"Ehh~, so who's that lucky girl who kissed you?" Aria asked with a smug look on her face.
"What-what are you talking about, Mother?" I replied with a clueless look on my face, trying to suppress the embarrassing feeling deep inside myself.
Damn it! That was so embarrassing! Wait..., hold up; now that I think about it, maybe that's the reason why Steele had that smug expression on his face the whole time!
Ugh... Why am I here just to suffer? Damn it, I wish I had realized it sooner!
"..."
Anyway, while I'm feeling embarrassed
Aria paused momentarily, but before she spoke again, her eyes lit up with excitement.
"Hmm... cutie, let me guess, it's a girl with silver hair who kissed you, right?" Aria said without hesitation, answered by Kael, "Definitely, it's Aurilya," with both of them wearing amused looks on their faces.
'Damn it, women's intuition!' I thought before realizing what just happened.
As soon as I realized it, I became more flustered, like I suddenly turned into a twelve-year-old kid whose crush had just been exposed to his parents.
Wait, I forgot I'm also a twelve-year-old kid, hehehe.
However, damn, damn, damn! It was still so embarrassing! If you think about it?! Although I have the mentality of an adult.
But, hell no! There's no way I can fight my own puberty!
And so, after self-blaming my own puberty and lack of awareness, I finally snapped out of my thoughts as Aria asked me.
"Cutie, am I right?" Aria reconfirmed, even though she already knew the answer.
Hearing this, my mind went numb as I instinctively tried to defend myself.
"Y-you're wrong!" I stammered really hard, somewhat guilty.
'Ahh, shit, I messed up,' I thought as Aria kept looking at me with satisfaction on her face.
"Hmm~ See, I knew it! It's definitely Aurilya who kissed you!" Aria said in a cheerful tone, waiting for my answer.
"W-what are you talking about?" I stuttered once again, with a hint of embarrassment on my face.
As I began to defend myself, "And even if she did, the age gap between her and me is far too large."
Yeah, that's right, she's already old enough to be my landlady Noona! Wait... that doesn't sound so bad; I guess I'll go with it.
No! However, I am more into younger girls! Younger ones! Wait, that sounds a bit off, too. Hold on, w-wait, I am not saying that I am into underage girls (lolis), got it?
What I am saying is like two to three years! Apart from my age, not Lolis! Got it?
"Nah, don't worry, too much age doesn't matter, you know?" Aria reassured with a grinning look on her face.
'What?! Age doesn't matter, my ass, but it's still too much!' I thought to myself before I spoke.
"But it's a 9-year age gap, you know?" I denied it in a bashful tone.
Yes, that's right! It's a 9-year age gap! One more year, and it will be a whole ten years!
"Well, what could possibly go wrong, cutie? It's just a 9-year difference!" Aria said in a cheerful tone, winking as she tried to convince me to accept that fact.
"..." Hearing this, I remained silent, as I uselessly gave up on persuading them.
"Hey cutie, bla... bla... age doesn't matter, bla... bla... it's just a 9-year difference, bla... bla..."
And just like that, Aria repeatedly reassured me that age doesn't matter, bla... bla..., "Don't worry, I would approve," bla... bla..., throughout the entire conversation.
Ugh... This isn't going to work. No matter what I say, Aria will not stop repeating that word.
Also, I can't even say the words 'shut the fuck up' or 'fuck off' to her because I am maintaining this good kid act of mine...
Wait, I have an idea. What if I yelled at Aria to stop and blamed it on my puberty?
Well, that's not a bad idea, but I'm not going to do that shit. I have worked so hard for this act, yet I'm not going to ruin it because of that. No, that's shit I'm not gonna do.
So what am I going to do? Ask Kael for help. Hold on, that's it! Why didn't I think of it sooner? Stupid brain of mine.
If I can't stop Aria, then why not ask Kael to stop her? Fuck it, I'm so fucking genius! No, I'm definitely not.
After that, I looked back and forth between Kael and Aria as I secretly sent an S.O.S signal to stop Aria.
"???" Luckily, Kael noticed and decided to help me with this damn teasing.
"You know in this world, age doesn't matt-" Just then, Kael cut off Aria, "Aria, please don't tease him too much. Look at him now, he's blushing like a strawberry," while staring at Aria and signaling her to stop.
"Fine, fine," Aria surrendered as she rolled her eyes over to Kael.
Wow, thank you so much, Kael! You're my shining armor, my hero! ...Fuck, that sounds so cringe! I'm not going to do that anymore!
However, wait, now that I think about it, what do you mean I am blushing like a strawberry?
'Hold on, don't tell me-' But before I could finish my thoughts, Aria spoke once again.
"Anyway, happy birthday, cutie, and here's my gift for you!" Aria congratulated me with a smile on her face before presenting a palm-sized gift wrapped like a Christmas gift in her right hand and continued speaking.
