Chapter 267: Mother and Daughter
The sunset deepened, dyeing the horizon in shades of orange and crimson.
Led by Kallen, he once again arrived at the Western-style mansion he had seen the previous night, though it was now evening.
As the lights began to glow, Kallen, appearing like an ordinary girl, guided him through the mansion's main gate.
Crossing the courtyard and reaching the entrance, Kallen stepped forward, inserted her ID card into the scanner, and opened the door.
Just then, a woman dressed in a maid's uniform emerged from inside, hurrying to greet them.
"Welcome back, Miss Kallen. And this is…"
Noticing that Kallen had brought a boy home today—one who, though not bearing Britannian features, carried an air of dignified authority—the maid's voice faltered slightly.
Kallen, however, did not answer her question.
Instead, gazing at the subservient face before her, Kallen's already irritable mood worsened. Ignoring the maid's humble smile, she grabbed Mahiro's hand and made to head upstairs.
But Mahiro remained where he was, smiling at the maid as he introduced himself:
"Hello, allow me to introduce myself. I am Kallen Stadtfeld's teacher, Mahiro Zi Britannia."
"..."
The maid covered her mouth in surprise.
"Teacher, didn't you say you were here for a home visit? Come upstairs with me."
Kallen tugged firmly at his arm, as though unwilling to let him engage further with the maid.
Yet the maid showed no intention of leaving Kallen's side, following closely behind them.
"Miss Kallen… if the teacher is here for a home visit, should I inform Madam?"
...
Annoyed by the maid's persistent clinging, even with Yotsuba Mahiro present, Kallen struggled to hold back a sharp retort.
She turned around, ready to lash out, but just then, her eyes fell on the maid's face.
"...What's wrong? You look exhausted."
Under the indoor lighting, Kallen clearly saw the woman's pallid, sallow complexion and the faint dark circles around her eyes.
Hearing the question, the maid tilted her head in surprise, then relaxed into a relieved smile and bowed.
"Not at all, thank you for your concern."
"Tch…"
Kallen clicked her tongue in disgust and, paying no heed to Mahiro's reaction, dragged him upstairs.
As soon as they reached the second floor, they encountered a lavishly dressed blonde woman.
"Bringing a boy home—how unexpected," a cold voice drifted into their ears.
Standing in the open-plan hall on the second floor, the woman scrutinized him and Kallen in turn.
She appeared to be around forty years old. Though her features were refined, her heavy makeup was unsettling—especially the vividly colored lipstick on her lips, which somehow brought poison to mind.
"Not only are you home early, but you're skipping school too. Really, just because your father has returned to the homeland doesn't mean you can do as you please."
The woman spoke irritably, but her gaze lingered on Mahiro.
At first sight of his face, her brow twitched unnaturally, but upon noticing his attire and the aura he exuded, she hesitated, then slowly nodded to him.
Just as she was about to cast a contemptuous look at Kallen and the maid downstairs and lose her temper, Mahiro stepped forward.
"Hello, I believe you must be Countess Stadtfeld?"
"Yes, that's right. And you are...?"
"I'm a teacher from the private Ashford Academy, Kallen's homeroom teacher, Mahiro Zi Britannia."
Britannia...?!
The woman's eyes widened slightly as if she had realized something. The cold displeasure on her face instantly faded, replaced by an elegant, ingratiating smile.
"So it's you! I've heard about you from the family head. You previously served as a royal tutor, correct?"
"That's all in the past. Now I'm just an ordinary homeroom teacher at the private Ashford Academy."
Hearing their cheerful conversation and seeing the woman's unusually flattering smile, Kallen's brows furrowed deeply once again.
So this man holds such a high status in Britannia?
Although she had some knowledge of the Britannia surname, she was completely unaware of Mahiro's influence over the royal family and noble houses.
Meanwhile, the woman continued with her ingratiating smile:
"You're too modest, Mr. Mahiro. May I ask what brings you to the Shu-Derfelt residence today?"
"Nothing particularly important. I'm simply visiting the Shu-Derfelt family as Kallen's homeroom teacher."
"Oh my, what an honor! Please, come in quickly."
The woman deferentially ushered him into the living room and instructed the servants to prepare tea.
Throughout this process, however, she completely ignored the maid downstairs, instead shooing her away as if she were an eyesore.
Not daring to disobey, the maid could only bow to them with a forced smile before leaving.
"My apologies, Mr. Mahiro, for this embarrassing display."
While saying this, the woman summoned a maid hired directly from Britannia's homeland to pour him a cup of black tea.
The steaming mist blurred their vision, while a rich, mellow tea aroma filled the living room.
"Mr. Mahiro, Kallen must have caused you quite some trouble at school, hasn't she?"
