My father knocked on the door of my mother’s room. He waited for her to respond before announcing that he was entering, his deep voice reverberating through the halls. Sandra and I followed my father inside, greeting her as we entered. As soon as my mother noticed my tutor, whom she’d never met before, she put on a kind smile.
“I apologize for having to meet you in such a state.” My mother’s graceful voice filled the room. She sat up in bed as she greeted Sandra. “I am Margrave Reiner’s wife, Nanalie Valdia. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”
From her mannerisms, it was hard to believe that she was sick. Every movement she made was beautiful, and I was captivated.
I never knew my mother was such a graceful woman...
I only had memories of interacting with her around family. This was probably the first time I was seeing how she carried herself in front of company.
“I apologize for my sudden visit. My name is Sandra Ernest, and I work in the field of magic research.” Sandra greeted my mother as a fellow noble. Since she’d come from a noble family, she was aware of the customs.
Once they had exchanged greetings, my father cleared his throat and began to explain the reason for our visit.
“Nanalie...I’ve actually been keeping the name of your illness a secret,” he said with a somber expression. “I did so because there’s no cure for your illness, and it is terminal. You’re suffering from mana depletion disorder. I’m a coward who couldn’t tell you the truth. I’m sorry.”
Once he finished, he bowed his head in apology. My mother seemed a bit surprised to hear such words from my usually stern father, but it wasn’t long before she smiled again.
“I knew,” she admitted. “There’s no need for you to look so solemn.”
My father’s eyes widened with surprise. There were only a handful of people who knew what disease my mother was suffering from. Had someone from that small group told her?
Before he could ask, my mother giggled and revealed the answer. “Now you’re making a scary face. I know my own body best. Even if I didn’t know the name of the disease itself, judging from how I felt each day, I gathered that this was a terminal illness.”
I hadn’t expected to hear that from her, and I was completely shocked. My father now seemed frustrated. My mother had already accepted her predicament, but he had been a coward. He had been hiding from the truth of her situation.
“It is nice to finally know the name of this pesky disease,” my mother remarked. “Mana depletion disorder... I finally know your name now.” She grasped her chest, right around where her heart would be, and quietly addressed her illness. She then turned her attention to me and spoke with an apologetic look. “I’m sorry, Reid. I’ve caused you to suffer the most. You realized early on that this disease was terminal, didn’t you?”
I quietly nodded. Judging from the memories I had, I’d likely known that my mother was dying even before gaining the memories of my previous life. I hadn’t known that it was mana depletion disorder, but I had suspected that whatever afflicted her was terminal. The original Reid had probably known for a long time that she couldn’t be saved. If my mother felt the same, then that was most likely what had happened.
I answered slowly. “Yes... At some point, I realized that your condition wasn’t getting any better, and it seemed that no medication was working. There was also always a new doctor here to see you, so I knew that you were suffering from a particularly troublesome disease.”
My mother looked saddened by my words. “I can’t believe I let my child notice what was happening and caused him to worry. I’ve failed as a mother.” She somberly hung her head.
“It is impossible for you to have failed as a mother!” I immediately exclaimed. “If anyone has failed as a parent here, it is father!”
“What was that?!” he boomed.
I immediately rounded on my father. “Just the other day, you yourself said, ‘I should have confronted you about your feelings. I’ve failed as a father!’”
“Wh—?! That... That isn’t something that needs to be brought up right now!” His face flushed bright red, which was a rare sight, and he was completely flustered.
This is my chance to win!
“You’re much too obtuse, father. There are times when you should simply stop thinking and do whatever it is that you want—especially when it comes to your family.”
He was still bright red as his temple twitched. It seemed like he was holding back what he wanted to say, perhaps because Sandra and my mother were there with us. Throughout our interaction, my mother had been watching, her eyes wide with surprise. Sandra, on the other hand, didn’t seem too interested in the whole situation.
“The same goes for how you treat Meredy,” I continued. “Who cares if you have a scary face? You should just go ahead and call her ‘Mer,’ father.”
It sounded as if something had suddenly snapped.
“That’s enough, Reid!!!” my father bellowed with anger.
“It isn’t! I will say my piece!!!” I yelled back.
I was scared of my father, but I was going to remain undaunted. My mother seemed both shocked by and worried upon seeing me talk back to my father.
