Rudy sat curled up in the corner of a quiet room, his cheeks still burning from earlier.
He huffed, burying his face into the open book on his lap.
The room was lined with shelves stacked floor to ceiling—rows upon rows of old tomes, faded scrolls, and leather-bound journals.
Dust motes floated lazily in the warm sunlight filtering through the window, giving the place an almost dreamlike calm.
In his hands was a worn book titled:
"A Guide to Magic Power"
By Seraphine, the Witch of Love.
He traced the name with his fingers, a strange warmth blooming in his chest every time he read it.
The book was unlike any he'd seen. No complex runes or grand theories.
Instead, it was filled with gentle illustrations, simple incantations, and handwritten notes scribbled in the margins—"Don't be afraid to feel," one said. "Magic is love in motion," said another.
Rudy flipped open the bookmarked page.
The heading made his cheeks flush all over again:
"How to Touch a Woman's Body"
He groaned softly. "Why is this chapter particularly the longest…"
Most wouldn't expect such a title in a book meant to teach the fundamentals of magic power.
But there it was. Bold, confident, and… weirdly educational.
He leaned in closer, eyes scanning the familiar passage.
"The human body—especially a woman's—is a conduit of emotions.
By embedding soft threads of mana into your fingertips and channeling them through gentle physical contact, one can relieve stress, pain, and tension from the body."
There were diagrams. Notes on meridian points. Even little sketches of hands positioned along a woman's spine.
It was embarrassingly detailed.
And more embarrassingly… effective.
He'd followed it exactly during his massage earlier—and judging by his mother's reactions, it worked.
He shut the book with a thud, burying his face into the cover.
"Ugh… why did she have to make those sounds?"
And then his mind wandered—to her.
His mother.
Mature, teasing, strange—and definitely not normal.
She had horns. A faint, silver curve rising from the top of her head. And a tail—long, slender, and always swaying lazily behind her.
He didn't have either.
He'd asked once. She just smiled and patted his head, saying he'd "bloom in his own time."
Whatever that meant.
He looked down at his hands again.
"Mana through the fingertips…" he murmured, flexing them slowly. "It really worked…"
His thoughts drifted—unbidden—back to earlier that day.
To the way his mother had moaned softly beneath his fingers during the massage.
The warmth of her skin. The curve of her back. The way her voice had trembled with satisfaction...
His face flushed red in an instant.
He shook his head violently.
"She's your mother, idiot," he muttered under his breath, burying his face in his hands. "Get a grip."
But the heat didn't leave his cheeks.
And somewhere deep inside, where confusion and instinct blurred, a quiet storm brewed.
Rudy decided to step outside, needing some air to clear his mind of magic manuals and embarrassing memories.
The village was calm as ever. Bees hummed in the flowerbeds, birds chirped lazily in the trees, and just down the lane—laughter echoed.
A group of girls were playing near the old well, kicking around a handmade ball, their bright dresses fluttering in the breeze.
The moment they spotted him, they stopped.
And then—
"Rudy is here again," one of them whispered with a giggle.
In a blink, three figures rushed over and surrounded him like curious foxes cornering a hare.
Lily, Rose, and Mina—the village triplets.
Identical in face, but not in personality. One mischievous, one sharp, and one always too quiet for comfort.
Rudy blinked, but then smiled.
"Hey."
"Rudy," Rose said, peering up at him with her hands on her hips. "How are you so tall?"
Lily stepped closer, pressing her shoulder to his side. Her head barely reached it.
"We're the same age, you know," she pouted.
Rose circled him once, tilting her head like a cat. "It's unnatural…"
Rudy scratched the back of his neck, sheepish but proud. "I'm going to be sixteen next week. I have to be tall. That's how you become an adult."
"No, no," Rose huffed. "We're also turning sixteen next week."
"Exactly the same day," Lily added, puffing her cheeks.
"So why aren't we tall?" Rose said, poking his side suspiciously.
"I—uh…"
The three girls stared at him like he'd just committed a crime by being tall.
Rudy floundered for an answer, but before he could speak, Mina crossed her arms and said flatly:
"It's because he's a guy."
Rudy blinked. "Huh?"
Lily nodded sagely, as if the mystery had been solved. "Boys just grow faster. It's unfair."
"Still weird," Rose muttered, eyeing him suspiciously. "You're not just taller, you're... I dunno, sturdier. Like a tree."
"I'm not a tree," Rudy protested.
"You kinda are," Mina added, poking his chest. "A big dumb one."
He huffed. "I'm not dumb either!"
The girls giggled, circling him again like little wolves.
"Ruuudy~" Lily sing-songed. "You sure you're not hiding something?"
Rudy looked away, uncomfortable. "I'm just... normal."
But even as he said it, he wasn't sure he believed it.
His mother had horns and a tail.
He had neither.
But he could feel something inside—something strange, something waiting.
And sometimes, when he focused too hard—or got too emotional—the air around him would shiver.
The triplets didn't notice the flicker of unease in his eyes. They were already bickering among themselves again.
"Maybe if we climb him, we'll get taller too," Lily joked.
"Let's try!" Rose grinned.
"Wait, wait—don't you dare—!"
Too late.
Three girls jumped at once, and Rudy yelped as they latched onto him like vines on a tree.
Their laughter rang through the village lane.
For a moment, Rudy forgot all the strange thoughts.
He just laughed too.