Claudia and Mia, teacher and student, followed the tantalizing aroma lingering at the tip of their noses and found the shop called “Leah’s Mom’s Secret Roast Chicken” with perfect accuracy.
The shop door was tightly shut, a wooden sign hanging on it that read “Closed for Business.”
“This is it!” Mia excitedly pointed at the signboard, her face glowing with the excitement of “I’ve accomplished something.” “Teacher, look, ‘Leah’s Mom’! That girl kept saying ‘my mom’, so it must be her!”
“Mm.” Claudia nodded, her expression still stern, but there was a hunter’s gleam in her eyes—the look of someone who had found their prey’s trail.
She stepped forward, carefully observing the little shop. It was clean and tidy, and even from the crack in the door, she could still smell the lingering, mouthwatering aroma.
All the clues matched.
“So what do we do now?” Mia asked, a little anxious. “Should we knock on the door?”
“Not a good idea.” Claudia shook her head. “Judging from her previous reaction, that child is highly alert. If we rush in now, it’ll only make them more wary. Let’s observe from nearby for a while.”
As they settled in the shadows across the street, discussing their next move, a familiar figure appeared at the end of the street.
Silver hair, tall and upright, holding a book in her arms, it was none other than Lisbeth, who had just run away earlier.
“It’s her!” Mia’s eyes lit up instantly, and she almost rushed over without thinking.
“Stop right there!” Claudia grabbed her overenthusiastic student and lowered her voice. “Don’t be rash. Let’s see what she’s going to do.”
They watched as Lisbeth walked straight up to the roast chicken shop’s door and, with practiced ease, pulled out a key from her pocket, ready to unlock it.
“She… she lives here!” Mia was so excited that she could barely speak.
Seeing Lisbeth about to unlock the door, Mia could no longer hold herself back. She broke free from her teacher’s grip and dashed over like a happy little puppy.
“We meet again!”
A crisp, lively voice rang out on the quiet street.
Lisbeth’s hand, just about to insert the key, froze suddenly.
She turned her head slowly and saw the noisy, sparrow-like, brown-haired girl running toward her with a big smile, with the “big liar” who had tried to get her personal information earlier following behind.
Her brows immediately twisted into a knot.
“Hello! Do you remember me? My name is Mia!”
Mia ran up to Lisbeth and introduced herself enthusiastically, her big eyes shining with undisguised admiration.
“So you really live here! What a coincidence! I was just wondering how I could find you again!”
Expressionless, Lisbeth looked at her and spat out two words:
“Liar.”
“Eh?” Mia’s smile froze on her face.
“You followed me.”
Lisbeth continued in a flat tone, her eyes full of undisguised wariness and annoyance. She ignored Mia, turning to hurry and unlock the door.
“Please wait, classmate.”
Claudia’s voice sounded just in time. She had already stepped forward, standing between Lisbeth and the door.
She first shot a helpless glance at her socially clumsy student, then turned to Lisbeth with the gentlest and most sincere tone she could muster:
“We mean you no harm, nor are we liars. It’s just… your magic talent is truly astonishing. As a tutor from the Royal Academy of Magic, I can’t possibly overlook a talent like yours.”
Lisbeth was unmoved, her gaze cold. “I want to go home. My mother is waiting for me.”
In the midst of this awkward standoff, the tightly closed wooden door suddenly creaked open from the inside.
“Little Liz, why are you standing outside instead of coming in? I heard voices…”
A gentle, slightly lazy-sounding woman’s voice drifted out.
Tulia appeared at the door, an apron tied around her waist and a flour-dusted wooden spatula in her hand. Seeing her daughter blocked at the door by two strangers, her gentle expression disappeared instantly, replaced by a flash of vigilance in her eyes.
“And you are?” She unobtrusively pulled Lisbeth behind her, fixing her gaze on Claudia.
Even Claudia, who had seen much of the world, couldn’t help but marvel inwardly when she saw Tulia’s face.
So this is… the “Mom”?
Gentle, beautiful, exuding the elegance of a mature woman, with a pleasant, homey warmth about her.
No matter how you looked, she seemed like an ordinary, delicate beauty who needed to be cherished.
It was impossible to connect her to the mysterious existence rumored to know ancient magic.
“Hello, Madam.” Claudia instantly restrained all curiosity and put on her most formal, respectful demeanor. She bowed slightly, offering a scholar’s salute.
“I am Claudia Winston, a potionology tutor at the Royal Academy of Magic.”
She straightened, looking earnestly at Tulia, speaking each word with care:
“I apologize for the sudden visit. I’m here on an important matter concerning your daughter’s admission, and I wish to discuss it with you in detail.”
—What’s going on? I just escaped from a so-called “female ruffian” from the magic academy, and now here’s someone claiming to be a real tutor?
Though inwardly full of complaints, Tulia’s expression didn’t betray a thing.
She turned sideways, making way at the door, a gentle and cordial smile returning to her face.
“So you’re a teacher from the Academy? Please, come in. It’s windy outside—let’s not talk out here.”
Tulia invited them to sit at the only guest table, then nimbly brought out two cups of warm barley tea and a small plate of freshly baked, subtly floral homemade cookies.
As soon as Mia saw the food, her eyes lit up. She unceremoniously grabbed a cookie, popped it in her mouth, and closed her eyes in bliss. “Mmm… so delicious! Sweet but not cloying, with a refreshing fragrance!”
After swallowing, she looked at Tulia curiously. “Madam, your cookies are so good—why don’t you serve your signature roast chicken? I’d love to try it again!”
Tulia smiled softly at this, reaching out to fondly pat Lisbeth’s head as she quietly sipped her tea.
“Because both Little Liz and I actually prefer lighter food,” she explained gently. “As for selling roast chicken… well, it’s just something I happen to be good at.”
A Vampire and an Elf, liking greasy roast chicken would be strange indeed.
If it weren’t for having worked at a fast food joint in a previous life and mastering fried and roast chicken, who’d want to smell grease every day?
“Eh? Is that so?”
Hearing this, Mia quickly stuffed the rest of the cookie in her mouth and sat up straight, earnestly saying:
“Actually… actually, me too! I love eating light vegetable salads best! I don’t like greasy food at all!”
Claudia shot her lying student a helpless sidelong glance.
Tulia watched Mia’s adorable attempt to “get closer” to Lisbeth and couldn’t help but smile.
“Ms. Winston,” she gently redirected the conversation, “You mentioned you’re here about my daughter’s admission?”
“Yes, Madam.” Claudia succinctly recounted the earlier events, finally concluding in an unequivocal tone, “…Forgive me for being blunt, Madam, but your daughter’s magic talent is the most extraordinary I’ve seen in my twenty years of teaching. I dare say, she was born a genius for magic!”
Faced with such high praise, Tulia only smiled, reaching over to fondly stroke Lisbeth’s hair.
“Teacher, you flatter her. She just enjoys reading miscellaneous books and tinkering on her own,” she replied modestly, neatly shifting all credit to “books.”
“No, Madam, this is not something one can achieve by just tinkering.” Claudia’s attitude was resolute. “That ancient spellcasting technique… I very much want to know, from which book did your daughter learn it? If possible, the Academy is willing to pay handsomely for a copy of that book. It would be of immeasurable value to magic research across the Empire!”
Here it comes.
Tulia was well aware, this was their real motive.