"I wonder what Ben would like for his birthday next week...hrmm~ It's so hard trying to get in on his good side!"

Between the cracks in the door, the mistress of the mansion; Madam Bartel, watches her daughter with an appraising eye, giggling to herself as she paces back and forth, seemingly deep in thought as she bit down on a nail.

Despite being a seasoned mage, Bartel still found it exhilarating whenever she got the chance to use magic; using her repertoire of both unusual and self made spells and observing their equally strange effects.

Owing to her fame as a young prodigy in the magical arts, Madam Bartel had her fair share of enemies from rival mages to groups who feared her powers and research, sending assassins and thieves to her estate in a fruitless bid to silence or claim her research for their own. All of which would never return to their employers.

Take Roxanne here for instance. On paper, she was Bartel's first born child and sole heiress to her vast fortunes of knowledge and wealth.

But in reality? She was simply the latest in a long line of people that had crossed the powerful mage...but no one would ever find out. Given how no one on earth ever remembered them existing in the first place.

Bartel grinned as she remembered the night the man had snuck in through her window, casting a memory alteration spell that would've made her think of him as her son returning for a quick visit from overseas, leaving her vulnerable as he went about her place, maybe even ripe for the kill for some bonus pay.

If she were just any ordinary mage that didn't have the ability to cast a Grandmaster tier defensive charm constantly…

She had guessed this latest intruder was due to word spreading of yet another powerful spell she had invented, trace amounts of mana spreading around the world as mages adept at the reading of their flow in the leylines spoke of the spell she had managed to concoct to their craven masters.

Returning the favour, Bartel had suspended the stupefied thief in a stasis bubble, slowly deleting his memories as she transformed him, carrying him over to his new accomodations for the rest of his foreseeable stay here at the estate. Uncaring as she heard his pained groans and angered cries begin to warp under the weight of her age reversal spell.

Doing away with his dull trenchcoat and undergarments, Bartel hummed as she flicked her hands in the air, conducting an invisible orchestra of change as she observed his well built body shrinking and healing itself of battle scars, regressing in age and strength until the angry man was nothing more than a needy babe, struggling as it's tiny limbs shift and twitch in confusion, the mind of a man suddenly finding it harder and harder to think as memories and training slipped away as his mind was degraded to fit his sudden age flip.

By the time the doors swung open to the vacant room that lay at the end of the corridor directly opposite the woman’s room, there was nothing left of the man, the furled up form of a baby floating silently as it sucked on a thumb, hazy mind dreaming of the former life it used to live.

“Now…what do I do with the little rascal…”

As Bartel ran a finger down her cheeks, the whimsical look on the mistress of the manor’s face turns into a steely frown as she clicked her tongue in disgust at what she sees through her brief glimpse at her would-be assassin's memories; A man taking magic for granted, under the tutelage of a school that had long forgotten the true virtues of a proper mage, the school she had once studied under.

Chuckling as she suddenly figured out what new addition she would add to her ever growing roster of servants She did, after all, long for a daughter. But as with all good things, her impressive mana stores and incredible mental capacity for learning and experimenting with new magical artes had left her infertile.

But with the spell that had drawn this man like a moth to the flame, she would finally have what she desired for so long. By the time she was done with him, he would be thanking her for what she had done to him.

Not like he would ever remember anything about his former life.

With the raw material assembled before her, Bartel begins to chant her spell, air flowing around her as the room took on a dark red hue as the world seemed to cave at her demands, the infant in the blue orb beginning to change as genes and bloodlines were altered, irreversibly changing its very identity as the foggy past life it led vanishes completely, paving the way for growth as new memories of living life as a young girl fills the empty head while the body grows, rapidly maturing from an infant to a toddler as limbs grow larger and longer, healthier and firmer.

Soon, the former infant is replaced by a girl in her late teens, curled up in a fetal position to cover up her sensitive spots, pale skin reflecting the moonlight as raven black hair flows around her petite form.

“A girl of mine would bear similar tastes I presume…”

Swishing her fingers in the air, the girl seems to react to Bartel’s movement as she shifts and mutters in her comatose state, a warmth building inside her as glimpses and fragments of memories that she somehow found dear to her heart rushed by in her head; from practicing magic with her mother to her love for death metal music.

By the time she was done implanting the last memory of graduating from highschool in Roxanne’s mind, the newborn girl seemed content in her sleep, a warm smile on her face caked with a thin layer of makeup, her hair done up in a partial ponytail with gothic accessories as a dark dress with vulgar print shimmered into existence over her shapely form, a glimmering silver skull piece settling atop her warm belly as the fastener for the belt that hugged her thin waist.

Settling her new daughter on the bed, the elated mistress could barely contain her excitement as she laid a gentle peck on her warm cheeks, quickly exiting the room as new furniture and belongings begin to materialize around the sleeping girl, giving shape and form to her dreams and memories.

Until Roxanne awoke the next day, no memory of anything being different as she carried out her morning routine…just like she always did.

–

“Aghh! Why do boys have to be so hard to get!”

Bartel snaps out of her daydream as she hears her daughter scream in frustration, the signature vocalist roar she used as the lead singer of her band ringing out as she crumples over the couch,

It had only been a few months since the mistress had gotten her new daughter, having to readjust her life of solitude as she now spent almost everyday looking after the energetic thing; teaching Roxanne magical lessons in the evening after she returned home from college and then listening to the sweet symphony of music coming from the basement as her daughter’s band practiced the entire day.

Soon, the mistress' moody aura had begun to give way to a motherly warmth, waking up to 'good morning mother' and a bright smile had warmed her icey heart

Sneaking in on her daughter had become a daily practice for the up and coming mother, imparting Bartel with juicy bits of info about Roxanne, until she had begun to hear her go on about a certain ‘Ben’, along with moving instances of magic picturing a young man framed up in her room, his rather effeminate face and silky hair coupled with his lean boney body would make anyone mistake him for a girl. But from the way her daughter spoke of him, it seemed like she held him rather close to her heart.

Could her daughter have already found a partner to go after? The thought had the elderly lady giggling as she remembered her own childhood and the boys she grew to crush on during her time as a simple student at the magic academy. A far cry from the relatively normal life Roxanne was leading.

“Ahh mother! You were listening?”

Opening the door now that her cover was blown, Bartel enters her daughter’s room, walking over to take a seat beside Roxanne, still lying dazed on the couch with her feet dangling off the end, her short, pleated skirt dangerously low over her thighs.

“What did I tell you about your image Roxy! You’re never going to get a decent man if you don’t shape up!”

As her mother voiced the last few words, Roxanne pouted as a warm blush forms on her cheeks, shooting her mother a side glance that seemed to say “So you were spying on me” as she shuffled her legs together, letting her skirt fall back down to a safe height.

“Hehee, I'm sorry dear! Say…want some pointers on how to bag that boy of yours for yourself?”

Seeing the glint in her mother’s eyes however, Roxanne sighed as she slapped her mother’s hand playfully.

“N-No magic! I don’t want you turning him into some love puppet!”

“Oh hoh? You sure you would rather have that over a little sister?”

“Mother!”

Although Roxanne protested vehemently to her mother's ideas, she could see it in her eyes; that same glimmer she had whenever the urge to try out a new spell to see it's effects sparked inside her. She took after her so well!

Maybe she wouldn't even have to lift a finger before she found another member of the family running around the halls.

THE END