I’ll Just Be Friends With My Ex-Husband

“Louella.”

My mom called my name early in the morning and came up to me with a serious face.

“What?”

“I mean, the book yesterday.”

“Monster?”

“Yes, that book.
The one with the letters.
Were you really reading the book?”

“Of course!”

Mom let out a long sigh.
Then she smiled broadly.

What’s wrong with my mother? She’s making me feel anxious somehow.

I shook my legs.

My mother pushed a chocolate drink in front of me as if she gave it to me to appease me.

Wow.
What’s going on?

“My daughter.”

“What?”

“Shall we drink that first and talk?”

This is suspicious.
I thought that this was strange.
But my mother wouldn’t make me do anything bad.
So I ignored everything as I sipped a chocolate drink with joy.

I coughed.

Oh, it’s sweet.

“Mom, one more drink!”

“No way!” she answered.

Okay, it’s not going to work.

My mother gave me a light honeycomb in front of me.
I will try not to miss this opportunity.

“I have something to tell you .
.
.” She trailed off and took a deep breath.
“My daughter.
Do you want to go to the academy?”

Thud.

I dropped the spoon I was holding.
I was so surprised that when I was scratching the teacup to get another drop I dropped it.

I was literally caught off guard?

Like, really? Mom—?

No.
What do you mean going to the academy?

God must really love me with partiality.

How can you take care of me like this?

No.
I was just thinking that Gerald would be a little further away after he goes to the academy, and I would finally be free from him and move on.
And now, you want me to go to the academy?

“Mom, do you hate me?” I asked with tears in my eyes.

Mom opened her eyes wide with a surprised face.
“I asked you to go to the academy, but what are you saying? Do you hate the academy that much?”

I don’t like people who will go there, particularly Gerald! Not the academy!

“Weren’t you enjoying reading a book yesterday? Your mom thought Lulu would already be fond of studying.”

It’s really not like that at all!

“I don’t want to go to the academy!”

If I went there, I didn’t know how not to get involved with Gerald.

“Okay.
How about studying?”

I protested with my mouth shut.
I think I’ve studied hard enough.
How come you want me to study again?

Oh, I don’t want to.

I wanted to date and play to my heart’s content in this life.
Of course, after saving dad! That’s my only priority!

My mother patted my head.
“How about reading a book?”

“That’s good.”

I used to read a lot of books.

“What about exchanging letters with a guy named Billiers?”

“It’s fun.”

“Okay, then why don’t we invite Billiers to read a book together?”

Mom found a way to compromise with me.
It seemed that I thought a lot about something when I saw myself reading a book.

She might have thought I was a genius.
But I wasn’t like that.
I’m just achieving my goals based on what I remember.

Still, it would be nice for Billiers to travel comfortably around the mansion.
It would be better to talk about it in person too, the more likely she’s able to save her father.

“That’s good!”

The faster Billiers made medicine or an antidote for Nisephor, the better.

“Okay, then I’ll write to Billiers.”

“Yes!” I nodded and answered loudly.
My mother kissed me on the forehead.

Then she hugged me tight and said, “Our Lulu.
Now go and do what you want.
It’s okay since you’re still young.
Enjoy your days as a child.”

This is why I like my mom.

I buried my head in my mother’s arms.
Mom never forces us to do anything we don’t like.

Now, even Alexid was studying only his favorite swordsmanship and liberal arts, not learning advanced politics or economics like other aristocratic children.

It was all because of my mother’s will. “If you think you need it someday, you’ll study those subjects on your own?:

My mother was right about that.

Alexid had completed the entire intensive course before his marriage, though he struggled a lot with the belated realization.

I studied by memorizing it really hard because I was better at physical work than studying.
The method I used.
Hmm, let’s just say .
.
.
It’s more like brainwashing than understanding.

“Mom, I love you.”

“You don’t have to study, so you love me, right? This little child.”

“No, it’s not like that!”

Mom pinched my nose.
The touch was full of affection.
I wanted to protect my mother like this.

Really.

I didn’t want her to feel down because I would love her to pinch my nose like this all my life.
In order to do so, my father should not die with Nisephor.

You can do it, Louella!

* * *

“Jeje.”

“Mother?”

Gerald, who was reading a book, raised his head with a quizzical face.

“Lulu is going to start studying with a student named Billiers.”

Gerald blinked.

It was Gerald who connected Billiers with Louella.
Billiers was a scholar who devoted his youth to making the Nisephor medicine.

However, during his two lives, Billiers did not complete the Nisephor drug.
And certainly, it wasn’t Billiers’ fault.