Chapter 2
“Mom, I want to go there.”
The magical school acceptance letter had arrived, and anyone from 21st-century Earth wouldn’t refuse.
Besides, if I learn magic, I could grow fruit anytime I want, right? Fruits I couldn’t afford in Korea would now be unlimited and free for life. Hehehe.
“This is a scam.”
Mom poured cold water over Celly’s excited dreams.
“They’re just trying to rip off tuition.”
“There’s nothing about tuition in the letter.”
“Of course not—it wouldn’t say that in the letter. That’s how they trick innocent kids like you. You go to the entrance ceremony, and bam! The doors slam shut: ‘Pay up! No money? You’re sold as a slave!’ That’s what happens.”
Celly narrowed her eyes and sniffed at her mom’s face.
“Sniff sniff… what’s that smell?”
“Huh? Smell? I just chopped wood and took a shower.”
Mom buried her nose in her shirt. No, not that smell!
“You smell like a liar, Mom!”
“A… liar? You just haven’t experienced it yet. The outside world is a scary place.”
Unlike before, Mom’s expression was dark and somber. This seemed serious.
“Celly, think logically.”
“Let’s hear it then.”
Celly crossed her arms proudly as if to be persuaded, but a ten-year-old squirrel-like kid was far from “proud.”
“Magic is all about lineage. Mom, you’re a normal human—how could I possibly be a magician?”
“That means…”
This time, she propped her chin on her V-shaped fingers and narrowed her eyes like a detective deducing the culprit.
“My dad must be a magician.”
Mom’s mouth dropped open.
“…Where did you learn the word ‘dad’?”
It was surprising. Celly’s mom had never once used the word “dad” in front of her.
She had been so thorough that, in her own mom-version of “doo-ru-ru-doo-ru under the sea,” the shark representing Dad was replaced by a toothy shark.
All the storybooks featuring a father had been sealed in the deepest storage, leaving only books like The History of Modern Technology on the children’s shelf.
Even the dictionary had all references to “dad” and synonyms removed—Celly had to admire her obsession.
But…
“You were born using the Childbirth Spell.”
That was pushing it! Even for someone who had been accepted into a science high school in her previous life.
Honestly, it almost made sense. Magic is already scientifically impossible, so humans could be born by a spell, right?
Mom even showed Celly a long, sharp scar on her back as proof.
‘They said it happened fighting a wolf the size of a house…’
It sounded more believable that she survived as a human woman than that her birth was natural, so the spell seemed plausible.
Anyway, Celly almost felt sorry for her mom, who was desperately hiding Dad’s existence.
‘I’m not curious about my real dad anyway.’
Actually, she was curious, but she didn’t feel like finding him.
Good Mom vs. (Good Mom + Random Dad)
Obviously, she’d choose the first. Especially someone who had suffered double the misfortune in a previous life due to bad parents.
So she already had a guess about who Dad might be, but pretended not to know.
Every year on Love Day, three winged boxes flew to this remote cabin. Mom never opened them, sending them back immediately.
Celly had never seen what was inside, but she remembered the names on the packaging:
Kai.
Leon.
And the last one wasn’t a name—it was a crow drawing.
One of them had to be her father.
“Then one of the three must be a magician…”
Celly muttered to herself. Mom, who had been staring blankly, jumped in alarm.
“No, Celly. You don’t have a dad.”
That was just Mom and Celly’s wishful thinking.
“Mom, listen carefully. I can actually talk to animals.”
“Huh? Since when?”
Mom blinked in surprise. It was a new ability.
“Since the day the chicks hatched.”
She had been feeding the chickens.
“The bird struggles to break out of its egg! The egg is a world! Anyone trying to be born must destroy a world!”
“Huh?”
Was this some kind of Damion-level universe? At first, Celly thought Mom was chanting it, but it turned out the hen was scolding the chicks as they hatched.
‘I can hear what the chicken is saying…’
Could a completely new ability just appear one day?
The answer: heredity. Only one source.
“Where did this ability come from?”
Mom’s eyes widened as if she had suddenly realized something.
‘So Dad really is a magician!’
“Ah… my goodness…”
But for some reason, Mom buried her face in her hands and muttered:
“Why would I pass this on… I can’t even call him your dad…”
…Wait, what does “can’t call him Dad” mean?
Cluck cluck cluck!
Celly jerked her head toward the window at urgent cries. A rooster was chasing a chick.
Male animals rarely care for their young. She’d seen many creatures harass their offspring.
Cluck cluck cluck!
“Save me! Save me!”
The chick ran under the window. Celly scooped it up into her pocket.
While the chick finally relaxed and started nodding off, the father strutted proudly, claiming he’d chased away the chick that might ruin the coop.
‘Did Mom run away because Dad was a bad man like that rooster?’
If so, it made sense why Mom was desperately hiding Dad’s existence.
On the other hand, Mom was utterly terrible at lying.
Reading the letter again confirmed it: the acceptance letter was real, not a scam.
“Look at this bird’s attitude… ugh, crazy bird…”
“Huh? Crazy bird?”
“Lexarion is still the principal?”
Her hands trembled holding the letter.
“How does this world even work?”
“Why? Who’s Lexarion?”
And why was Mom, a normal farmer in a remote forest, speaking as if she knew everything about magical academies?
Mom didn’t answer and crumpled the letter.
“Spellmore? No way. Absolutely not.”
Judging by the letter, this wasn’t the first time an acceptance notice had arrived. It would likely share the fate of all the other notices Mom had hidden.
‘No way!’
Mom grabbed Celly urgently as she tried to take it back.
“Celly, you promised to live happily here with me, just the two of us.”
This was Mom’s catchphrase, and Celly always replied, “Okay!” sincerely.
She meant it, she really did. But now her mind had changed.
“Sorry, Mom. I have a new dream.”
Living carefree in nature was an adult’s dream; it wasn’t a child’s dream.
Because her previous life had been so painful, Celly, still not an adult, chose an adult’s dream.
‘I thought this was the life I wanted… was I wrong?’
Her usually calm heart raced as she faced a new challenge.
She just needed time to recharge. Now, it was time to pursue her goal again.
‘I didn’t get into science high school in my last life, but this time, I’ll graduate from a magic school!’
And what was a magic school? A romantic dream for someone from Earth.
Would they sort dorms by hat here?
Would there be random-flavored jelly beans?
…Hopefully no earwax flavor.
But Mom wouldn’t understand if Celly explained.
“I know adults dream with roots deep in the earth, but children should dream of soaring high in the sky.”
Mom was shocked for some reason.
“How do you even say that…”
“Huh? I just thought of it…”
Is that really so surprising?
