kscans

Chapter 77 - Dreams and Fairies

—Huh?

When Elenoa opened her eyes, she was in her bed in her room at the House of Stylus. Looking out the open window, she saw the sun tilting toward the west.

In her hands was a piece of cloth with about half of the design completed. It seemed she had dozed off in the middle of her embroidery. She lifted her back slightly from the large cushion she had been leaning against and stretched.

She had been told not to do any cleaning or laundry, and it was a little boring.

Just as she moved her legs, thinking she wanted to move her body for a change, there was a knock on the door with timing that felt like someone had been watching.

'Onee-chan, may I come in?'

—It was her younger sister-in-law, Lumina.

It seemed she had returned from the academy.

When Elenoa responded, Lumina entered with a smile that bloomed like a flower.

'I'm home.'

'Welcome back. How were your tests today?'

'As usual.'

'I see, that's good. With your excellent grades, Lumina-chan, your path to the Research Institute next year is probably set.'

'Who knows? Well, even if I pass, I won't let anyone say I'm riding on my Big Brother's coattails. I just need to study hard.'

Elenoa's younger sister-in-law would graduate from the academy in about half a year.

Knowing Lumina from when she first enrolled, still childlike and innocent, Elenoa felt tears welling up in her eyes.

Lumina had grown taller and was becoming a fine young woman.

Someday, she too would fall in love with a man and be loved in return, walking her own path in life far from the watchful eyes of this fairy. It was a sad thought, but an inevitable one. —As Elenoa was deeply lost in such melancholy thoughts, gazing at the sunset sky, Lumina laughed, saying, 'You're such a weird Onee-chan. ...As always.'

Then, another person entered the room.

'The Research Institute is a meritocracy; riding on coattails would be meaningless.'

With a black robe draped over his arm, the young man's standing posture was dignified and beautiful. As the nation's greatest mage, his name resounded throughout the world. He was Elenoa's husband.

He (Louis) smiled at Elenoa, saying, 'I'm home,' but his words to Lumina were indifferent and strict. The two women of the House of Stylus knew this was a form of affection. Hearing the siblings' conversation, which had flowed from his statement that 'exams show no mercy, even to family,' into a discussion about him being a mama's boy, Elenoa had laughed heartily.

Louis had been slightly irritated by his current wife, who had once taken the place of his mother, but he seemed to have composed himself. Taking a cardigan from a hanger on the wall, he draped it over her shoulders.

'You must not let your body get cold.'

'I'm not cold, though?'

'Even if you are not cold, the child in your belly might not feel the same.'

Elenoa reflexively touched her stomach.

—That's right, there was a child.

It was slightly swollen, and now that she was conscious of it, she wondered why she had forgotten it until now. At the same time, she remembered why she was currently best friends with her bed.

'I hope the child is dull like you, but if they take after me, they will be sensitive.'

'...Big Brother is sensitive, you say...?'

'Shall I drop you from the family register, then?'

'O-oh, that's right, Onee-chan! Today, everyone at the academy played Ball Poking!'

Lumina, breaking out in a cold sweat, clung to her older sister-in-law.

'Ball Poking? The game where you go 'kon' with a long stick?'

'Yes. Embarrassingly, I didn't understand the rules at all, so I had my friends teach me... At first, I didn't know what I was doing and took a full swing...'

'I'm glad it was fun.'

'Yes, it was fun!'

Her bright, sunflower-like smile was the only sun-attribute presence in the House of Stylus.

Lumina stepped away from Elenoa's bedside and mimed swinging a long stick. Ball Poking, as Elenoa recalled, was a game where you rolled a ball on a platform and poked it with the tip of a long, staff-like stick. Thinking that Lumina's energetic gestures looked just like golf, Elenoa opened her mouth to say so, but was interrupted by an innocent voice.

'So, Onee-chan. I really had fun.'

—Eh?

Elenoa's smile froze.

The deep red sunset had not shifted its position at all since earlier, bathing the room in red light.

Louis's figure had vanished without her noticing.

Lumina sat on the edge of the bed and asked, 'Hey.'

'So, I want Big Brother and Onee-chan to laugh a lot, too. When Onee-chan and Big Brother's child is born, I want them to live a life like mine. You know, this is probably a very happy thing.'

Lumina tucked her luxurious blonde hair behind her ear.

The profile that came into view looked a little lonely.

'Elenoa, what do you want to do?'

What do I want to do?

What do I, myself, want to do?

'I...'

'Yes?'

'...I want to go back. Like before, like this house, I want everyone to return to their original relationships.'

'You can't go back. Because I'm not here! ...Just kidding. You understand that, don't you, Elenoa? You've understood it for a loooooooong time.'

Besides, wouldn't it be lonely without Bis-kun? The deceased Lumina brought up the name of Bis, whom she should not have known. But since this was a dream, nothing was strange.

Despite being a dream, her younger sister-in-law, who should have been gentle, spoke harshly. With a solemn face, she said, 'Also, you can't stay in this dream forever. Dreams eventually end.' Then, with a start, she added, 'Ah, but that might be possible with Big Brother's magic. But even so, Big Brother probably wouldn't allow you to become like that.' —She stripped away all dreams and hope.

Her mercilessness at key moments was truly that of siblings.

'I see, you want to go back. If that's impossible, what do you want to become next? Is it fine to stay like this? Or will you part ways with Big Brother? Is it a divorce mediation case? Or do you want to return to being a loving, clingy, sweet, eternally newlywed couple? ...Or do you want to part ways with this world again?'

Elenoa choked on her words.

