"It doesn't matter if she's attractive or not. She's your mom, you idiot... Just take a deep breath and calm down."
After lying on the bed for a while, Alex's heart finally stopped racing as his body started to calm down.
Just as he was about to fall asleep again, Katherine suddenly burst into the room and flipped the blanket over to the side.
"Wake up! It's time for breakfast!" Katherine yelled out loud as she shook all three of their shoulders.
"It's almost twelve already...?" Sophia yawned as she stretched out her elbow into the air.
"Mom, what are we doing today?" Mary curiously asked, getting up alongside Alex as if nothing happened.
"We're going to go shopping and explore the school. Come on. Get up and wash your face."
---
After the three finished freshening up and changing into their normal clothes, they finally sat down at the dining table.
"Is this breakfast or lunch?" Alex wondered as the clock pointed at eleven-thirty.
"It's breakfast! Mom, we're going out to eat lunch later at three, right?"
Seeing Sophia's face full of excitement, Katherine chose to nod in agreement.
"Woohoo! Mary! We're going to eat all the new food in the capital! I have been waiting for this!"
"Yay!" Mary excitedly joined in.
"Geez... It's just food." Alex quietly murmured as he began eating the bread on the table.
A few minutes later...
Just as the three of them were about to finish eating their breakfast, Katherine suddenly got up and went into the kitchen.
When she came out, she held a small glass cup with some milk-white liquid inside it.
"Alex, I brought some milk for you. You're going to drink it every day, okay?
"Um, sure..."
Alex didn't think too much of it as he took a small sip to taste it first. To his surprise, it tasted almost like regular milk back on earth, except slightly sweeter and butterier.
After drinking all of it, he handed the empty cup back to her as a question appeared in his mind.
"Mom, what kind of milk is this?"
"It's milk from an animal located in Luzhou's empire in the Far East... Do you like it?"
"Yeah, I like it. It tastes very sweet... What's the animal's name?"
"I-It's called Nunu, yeah."
Seeing Katherine stutter for a second, Alex became suspicious when he suddenly remembered how far Luzhou was on the map.
It was not even the same continent, so it made no sense for it to travel somehow all the way to be brought here.
"Mom... Are you lying to me?" Alex questioned.
"Me? Why would I lie to you? I can show you where I bought it later. It's actually super close."
The confidence on Katherine's face made Alex drop the suspicion. More importantly, a new problem interrupted their conversation.
"Mom! I want to try the milk, too!" Mary demanded.
"Me too!" Sophia demanded next.
"I-I will buy more for you guys later... Ahem, let's go out now."
Katherine quickly shifted the topic, hurrying the three of them to finish up the last few pieces of bread.
---
When they finally left the house, the sun was in the middle of the sky. But to the kid's surprise, the sun didn't feel hot at all.
Instead, it felt a little cool as a gust of wind blew past. They could even stare at the sun without having it hurt their eyes.
"Mom, why is the school so much colder than the outside?" Alex curiously asked.
"There's actually a barrier above us. It regulates and keeps the temperature mostly the same."
"Does that barrier block magic from the outside?" Sophia curiously asked next.
"Yep. That's the original purpose of the barrier. Blocking people from flying in without authorization and attacking the school."
After walking for a bit, the four of them exited the residential area and arrived at a busy street filled with people walking by.
Rows of shops and buildings lined the streetwalk, and many seemed to be students walking in and out of the stores.
Some of them were wearing robes, while others were walking in what seemed to be a school uniform.
"Okay, let's get you guys the school uniform first. You don't want to stand out too much."
As Katherine brought the three into one of the clothing shops, they were a little stunned by how many clothes there were.
The entire walls were full of the same cloth that Katherine was currently wearing, except in different colors.
"Sophia and Mary, let's buy your guy's clothes first... So all these clothes look almost the same to you guys, right?"
All three of them nodded in agreement, not really noticing the differences at first glance.
