Chapter 20 - A Trip Out and the Chief Court Mage
Sensing the presence of magic, she immediately began to boil water. It was a habit as a housekeeper, but at this moment, she even resented the timing.
She did not want to see him. She did not want to speak to him.
Because their relationship and the atmosphere between them were different from before.
As Elenoa headed for the entrance with heavy steps, Louis, who had just transferred in, called out to her as usual, "I have returned." He knew full well that she did not look particularly happy and was avoiding eye contact, yet he still spoke to her like this.
"Which would you prefer first, a shower?"
"I will take a shower. ...Will you be joining me?"
"Do not say such strange things!"
Fairies' skin had a self-cleansing effect. Unless the dirt was exceptionally severe, there was no need to bathe in water.
When she abruptly turned her face away, a large hand landed on her head along with a cheerful voice.
"I was joking."
"...Really."
It was likely a joke, but she could not help but mind it. Knowing that she would mind, he said such tasteless things, which was precisely why Elenoa did not want to involve herself with him.
He no longer even attempted to hide the emotions he directed toward Elenoa, looking at her with eyes as sickly sweet and thick as melted chocolate. And every time he returned home, he would touch her cheek or head at least once.
When he did so, her heart would pound with an inexplicable palpitation. She had watched over the Stylus siblings as the only adult, yet here she was in this state. Being toyed with, and having her reactions delighted in.
Unfortunately, she felt hungry.
She needed magic power that could not be obtained from human food. But if she were to demand it from the current Louis, her own mind felt it would not be able to endure it.
She had entrusted her body to him at every meal, but that surely meant some strange affection existed within it. Thinking about that, she felt that hunger was the lesser evil.
After stroking Elenoa's hair for a while, he seemed to remember something, saying, "Oh, right."
"It is about a month from now, but could you prepare one extra lunch box?"
"One more? The same kind?"
"Yes. Do you remember Claire?"
"That high-ranking knight?"
"Yes, that person. It seems they are interested in Elenoa's lunch boxes. Apparently, they bring their own lunch for daytime meals during training camps, so I thought, if it is not too much trouble..."
"...It is fine. Are there any foods they cannot eat?"
"I have not asked. I think anything would be fine, but I would prefer cream croquettes."
"Understood. I will make them. ...Well, there is still laundry left to do."
Elenoa turned sharply on her heel and departed with quick steps.
The laundry had actually been finished a short while ago.
During dinner that day as well, Elenoa's attitude was stiff. When Louis called out to stop her as she served the food onto the table, she froze rigidly.
After drinking her post-meal milk tea and handing the empty cup to Elenoa, Lumina seemed to be thinking about something.
Her eyes captured her brother, then looked at Elenoa, observing the two of them in detail.
Elenoa, as always, did not look at Louis.
Louis watched such an Elenoa with amusement and left her be.
—I understand that Elenoa is cute, but!
Things would not progress like this.
Lumina, wearing a difficult expression, solemnly opened her mouth.
"Let us have a picnic."
"Pardon?"
"Eh...?"
"Let us have a picnic."
She said the same thing again.
Although Lumina had an active personality among the three of them, she rarely made sudden wishes.
As a result of Louis somehow managing to make time, it was decided that they would hold a picnic two weeks later in the afternoon.
＊
That dim lake was reputed to be the second most beautiful in the country.
Because it was surrounded on all sides by tall, wildly growing trees, there was no gap to go around to the left or right of the lake.
It was the 'Lake Nochant Shore'.
This lake was not wide, but it was deep. If one proceeded toward the center, distracted by the water so clear that the lakebed was visible, the lake water would eventually change color to a bottomless blue.
It was a place hidden among the trees, reached by advancing along a leveled path that resembled a tunnel of branches.
From beside a thick tree trunk, Elenoa's face peeked out shyly.
"...Hmm."
Then she lowered her eyebrows in disappointment.
She hopped over a fallen log lying at her feet with a "Yo!" and stepped onto the lakeshore.
In the game, this was a safe spot (where no monsters appeared at all) discovered in the latter half of the story. Many fairies flew around here, and one could listen to their stories. Or receive items at random.
Currently, not a single fairy could be found, but would it eventually become like that?
Following her, Louis, carrying a tiered lunch box, and Lumina, with only light luggage, hurriedly intruded.
"It has been a while!"
"A-Ah, you must not run too much. Take it slow."
"Eh? It is fine!"
Lumina, who ran lightly toward the lake, showed no sign of her former frailty.
Elenoa watched her with concern, but turned back to somehow deal with the luggage. There, Louis was already relaxing, with a mat and tea set perfectly arranged.
"...Is that not too fast?"
"Is it?"
Although it was called a mat, it was a single piece of cloth made by patching together unnecessary fabrics.
It lacked the hardness of a leisure sheet from her previous life, and was a piece rich in color in a bad sense.
