when I was left alone in the past, it was because he tried to jump into Romulus's mouth first!"
"Oh my, that's a bit much. Even so, his girlfriend was right there. He could have at least discussed it before deciding. Just like my husband."
"...His father did that too?"
"Yes. As soon as he noticed my affection, his first thought was to secretly run away from the mansion. Something about a butler serving a family shouldn't have bad thoughts, or whatever."
"Exactly! Even if I'm a Saint, I can still have a physical relationship with the man I like!"
Listening to Victoria's words, Selene felt a strange sense of kinship. She too had experienced Claude acting similarly clueless, and they both had walls they had to overcome to achieve love.
"That's right. The men in our family are always like this. When they find a woman they like, they just try to avoid it."
"...Maybe that's exactly what drew me to him. The opposite sex I usually encountered was only interested in my body or status."
Shaking her head at Selene's words, Victoria mentioned that she was attracted to Astal precisely because he was different from others in that regard.
She thought she wouldn't have fallen for him if Astal had persistently courted her or tried to seduce her overtly.
"Oh my, if you understand that aspect, you don't really need to confess your sins to me, do you?"
"...Huh?"
"No matter how bad the first impression was, or what mistakes were made, you became lovers after overcoming all those adversities and hardships, right? You don't need my permission. That's what love is."
Only after hearing Victoria's story did Selene finally show a satisfied expression and offer advice.
It was wrong for Victoria to insult or say harsh things to her son Astal, but if their relationship hadn't been like that, they likely wouldn't have started dating in the first place.
"So, seeing you confide your worries like this, Victoria... it means I'm definitely going to die, right? On top of that, sending Astal to the Blue Magic Tower..."
Only after Victoria's face seemed to relax as if her worries were resolved did Selene bring up the main point.
Namely, the incident where Durehan and his forces invade this village, everything burns, and only Astal survives.
"...Yes, sadly, that is the future I know."
"It might be because of my father that he wasn't sent to the Red Tower. That stubborn old man might think our son devoured his parents."
With a calm expression, Selene was deducing the intent behind her future self's actions. If the entire village burned and she died, she must have thought another location would be safer than the Red Tower.
"Mother... aren't you scared?"
"What is there to fear? Right now, I have my daughter-in-law by my side, and I have this staff too."
Selene said, taking out a staff that looked obviously luxurious from a shelf.
While Astal usually cast magic bare-handed, it was common for mages of this era to use tools like that.
"There are still six days left, too. Even if this changes our son's future, I believe I'll be able to meet my daughter-in-law again."
"I appreciate your words, but..."
"If you're really worried, you can at least drop a hint to our son. Where you're trapped now and what humiliation you're suffering."
"......"
Silence.
Victoria felt chills seeing that Selene had noticed her past actions. She had deliberately not mentioned it to avoid causing worry, so how on earth did she know?
"I noticed because it was strange that my daughter-in-law was leaving out her own past story. The part about flowers blooming on your body too... and past Saints always had to give up something to serve God."
Selene smiled with her eyes and resolved Victoria's question. Originally the young lady of the noble Caisaros family, she was a young woman well-versed in the ways of the world.
There was no way she wouldn't know such important information, and discerning what someone wants or hides during conversation was also a necessary skill in social circles.
"So, what should we do? We could use magic to create fake monsters to evacuate people... or if not that, find a way to stop the Demon King's army."
Just as Selene was tapping her staff while pondering, the door suddenly swung open and someone walked in.
"Mom, I'm thirsty..."
"......!"
The sudden appearance of the young Astal startled Victoria, who had been holding her breath until then, forcing her to exhale and shrink back.
And then, *pop*, *thump-thump*—.
*Bang!*
The button that had been barely holding Victoria's chest together popped off forward, lightly hitting Astal's forehead.
"Ah, ooh.... S-sorry!"
Victoria hurriedly covered her chest with her hands and spoke, but the ample, fair skin had already swayed up and down once, greatly, within the young Astal's view.
"......"
The young Astal from his childhood, who had a nosebleed flow without even realizing it from the overly stimulating impact.
He ended up in a situation where he couldn't make eye contact with Victoria for a while or couldn't sleep, recalling her body.