A Reunion Beyond Precious
I didn’t know where to begin explaining….
Opia stood helplessly between me, who was still sobbing uncontrollably, and my mother, who was staring at me in utter bewilderment.
My friend took my mother’s tense hand, thought for a long moment, then led her—still visibly frightened and hesitant—over to me.
“This might be shocking and strange, but this is Kaira. She’s my friend. Could you stay with her for a little while, Pirel?”
Beyond my tear-blurred vision, I saw my mother hesitate before giving a small nod.
“Kaira, this is as far as I can go. The rest is up to you. Whether you tell her the truth or make up a lie to hide it, I’ll leave it all in your hands. I can’t get involved any further.”
“U-ugh… y-yeah… I-I understand… ugh…”
My words barely formed a coherent answer. Opia looked at me with a pitying smile, then stepped outside and gently closed the door behind her.
The moment Opia’s shadow disappeared, I rose from my seat as if in a trance.
And then I embraced her. I held her and cried without stopping.
My mother, whose head barely reached my chest.
“U-um… miss…?”
My mother—no, Pirel—squirmed, trying to push me away in obvious discomfort. Then, suddenly, she stopped moving. A quiet voice slipped from her lips.
“This scent… it’s definitely…”
I fought to hold back my tears, straining to hear what she wanted to say.
“That smell of bread… the one that always filled Rajail’s house…”
Ah… Father. Father… Dad…
Hearing that name in my ear made it impossible to hold back any longer. I tightened my arms around Pirel’s slender body and let the sobs I had barely suppressed pour out once more.
“Are you… someone Rajail sent?”
Thanks to that damned bread scent, the wariness that had filled my mother’s voice only moments ago had completely melted away as she asked the sobbing, pathetic mess that I was.
I hiccupped, struggling to swallow my tears.
“That’s… y-yes… that’s right…”
It wasn’t exactly a lie. After all, I was someone Father had created.
I pulled away from my mother. If I stayed pressed against her any longer, I knew I would start crying again.
With tear-soaked lashes, I finally looked at her with somewhat clearer vision. She was staring at me with wide, round eyes, her head slightly tilted.
…She’s adorable.
Even as I had that utterly inappropriate thought about my own mother.
After a long moment of hesitation, I gestured to her. She looked a little nervous, as if wondering what I might say next.
“For now, why don’t you sit on the bed, Pirel? It’s going to be a long story.”
She came over and sat beside me. Not close enough to touch, as if she didn’t feel we were that familiar yet. She left a small, careful distance between us.
“…Have you been to your hometown street?”
I asked. Since neither Opia nor her father seemed like bad people, they must have taken her at least once to the alley she claimed was her home.
“Yes, I went… but it was strangely different. The bakery Rajail’s father used to run was gone. Miss Opia was worried I might have been hit with some strange magic… Did Rajail’s family move? Where did you come from?”
It seemed the innocent eyes of this girl hadn’t even registered the pattern of the shawl I was wearing. I supposed I should be grateful she hadn’t looked at me with contempt from our very first meeting.
“Father… I mean, Lord Rajail… has passed away. Two years ago…”
“What?! He’s dead? Rajail?”
The girl’s red eyes widened into perfect circles. Moisture began to gather at the corners of those clear, bright eyes.
“…He was probably forty-two when he died.”
It was painful even to speak the words, but I had to say them. I barely held back my tears as I delivered the news.
“What? That can’t be. Rajail was only four years older than me…”
“…Yes. I know what you’re saying is true, Pirel. You were caught in strange magic and made young again. Twenty-five years younger.”
My mother looked far more shocked than when I had told her Father was dead. I could see suspicion creeping into her expression. Was she thinking I was a con artist or a liar?
I summoned a faint orb of light magic in my palm and spoke.
“Look. I’m a mage too. Just like Opia. We were classmates who shared the same room throughout our time at the Magic Academy. And…”
I stopped there, lips moving silently for a long time. I tried to come up with various lies that might convince her. But not a single decent fake excuse came to mind.
In the end, I had no choice but to resolve myself.