Sitting there with one knee raised and legs crossed was the Chief Court Mage. It did not suit him at all.
"Why are you making such a subtle face?"
"Well... it does not suit you. Even though you look like a prince."
"Regardless of appearance, I am a commoner."
He lectured her that it was rude to His Highness, and she remembered that this country had a prince. The First Prince had some name or other, and he should still be at an age where he was quite immature.
Elenoa had no interest in human political affairs.
When Elenoa had first introduced herself as a housekeeper and begun to disguise herself as a human. The first thing she had done was to take Lumina outside. Of course, this was after checking Lumina's condition, investigating, and obtaining permission from Louis.
The two children, still young, were light enough to be picked up and flown away with.
Elenoa began to take Lumina out on new moon nights, when her wings would be less noticeable to human eyes. She used aerial walks and fairy songs to babysit, and as an extension of that, they began to come to this lakeshore.
It was a place they had visited often before Louis became busy.
Peering into the water surface, or putting her hand in to scoop up water, Lumina seemed busy by herself.
Tying her skirt around her thighs to expose her legs was completely out of the question if anyone other than family were present.
Standing in the shallows, she scooped up water and splashed it away with a splash. It was unknown what kind of enjoyment there was in that, but being energetic was a good thing.
"Waah, this, this is a crab! It is a crab! It looks delicious!"
"You cannot eat the crabs here."
"They say the crabs here taste bad!"
"Ah, a fish! It is amazing, like a snake! It is long! It is big! It looks delicious!"
"That is a snake."
"They say that is not delicious either!"
Elenoa raised her voice to convey Louis's curt replies to Lumina's words.
Lumina frolicking in the distance, and Elenoa watching over her anxiously. Louis watching over them from behind. Whether at home or out, it was the Stylus family, unchanged as always.
Splash, splish... splash.
The water Lumina threw reflected the sunlight filtering through the trees. Letting her unbound blonde hair flow gracefully, the bouncing water droplets made her shine purely. Seeing her like this, it felt as though one might forget her past frail appearance.
"Hey, do snakes live in water?"
"They do, normally."
"I see. That is scary. Do they not have poison?"
"They do not. If it were a place with deeper miasma, perhaps, but here is safe."
Elenoa, focusing her attention only on Lumina, seemed to have forgotten to avoid Louis. The two guardians calmly repeated their flat conversation.
When Louis asked, "Shall I start a fire?", Elenoa responded with only her voice, as expected.
"Yes. Please do so soon."
"Understood."
"I will go for a moment."
While Elenoa headed toward the lake with a kettle, Louis started a fire.
He took a small bottle from the luggage. The contents were a viscous, transparent liquid. He removed the cap and poured it onto a ceramic plate. If one focused their gaze on it slightly, a small blue flame faintly rose and flickered.
Placing a tripod over it completed the preparations.
"Geez... you are as fast as ever."
"That is because I am Big Brother."
Elenoa, who had retrieved Lumina while fetching water, placed the kettle on the tripod.
And although they only had to wait for it to boil, this was a time-consuming task. Lumina, dangling her removed shoes from one hand, puffed out her cheeks and said, "I want to play more."
"You must not. You will get tired immediately."
"I am not as weak as I used to be."
"Think about the return trip as well? I certainly cannot carry you on my back like in the old days."
"...Muu."
When Elenoa handed a towel to Lumina, she reluctantly accepted it.
"The aroma of these tea leaves... this is Darjeeling!"
"Unfortunately, it is Earl Grey."
"...You are mean."
Elenoa, who had been transferring tea leaves into the pot, handed a cup to Lumina, who was sitting politely on the mat.
"It is good that you are energetic, but I will not fly you home even if you become sleepy."
That warning would be betrayed ten minutes later.
After finishing one cup of tea, Lumina began to rub her sleepy eyes.
"Sleepy?"
"Hmm... I do not want to go home yet."
"I did not say anything. ...Whoa, whoa, whoa, dangerous!"
Lumina suddenly threw herself at Elenoa, who was holding a saucer.
Elenoa was about to raise her voice, asking, "What are you doing all of a sudden?", but was dumbfounded by the sight of the girl clinging to her waist. The way she rubbed against her stomach area was like a large cat. With her face relaxed in an innocent grin, Elenoa did not even feel like scolding her.
"You know, the one who let me go outside like this for the first time... was Elenoa, you know?"
"Is that so?"
"It is. Big Brother is a bit overprotective."
Elenoa collapsed her knees skillfully, acting as a pillow for Lumina.
She placed the cup she had been holding down. Just as she had done in the past, she stroked the head of her daughter, who had collapsed from fatigue.
If she let her rest like this, Lumina would entrust herself to a comfortable sleepiness. Although it was Elenoa who had told her not to sleep, Elenoa was also prone to being swayed by emotion.
Lumina, in a drowsy tone, said,
"Can fairies not marry humans?"
