'Fuck.'
Ackster barely held himself back from swearing out loud. The original Ackster might have been a total shitstain, but Ackster didn't think he would curse in his parents' faces like that, especially his mother's.
Andrea Phileam was a tall, beautiful woman with deep blue hair and stormy grey eyes. She smiled at Ackster as she walked into his room with the tray in one hand. But she was still so scary that Ackster didn't even notice he stepped backward. Andrea put down the tray on Ackster's desk, slightly surprised at the pile of dishes already there. But she didn't say anything and just stood in front of Ackster.
She wasn't much taller than Ackster, but it still felt like she towered over him.
"So? How is my foolish son feeling today?"
Ackster hoped he would be able to avoid his parents and sister while he stayed in the Phileam estate since the original book didn't describe how he interacted with them. Ackster was afraid that he would accidentally expose himself by doing something the original Ackster would have never done.
But he seemed to have been cursed with bad luck after transmigrating, and there was nothing he could do about it, so Ackster decided to just answer Andrea's questions curtly before chasing her away.
"Fine. Why do you ask?"
"Just curious. You seemed to have trouble sleeping yesterday."
"...What do you mean?"
Ackster couldn't help but worry at Andrea's insinuation.
"Don't tell me you don't remember what you did last night?"
That all but confirmed Ackster's worries. But he still decided to feign ignorance.
"What? What did I do? I might have slept badly, but that's nothing unusual."
"So you don't remember taking a stroll?"
"Nope. Maybe I was sleepwalking. Did I go far?"
"Not very. Just outside the city."
"You must be joking."
Ackster couldn't help but avoid Andrea's intense stare as he felt a couple of drops of sweat bead on both his forehead and back.
"Fine. I won't force you to tell me anything. But if you came back because of your injuries and want to try escaping again. I won't stop you. You're too stubborn to forfeit. And if you escape, you might have at least a small chance to live."
Andrea sighed as she looked at Ackster with a sorrowful gaze.
"Wait until half an hour after sunset."
Andrea put her hand on Ackster's shoulder and pulled him into a hug. Ackster didn't even try to resist. Not only because he couldn't oppose a mage but also because he felt a little guilty about taking over the original Ackster's body. The least he could do was let a mother say her final goodbyes to her son.
Andrea let go of Ackster after only a few moments and started walking out of the room while wiping a tear out of the corner of her eye. She didn't say anything as she left the room, not even after she closed the door.
But after leaving the room, she leaned her back against the closed door and looked up to stop the tears from flowing.
"I'm sorry, Ackster."
Even if he didn't want to, Ackster couldn't help but overhear her. He closed his eyes and sighed. The food on the plate suddenly wasn't very appetizing anymore.
Ackster went over to the bed and slept instead of eating. He should have forced the food down since his body desperately needed nourishment. But he couldn't. He thought he had recovered from the goblin's poison, but it turned out he was still sick. Why else would he feel so bad?
After waking up again, Ackster felt a little better, and he decided to ignore his feelings of discomfort as he shoved the now-cold food down his throat. It was still quite a while left until it was dark enough for him to sneak out, and since Andrea asked him to wait half an hour, he wouldn't sneak out at once.
Ackster couldn't believe he had forgotten that Andrea was a mage. She wasn't strong when compared to the active mages of the kingdom. But she was still stronger than most ordinary mages. The Phileam House didn't have any knights because they didn't need them, at least not at the moment. It would be better to wait until they could hire a proper knight that was trustworthy or until they nurtured one of their own.
But until then, Andrea would be more than enough to protect the family and the estate. It wasn't mentioned that much since The Hero was already stronger than her at this point in time in the original story, but Ackster still couldn't believe he had forgotten such a crucial piece of information.
Andrea had even noticed that he had left the city. But Ackster was pretty sure that she had to have followed him a little bit for that.
And she probably hadn't intervened or stopped him because she knew, just like him, about The Hero's frightful reputation. Even if Ackster surrendered, he wouldn't be able to guarantee his life. His only option was to try to flee and escape The Hero's grasp.
It was still very likely that he would die, but it would be better than seeing Ackster die in front of her, so Andrea didn't stop him from trying. Andrea would rather live with the hope of Ackster living on in the future rather than have his death confirmed. It was a selfish wish, and she was racked with guilt. But she couldn't help herself from not wanting to see her son die in front of her.
And on the way back, when Ackster was injured, Andrea had probably not known what to do, If Ackster was as stubbornly prideful as usual, he probably didn't want to be seen in such a miserable state. It would be better to try and talk about it after Ackster rested and cleaned himself up a little.
To alleviate her guilt and give Ackster as great a chance of success as possible, Andrea even wanted to help him escape.