"Not at all, Madam. Kallen performs very well—she has excellent grades, gets along well with her classmates, and recently even joined the student council."
"Ah, Mr. Mahiro, there's no need to cover for her. Although Kallen isn't my biological daughter, I'm quite aware of her circumstances."
The woman sighed as if troubled, supporting her cheek before taking a delicate sip of tea, leaving a lipstick mark on the cup's rim.
Then she began complaining to him.
Staying out all night, skipping school, even appearing to frequent the settlement areas, and completely refusing to listen to discipline.
She complained to him like a distressed mother worried about her child.
What was supposed to be his report about Kallen's current situation had completely reversed roles.
The world had been turned upside down!
"Oh dear, I'm sorry. I didn't realize I'd talked for so long—it's already this late."
The woman lowered her head and glanced at the time, noticing it was already seven o'clock, just as a servant came to inform them that dinner was ready.
"Mr. Mahiro, why don't you stay for dinner?"
"No need."
Mahiro shook his head to decline the invitation and slowly stood up, saying, "As it happens, I have some matters to attend to. Someone is waiting for me for dinner back home, so I won't intrude."
"Is that so? What a pity. I hope we'll have another chance to meet in the future."
After politely shaking the woman's extended hand, Mahiro took his leave.
She accompanied him all the way to the edge of the garden. Originally, the woman had wanted to have the family driver take him back, but Mahiro politely declined, using the excuse that he wanted to enjoy the night breeze.
In reality, though, it was mainly because a fiery red figure had emerged from the Stadtfeld mansion and quietly followed him.
"Since you've chosen to follow, come over and chat a bit more."
Mahiro found a public bench, sat down, and patted the spot beside him.
At his words, the figure emerged from the darkness.
It was Kallen.
She silently came over and sat at the other end of the bench.
"What did you and that woman talk about?"
"Nothing much."
Mahiro shrugged and said, "We just chatted briefly about your school life. By the way, your stepmother also complained a little about your behavior at home, like staying out all night."
Maple leaves.
He spoke calmly like this.
It didn't sound like a conversation between teacher and student at all, more like casual chat between friends.
The weather had quietly turned colder, but it was still relatively cool in late autumn, especially since the weather today was quite pleasant.
Looking around, besides the neon-colored lights of countless households, one could also see the brilliant stars twinkling in the dark night sky. From time to time, a few withered yellow leaves drifted down from the trees along the road.
"But speaking of which, that maid must be your mother, right, Kallen?"
"!"
Hearing this, Kallen's body trembled slightly. She raised her head with a startled expression, as if asking, "How did you know?"
"Of course I know. Your facial structures are quite similar," Mahiro said with a playful laugh.
Although Kallen had half Britannian blood, her facial contours hadn't changed much, retaining the delicacy and beauty from her mother's side. Even without makeup, she was quite beautiful.
As for her figure, she had inherited the advantages from her father's side, or rather, the Britannian aspects.
Very curvaceous.
Where it should be prominent, it was prominent; where it should be slender, it was slender—all in perfect proportion.
She combined both Eastern characteristics and Western aesthetics.
However...
"From your reaction, it seems you dislike your birth mother? Is it because of her status as just a maid?"
"No! I've never thought that way!"
Kallen immediately denied it, then lowered her head dejectedly.
"I've never cared about what status she holds. It's just that... Mother... is a fool."
Though her words were sharp, Kallen's tone was filled with exhaustion.
"She's different from me—utterly unacknowledged, ending up treated like a servant to be ordered around. Because she can't do anything right, no matter how much she's mocked, she just giggles foolishly. There's no need for her to live here at all, yet she insists on clinging to this place, fawning over her former lover."
"So, because of this, you despise and look down on your mother?"
"I'm just annoyed by it."
As she said this, Kallen's expression had already returned to calm, devoid of any emotion, like a machine set to auto-reply.
Clearly, these weren't her true feelings.
But Mahiro had no intention of pressing further, merely responding lightly with "Is that so?" before casually turning the page on what was, for Kallen, a heavy-hearted topic.
He then shifted the conversation:
"By the way, Kallen, do you really understand your mother?"
"Huh?"
Kallen looked up at him, puzzled.
"Of course, I mean your birth mother, not your stepmother—though she treats you quite well too."
How is she treating me well?
Kallen wanted to shout back.
Her prejudice and hatred toward Britannia were etched deep into her bones, so even her stepmother's discipline felt like disdain for her mixed blood—tainted by the blood of Area 11.
But Kallen suppressed these feelings and answered his question.
"I understand her perfectly, because she's a fool. She clings to that house, begging for her old lover's attention, enduring every humiliation just to stay..."
As she spoke, Kallen's tone was filled with both frustration and certainty.
