Northern Starlight had held her head high with pride throughout the entire parent-teacher meeting, only lowering it when the homeroom teacher announced a mid-session break.
She rolled her slightly stiff neck and sat proudly at the desk, quietly waiting for the parents to approach her with their earnest questions.
Although Dream Weaver's previous grades had been excellent, they hadn't reached the level of winning a central graded stakes race right after her debut.
So most of the time, she was merely mentioned as one of the outstanding examples, and Northern Starlight had never been the center of attention at a parent-teacher meeting like she was today.
Sure enough, within seconds, a group of parents crowded around, all chattering at once as they asked Northern Starlight about her secret to parenting.
If Dream Weaver's flawless performance earlier had been a frustration that kept Northern Starlight from feeling like a real mother, then in this moment, all that frustration had transformed into effortless showing-off.
"What should I do if my child stays up all night and can't train properly the next day?"
Northern Starlight poked her cheek, looking troubled as she replied.
"Gosh, I wouldn't know. My Dream goes to bed early and wakes up early every day."
After the first parent was shot down, another stepped forward.
"How do you manage a child who's too mischievous, always running around the house shouting 'Charge!'?"
"Though I'm not sure what 'Charge!' means, my Dream has always been an obedient girl. The biggest commotion she makes at home is just doing chores, so I really don't know how to answer that."
"What if the child is too lazy, always sprawled on the sofa playing games, and getting her to do a little training in the pool is like dragging a stubborn pig?"
"This parent here, you're really something, but my Dream makes her own study schedule every day. I never have to worry about a thing."
The more questions she answered, the more brazen Northern Starlight's smile became.
After watching parent after parent get shot down, everyone seemed to finally realize—this woman was basically raising her daughter on autopilot.
Filled with envy and jealousy, the parents glared resentfully at this smugly grinning figure.
And their jealous stares only made Northern Starlight's smile grow even wider.
However, as she was answering the parents' questions, it seemed a few individuals had quietly mixed into the crowd—people who weren't parents, and who didn't even belong to this class.
"Mother, what does Dream usually like?"
"Dream's hobbies? Well, that would be—"
Wait! Northern Starlight's eyes flashed. What did that voice just call me?
Under her sharp gaze, the parents gathered around quickly scattered, revealing a group of young Uma Musume who had slipped in at some point.
They glanced around guiltily, not saying a word about who had spoken that line earlier.
"And you girls are…?"
Northern Starlight didn't address the way she'd just been addressed. Instead, she narrowed her eyes and questioned the Uma Musume.
After some shuffling among them, Nanno Sumire nervously stepped to the front.
"Auntie, hello. We're under the same trainer as Dream, and we often hang out together. We just wanted to see what her mom is like."
Following her introduction, Artisan Bell, Kobayashi Kaze, and Oguri Roman each popped out to say hello.
These Kasamatsu Uma Musume had really turned things around.
Not only had they secured spots as Dream Weaver's close friends, but they could also confidently tell elders that they were all under the same trainer—a perfectly proper answer.
Looking at the huddled Kasamatsu girls, Northern Starlight offered no comment, only giving a slight nod before shifting her gaze to the few Uma Musume on the other side.
Narita Top Road glanced at Admire Vega beside her, whose expression was calm as still water. King Halo had split off to look for Dream Weaver, so now she was the only one who could step forward.
Giving herself a little internal pep talk, she stepped up and said, "A-Auntie, hello. We're also friends of Dream. We were passing by and saw a crowd gathered, so we wanted to see what was going on."
Though their reason wasn't as solid as Nanno Sumire's, Northern Starlight had no way to verify it at the moment, so she simply gave another slight nod before looking at the final two Uma Musume.
"It's me, Auntie! See, I still have the red ribbon you gave me when I was little."
Mejiro Ardan pointed to the red ribbon tied near her ear, smiling at Northern Starlight.
Northern Starlight narrowed her eyes, as if trying to recognize her, then said with some surprise,
"So it's Ardan! You've grown into such a fine young lady!"
"What brings you to see your aunt today? Did you not do well lately and come to me for protection from being scolded at the parent-teacher meeting?"
Unlike her demeanor with the other Uma Musume, a smile appeared on Northern Starlight's face.
Seeing the niece she used to take out to play years ago right before her eyes brought a pleasant surprise, and she even cracked a joke.
"I've been doing just fine, really."
Mejiro Ardan chuckled lightly before continuing,
"It's mainly because I only heard Grandma mention you a few days ago. I was worried visiting the hospital might disturb you, so I hadn't gone yet. I never expected to run into you today, so I specially came to say hello."
As a close junior relative, Mejiro Ardan had a natural, huge advantage and quickly struck up a conversation with Northern Starlight.
For a moment, the pressure on the Kasamatsu Uma Musume skyrocketed.
They had thought they held the advantage by being close at hand, but they never expected there was a master player here.
'Using family connections to get closer, huh? Mejiro Ardan, you're playing dirty!'
They lamented inwardly, completely forgetting that their own reason for coming was also to suss out Dream Weaver's preferences from Northern Starlight.
As for Narita Top Road and Admire Vega, they were even more stunned. Like the Kasamatsu girls, they'd never imagined Mejiro Ardan was so familiar with Northern Starlight.
Now, their already precarious position had become even more unstable. Not only were they no longer the leading group in terms of progress—they might have even fallen to last place!
They exchanged a look, placing their hopes solely on King Halo and Dancing Brave now.
After chatting and laughing for a bit, Northern Starlight turned her gaze to the final person.
Narita Brian, as usual, wasn't much of a talker. Under Northern Starlight's gaze, she stood stiffly, her face cold, lost in who-knows-what thoughts.
As if unable to bear the awkwardness, Mejiro Ardan walked over to her with a smile and said to Northern Starlight,
"Brian here is a student council member. She probably came over to keep order after seeing so many Uma Musume gathered."
"That's right."
Narita Brian nodded, her expression firm, as if she really had come just to maintain order, exactly as Mejiro Ardan said.
Northern Starlight responded with a vague, knowing hum. She narrowed her eyes at the group of Uma Musume, stroking her chin as a mysterious smile played on her lips.
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 2 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!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.