"Here's the thing: they are not the same at all. Pay attention to the color and the small badge attached to the cloth."
Katherine picked up a black and red buttoned jacket with a little star on the top right.
"This one is meant for Fire mages specialists who are enrolled in the Pyromancy Club... This weird pattern is meant for the Engineering Club, and this one is meant for..."
All three of them nodded in agreement again, noting it in their head for all the different ones that Katherine brought up as examples.
"Anyway, since you guys haven't started anything yet, yours would just be a basic one with no badges."
Katherine quickly grabbed several pairs of white button shirts and a black knee skirt after arriving at the very back of the store.
"If you are feeling cold, you can also put on this black jacket. There's no specific clubs or academy attached to it."
As Katherine handed all kinds of different clothes for beginners into their arms, the two of them started to get a little overwhelmed.
"Also, there's a long skirt version to replace the knee skirt. You could wear any leggings and even stockings underneath them...
You'd love to have this. Trust me, it's one of the most comfortable things I wore as a student."
Sophia and Mary continued to nod as the clothes piled higher and higher, almost covering their faces.
"Oh, most importantly, always wear a robe when you're going outside of school. It's just an unspoken rule for mages."
Katherine finally came to a stop as a mountain of clothes stacked up in both girl's hands.
"Ahem, let me hold this. You two go try these out first, okay?"
The two quickly nodded as she handed them a single pair of each cloth version to change into.
A minute later...
As the two of them came out of the changing room, both Alex and Katherine were stunned by their look.
The white button shirt, combined with the black knee shirt and tan leggings, made them look much older than usual.
"You guys look perfect in this!"
Katherine complimented as she excitedly ran up to hug them both, grabbing them in her arms as she pushed them together.
"Really? Does it look that good?" Sophia asked as she didn't really feel a difference in the changing room.
"You guys looked great." Alex quietly complimented.
"Mom, let go of me. I can't breathe!" Mary complained, pushing her back as she elevated in the air.
"Sorry."
The four of them headed back to the checkout before Katherine headed back to the piles of clothes to buy even more pairs for the two of them.
After paying for it with a blue card, Katherine quickly puts all of the clothes right into her pocket.
With both of the girls' school uniforms sorted out, the three of them turned their attention to Alex. But before they began walking toward the male section, Katherine suddenly stopped.
"Alex... Has your chest been growing?" Katherine asked.
Both Mary and Sophia's faces started blushing as she knew exactly what Katherine was trying to imply.
"Um... It barely grew at all." Alex shyly replied.
"That's going to be a problem in the future... Alex, are you sure you still want to be a boy?"
As Katherine lowered herself to look at him in the face, his mind was caught off guard by the question.
He had never really thought of that far, thinking that the woman part was only going to be a minor hindrance in the grand scheme of things.
Looking over to Sophia, he could see her chest had already shown signs of growth for the past few years. Then he looked over to Mary, who had yet to hit puberty, giving him a useless example.
Lastly, he looked back at the woman who had given birth to him. A voluptuous chest that was practically impossible to hide.
"I... I want to be a boy... But Mom, am I going to inherit your... size?"
Alex nervously asked as his head started to get a little scared by the thought of walking around carrying two giant melons.
"Most of our family lines have always been like this... I'm afraid there's no other way around it."
The dark answer made Alex realize his fate was sealed. But he wasn't just going to give up so easily on his goal of being a man.
"Mom... I don't want to wear a skirt." Alex quietly stated his red line.
"Huh... Skirt? Who told you are wearing a skirt? I'm only asking you to wear a bra in the future."
Seeing Katherine's face suddenly start smiling, Alex's brain started to overheat as he realized he had been overthinking it.
"Mom!"
"Come on, Alex. Did you really think Mommy is going to force you to wear girl's clothes?"
Alex shyly looked down in embarrassment, trying to hide his face as she resumed heading over to the male section.
At the same time, both girls on the back burst into laughter as they finally couldn't believe how embarrassed their brother looked.