Chapter 7 - "You Have a Nasty Personality"
I decided to be 'kept' by this house.
The deciding factor came about half a month after the day I met his younger sister. It was the day I caught a glimpse of the current state of the two children.
That day, too, I had taken the boy's blood since morning and returned to human size. Lately, I had been helping with the housework as well, so this size was comfortable.
He showed no sign of going to work. Dressed in black half-pants and a white shirt, with a thin indigo ribbon tied around his collar, he looked like the young master of a good family, so I thought he must have had a visitor scheduled.
In that case, I just had to keep quiet. It was a simple matter.
I placed a plate with a rabbit-shaped apple on the chest of drawers beside Lumina-chan's bed. When I sat down on the chair, Lumina-chan woke up in anticipation, asking, "Are we going to talk today?"
I was aware that she had grown fond of me. I had put her to sleep casually and served as a conversation partner. Perhaps because her brother had been her only companion until now, she didn't seem to care whether the other party was human or fairy.
Maybe a child of this age couldn't quite grasp the conflict between fairies and humans.
"What would you like for dinner tonight?"
"Hmm, how about tomato risotto?"
"Risotto... Hmm, I feel like I just made that yesterday."
"Yesterday was the cream one."
"Lumina-chan, you really like risotto, don't you?"
"Mhm!"
She seemed to have trouble pronouncing "un," sounding like some feudal lord.
Her clumsy pronunciation tightened my heart.
Carrying the plate with a few slices of discolored apple remaining, I walked down the hallway.
I had already finished the laundry and cleaning before going to Lumina-chan's room, so I thought I might just kill time by shutting myself in the study. That was what I was thinking, when—
I heard murmuring voices coming from the first floor.
It seemed a guest had arrived while I was happily chatting with Lumina-chan.
As I descended the stairs quietly, I realized the conversation was tinged with unease.
'With just children, taking care of Miss Lumina must be difficult, no?'
'I have been taking care of my sister all this time, and I intend to continue balancing both.'
Ah, so that was why the boy had taken the day off from work.
The boy's boy soprano and the voice of a middle-aged man repeated a tense exchange. I could sense their effort to remain calm.
Since the living room door was closed, I was not visible to them. I decided to stay there for a while.
'However, you are a court mage. More complicated work will surely come up in the future, and'
'That said, I have no intention of placing my sister in a facility. I have considered measures for when I must leave the house for long periods.'
'Then perhaps your sister could come along as well...'
'I hate adults who treat my sister like an add-on to me more than anything.'
'............'
'My answer was decided the moment you suggested adopting only me. There is no way my sister could survive in such an environment. Please leave.'
In short, it was a matter of adopting the boy. They probably didn't use such direct phrasing as 'only the boy,' but it seemed they had implied as much indirectly. The man was at a loss for words, so I was likely not mistaken.
How advantageous it would be to make a boy with outstanding talent, destined to become the Chief Court Mage, one's own child. It was something an adult would think. And his sickly younger sister was an eyesore, seemingly lacking talent, and so on.
—A piece of trash straight out of a picture.
'A child raising a child is laughable. Children without guardians are not trusted. They have no one to rely on in an emergency. In the first place, the current situation is not good for Miss Lumina either.'
'I am...!'
He seemed to want to say he was not a child. But he fell silent, glaring at the adult. I could understand the situation even without seeing it.
No matter how one looked at it, Louis was just a child in the eyes of society, and his efforts for his sister's sake were received as nothing more than playing house. No matter how splendidly he performed his duties, he was ultimately just a 'prodigy.' He had not escaped the realm of a mere boy.
There was a brief pause. After exhaling as if to compose himself, the boy muttered, 'It is no good, after all.' It was muffled, and I couldn't hear it well.
'Please leave. I will remain in this house.'
'But a child saying such things,'
'I appreciate your concern. However, Fanaria-san, say no more until you can defeat me in magic. I refuse to be raised by a human who is weaker than me and not related by blood.'
He delivered the finishing blow.
I could roughly imagine how the man reacted. It would be unreasonable to expect him not to get angry. Perhaps this was a tactic to express his impudence and make the other party give up.
What the boy was saying was, after all, the selfishness of a child. A troublesome child who used his power as a shield to run away.
And from the perspective of those around them, that man was a kind person who cared for a child with no blood relation. It might even be the truth. The man might truly be a good person.
But I disliked the man's logical arguments.
More than anything, if I were not in this house, I would no longer be able to sip magic power under the boy's protection.
I descended the rest of the stairs and placed my hand on the living room door.
"Excuse me for interrupting your conversation."
Startled by the sudden female voice, the two men, who had been in a standoff across the table, snapped their gazes toward me as if repelled.
The man had streaks of white hair and appeared to be in his forties. His dark gray suit was unwrinkled, suggesting he was no commoner. He did not look malicious, but my eyes had already recognized the man as an enemy.
I raised my voice strongly, cutting off the boy who had started to say, "You are—"
"First, I sincerely apologize for overhearing your conversation and for the rudeness of interrupting your discussion. ...If I may be so bold, may I speak? 'Louis-sama'"
"...Yes."
"Regarding the matter just now, if I summarize, your interpretation is that an adult is needed for the upbringing environment of the siblings in this house, is that correct?"
"Ah."
