Rosetta's Parenting Method
"Hmm..."
Marian sat in her chair, staring fixedly at the completed improved thunder orb and letting out a low groan. Inside the transparent glass sphere, perfectly sized to fit in her palm, sparks crackled as if they might burst out at any moment. She'd boosted the compression ratio by 1.3 times compared to usual—the absolute limit of what she could produce right now.
"It's a bit lacking, isn't it?"
She couldn't help feeling disappointed. She'd only bet a wish slip against Chloe once, but even then, when the thunder orb hit her, Chloe had worn an expression like 'Yeah, I deserved that.' Marian remembered it vividly; she'd been ready to rush out and catch her if she collapsed.
So...
"It's not enough. Definitely not enough. I'm sure of it."
A 1.3-times compression ratio wouldn't cut it. She needed 1.5 times. No, 2 times to reliably overpower Chloe...
"First things first, let's make a healing artifact."
Not even the original thunder orb would leave Chloe unable to recover without some means of healing—and Marian had none. Forget aiming for double compression; it was time to craft a healing artifact.
"Let's see... a patch that just alleviates pain when applied... Is this a simple painkiller artifact? If I combine it with a potent potion, it should be perfect..."
She pored over every healing artifact tome from the library, searching for something to treat Chloe once she was too battered by the thunder orb to move.
A wish slip that let her ask Chloe for anything was tempting, sure—and it might hurt Chloe in the process. But that's exactly why Marian burned with the desire to heal her with her own hands.
I mean, come on. Just injuring Chloe and snatching the wish slip would be straight-up looting it. But heal her first, then take the slip? That made it an offering. Not Marian stealing from Chloe, but Chloe gratefully handing it over as repayment.
Someone might call that nonsense, but to Marian—who wanted to claim it as honorably as possible—it was only natural.
Anyway.
"The recipe... Good, I've got everything I need. Let's get started."
And so, for the first time in three years without Chloe, Marian dove into crafting new alchemical artifacts and potions.
Meanwhile, Chloe...
"Miss... why hasn't she come?"
By now, Marian would usually sneak down from upstairs, lift the covers on the bed where Chloe lay, and slip in to sleep together. She'd come without fail on that day of the month, and even on less sensitive days, she'd often crawl under the same blanket.
But not tonight.
"Hmm..."
Feeling needlessly miffed, Chloe slid out of bed and headed to the bathroom, tilting her head up. The bathroom ceiling looked perfectly ordinary. The secret passage connected to Marian's room only opened to her mana, so tapping it wouldn't do a thing.
In other words, if Marian had no intention of coming, the passage stayed shut.
"I don't know either."
Better this way, really. It had been ages since she'd slept alone in peace.
With that settled, Chloe returned to bed and lay down.
But once she did...
"Tch..."
Now that the sulkiness had taken hold, thoughts of Marian refused to leave her mind. Was this real puberty? Did Marian not want to hang out anymore? After everything she'd done for her?
"No, no."
Wasn't that too much? It was just one day. Just one. Marian had gotten into that red book—surely she deserved a day to herself. She'd be back to normal tomorrow, so no need for Chloe to feel slighted.
With her thoughts sorted, Chloe drifted off to sleep.
The next day came.
"Miss..."
"Sorry, Chloe. I'm busy."
The day after.
"I've got stuff to do today too! Out you go."
"Yes..."
And the next.
"Chloe."
"Yes...?"
Marian didn't seek her out for a full four days. Aside from the bare-minimum essential lessons, she avoided spending time together. Puberty. Her desire for independence from her guardian was clearly raging out of control.
"Stepmother...!"
Feeling anxious, Chloe knew exactly who to turn to.
# Rosetta Evergreen. She wasn't around right now, but... she'd raised five children. If there were laws ranking parenting skill, she'd be a veteran mother for sure. And someone like her would know exactly how to handle a child's puberty.
So Chloe went to find her.
"Stepmother...!"
"You've looked down these past few days—what's wrong?"
"The miss is acting strange."
"Strange? How so?"
Chloe began explaining.
"She suddenly started keeping her distance."
"Keeping distance? When she's usually glued to you?"
Of course, Rosetta didn't buy it easily. The Marian she knew had sat on Chloe's lap even during mana initiation lessons or simple magic guidance. What wind could have blown that ill-mannered brat to suddenly shun her?
"No, a few days ago, she brought some book from the study?"
"A book?"
"But she won't show it to me."
"And that's the problem...?"
"It's definitely something naughty. A dirty book. Reading it once made her puberty flare up, and now she's avoiding me for sure."
"Good lord..."
Thinking this was utter nonsense, Rosetta pressed her forehead and fixed Chloe with a deadpan stare.
"She's fifteen. Kids that age get curious about that stuff. Use the chance for proper sex ed? Tell her to ask if she's wondering, and teach her what she needs to know."
"No way..."
"Why not?"
Forget that Chloe had once been a man and didn't fully grasp female sensibilities—seeing Marian visibly recoil after just peeking at a naughty book was obvious.
"What if talking about that stuff makes it even more awkward...?"
"Fair enough... I left most of it to guest instructors except virginity and bastard-child stuff, so yeah, doing it yourself would feel off."
But then.
"You don't want to get awkward with her?"
"Of course not? I basically carried her on my back all these years—how could I stand being distant from my miss?"
"I see."
Smirking as if she'd figured it out, Rosetta shook her head.
"Looks like you weren't lying about becoming that child's mother. You've even played the part."
"What do you mean?"
"You're pretending not to know when you know plenty? Do I have to spell it out?"
"I really don't..."
"You're already her mom."
"Huh...?"
"Not wanting to grow apart from your child? That's a parent's privilege. You've spent time cherishing her, so naturally, you hate the thought of distance."
In that sense.
"Just three years. A mere three years of caring for her isn't much, but you've bonded, acted the parent, and dread losing her... Blood or no, you're her real mother."
Rosetta's expression darkened as she said "real mother." She had blood children—now gone. Chloe had none by blood, yet kept hers close. If dividing real from fake, wasn't she closer to fake...?
What am I thinking...?
Over the past three years, changes had come to Rosetta too. She'd quelled her intense hatred for Marian, gathered her sanity, and found peace. No need to stir demons now.
Just give simple advice.
"Anyway, let's sum it up. Her pulling away is the issue, right?"
"Yes. Honestly, these past few days—essential lessons only, then kicked back to my room—it's left me feeling... off."
"There's a trick for that..."
As a mother of five, picking advice suited for this novice was easy.
"Just get serious."
"Get serious?"
"Yeah. When she tells you to leave, stone-face it: 'Got it,' 'Sure,' 'Yeah.' One word, then go to bed. Do that a few days, and kids straighten up on their own."
"Oh..."
Whether the advice was spot-on or not aside, it worked—and that was enough to tempt Chloe, clueless about child-rearing.
"I'll give it a try."
And so, Chloe's counterattack began.