Became the Academy Romantic Phantom Thief chapter 175

175 – A Helping Hand

I held back my screams and quickly put the frame back in place.

“Ah, are you here? Why don’t you pretend to be popular and come in? I thought my heart was going to drop.”

“·······.”

He looked at me blankly and asked in a cold tone.

“Why did you come here?”

“You can look around the room with your friends. Did you go in with your mother’s permission?”

“Come out now.”

“There was nothing to see, but it made a fuss.”

Did you notice that I was looking at the picture? It’s possible he didn’t see it because the room was dark, but he probably noticed it from the reaction.

But is it such a big mistake to look at some family photos? At first glance, it looks like there is a story, but there is no need to be so serious about it.

First of all, there was no need to provoke Granger, so I tried to leave the room. The moment she passed the tall guy, she was suddenly grabbed by the collar and pushed straight against the wall.

Looking down with a bewildered expression, Grainger coldly warned me with his characteristic bright red eyes.

“Erase everything.”

“… Huh?”

“What I just saw. Erase everything from your memory.”

She nodded her head shyly, and then the collar came undone. Granger walks away as if it’s not even worth talking about anymore.

What is the reason for overreacting like that?

As the intense reaction returned, my curiosity grew stronger.

That said, it was dangerous to dig into it hastily. Openly touching on a subject that reacts sensitively is only like arguing for a fight.

I came out to the living room and calmly sat down on the sofa with the decision to save myself.

“Oops. Have you already looked around the room? The tea is almost finished, so please wait while eating the cake.”

A white-haired woman smiling kindly and making tea in the kitchen.

If we were to find a way to get her clues out of her current situation, getting them from her would be the most effective.

Afterwards, the cake Grainger had bought and the steaming tea came onto the table.

I sipped my tea and started chatting with my mother in a friendly tone.

“You make really good tea. Do you usually eat like this often?”

“It’s a daily routine. You stay at home all day, so if you don’t do something like this, you might die of boredom, right?”

“Being a housewife isn’t easy either. Then her husband works, doesn’t he?”

Questions to find out basic information. When I recalled the family photos in the frame, there was no figure that looked like her husband.

But before Mother could answer, Granger growled and bristled his fur.

“Hey. She’s not interrogating her, what is she asking?”

“I was just curious. We’re friends, can’t you even ask me this much?”

I needed to be a little brazen to get the information I wanted.

With an iron mask over her face, she tried to ignore Granger’s gaze.

I wonder if my attitude offended him, the guy who tried to vent his anger while glaring at me with bloody eyes.

It was her mother who unexpectedly showed a calm and unwavering appearance that stopped her.

“Jin. Stop it. You should get along well with her friends.”

“…Who is fighting?”

“Please forgive me as I will apologize instead. My husband died of an illness many years ago.”

It was an answer in a somewhat expected flow, but I sincerely apologized for the atmosphere that instantly slumped.

“Sorry. I accidentally touched a sensitive part…”

“No. Of course, it was difficult in the past, but now I’ve overcome everything. Above all, I have precious children.”

At the same time, she raises the smile of her mother, overflowing with her maternal love.

She was definitely touching and beautiful, so it was an appropriate scene, but at the same time, there was a sense of incongruity.

The ‘kids’ mentioned in what we just talked about. In other words, it was clear that her child was not Jin alone.

Probably referring to another child in the picture. Because he had the same white hair.

The problem is that there is no trace of another child in this house.

The only rooms are the master bedroom and Jin’s room, and only two of each tableware or daily necessities can be seen.

In addition, in my mother’s conversation, she talks as if she has only one child. Earlier, when I openly asked if there were any brothers, he even stopped as if it had stopped working.

However, there is one more child in the family photo while referring to them as “Children.”

Assuming that all the apparently contradictory evidence is true, there is only one conclusion to be drawn.

A child’s existence has been erased.

Even the child’s mother seemed to have forgotten her existence or only vaguely remembered her existence.

Perhaps the only one who knows the whole truth is Jean Granger next to him.

The reason I took my actions sensitively and was wary was probably because I didn’t want the secret to be revealed.

“Your mother seems to really like gin.”

“Isn’t that obvious? It is a treasure that cannot be exchanged for anything.”

“Is that why you traded it for another child?”

“·······.”

She freezes in an instant, just like before, and can’t even utter an answer.

After that.

Puck!

A guy who lashes out at me in the face like he’s genuinely indignant.

It didn’t hurt that much, probably because it was such a thin arm.

“Is it okay to do this here? Can a good son beat someone?”

“…Follow me.”

Me and Granger moved to her room, leaving behind my mother who was sitting blankly.

He sighed and asked softly, as if he was tired of being angry.

“What do you want to do? Why are you doing this?”

“I’m sorry. But I never meant to annoy you and your mother. Rather, I want to help.”

“Ha. You? What qualifications do you have for a man who knows nothing? Could it be that you and I were mistaken for real friends? Done. I’m sick for asking you Take it all away and go away. Get out of my house right now.”

A look full of vitality. As if it wasn’t a simple warning, even magic was swaying.

But I was rather brazen.

“Actually, I saw the picture earlier. I always thought it was weird from the beginning. The son in what mother is talking about is so different from the you I know.”

“Shut up.”

“Sociable, bright, friendly with everyone, big, manly… How come none of them fit? But after looking at the photos, I finally got a feel for it.”

“I told you to shut up!?”

The more I talk, the more Granger flinches and reacts more violently.

The reaction looked more like bewilderment and fear than anger.

“The boy in the picture must be the Jean Granger my mother talked about. I don’t know exactly, but for what reason are you not in the world right now? That’s why the mother, who usually cared for her son, was shocked, and she couldn’t overcome the unfortunate situation after losing her husband not long after.”

“·······.”

Now he has his head down and doesn’t show any reaction.

No, it should be her.

“That’s why you decided to be my son. Even if she forgets her own existence. Because I wanted to bring her depressed mother back to her bright self.”

“…You, what do you know?”

“Gina Granger.”

This is the name I checked on the back of the frame.

Her real name, Jean Granger, should have been buried in her heart to live as her older brother.

After a while, she struggled to open her mouth.

“So what! He reasoned like a detective and is so amazing. Do you want to hear a compliment!? Okay! You’re good! I’m proud, so stop bothering me and go away! Go away!”

“I told you. I’m not trying to bully you, I’m trying to help you.”

Gina snorts at her, telling her not to be funny.

“I don’t need your help. As long as you don’t install it unnecessarily, you can get along without any problems!”

“You really think so? If you keep going like this, you will live forever forgotten in your mother’s memory, right?”

For a moment, even when he is startled, he tries to act clumsily as if nothing happened while his lips quiver.

“Well, why is that? I’m fine. Because I am Jin.”

“No. You are Jin, not Jin. No amount of denial will change that fact.”

How long have you lived under the name Jin? Looking at family photos, it’s not strange that it’s been over 10 years. At the same time, her heart may have been firmly closed.

She pretends to be a man. She must have lived for her mother in denial of everything.

But that’s the wrong way.

“Do you really think that’s the way it is for your mother? Do you really think it’s the right thing to forget the original you and live by clinging to the traces of your son who has already left for a long time?”

“Then what are you saying to me!? What did I have to do…”

I held out her hand to her.

“Let me help you.”