'I don't know.'

'I see, you don't know?'

'Because it's my fault.'

—Drip.

Tears overflowed.

Even though it was a dream, the tears she couldn't stop quietly trailed down her cheeks, falling onto her bedding with a drip and creating stains. Even that faint sound felt real, and it was heartbreaking.

Lumina shrugged her shoulders as if to say, 'You really are a hopeless Onee-chan,' and hugged Elenoa. Gently, so as not to disturb her stomach. Just as Elenoa had done for her in the past.

Only Elenoa's sobbing voice echoed in the room. Hic, hic, sniff. The great fairy, aged three digits, sobbed just like a human.

'Louis was amazing. He was smart, cute like an angel, liked by everyone, and everyone in town relied on Louis... Well, there were some people who were a little twisted.'

'Yes.'

'So, I didn't know what to do about Louis, who now kills people so easily.'

'Yes.'

Lumina's hand awkwardly stroked Elenoa's head. 'I ended up wanting to go back.' 'I hurt Louis.' 'What should I do?' 'What should I do?'

She was falling apart.

Her heart had been worn thin for a long time. She was at her limit, able to nod earnestly without shame at the teasing words, 'You really love Big Brother enough to cry, don't you?'

The magnitude of the emotion that had tried to betray Louis was, in itself, the magnitude of her love for him.

The sunset did not sink.

There were only two people in this world.

The deep orange light was nevertheless gentle. When a gentle breeze entered through the window, the white curtains swelled softly.

'I am a member of the House of Stylus. Knowing the lineage that developed that medicine, I hid it from Elenoa. Someone like me understands the meaning of Big Brother's actions very well.'

Lumina pressed her forehead against Elenoa's with a gentle tap. 'I am not a good child. I am not at all the innocent child you thought I was.' Lumina, who confessed such things, had no body heat. Because it was a dream. And, of course, because she was already someone who was gone. The palm that stroked her and the body that hugged her were soft, yet lacked warmth. It was a very distorted and sad thing.

'I just wanted to be together.'

It felt as though those words included, 'Me, and Big Brother too.'

—'I made an effort.'

—'To become happy with you.'

—'Are you going to deny my effort?'

Louis's words pierced her heart. Elenoa had wanted to be together just as much, so why had it become so different?

'It's not Onee-chan's fault. Whether you deny Big Brother's methods or not is up to you. Certainly, his method of catching you off guard might have been bad... but anyway, Onee-chan is about half not at fault.'

In short, Lumina said that Elenoa had the right to choose.

If that was the case, what did she want to do?

In this situation where she could not retreat, if she were to choose the best option at least.

'...I want to try a little harder. I don't want him to kill people, and I want us to be on good terms again.'

'It's difficult, but if that's the case, you have to do something.'

'But I was the one who made Louis angry first. To think I can do something now...'

'If you do nothing, you will remain in pain.'

With such complex feelings, she probably couldn't continue their marital relationship.

Her younger sister-in-law, who had died purely, was thoroughly strict.

'Elenoa, you should know properly. There must be something you overlooked.'

She couldn't stay like this. ...If that was the case, what should she do?

Lumina seemed convinced that there were still means available.

Elenoa thought.

Something she had overlooked. If there were still means, then she had not reached the legendary Yandere End. Humans, the Heroes, and fairies were different. First, she had wings to fly, so it would be easy to escape in an emergency. Besides, she had knowledge of the original work, and—

'...Ah.'

Elenoa raised her voice.

With a graceful smile like a flower, Lumina said,

'See. There was something you overlooked, wasn't there?'

Whether she could say 'there was' was something Elenoa couldn't judge right now. But she had a starting point.

She must not forget. Self (Elenoa) was not the protagonist.

Fairies were capture targets.

She just needed to be captured In the True Sense.

—Just as I had captured Louis Stylus.

Elenoa had felt as though she had been captured by the pushy Louis, but according to the rules of the world, Louis, who had offered the clock to his partner, was the capture target—the one who had been captured.

She had only been receiving, and had not yet shown her feelings for Louis.

To fill that gap, she might have to offer him what was decreed for fairies.

—The 'Fairy's Moon Clock.'

This time, she would give it to him. Just as the gentle Louis had done for her, a long, long time ago.

After that, she felt she could finally say 'I'm sorry' in the true sense of the word.

The chance was only once. If she couldn't open his heart with that, surely a second chance would not be permitted. She must not make a mistake. Even this tension was probably nothing compared to the anguish Louis had tasted in his youth.

'Can I do it?'

'You must.'

'What if I fail?'

'Whether you fail or not, you have no choice but to do it.'

'...Yes, I'll look for it.'

'That's my Onee-chan.'

Elenoa's body was released.

Lumina, who had stood up abruptly, turned around to face Elenoa. Her uniform skirt flipped, revealing an adorable standing posture—very nostalgic.

Elenoa looked up at her younger sister-in-law.

Lumina cleared her throat deliberately.

'His love is heavy, he's a bit eccentric, mean, childish, particular about strange things, fickle, sometimes doesn't listen to people, and can only be described as inadequate as a brother. Plus, he is the Great Demon Lord hated by humans all over the world.'

It was a terrible way to put it.

'His recommended points are that his magic is amazing, his face is good, and he can do housework... that might be all.'

Judging by that alone, he was a prime catch.

'Even so, if you say you're fine with it.'

Elenoa, on the verge of tears, somehow managed to smile, saying that she was fine with such a man.

'To the ends of hell, for a long, long time. Please take care of my Big Brother, Onee-chan.'