“My name is Kaira. I am the daughter of Rajail and Pirel. Pirel… you are my mother.”
“Wait, what do you…”
A complex mix of discomfort, bewilderment, and confusion washed over my mother’s face. Still, seeing how serious both Opia and I had been, she seemed to sense this wasn’t some cruel prank. The suspicion in her eyes lessened.
“Pirel, when time was rewound, all the memories you had accumulated over those twenty-five years disappeared. I can return some of those memories to you. They won’t be your own memories, but rather my memories of observing you as your daughter.”
My mother, who had been slightly agape, slowly closed her mouth.
“It’s only reading my memories, but even that will likely be very painful for you, so I won’t force it. Pirel, right now you have three paths to choose from. You can send me away and live as Opia’s adopted family. Or, even if it takes a long time, you could meet with me occasionally and listen to the stories I tell you little by little.”
I bit my lip lightly and continued.
“Or… you could accept all the memories I possess in a single moment through my magic.”
Worry settled over my mother’s face. It was a relief that she didn’t seem to think my words were some malicious lie, but I was still anxious.
Maybe I should have just left her like this, knowing nothing, and let her live with Opia…
A sudden wave of regret rose up, but I tried to soothe myself. This was something that had to be done.
What decision will Mother make…?
After a long silence, my mother finally spoke.
“Please do it.”
“Pirel…?”
“I’ve been wondering for so long who I am and why I’m in a place like this. What you’re saying is hard to believe, but you really do seem to be Miss Opia’s friend, so it doesn’t feel like a lie…”
The girl’s resolute expression filled my vision.
“Please show me those memories with your magic.”
…….
My mother had chosen the most painful path.
The memories I would give her were a bitterly cold nightmare that included both Father’s death and my own ruin. Could I really hand something like this over to her so readily?
I agonized over it for a long time. Just like with Arun. Just like with Iskil. I wondered if the choice I was about to make would bring the worst possible outcome.
But I couldn’t overcome my mother’s anxious face…
…or my own selfish desire to have her back.
Without a word, I cast Taerei’s Memory Preservation. A sphere of mana wrapped in a faint glow, containing all my memories up to this point, rose gently above my palm.
"Memories of a daughter watching her mother from afar."
⟨ Taerei’s Memory Preservation ⟩
“Pirel. If you accept this into your body, it will travel through your mana circulation and let you experience everything I’ve been through as if you had lived it yourself.”
I added a few warnings.
“Among spells that interfere with the mind, this is one of the weakest. If you resist even slightly or hold any sense of rejection, the magic will fail. If you’re going to accept it, please don’t fight it. And…”
I let out a small sigh.
“The things I’ve experienced… they aren’t light at all. It will be very painful. If you want to give up, now is the time. I’ll ask one last time. Will you truly accept these memories?”
After hearing the explanation, my mother’s face looked a little frightened. The small girl who resembled me hesitated for a long time before opening her mouth and speaking firmly.
“Yes.”
I nodded once, then pressed the shimmering memory against the area near her heart and planted it there.
The instant the memory seeped in, my mother’s face twisted in shock and she clutched her head. The sight of the tiny girl shaking her head and flailing about was unbearable even from the side.
“Ugh… ughhh…”
Within seconds, tears began dripping from my mother’s eyes.
Even though I had returned the memories, they were still only mine. I couldn’t restore her mind, nor could I accelerate the maturity of her consciousness.
It was forcing a fifteen-year-old girl’s mind to experience everything I had gone through all at once.
Such an act could rightly be called nothing less than torture.
Unable to endure the pain any longer, my mother collapsed onto Opia’s bed.
“Ughhh… ugh, huu… ugh. Uuu…”
Tears streamed down her face, slowly soaking the bed. What memories was she seeing that made her cry like this?
“Hwaaaang…”
Listening to the girl’s sobs filled me with complicated emotions. The sound of the only blood relative left in this world sobbing felt like it was carving out my heart.
…Still, if it ends with just crying, I suppose that’s fortunate.