"Although this isn't much like Aurilya gifted to you, I'm sure you will like it!" Aria added.
"..." Seeing the gift box I received, I couldn't help but silently shut my mouth.
Ugh... Please don't say it anymore; I'm already too embarrassed because of that. However, thank you for the gift!
"Heheheh, thank you, Mother," I gratefully replied in an adoring tone with an innocent smile combo!
"You're welcome, cutie~" Aria mumbled before throwing the gift away toward my face.
-Sccop!
Damn it, that throw was close! But still, thanks.
"Hehehhe, thank you," I said once again with a greedy look on my face, thanking her for this gift.
Anyway, I'm dead serious when I say thank you for this gift without any malice!
"You're welcome, cutie, and happy birthday again," Aria said, shifting her gaze at Kael, waiting for him to respond.
"Haaa..." Kael sighed and started speaking, "Yes, happy birthday, son."
As soon as they said that, without further ado, I began tearing the gift wrapping with all my force, as if I were a child super excited about his gift. Well, basically, I am.
-Ripss!
-Ripss!
-Ripss!
And after tearing the very last piece of the wrapper, the first thing I saw was a box of crystal white, and inside that box was a seed that looked like an oversized sunflower seed. Furthermore, inside, it had a jelly-like white substance.
'Wait, what is this? A jar of cu-' but then, before I could finish my thoughts, the realization unexpectedly came to my mind.
The excitement and all the positive feelings that I had unwrapping this thing suddenly turned into fear and anxiety as I realized what this gift really was.
Anyway, you can't blame me; after all, the thing inside this gift isn't supposed to be here.
"Because this is..." I mumbled as I stared at Kael, then shifted my gaze to Aria.
"Heh, as expected, as soon as you see it, you already know it, cutie," Aria said, as she paused for a moment before continuing to speak.
"So what's that thing, cutie?" Aria asked, while staring at me with curiosity in her eyes, waiting for my answer.
"Isn't this a Pyro-seed?" I responded with confidence on my face.
Yes, this jar of cu-, no, I mean this oversized sunflower seed isn't a normal seed, but a Pyro-seed.
"And what is a Pyro-seed, cutie?" She asked once again.
"Haaa..." I let out a lazy sigh before I began to answer it.
"A Pyro-seed is where Pyrosites abilities come from, right?" I answered.
Continuing what I am saying, this so-called oversized sunflower seed isn't a normal seed that you can eat and throw away because this thing can awaken your pyrosites abilities.
-Chap!!
-Chap!
-Chap!!
Hearing my answer made Aria clap her hands as she praised me for something I just memorized in a textbook.
"That's correct!" Aria applauded with a proud expression on her face as she continued speaking.
"Me and your father, cutie, gifted that thing just for you! Aren't we great parents?" She said in a confident tone.
"..." Hearing what Aria said made me flash my life before my eyes.
What the actual fuck?! What do you mean by 'Aren't we too great?' I'm really getting fucked with this?!!
Anyway, for those who don't know, Pyro-seeds weren't supposed to be given; they are only given after you enroll at Shadow Arcane.
Thus, they shouldn't be given as a damn gift! Because if one is caught owning it before enrolling, for sure, your head will roll as well.
'This is total madness,' I thought to myself before I asked them.
"Haha, wait, I thought they would give it once you entered Shadow Arcane," I asked cautiously.
I need to know where they got this. After all, I'm not going to accept this shit if it was obtained through illegal means!
Hearing my question, Aria paused for a moment as she laughed, "HAHAHAHA," and said, "What are you talking about? We have money!" showing a money hand-sign gesture.
"..." Hearing this made me rethink my life.
I know we have so much money, too much, that I can live for the rest of my life without lifting a finger!
HOW that's not what I am talking about. What I am asking is how you obtained this Pyro-seed. After all, I'm still too young, and I don't want to get myself killed yet.
"Hehehe, of course, I knew we had money, but what I want to know is where you got this Pyro-seed. You know that it's illegal to possess it if you're not a cadet, right?" I asked once with a worried expression on my face.
After all, I seem selfish and self-absorbed, an idiot that didn't appreciate the gift you gave.
However, that's not true; it's just that I don't want to die yet, and I don't want you to die as well.
"Hehehe, I'm sorry, cutie. I know you're worried about us, so you're asking us where we got this Pyro-seed, but it's. Illegal-based information, so I can't really tell you about it even if I want to," Aria hesitantly replied before continuing.
"But it's all for your sake, cutie. The earlier you know how to use your pyrosite abilities, the better!" she explained before she looked at Kael.
"Son, what your mother said is right. The earlier you learn how to use it, the better," Kael said as he tried to explain why I needed to learn this.