"Then, I would like you to entrust the role of that 'adult' to me. I will handle all housework, care for Lumina-sama, and manage everything in the house. If Louis-sama can concentrate on his work, all of Fanaria-sama's 'worries' will disappear, won't they?"
Wait, this person's name is Fanaria-san, right? I had only heard it once, so I was a little anxious.
"I apologize for the late introduction. I am Elenoa, the housekeeper of the House of Stylus."
And so, I became the caretaker of this house.
I knew it was an improvised action and that I was an inadequate guardian. But in that situation, where the lack of an adult had been emphasized, it was effective. The atmosphere had also turned cold due to the sudden appearance of a new character, and I was confident I could not talk my way out of it in the future.
And one more thing that changed was the boy's attitude.
That night, after I claimed to be the housekeeper, I heard the boy's childish complaints for the first time.
The boy had shut himself in his bedroom immediately after the man left. He didn't even eat the tomato risotto for dinner.
I stood before his bedroom door and opened my mouth to call out to him. But then,
'I'm sorry, please do not enter.'
He said it weakly. It was a tearful voice, like a sulking child who didn't understand why he had been scolded.
'I'm sorry.'
"Why are you apologizing?"
'I dragged you into this.'
Who could have predicted that this meek child was the future Demon Lord-sama?
'I actually understand. It is all my selfishness. No matter how hard I try, it is just an imitation of an adult, and it would have been better to honestly let them adopt me.'
I had been about to knock, but I stopped. Because he had told me not to enter. But then, what should I do about this atmosphere?
After hesitating, I opened the door without permission or anything. I barged in and stood firmly beside the boy, who was hugging his knees on the bed.
"I told you not to enter."
"It's not like I'm officially working here yet, and no matter what a child says, the older person is superior."
"You have a nasty personality."
"That's old news."
As I spoke, I embraced the angel-like boy. His small frame was completely enveloped in my arms, and I was moved by the fact that he was still just a boy.
The boy, who did not resist, seemed to be in a mood to indulge himself. He clung to my clothes as if relying on them, so I couldn't care about the age of his inner self. I pressed the boy's face against my chest. His clothes gradually became damp.
The boy had surely been unable to rely on anyone until now. He had to protect his sister, and children close to his age must have feared his magic power. The huge barrier he had placed around this house was not just to keep me from escaping.
"Perhaps Lumina would have been better off living with many people in a facility than being alone in this house. But I—"
"Mhm."
"Everyone was scary. The adults were only interested in money, feared my power, were stupid, had nasty personalities, and because I was an impeccably cute shota, they would—"
"Mhm. ...Mhm?"
"The money parents left behind belongs to the children, right? Why do they try to get their hands on it? Just because I'm a diligent shota, they think I can't do anything, and they push me down, which is disgusting, and they're stupid, and—"
"Uh, hmm?"
"In the first place, why do you think I awakened to such magic power!"
"Well, even if you get angry at me."
He asserted this with his eyes wide open in anger.
His tears overflowed again, and he leaned against my bosom once more. He sobbed, groaning "Uuu." With his large eyes moist, his single-minded reliance on me was just that of a child.
According to the boy, he had been attacked by some pig-like nobleman, and no one had helped him, so his magic power had awakened at a critical moment. He said this had happened when he was three years old, so humans were truly terrifying.
Judging that he had calmed down, I whispered to the boy.
"I'm not good at comforting people, so listen to my honest opinion."
"...Yes."
"To be blunt, I'll pass on the facility."
I ran my fingers through the silent boy's hair and continued.
"Lumina-chan would probably prefer a house she's used to. She seems to like quiet places. And she loves her Big Brother. I was a bit of a shut-in in my previous life, so I hate noisy surroundings."
If I thought about Lumina-chan, leaving her here didn't seem like a bad choice.
"Because I am here. I will look after Lumina-chan properly. Of course, if the boy is in danger, I can help within my sight."
I could hardly call myself an adult either.
A house of only children might be the ideal form of a child's dream. Like the night of a school trip where the teacher's eyes can't reach, or a sleepover, that kind of carefree excitement.
And no matter what happened, Louis Stylus's magic was a cheat. If it came to him manipulating magic, he could manage any disaster that befell this house. —Yes, there was certainly an aspect of relying on others.
As long as I could eat his magic power and live comfortably as before, it was all for the best.
When I lay down while still hugging the boy, the bed creaked.
I smiled when I saw his gaze protesting at being dragged into this, which was even cute, and the boy sighed in resignation. He looked as if he wanted to say, "You're hopeless," yet his stubborn face, which seemed happy, was endearing.
And so, unable to let go of the boy's warmth, I let my consciousness melt into sleepiness.
Later, I would hold my head in agony over two mistakes made here.
One was considering Louis Stylus based on the stats of a game character. The obvious fact that he was still in the midst of growth had completely slipped my mind.
The other was that I had missed the moment when a dark light dwelled in the eyes of the boy who buried his face in my bosom.
When the boy's arms awkwardly wrapped around my back as he muttered, "It's warm," I thought it was nothing more than an innocent action. I didn't realize in the least that the fire of a hunter had been lit there.
A yandere character acts like a yandere, and the Demon Lord acts like the Demon Lord.
Things progressed to be that way.
I failed to see that foreshadowing.