V2Ch-60-Apologies

Letting the hug last for a few seconds, I began to feel like my ribs would be crushed if I stayed any longer, so I struggled to extricate myself.

I already knew who the person who ambushed me was, so I was not that polite. I squirmed around quite a lot, which caused Mom to finally let go of me. Taking a step back and looking up at her, I saw that she was clearly disappointed that I did not let her hug me for longer. It was not like I was against her doing that, but it was more about how much strength she was using, which was making it almost unbearable. If that were not the case, then I would have let her use me as a hug pillow for a little longer.

However, I had more than one reason for coming here, and it seemed like I now had another one to stack on top.

I did not think about that for very long, as I soon noticed that something was amiss with the person I was looking at. From what I remember, Mom only had one tail, not two. There was also the problem that both of her tails looked the same, whereas mine looked different. My first tail, which I was familiar with, had each of its hairs fade from red to orange, while the hair on my second tail faded from red to light blue. 

On the other hand, Mom's tails were both the same silver color that changed shades at random points. The only part of our tails that is similar is the white tips on each of them. Not even our ears were similar. However, it is actually kind of funny how, under the right light, our hair and ears would look like they have a reversed color scheme from each other.

It also appeared that my gaze had not gone unnoticed as Mom spoke up, saying, "I got it after you got yours. I think that the amount of tails I can have is restricted by yours for some reason."

That surprised me for a moment, but after a couple of seconds, I remembered something I had heard in the divine domain and said, "I think it is because I am the progenitor of my own bloodline, and due to you being recognized as my mother you have it as well. So if that is the case, then the number of our tails must be restricted by bloodline."

Mom started laughing after I said that, which slightly got on my nerves. This resulted in me subconsciously blurting out, "What!"

That only got even more laughter for a few more seconds before Mom finally managed to calm down and say, "We have not gotten to that point in your lessons yet. However, yes, your theory is correct, and the number of a kitsune's tails is tied to their bloodline. So if I had your bloodline, it would explain why I can only have two tails."

I was happy that my guess was right, but I was still upset about Mom laughing at me. This must have shown on my face because the next second, Mom started laughing again, which only made me feel even worse.

After a few more seconds, Mom eventually calmed down, and then she surprised me by bowing. She then said, "I am very sorry for not having asked you about the curse and placing it without even knowing anything about you. I am also sorry about touching your tail without permission. If I ever start doing something like that in the future, please make sure to tell me." 

I did not respond right away to this, and instead, another thought popped into my head that immediately left my lips: "So you did eavesdrop on us earlier?"

Mom quickly reacted to that while still bowing toward me, saying, "I am sorry for listening in on your private conversations as well. I was just worried what you would say about all of this."

The only response I could come up with at the moment was a quiet sigh that lingered between us until I gathered my thoughts and said, "It's all in the past now, so it does not matter. But please be more vigilant in the future. It isn't like all this massively affected me. Well, that is if we exclude the age curse, but that could hopefully be fixed, and it will need to be if I want to do anything involving the spread of technology, which I am already working on."

Mom was no longer bowing to me as she stopped midway through my response. However, she still had her head lowered and was not looking at me. She then said, "I can reverse the effects of the aging curse so you can return to your original age."

I was expecting that, so I was fine with it, but an intrusive thought popped up in my head at this moment, and I decided to ask about it, asking, "What is the age of maturity for women in this world?"

Mom froze for a moment before saying, "The age of maturity is around sixteen at the moment. It was recently raised by my bro—the emperor so that his only daughter would not need to leave home so early to follow the imperial tradition."

I was fairly sure that I heard a slip of the tongue in there, but I was going to ignore that for the moment and continue explaining what I had in mind, "Then it is fine if my age was sixteen or a little over, as that should be enough for what I need, and as long as that is fixed, then the rest should be water under the bridge."

That made Mom very happy for a small moment before she froze, looking behind me. Turning around, I saw Lou Xia walking out of the house and spotting us. She then changed the direction she was facing and started walking over.

I was not very happy with her after what I was fairly sure she had done, but I did not say anything at the moment and waited to see what she was about to do.

When she got close to us, she stopped before bowing in our direction and saying, "Please accept my apology for what I said earlier and for not understanding what was happening."

I did not say anything as I was not the person she slighted, so I turned and looked at Mom to see what she would say or do in response.

"We have both made mistakes here, and you said that because you were concerned about Vale, so there is no need to apologize, but I will still accept any apology you are willing to give, and I would also like to apologize for any threat I could have given you." Was the response Mom had given. This apology made my feelings about what Lou Xia did calm down slightly but I was still upset with her. Mom then spoke up again and said, "By the way, Vale, we are going to be changing your training, and we are going to be focusing on your lessons for the next few days instead of any physical training."

That pulled my thoughts away from Lou Xia's actions and instead placed them on my quest and my almost maxed-out archery. I then grabbed onto Mom's sleeve and complained, "But I almost maxed out my archery! Can we please do that instead?"

This got a small chuckle out of her before she replied, "We can practice your archery before dinner, but it will only happen if you finish your lessons early."

I pouted a little at that, but I was inwardly happy that I managed to dispel the earlier gloom that started to settle after all the apologizing. Even though I was still not happy about what Lou Xia did.