“I could also say the same about how you’ve dealt with mother,” I continued. “Instead of running from reality because you couldn’t accept that her illness was terminal, you should have confronted it head-on. Do you know how lonely mother has been, fighting her illness all on her own?”
A look of realization washed over my father’s face. The redness faded, to the point where he was looking a bit blue. He then turned to my mother and apologized.
“Nanalie, I’ve made an unforgivable mistake...”
Until today, he had believed that she wasn’t aware that her disease was terminal, but she’d known this whole time. That meant she had spent every day struggling and fighting against the illness all on her own, which my father had been unaware of. That, in turn, meant that he couldn’t be by his wife’s side when she was in pain. My words had made that fact sink in.
“No, no. You haven’t made any such mistake,” my mother reassured him. “I never said anything because I didn’t want to burden you.”
My father had shrunk back dejectedly, which I couldn’t believe knowing how stark his usual demeanor was, and my mother simply smiled at him.
“I love you, Nanalie...”
“My dear...I love you as well.”
My parents gazed into each other’s eyes and began tearing up, eventually embracing each other. To my complete surprise, they were now in their own little world. A mere child like myself couldn’t burst their bubble of happiness. I turned to look at Sandra, who had also been left behind as the two had their moment. She just had a cold look on her face, and I made eye contact with her only for her to grimace in response.
Sandra sighed, then finally spoke up. “Sir Reiner, Lady Nanalie, I apologize for interrupting, but may we move on?”
Her voice finally made my parents snap back to reality. They both turned red and cleared their throats as they let go of each other. Once they stopped hugging, it was very obvious that they were giving each other looks that said, “Let us continue this later.”
“I apologize,” my father said. “Sandra, please explain the purpose of our visit today.”
Sandra proceeded with her explanation to my mother. Our goal today was to use the prototype of our mana restoration drug. As you could guess from its name, taking the drug restored a small amount of mana. We’d already confirmed that it worked by using my Measure Mana spell, which could be used to quantify the mana within a person. When using the spell, the amount of mana measured was announced in the caster’s mind. We’d used this spell to see whether taking the drug actually restored mana, so we had no doubt that it worked.
Although it was effective, the herb used to create the drug was possibly the most unpalatable thing in the world. I’d had to test all of our different prototypes, which had been unbelievably awful. Sandra could guarantee that the drug was effective, but we were still far from a cure. She made sure to explain that in order to actually cure my mother’s disease, we were planning on preparing a separate medicine.
For some reason, my mother’s behavior while she was listening was strange. She was smiling, but I thought I saw her sweating. Her shoulders also seemed to be heaving, and I became quite worried.
“Are you all right, mother?” I asked. “You look a bit pale.”
“I’m fine, Reid— Urgh?!”
“Mother?!”
Moments ago, my mother had been smiling and talking to us, but now she was in agony. She was breathing heavily while grasping her chest, and her nails had turned white. I immediately cast Measure Mana on her.
Nanalie: 8 MP
“What?!” I cried as I heard the announcement in my head. Mana depletion disorder would go after a person’s body until they were out of mana. At this very moment, my mother was approaching death.
“Sandra!!!” I yelled out. “My mother only has eight mana left! Giver her the drug before it drops to zero!!!”
“What?! Y-Yes, of course!!!”
Sandra immediately grabbed the prototype she’d prepared and moved to administer it to my mother, whose symptoms were getting worse before our eyes. She began panting as she loudly groaned in pain. She wrapped her arms around herself as she fell to her side. Her teeth began chattering and she whispered, “Reiner...”
It was clear that her condition was abnormal and dangerous.
“Please, take this medicine, Lady Nanalie!!!” Sandra was trying to give the medicine to my mother, but she wouldn’t open her mouth—or rather, she wasn’t able to open her mouth on her own. I climbed onto the bed and got as close as I could, calling out to her, trying to get her to take the medicine.
“You can’t lose, mother!!!”
She seemed to have heard me, because just for a moment, she smiled. At the same time, I saw the light in her eyes fade.
We’ve come so far! Is this really it?! What was all of our hard work for?!
All I could do was wail.
“Aaaaagh!!! Nooo!!! Mother!!! Mother!!! I don’t want you to gooo!!!”