I had been prepared to rewind time slightly in case her fragile fifteen-year-old mind shattered completely… but it seemed that wouldn’t be necessary.
A tight squeeze pressed against my back. At some point, my mother had sat up and was now hugging me tightly.
“Kaira, Kaira… Kaira… Rajail, Rajail…”
“Mother…?”
“I-I’m sorry… Even though I received your memories, I don’t have any memories of living as your mother, so I don’t want to be called that… Could you keep calling me Pirel from now on…?”
…In that case, it felt less like I had regained my mother and more like I had gained a small younger sister who shared my memories.
There was nothing I could do. That had been the best way I could give her those memories.
I smiled warmly at my mother—no, at the girl who was now simply ‘Pirel.’
“Yes, Pirel.”
Pirel held me tightly for a long time. Her tears soaked through my dress, making my back feel slightly cold.
“…Thank you, Kaira.”
“Huh? Suddenly… what for…?”
“For finding me. And…”
Pirel spoke in a chillingly cold tone that didn’t suit a girl her age.
“For taking such refreshing revenge for Rajail.”
I flinched. It was an honestly surprising reaction.
…That’s unexpected. Mother, you were more ruthless than I thought. Well, you always were sharper than Father…
Perhaps because these were memories seen through another person’s self, the cruel revenge that still left deep scars in my heart seemed to feel like nothing more than satisfying payback to Pirel.
“Kaira, you’re going to quit that work right away… I mean, the flower-selling job, and leave, right?”
“Yes.”
“While I was receiving the memories you gave me, I thought about it. I want to go with you. I feel sorry toward Miss Opia and her father who have treated me so well, though.”
I looked at her with a slightly surprised expression.
“You look a lot like me, Kaira. Not exactly the same, but very similar… Of course you would. You’re my daughter. If I stay here, I might end up under suspicion too. They might wonder if I’m the one who was turned back to fifteen and is hiding. Our appearances are too alike. The emperor and the Magic Academy professors already know the nature of that ability, don’t they?”
“Ah…”
I immediately understood and nodded slowly. Had I only been thinking about myself? I hadn’t even considered the dangers Pirel might face if I left her behind and disappeared alone.
As expected, Grandmother is wiser than Mother.
Be quiet, Rin.
“I understand. I’ll talk to Opia…”
“You don’t need to persuade her. I’ll tell her myself. Miss Opia probably won’t stop me. In the meantime, Kaira, you should go back and prepare to leave. You left that precious clock and those important books in the room, didn’t you?”
I hesitated for a moment before speaking to Pirel.
“…You really do seem like a mother.”
Pirel shrugged.
“Hehe. I am a mother, after all.”
Using Rin’s power once more to disguise the color of my eyes, I slipped back through the city gates. The process of entering the Imperial Capital was stricter than leaving, so it took a little longer, but the prostitute’s shawl did its job perfectly.
Wolf had already left the spot where he performed. Well, moving around was probably better for him than staying in one place for too long. I hoped he was doing well.
And the moment I turned onto the main street where Arto’s brothel came into view, something—no, Rin—screamed a warning inside my head.
Mom! Hide, right now!!
Startled, I leaped into the nearest alley.
What is it, Rin…?
There are a ton of guards gathered in front of Lord Arto’s shop. It might be for something else, but…
I see.
After thinking for a moment, I asked Rin a favor.
Can your split bodies check the situation for me?
Yeah, I was going to do that even without you asking. Just wait here for a bit, Mom.
Haa. Had I truly come to accept the relationship between Rin and me as mother and daughter from the bottom of my heart? It felt bittersweet.
And then my ear itched.
W-what is this… a fly…?
Rats are too big and noticeable. To scout around the brothel, this form is more suitable. The amount of protoplasm I have inside your head right now is only enough for one rat, so I can only send several small animals.
I see, but…
I asked one thing that had been bothering me.
Did you… eat the flies too?
…….
Rin didn’t answer.
For some reason, I could clearly picture a translucent, squishy little girl with an incredibly embarrassed face, desperately looking away.
The shy expression of someone who had been caught eating something she shouldn’t have.