"Miss Dreams? May I ask if you intend to use it now? If you prefer to use it later, we can temporarily store the limiter for you to avoid any unnecessary risks."
The middle-aged man spoke slowly after confirming that Dream Weaver had seen the potion. After all, no matter how remarkable it sounded, it was still just a bottle of liquid, inevitably susceptible to losing potency due to environmental factors.
If Dream Weaver didn't plan to use it immediately, he would store it in a secure location for the time being.
What he didn't know was that the moment the potion appeared in Dream Weaver's sight, it had ceased to be just a simple concoction.
Once confirmed by the system, it had transformed into a sort of item. As long as its durability remained unchanged, its effects wouldn't diminish in the slightest. And really, was there any place safer than the system's inventory?
"I'll use it as soon as possible."
Dream Weaver nodded, taking the case from the man's hands as she spoke, planning to return the potion to her system inventory after he left.
But just as her words faded, she heard a sigh, tinged with emotion, from her grandmother behind her.
"Choosing to use it soon rather than testing the limits of your innate talent…"
"Perhaps that's for the best. It's safer. Your life is far more important than some elusive innate gift, and the power you have now is already sufficient."
"A pity… if only she had thought the same back then…"
Her murmured words left Dream Weaver somewhat puzzled, but she didn't press for an explanation.
Her grandmother's tone carried a note of sorrow, and the person she referred to was likely a story about a peer or a junior. Dream Weaver didn't want to make this elderly woman, who had devoted almost her entire life to the Northern family, relive painful memories.
The middle-aged man, having heard Dream Weaver's decision, gave a nod, bowed to both of them, and said, "Understood. I shall return to the Mejiro household now. Please feel free to contact me if anything arises."
With that, he quietly took his leave.
Dream Weaver, however, was still reeling from his earlier words, so much so that she nearly lost her grip on the case.
The Mejiro household?!
Wasn't that the prestigious family her grandmother despised the most? Dream Weaver clearly remembered that one of her grandmother's main reasons for wanting her to win the Tenno Sho Spring and Autumn double was to break the record set by the Mejiro family in those very races.
But why was this man from the Mejiro family? Could it be that the potion in her hands was developed in collaboration with them?!
Startled, Dream Weaver instinctively turned, her questioning gaze falling upon her grandmother.
Seeing her astonished expression, the Northern family matriarch fell silent for a moment, then let out a soft sigh. It was as if she had resolved herself to something as she patted the edge of the bed beside her, gesturing for Dream Weaver to come sit and listen.
"Since I've already told you this much, a little more won't hurt."
Once Dream Weaver was seated, her grandmother looked into her deep, dark eyes and spoke slowly.
"The Mejiro family… or rather, Mejiro Asama, to be precise. It's a grudge left over from my generation. I won't go into the specifics with you. An old woman ought to take some secrets to her grave."
Having said that, she gently pressed Dream Weaver's hand, indicating that there was no need for comfort. She knew her own body's condition better than anyone.
"But the truth is, there is a connection between the Mejiro and Northern families."
"As you know, prestigious families often intermarry to maintain superior bloodlines. The Mejiro family is one of them."
"It's precisely because of this connection that the Mejiro family contributed to the development of the limiter. Otherwise, the declining Northern family, even with its remaining assets, wouldn't have been able to see this mission end in my generation. We… I needed an ally in the medical field."
Hearing this, the picture in Dream Weaver's mind gradually became clearer. So, her grandmother's grudge was specifically with Mejiro Asama, not the entire Mejiro family.
And because the Mejiro and Northern families had intermarried in the past, the Mejiro family was willing to assist in creating the potion out of regard for that connection.
And now, the only person left in the Northern family worthy of the Mejiro family's aid, the last descendant to carry the Northern name—
It could only be herself.
Dream Weaver pointed a dazed finger at her own chest, as if repeatedly questioning her grandmother with the gesture.
"That's right, Dreams. You carry Mejiro blood within you."
Hearing her guess confirmed, Dream Weaver was momentarily stunned. She had thought it was already quite dramatic that her version in this script world possessed the blood of a prestigious family.
She never expected that this 'prestigious blood' wasn't limited to the Northern family alone. The Mejiro family, which she had heard so much about, was also part of her heritage.
"However, you aren't actually the first generation born from such an alliance. Your mother also carried Mejiro blood."
"But the Mejiro lineage was stronger in her, hence her pale blue hair. In you, the Northern family's blood dominates, so you didn't inherit your mother's hair color."
At this, her grandmother couldn't help but sigh.
The Northern family's final hope, Northern Dreams with her superior innate talent, wasn't of pure Northern blood. She carried the blood of the Mejiro family, the very family her grandmother despised the most.
Perhaps part of her grandmother's prejudice against the Mejiro family stemmed from this very bloodline. In her eyes, the Mejiro blood was like a stain, tainting the Northern family's last hope with a detestable quality.
Though now, it might not be such a bad thing. After all, her own body wouldn't hold on much longer. She couldn't very well leave Dreams, still just a child, alone in this dilapidated mansion.
The Mejiro family… perhaps they were a suitable choice…
While these thoughts raced through the grandmother's mind, she failed to notice how Dream Weaver had stiffened upon hearing her last words. An inexplicable intuition urged Dream Weaver to seek the answer.
"A mother… with pale blue hair?"
An image involuntarily surfaced in her mind, and her heart began to pound wildly at the possibility. Dream Weaver whispered cautiously, almost to herself.
"…"
"Don't you remember…? Well, you were still very young when she passed away."
Her grandmother remained silent for a while before speaking slowly. She pointed towards the door, gesturing for Dream Weaver to look.
"Do you remember the portrait frame covered with a drape in the ancestral hall? That is your mot—"
Before she could even finish, Dream Weaver blurted out an apology and dashed from the room. Her full-speed sprint kicked up a cloud of dust in the corridor, but even covered in grime and cobwebs, she didn't slow down. Her pace only quickened, reaching the great hall in a matter of seconds.
Standing before the veiled portrait, though a guess already stirred in her heart, Dream Weaver's hand trembled as she reached for the drape.
To steady her shaking hand, she untied the red ribbon from her hair. Just as she had done countless times in moments of fear and uncertainty, she wrapped the ribbon tightly around her palm.
Then, she yanked the drape down in one swift motion.
The black cloth slid through the air, falling away. Within the frame, the Uma Musume twirled a strand of her pale blue hair, a familiar, gentle smile directed at the viewer, seemingly right at Dream Weaver.
Staring at the face she knew all too well, Dream Weaver subconsciously clenched the red ribbon in her hand, murmuring under her breath.
"Mo…ther?"
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
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If you guys wanna check it out.