Chapter 14 - Visitors and the Court Mage
Slightly NSFW
He had recalled something terrible.
"Isn't there an eighteen-plus rating...?"
"What is?"
"This world...!"
"I don't really get it."
He had remembered that the game, originally released for a general audience, had also been ported to PC with an eighteen-plus version.
While the housekeeper despaired in the kitchen, cutting meat into bite-sized pieces, Lumina stirred the pot. The vegetables were softening, and a pleasant aroma began to fill the air.
Since they had been told two guests were coming today, the portions were larger than usual.
"Eighteen-plus is still too early for my son, isn't it?"
"Onii-chan is eighteen, you know?"
"I refuse to acknowledge it... I will not acknowledge it...!"
She dropped the meat from the cutting board into the pot.
Her words were as incomprehensible as ever.
Just as Elenoa remembered, the Demon Lord-sama in the game was a yandere.
In the eighteen-plus version, he seemed to engage in quite gruesome acts typical of a yandere, such as tying up arms, verbal abuse, and using aphrodisiacs.
The method of forming a 'Magic Contract' also apparently included lewd acts suitable for adults. Thus, doujinshi (BL) featuring the pairing of the Yandere Demon Lord and the Fairy (with torture-like content), completely ignoring the protagonist, circulated in large numbers.
The contents of the doujinshi were as follows.
'Eren. I think I will try this medicine on you.'
'What is that...? What more do you want from me?'
'It is a medicine that turns one into a woman. Every time I embrace you while you cry and scream, I always feel it is a waste.'
'What...?'
'In order to play with you and spread my magic throughout your body, you must have a womb.'
'Stop... please stop!'
'If you do not wish to have your wings handled as I please again, you should behave. Why worry so much about struggling... Ah, I see. If you have a womb, there is a possibility of conceiving a child?'
'...No, no...'
'Rest assured. I would never say anything about aborting the child I have with you.'
'No, no, no, no... Let me go!'
—End excerpt from a doujinshi by a major circle.
Incidentally, even in the normal pairing between the female protagonist and the Demon Lord, depending on the ending, they would engage in conversations similar to those in the doujinshi. It was a hopeless specification where a still image would appear of the Demon Lord embracing the protagonist from behind, her clothes disheveled and eyes vacant, followed by the ending title 'BAD END ~Darkness's Lust~'.
Recalling these future scenarios, Elenoa panicked and began shredding lettuce for a salad.
"No good... I must not go down that path..."
Using the lettuce as a base, cucumbers and tomatoes were arranged colorfully on the plate.
"Oh, Louis... Louis, my boy... My son..."
Finally, she scattered cheese over it and drizzled homemade dressing.
Lumina watched, holding her breath.
"Ah... the boy... the cute boy is being defiled..."
And then, groaning like a dead soul crawling out of the underworld, Elenoa unsteadily picked up a kettle and placed it on the second burner, turning on the heat. With elegant movements, she put tea leaves into the pot and prepared cups.
"Uuu..."
Then, like a ghost, she left the kitchen.
Having witnessed the entirety of this bizarre behavior, Lumina realized, "I see, Onii-chan has returned." Probably, that fairy was currently welcoming her brother with a surreal and gloomy demeanor.
"This is a matter for reporting."
She didn't understand what was going on at all, but she nodded to herself, deciding to report it to her brother anyway.
"I'm home."
"...Welcome home... my beloved Louis, my boy..."
"Please prepare tea for three."
As she accepted his robe as usual, Louis noticed two unfamiliar figures behind him. One was a small girl with red hair clinging to Louis's waist. The other was a young man with long black hair tied over his left shoulder.
He knew guests were coming.
"Pleased to meet you. I am Elenoa, serving as the housekeeper of the House of Stylus."
Claire was startled by Elenoa's voice and released her hands from Louis's waist.
For group transportation via teleportation magic, physical contact with the caster was necessary.
"My name is Claire Weavy. I serve as the Corps Commander of the Second Knight Corps. We may not meet often, but please treat me well."
"I am the Deputy Captain, Gil. ...Nice to meet you."
The Corps Commander and the Deputy Captain. They were the most important figures he had received so far.
This cute girl is...? When Elenoa looked at Louis without hiding her doubt, he nodded firmly. If he acknowledged it, there was no mistake.
"If such important people were coming, I would have put more effort into the cooking."
"I am technically an important person too, you know."
