“Lady Calliope.” I freeze, my hand just inches away from the handle to the door of my mother’s study. “Is it not unnerving to you?”

“What do you mean, Selka?” My mother’s voice drifts through the door.

“I mean… the young miss is merely a child and yet speaks such mature thoughts. She may be a genius, but even geniuses as children would not have the ideas that she has.”

“Is it unnerving to you?”

“No Lady, I think she is rather cute. But the other maids-”

“I can see how others would see it that way. But Selka, if ever anyone says that within my daughter’s earshot, I will personally not let them off.”

I shiver from the sudden drop in temperature and accidentally hit the handle. Immediately, I open the room door with a big smile. “Mama!”

The temperature returns to normal and my mother turns to me. “Nova, when did you get here?”

I run into her arms and hug her tightly. “Just now.”

“Selka, would you get us some tea.” I hear footsteps, and then the door closes as she hugs me back. “What did my baby do today?”

Pulling back, I clasp my hands together. “Today, you see, I went to the library and found some books to read.”

She guides me to the couch and sits me down. “What did you read?”

“I read about the different kinds of beings in this world. Elves, dwarves, monsters. Have you ever seen a dragon before?”

“Yes, Mama has seen one before.”

“What was it like? Was it big? Was it scary?”

“No. The dragon was big and lived in a very cold cave, but Mama was there to negotiate with it and Mama is strong. Mama also had Papa with her.”

“Is Papa stronger or is Mama stronger?”

“Of course Mama is stronger.”

“Really?”

“Yep. What else did you do today?”

Obviously she’s trying to change the subject. “I went to the kitchen.”

“Why the kitchen?”

“Something smelled really good when I walked by. It turns out the head chef was making a new recipe for some kind of cake. I went in and he let me try it. It’s sweet but not too sweet, and it was very colorful.”

“Oh my, you take so much after Mama, don’t you? Someday Mama will take you to Mama’s favorite sweets shop. It’s a cute little place in an elven city.”

“Elven? Do elves eat sweets too?”

“Of course they do. Remember this, one of the many forms of joy for all races is food. If you ever need to ask for a favor, your favor will go through much easier if you cater to the other person’s taste in food and bring them something new.”

“Really? Then isn’t food like the ultra super strong weapon that will defeat any foe?”

“Exactly.”

At this point the maid Selka walks back into the room with a cart. She pours two cups of tea and places them and a dish of sandwiches on the coffee table in front of the couch. I pick up a sandwich and bite into it as she leaves the room once again.

“Then if you break the law, could you give the king food and get pardoned?”

“If the food is good enough to stimulate the economy, possibly.”

“Really? Then what about wars?”

“Wars are a different story. They are started for various reasons, mostly out of greed.”

“Then what about magic? Can magic stop wars? I read this one book about the Great Sage Priscilla. It said that she stopped wars with one word.”

“Is that why you want to become a Great Sage?”

“Yea! I want to be strong enough to protect Mama and Papa and everyone else close to me. If I’m strong enough to stop even wars with one word, then I would be the strongest person in the world, right?”

“Mama and Papa are already plenty strong, though?”

“I will be stronger than Mama and Papa. I will become the Great Sage and protect everyone.”

“Mama thinks it would be great if you were that powerful.”

We talk more as we finish the plate of snacks and sip our tea, and then a knock sounds on the door.

“Lady Calliope,” a man’s voice sounds from the door, “Lady Kalista is here to see you.”

My mother’s smile fades. “Send her to the lounge. I will go to see her in a moment.”

“As you command.”

“Mama?” I tug on her sleeve. “Is it something important?” If I remember correctly, Lady Kalista wanted to marry her son into our family. Her son fell for the protagonist.

Her smile returns as she looks at me, but while it’s more dazzling than before, it’s nowhere near as nice. “Nothing much. Go find Papa and play with him, okay? Mama has to attend to the guest.”

“Should I also greet the guest?”

“You do not have to do anything.” She gives me another hug. “Go find Papa now, okay?”

“Okay.” I leave the study, and as I close the door, I peek back one last time to see my mother’s fake, beautiful smile completely overtake her face.