"...Mother, what do you mean by that?"
Aozaki Touko's expression stiffened. She looked at her mother in surprise, as if asking how she knew about this.
"Ah, that... Sorry, I was just startled and started babbling. Hahaha."
Aozaki's Mother blinked and glanced at Irisviel. She awkwardly brushed the matter aside.
As her daughter's mother, it was impossible for her not to understand her own daughter.
She had been young once, too. There were some things she couldn't possibly have been ignorant of. When she had attended an all-girls' school, she had personally seen and encountered matters related to this.
However, her daughter was the heir to the Magic User's legacy, so ordinary discipline was not really suitable for her. Besides, Aozaki's Father had said that Touko would become a Magic User in the future. Having someone become pregnant and give birth was entirely within her capabilities. It was even acceptable to treat Touko like a boy.
That was why she had never said anything. However, she had always watched the relationship between Aozaki Touko and Kuonji Alice. It simply would not have been appropriate for her to mention it as a mother.
"Touko... I'm looking at you in a whole new light~"
At that moment, Altrouge, who had been sitting quietly nearby, spoke in a languid tone. "So you have another lover in Japan?"
Her words carried threads of danger, yet she sounded utterly unconcerned, as though the matter had nothing to do with her. Still, the danger hidden within them conveyed a very different message.
"Um... I was thinking of stepping out for a while?"
Brad, who had been sitting silently the entire time, stood and said this to everyone before quickly disappearing from the room.
He had no intention of getting involved. Although he believed he understood Aozaki Touko very well and supported her, he had no desire to interfere and get beaten up.
"I have something to do as well... I'll take my leave for now~"
Rizovolt Sturlut also stood. With an icy expression, he said this before quickly leaving the room.
He had no interest in getting involved in these matters. Besides, as the only man remaining there, he felt extremely out of place. It was better to leave.
"I still have some matters to deal with... You all take your time."
At that moment, Aozaki's Father looked around and realized he was the only man left. A subtle sense of unease rose in his heart. He stubbed out his cigarette, casually found an excuse, and hurried upstairs.
As expected, young people's affairs were best left for young people to resolve. At his level, he really had no way to help his daughter Touko.
"Honestly... I finally come home, and I still have to deal with work~"
Looking at her departing father, Aozaki Touko spoke helplessly before turning to everyone with a bright smile.
"Since I happened to buy a watermelon, Illyasviel, go cut it up."
"Yes, Miss Touko."
Illyasviel nodded slightly, then reached out and took Kohaku and Hisui, the two little girls, with her.
Hmm... They're still too young to get involved in this sort of thing.
"..."
Altrouge lifted her teacup and took a small sip, acting as if nothing had happened.
She understood very well where the breakthrough in her relationship with Aozaki Touko lay. It was after Aozaki Touko became a Magic User, when she gained the power to face her father, Crimson Moon, just like Gems.
However, by then, she would no longer have much choice.
Of course, if Touko lacked the ability to become a Magic User, Altrouge could instead take Aozaki Touko and keep her by her side, making her belong to her alone forever.
This was a relationship in which they hunted each other.
Chapter Ninety-One: Years Contrary to Her Appearance
"...Here, Aoko~"
Aozaki Touko handed a slice of watermelon to Aoko. Hearing this, the previously silent Aoko raised her head, only to see Touko's sisterly smile, as gentle as ever.
"Ah... Thank you, Touko~"
After a brief pause, Aozaki Aoko accepted the sliced watermelon. Her gaze instinctively turned toward Aozaki Touko, only to see Touko coyly close one eye, raise an index finger to her lips, and make a silencing gesture.
That smile was as gentle as warm sunlight.
--At the same time, Aozaki Mom, who was chatting happily with Irisviel, suddenly asked a question—a perfectly natural question.
"Irisviel, how old are you this year?"
Her enthusiastic question caused the atmosphere to stiffen slightly. Everyone present froze for a moment, and their expressions became strange in unison, but no one spoke up at that moment.
"..."
Aozaki Touko looked up, her gaze meeting Irisviel's. After a silent exchange of understanding, Irisviel brushed back her silver hair and lied with a gentle smile.
"This year? I'm probably... just twenty~"
"I thought you were eighteen, Irisviel~"
Aozaki Mom seemed not to suspect anything. She merely praised her with an admiring expression. It was not empty flattery, but her genuine opinion.
Irisviel's skin was simply unbelievably fair. Describing it as smooth as jade and whiter than snow would not have been an exaggeration.
"Mother, you flatter me~"
Irisviel covered her lips and laughed softly. She was elegant and dignified, like a noblewoman, and her every word and gesture made people feel comfortable from the bottom of their hearts.
"..."
Seeing this, Aozaki Touko smiled faintly, her lips curling in amusement.
Before coming here, she and Irisviel had already agreed on what to say about her age. There was no way Irisviel's true age could be exposed.
Of course, this was not because she intentionally wanted to hide it from her family in this world. Irisviel's circumstances were simply difficult to explain. And considering that her mother in this world was an ordinary human woman, it was better not to bring up anything too far beyond common sense.
"Ryougi, how old are you this year?"
Just then, Aozaki Mom suddenly directed the conversation toward Altrouge, who had been eating watermelon nearby. Her tone was as enthusiastic as ever, like that of a kindly aunt.