He guided them to the living room. He took their coats and hung them on hangers.
"By the way, boy, you haven't made any sex-change drugs, have you?"
"Are you an idiot?"
Louis decided to question his sister about the state of this hopeless female fairy.
After brewing black tea and serving it to the guests, Elenoa attempted to leave the room. She judged that she would be a hindrance during an important discussion, but since Louis said, "You may stay seated," she did as told. In other words, it meant "Stay here."
It was uncomfortable. The pair, who should have had no relation to her, were staring at her intently.
Noticing Elenoa's demeanor, Claire smiled mischievously.
"Do not mind him. Gil is just like that."
She wanted to say, "You are quite frightening enough yourself," but she could not.
Furthermore, she felt as though the Deputy Captain's gaze held some kind of emotion... or perhaps it was just her imagination... No, she still felt like there was something there.
"Have I met the Deputy Captain somewhere before?"
"Why do you think so?"
"No, it's just, for a first meeting..."
She felt disliked. Ever since they met, the gazes of the two knight dignitaries had been painful and unbearable. If she had inadvertently been rude, she needed to apologize, and if she had forgotten, she wanted to remember.
As Elenoa spoke sporadically with an apologetic look, Louis, who had been silent, pointed out, "What Gil is concerned about is your family name."
Elenoa asked with her eyes, wondering what he meant.
In response, Gil sipped his tea with a face as if he had bitten into a bitter bug, but a loud thud came from under the table, and he choked heavily. It was a relief that he had managed to swallow the tea.
Next to him, Claire tilted her cup with a cool expression.
"Let me reintroduce myself. I am Gilrem Fanaria, the eldest son of the House of Fanaria. My father and younger brother have caused you trouble."
"'Fanaria'?"
"Indeed."
She thought she had heard the name somewhere. It was likely the name of the man who, ten years ago, had been the trigger for her blurting out that she would become a housekeeper.
"If you hadn't been there back then, I might have become Gil's brother-in-law."
"Did you want to?"
"No. I think I was better off here. ...He has a Court Mage among his younger brothers, and that is the glasses-wearing man who was involved with you in the tri... excuse me, the trio."
"Eh, ehh..."
That was unacceptable. Speaking of the trio with glasses, he was a man fresh in Elenoa's memory, ranking high on her list of people she did not want to meet.
The House of Stylus and the House of Fanaria might have extremely poor compatibility.
Nevertheless, if he was invited as a guest, Gil must be a good person, enough for Louis to acknowledge him. Elenoa, imagining the eldest son being tossed around by the selfishness of his father and younger brother, felt spontaneous sympathy.
As soon as Elenoa stood up, saying, "I will start preparing dinner soon," the atmosphere changed.
Claire's gaze, which had been blatantly observing her, pierced the tea swaying in the cup—the tea had not decreased in the slightest.
"That woman, huh."
"Likely."
Gil agreed with Claire. Louis honestly tilted his head, asking, "What is it?"
"I heard unsettling rumors about you. Something along the lines of... you being deceived by a female monster."
"A female monster? I have no recollection of such a thing."
"It seems there was a woman with silver hair who, from about ten years ago, would sometimes send you to and from the Research Institute."
Surroundings. Ten years. Sending and receiving. Silver hair. A female monster?
"...Hah."
He understood who those pieces of information pointed to without even having to think.
She was a fairy who always leisurely did housework and was lured by delicious magic. Why did he have to be deceived by someone who didn't even know the first letter of the word "conspiracy"?
"Hey."
"...Excuse me. In a way, it seems that to the world, she appears to be deceiving me."
It was so off the mark that Louis laughed from the bottom of his heart, which was rare for him.
Although he was a weak existence who couldn't even use magic on his own, the surroundings did not seem to recognize him as such.
She was a woman of unknown age and origin with unusual hair color who had somehow started living in the House of Stylus. Moreover, since she was so adorable, he couldn't help but feel it was understandable that she might be thought of as a demonic being.
However, falsehoods were still falsehoods. It was complete nonsense.
"Rumors are unreliable things, aren't they?"
"Yes, indeed. From what I have seen just now, she does not seem to be a bad person. Though my suspicions are not entirely cleared."
Louis continued to laugh,
"It is I who am deceiving her."
In the first place, it was I who captured and confined her. If anyone is demonic, it is I who am suited to the title. He could not say such things, however.