I watched the eyes of the man who was supposed to be my father, constrict as he looked at me with an expression akin to confusion and suspicion, even as I simply continued to blankly stare at him.
"I don't mind it, it's just that you usually call me Kern," he continued, and I felt myself release a breath I didn't even know I held in.
"It's fine. He called me mother this afternoon too, compared to when he usually calls me Moey but I don't seem to mind it,"
"Talk about being even extra weird…" Nami commented and I simply went ahead to ignore her, even as I made a mental note of ensuring to change the ways I referred to both parents, since it was indeed easier for me as an intruder to call them by their names.
Without saying another word, since I felt that I had already made even blunder for the duration of the dinner, I pulled back the chair and sat on my seat, watching Moey, dish the remaining food into our respective plates.
One glance at the small bowl she fetched the entire food from and I knew that I wouldn't be getting seconds, regardless of how small each of our potions were.
It was at that point that it suddenly dawned on me that we were poor.
"I went to the Mana exchange office and was able to exchange for some bronze coins which I was able to use to buy the meat," Moey explained with a proud expression on her face , and I couldn't help but note the downcast look that flashed across Kern, my father's face.
"Mana exchange office?" I asked with a clueless look on my face especially since I had no idea what it was and couldn't be bothered to hide it.
"Did you hit your head?" my sister instantly asked not surprised that she instantly jumped at such an opportunity to insult me.
I nodded my head as I continued eating, looking at my mother who sat directly in front of me to explain.
With a wry smile on her face, she didn't disappoint.
"Caen…you know it's where we exchange mana for money depending on the quality and quantity," she replied in a slightly exasperated tone, one that didn't in any way affect me as I continued to ask questions knowing that I only had one shot to act stupid, and anytime after that, they would instantly begin to wonder what was wrong with me.
"How then do you know how much mana you're giving compared to how much money you're being given?" I boldly continued to ask, slightly surprised to see the expression on her face change to that of pity, as my sister also took that chance to speak with a smirk on her face.
"How would you know even if we tell you? You've not even been able to enter the beginner stage where you can manipulate mana. You should just forever focus on cultivating," I heard her say even as I focused all my attention on my mother who I watched opened her mouth to explain, sending a beseeching look that asked me to further ignore my sister even more than I already did.
"A transaction window opens up once you get to the beginner stages, and you'll be able to get a base fee to be deducted on the price previously agreed on when performing Transma. Also when using the Mana exchange ball, you can keep an eye on the amount of mana points you have, and how many are being deducted," She fully explained and I nodded understanding everything she said without needing to ask any more questions.
I also understood that Transma was probably done by the exchange of bodily fluid with sex being the best way to get the most mana, even if I was yet to fully confirm it.
"How many points did you exchange?" I curiously asked Moey, ignoring the silence that settled around the table when I did.
"50 points for ten bronze coins,"
"Isn't that too small?" I instantly responded when I recalled that all she had been able to buy with it was meat.
"I only have an E aptitude, so the quality of my mana is pretty low. Moreover, I have a water based mana and it's pretty common,"
"What about Nami?" I curiously asked, making sure not to look at her.
"You know it's water too. Are you just trying to annoy me," she suddenly yelled with me being slightly shocked at her sudden outburst especially when it became obvious that I hit a nerve.
The more they told me, the quicker I realized that I had indeed transmigrated into the world of the book I was reading. The only difference was the fact that I barely concentrated on the other plot aspects of the story and fully concentrated more on the smut aspects which I was slowly starting to regret.
"What about Kaen?" I went ahead to ask with hopes that at least there was another wonderful element in my bloodline, one that would somehow help my already shitty aptitude which I already knew was "F", especially since I was currently in Caen's body.
The moment I asked though, I instantly knew that I had committed another great blunder for the night, especially as even Nami had a tense filled expression on her face as she raised her head up to glare at me.
"It's nothing," I watched Kaen respond, shocked to hear such a reply even as I watched him get on his feet with his plate, leave the dinning and walk back to his room with a clear and sad expression on his face.
"Fool…" Nami hissed under her breath right before she also walked off. She had long been done with her food, and all she did was pick up her empty plate, place it in the sinc behind me before she also walked off.
"That was a mean thing for you to do Caen…" she said with a clearly disappointed look on her face, one that only made me wonder what I possibly did..
"Kaen, just like you have never been able to get to the beginner stage no matter how much he cultivated or how much Transma, I helped him with," She explained and the more she spoke the more it seemed like a heavy stone that was slowly getting heavier had been tossed in my heart.
"What if that was the fate of the body I was in," I thought, completely unaware of when Moey got on her feet along with the small food on her plate and walked off to her room leaving me in complete darkness.
"What if I'm never able to use magic?"
And at that moment I couldn't even think of a fate worse than death for someone like me who came from a modern world and was now stuck in a world where the only thing good about it was Magic.