The perfect | TBATE X COTE

Chapter 15: Mostly healthy filler

When we discovered that Arthur was still alive, the atmosphere at the Helstea mansion improved dramatically. My mother smiled at every opportunity, and those brown eyes that seemed to hold endless sadness and regret now sparkled with delight every hour.

My father was the same way; a relief that even he couldn't see painted his face, and he appeared younger.

Overall, the news had made the last two months better for the family, and along with my training with Ruri-which for the time being only consisted of theory-it was a rather peaceful time reminiscent of our days in Ashber's village.

"Did you get it, Kiyo?" Ruri asked, crossing her arms in front of me, her slightly raised chin and smug expression indicating that she was pleased with herself for overwhelming a 'child' with her lessons.

Unfortunately for her, I was not a child.

"I think I got it." I slowly nodded. "Essentially, the greater the purity of the mana core, the smaller the difference between an augmenter and a conjurer." She had used confusing words to distract me, but it was a simple concept in the end.

Ruri's shoulders slumped, and she pouted, though she would probably deny it. "Did you eat your family's library, Kiyo? I've only been teaching you for two months and I'm already out of theory to instruct you."

I shrugged my shoulders without replying, everything she had said I had discovered on my own in the course of my experiments, though I wouldn't tell her that.

The bedroom door burst open, and a worried Lilia gasped with teary eyes as she was about to resume the lesson. "K-Kiyo, auntie Alice... She-."

I wanted to wait for Lilia to finish explaining, but Ruri passed like a blur by my side making Lilia stumble backwards, I couldn't even see when Ruri ran and left the room.

She was actually quite powerful, she was a dark yellow core mage after all.

I approached Lilia, who looked shocked, and held out my hand. "Are you okay?"

She grabbed my hand coming out of her stupor. "Y-Yes."

After I wiped some dust off her head, I calmly asked. "What did you want to tell me?"

Lilia's eyes opened and her hands began to drag me out of the room. "Aunt Alice is sick! Her stomach hurts." She said.

I quickly put the dots together and only one thing came to mind. 'So the time has come.'

I didn't know what to think because I had no experience with situations like this; however, if the need arose, I could use my medical knowledge to assist in this type of situation; I would rather avoid it, but in this case, it couldn't be avoided. Perhaps I was growing accustomed to the idea of having a family? Isn't it true that families protect one another?

Unknowingly, I shrugged, but began to hurry because if Alice was about to have the baby, she would need someone to calm her down because father was working and it would take time to call him to come.

We found a room on the first floor of the Helstea house thanks to Lilia's directions. As soon as I opened the door, I saw Alice lying on a bed with Tabitha and Ruri on either side of her, a pained expression on her face and slight moans of pain escaping her mouth.

I approached them, keeping a close eye on my mother's condition. "Have you called the doctor?" I inquired.

"Vincent is doing that." Tabitha replied to me.

I agreed by nodding. Then it was simply a matter of making my mother feel at ease in the meantime. Keeping this in mind, I approached her and took one of her hands in mine.