"..."
Hearing this, Altrouge blinked her crimson eyes. After thinking for a moment, she realized she could no longer remember her exact age. She would probably have to go back and consult the history books, comparing the records before she could determine it.
With that in mind, she answered seriously, "I'm only fourteen this year~"
Her frank words, combined with her somewhat childish appearance, were overwhelmingly convincing. To Aozaki Mom, who held ordinary human values, accepting it naturally was only to be expected.
"Ryougi is already so beautiful."
Aozaki Mom praised her again. "In another two years, you'll definitely become an unparalleled beauty like Kaguya-hime. No... You're already as beautiful as Kaguya-hime now."
"Kaguya-hime... That's a very apt comparison~"
Aozaki Touko nodded slightly in agreement.
After all, Altrouge was Crimson Moon's eldest daughter, so she truly could be associated with the moon. As for her temperament and appearance, her beauty surpassed that of humans. No one could question it.
"Then I'll accept the compliment without reservation~"
Altrouge nodded confidently and accepted the praise without hesitation.
She truly was not inferior to Kaguya-hime of Japanese myth and legend. She had absolute confidence in that. After all, she was the genuine daughter of the moon.
Time passed in a flash, and night had already fallen.
The lively gathering at the Aozaki Household had ended. Most of the people had washed up and gone to sleep, and the lights in the house had been turned off. The interior was dark and extremely quiet.
Just then.
--Click.
The sound of a switch rang out, and the living room was illuminated once more.
Aozaki Aoko, dressed in pajamas, walked downstairs. She saw that Aozaki Touko was already sitting on the sofa, looking at her with her usual gentle smile.
Clearly, Aozaki Touko had been waiting here for a long time.
"What's wrong... Why aren't you asleep yet?"
Aozaki Touko asked with a smile.
"Aren't you still awake either, Touko~?"
Aozaki Aoko shook her head and sat down beside Aozaki Touko. The two exchanged no words. The atmosphere fell into a prolonged silence, broken only by the ticking of the clock.
"Touko, why don't you want to inherit the Magic Crest?"
After a long while, Aozaki Aoko finally asked.
This was what she most wanted to know, and what puzzled her most. Why would her sister, the heir to the Fifth Magic, give up inheriting it?
She had asked her grandfather about it, but she had never received an answer.
"Because you're more suited to inheriting the Fifth Magic, Aoko. That's why I gave up the Magic Crest. It's as simple as that, okay?"
Aozaki Touko answered this way.
Chapter Ninety-Two: Hearts Honest with Each Other
Night had fallen.
The quiet living room.
The two Aozaki sisters sat together on a sofa at home, engaged in a conversation between sisters—a conversation with no outsiders present.
"Touko, why don't you want to inherit the Magic Crest?"
Aozaki Aoko looked at Touko with a resolute gaze, her will burning like a torch.
She wanted to know the reason. What exactly had caused her sister, who had been the heir to the Fifth Magic since childhood, to give up her right of succession? Wasn't this a denial of everything Touko had once worked for?
"..."
Aozaki Touko answered as a matter of course, "Because you're more suited to inheriting the Fifth Magic, Aoko. That's why I gave up the Magic Crest. It's as simple as that, okay?"
"If I'm the one more suited to use the Magic, then you're the one more suited to develop it. Why does one of those have to be better than the other?"
Aozaki Aoko's gaze did not waver. Her resolve was as firm as ever. "Between a warrior who uses weapons and a scientist who develops firearms, is the person who uses the weapon nobler than the scientist who develops it?"
That was the relationship between her, her sister, and the Fifth Magic.
If she was the warrior who took up a rifle and went to war, then Touko was the person who developed and improved the rifle. As for which of them was more suitable, even their grandfather had been unable to reach a conclusion.
"...Did Grandfather tell you that?"
Aozaki Touko smiled in amusement.
"This sort of thing... Of course I had to figure it out!"
Aozaki Aoko brushed back her black hair and answered as though it were obvious.
Something that had happened so suddenly could not be accepted without question. Refusing to get to the bottom of it would simply not fit her personality.
"I see~"
Aozaki Touko nodded in understanding before explaining, "I have my own path to walk. The Fifth Magic isn't what I'm pursuing, and I don't have that much energy to devote to developing it."
"Is that the only reason?"
Aozaki Aoko furrowed her brows.
"Hmm... About that."
Aozaki Touko tilted her head back and looked at the fluorescent light on the ceiling before asking in return, "Then, Aoko, why did you choose to accept the Magic Crest? If you only want to be a fledgling beneath your sister's wings, I can guarantee you a peaceful life. You can travel all over the world, taste every kind of cuisine, and even keep all sorts of beautiful women. You can live as a carefree little princess."
"...Why does it have to be beautiful women?!"
Aozaki Aoko couldn't help asking after catching that keyword. Aozaki Touko pressed a pale finger to her chin and thought for a moment before answering, "Hmm... If they were handsome men, I'd probably end up beating them to death!"
"..."
Hearing that answer, Aozaki Aoko's lips twitched. She remembered Yaya, whom her sister had given her and who could cause same-sex pregnancy. She immediately decided not to dwell on the issue, then steered the conversation back on track:
Before you continue