But Mahiro shook his head faintly and said:
"I think you don't understand her enough, Kallen. Do you really believe your mother stays in that house just to regain the Stadtfeld family head's attention? Couldn't it be for another reason?"
"How could there be any other reason!"
Kallen stood up abruptly, shouting at Mahiro in refutation: "You've only just met her! What could you possibly know about her!"
It was as if his words had struck a chord deep within her, making it impossible to maintain her ladylike composure.
Yet even so, Mahiro only smiled.
"It's true I've only just met her and know nothing of her past. But I imagine mothers are all somewhat similar."
As he spoke, his eyes were filled with reminiscence and nostalgia.
He thought of Yotsuba Maya—that woman who, though not his birth mother, had poured all her love into him in her own twisted way.
But seeing Kallen so agitated, he continued calmly:
"I think someone as clever as you must have an answer in your heart, Kallen. You just don't want to admit it, always denying it. Why not set aside your prejudices and find some time to have a proper talk with your birth mother?"
"What would I even say to her!"
"That's your business. I'm just offering a suggestion."
Mahiro shrugged, then stood up from the bench and stretched, saying:
"Anyway, I've said everything I needed to say. It's getting late, I should head back."
"If I return any later, who knows what that damn Pizza Witch will say about me behind my back..."
He muttered these words as he walked off into the distance, leaving Kallen alone to ponder in the wind.
What on earth did I have to talk about with that woman?
And saying I already have the answer in my heart?
What answer could there possibly be!
On her way home, Kallen kept thinking about these questions, even ignoring the concerned inquiries from the maids upon arriving at the mansion.
Though she couldn't understand it, her mind inexplicably recalled that woman's smile.
Driven by this memory, she paused for a moment in the first-floor hall before heading toward a side corridor.
This was the most remote location in the Western-style mansion—the storage room for various miscellaneous items, and also the residence of her biological mother.
Kallen silently pushed open the innermost door and stepped directly into the room she had never entered before.
But everything that met her eyes was painfully glaring.
It was a room barely larger than a hallway, with stagnant air, yet maintained spotlessly clean without a speck of dust.
Even though the floor creaked from years of disrepair.
The walls on both sides stood in stark contrast to this cleanliness, covered with various graffiti and vulgar insults written in Britannian.
It was immediately clear that other servants had written these.
Since the Stadtfeld Family hired almost exclusively Britannian servants, her mother was the only Japanese among them.
Because of this, her mother had endured endless bullying from these servants.
Like that time when her mother fell from a ladder and broke the chandelier.
The broken notch on the ladder stool was clearly sawed through by someone.
Yet it was still her mother who received the stepmother's scolding.
Kallen had once seen the bruises on her mother's face.
They were from being hit by building blocks, with the excuse that she worked too slowly.
During rainy days, she'd be outside pulling weeds.
Without an umbrella, completely drenched.
Kallen couldn't bear to watch and told her to come inside, but she wouldn't listen.
Because if she didn't finish her work during daylight hours, she would definitely face the head maid's reprimand.
She wore thin clothes during harsh winters.
Kallen had secretly placed a coat in her room—carefully chosen to be inconspicuous, the kind even an ELEVEN could wear without raising suspicion.
But Kallen never saw her wear that coat.
When Kallen angrily confronted her about it, she received the reply "there's a hole in it"—though it was less a hole and more like a deliberate slash from a knife.
All of this was just the tip of the iceberg.
Kallen could imagine the immense malice and torment she endured in places Kallen couldn't see—or wasn't allowed to see.
Even so, she stubbornly refused to leave.
Initially, Kallen had tried to persuade her multiple times.
Yet no matter what happened, her mother refused to leave this villa...
At this thought, Kallen's heart swelled with rage, but along with it came a trace of sorrow.
"I shouldn't have listened to that guy—what was there to talk about with her anyway!"
Fuming, Kallen pulled open the door and was about to leave when a soft call caught her attention.
"Kallen..."
"That form of address..."
Kallen spun around abruptly and saw a woman slowly rising from a dark crevice near the head of the bed.
It had been so long since she'd heard that name. Ever since entering the Stadtfeld Family, her mother had never called her that, always adding the nauseating title of "young lady."
But now...
However, Kallen soon noticed something wrong.
"Don't run around—it's dangerous, Kallen."
Her biological mother began sprinting in the narrow space, crashing headlong into the wall ahead.
She immediately fell to the ground, a bruise forming on her forehead. Yet, as if completely unaware, the woman stood up again and ran toward the wall.
She repeated this several times.
"Stop it!"
Unable to bear it any longer, Kallen shouted to halt her, her body moving on its own as she grabbed the woman.
"What are you trying to do?!"