"That is sudden."
"I do not want to call anyone other than Elenoa 'Onee-chan'."
It must have been thoughts she had been bottling up.
Her consciousness seemed hazy from sleepiness, and her thinking appeared dull.
When Elenoa looked to the side, there was the Chief Court Mage with a dazzling, sparkling smile.
"I wonder if our lifespans are too different for marrying humans."
He awkwardly averted his gaze.
"I do not think Big Brother could stop you even if Elenoa disliked it. It would not be strange if he had already prepared something."
"Prepared what?"
"A clock."
"...!"
Elenoa looked at Louis again. Even if she appealed with desperate eyes, he only formed a suspicious smile.
—Surely he has not done such a thing!?
—Well, who knows?
It was a silent exchange. Tilting her head cutely, Lumina made Elenoa's complexion worsen further.
In this world, one gives a clock to the person who becomes their partner.
It signifies, "I dedicate my remaining time to you."
In the game, it also served as proof of entering a character's route. The shape of the clock given differed by character; from the orthodox main hero knight, one received a pocket watch; from the martial artist and bright, airheaded character, a grandfather clock; and from the older-brother-type Healer, a small water clock.
From Louis Stylus, one was supposed to receive an hourglass.
Once given a clock and having accepted it, one became a fiancé, skipping the lover period entirely.
Even after death, it was customary to place small ones in the coffin, held in the crossed hands, and to dismantle or burn larger ones before placing them in the coffin.
Elenoa had to say something to Louis. But she was afraid to press the matter.
As Elenoa searched for words, she heard gentle, steady breathing from below.
Looking down, Lumina was already in the world of dreams. Although she felt exasperated that Lumina had ignored her warnings, Elenoa said nothing and stroked Lumina's hair once more.
"Are the Stylus siblings plotting to confine me?"
"No. It is my own judgment."
"Is that so? ...Even so, I wonder what brought this on suddenly. Wanting a picnic."
"This child was likely worried in her own way. To this child, I am both a brother and a father. You are a housekeeper, an older sister, and... something like a mother. It is not good for education if the parents are distant."
He hesitated at the word "mother," but Louis seemed to acknowledge that point as well. He did not fail to include the implication that 'this is strictly from Lumina's perspective' in his words.
"Therefore, you too, soon with me—"
"Louis."
"...Yes?"
Elenoa rarely interrupted someone's words deliberately.
Staring steadily into his eyes as he asked, "What is it?", Elenoa distorted the corners of her mouth.
"'Everyone was scary.'"
"...Hah?"
"'Adults who only cared about money, who feared my power, and were fools.'"
"Um."
"'And they had bad personalities, and just because I was flawlessly cute,'"
"Please stop!"
It was Louis, unusually, who turned bright red with a "Kaaaaah."
Covering his mouth with his hand, he glared at Elenoa resentfully.
"What kind of harassment is this!"
"I thought you were cute. This is what happens when you tease adults."
"You have a bad personality. You did not need to remember what happened back then, yet why every single word...!"
It seemed that clinging to Elenoa was a past he wished to erase from his memory.
"I remember. Because you were a cute Louis."
While moved by the blush of him, who had not lost his composure since becoming the Chief, Elenoa nevertheless narrowed her eyes gently and fondly.
It was the affection one directed toward one's own child. Louis would not be pleased by it, however.
"I still think you are cute, you know. Are you not happy?"
"I think it is better than being hated, but it is complicated."
He pouted with a "Hmph!" and began to stare at the lake. Elenoa could find no words to say to such a Louis.
Even his profile was beautiful. The background, dyed deep green by the trees, made the fair-skinned boy stand out.
A straight nose bridge, and thin lips. The remnant of a young angel.
While retaining traces of the past, he had become far removed from the child Elenoa had embraced.
—Even though I have not changed.
"I have known you since you were small, after all."
—You two will leave me behind and disappear.
"That is why I did not want to get too involved."
Elenoa disguised the something rising within her and moved her hand to spoil Lumina further.
In the past, she had also stroked that blonde hair while putting her to bed. Lumina, who had still been young. Remembering it was painful, and fearing she would start thinking about the future, she removed her hand. Lowering that aimless hand onto the mat, she looked down vacantly.
Then, a large hand covered hers.
So as not to let Elenoa's hand, which had trembled in surprise, escape.
"Louis, wait a moment."
"It is fine, is it not? Just holding hands. We used to do it often in the past."
"Th-That is true, but..."
Louis continued to look at the lake as before, his expression softened.
Elenoa seemed as though she wanted to say something, but lowered her gaze again.
Something they used to do in the past.
But now, they held different feelings.
When Elenoa gently squeezed his hand, the hand placed upon hers responded by applying pressure as well.
She felt reassured by the gentle warmth, different from the night she had been pressed, but also felt frustrated. It was embarrassing. It was hot. She did not want him to let go.
She could not raise her face.