Kallen gripped the woman's shoulders, forcing her to turn and face her.
But as she held her, she realized how emaciated the woman's body was—so fragile that it felt like the slightest pressure could snap her bones.
The woman's gaze wasn't fixed on her but was instead distant and vacant, as if staring at something far away.
How could this be...
"You've always been by my side, Kallen. You're right here with me."
Under the woman's repeated calls, Kallen finally noticed a metal syringe discarded in the corner and scattered vials in an open drawer.
"REFRAIN?!"
Kallen's pupils contracted sharply.
That was the banned substance recently circulating widely in the Tokyo area.
Seeing her mother's condition and the dense needle marks on her arms, Kallen finally understood.
Her sapphire eyes welled with tears, but they also burned with fury.
Unable to hold back, she cried out:
"You fool!"
Can't you let go of the past? Are you so desperate to rekindle things with your old lover?! How could you resort to this kind of banned drug, this kind of... You're such an idiot!
Her tearful rebuke had no effect on the woman. Even as she shook her mother's shoulders desperately, it was useless.
The object of her rage still wore a gentle, blissful smile.
"Mom!"
Kallen couldn't help but utter the word she hadn't spoken in so long.
And in that moment, the woman's pupils seemed to refocus, her gaze slowly settling on Kallen.
A thin, frail hand gently touched her cheek, brushing away the tears at the corner of her eye.
"Don't cry, Kallen. Mother is right here. From now on, you'll be a Britannian... You won't have to suffer anymore! Every day you'll sleep in a warm, comfortable bed, drink delicious milk, eat your favorite bread, wear beautiful clothes, and dress up prettily! You'll be free to use telephones and travel as you wish!"
The woman gently stroked her cheek while speaking in soft, soothing tones.
"And you don't need to fear the new environment either, Mother is right here... No matter how difficult it gets, Mother will always be by your side..."
As the words faded, Kallen felt her mind go blank with a sudden buzz, followed by an intense suffocating sensation so overwhelming it seemed she might faint.
She forced herself to stand firm in place.
Gazing at her mother's gentle smile and blissful expression, even through simple eye contact, Kallen felt her heart trembling.
It hurt!
So much!
Agonizing pain!
Heart-wrenching pain, bone-deep anguish...
"...What have I done..." Kallen couldn't help but crouch down, hugging her knees as she broke into uncontrollable sobs.
A fool? Who was the real fool?
Just as Mahiro had said earlier, Kallen had actually known all along why her mother chose to stay here—she simply refused to acknowledge or believe it in her heart.
She never wanted to believe that her mother had joined the Stadtfeld Family for her sake.
After Japan's defeat, suffering persecution from Britannia, the woman had chosen this path to protect her daughter—it was her only option.
Because she wasn't strong enough. Because she couldn't protect her daughter through her own power.
So the woman chose to sacrifice herself, hoping this way her daughter would suffer less.
And just as she had hoped, Kallen began living a wealthy young lady's life, never worrying about survival again, no longer needing to fight others outside for a piece of bread or a bottle of drinkable water, no longer getting injured.
Meanwhile, she herself remained in this household with lowly status, enduring even the humiliation from other servants.
Just being able to catch distant glimpses of her daughter's back was enough to make her feel "happy."
But what kind of happiness was this!
Knowing the whole truth, Kallen felt her heart being torn apart. Remembering her cold words toward her mother, she wished she could go back and slap herself hard.
But just then, a warm embrace enveloped her.
"Don't cry, Kallen. Mother is here, I'm right here..."
Feeling her mother's slender yet warm embrace, Kallen's tears flowed uncontrollably, dampening her mother's clothes.
Seeing her mother still lost in past illusions, yet in this moment, she appeared so beautiful, so magnificent in Kallen's eyes...
Kallen swore in her heart that she would definitely take good care of her mother from now on, no matter what!
Even if it meant leaving this household, she would never let her mother suffer any more humiliation!
But at that moment, for some reason, the woman suddenly fell backward.
"Mother!"
She quickly reached out to catch the woman's slender body, only to find her completely unconscious.
Eyes tightly closed.
No matter how she called out, there was no response.
In that moment, Kallen completely panicked.
Was it side effects from the medication?
What should she do?
She felt helpless once again, just like when Naoto Kōzuki, her brother, had died and his cold body was brought before her.
But the next second, a rather unorthodox figure suddenly flashed through her mind.
"That's right, Mahiro-sensei!"
Indeed, the person she thought of was Yotsuba Mahiro—the man who had guided her to reconcile with her mother, seemingly all-knowing and capable of anything!
So she hurriedly took out her phone and dialed the number.
"Hello, sensei? This is Kallen Stadtfeld. Please, I beg you, come help me, save my mother..."