“If Leon-sama did the right thing and it will result in me being punished, I will gladly accept it.”
Milli said something to that extent- but no, I do not want her to be punished. I want Milli to stay by my side.
I strongly hope she can, but everything depends on the mood of Claire Ridill. I could not do anything while confined to this building. I could not do anything about it and this caused me to spend the next few days worrying endlessly.
Three days have passed. I began to think I had been worrying over nothing. When, as Milli and I sat alone drinking tea, one maid entered the room suddenly.
A maid with black hair and dark eyes whom I have never seen before.
“……Who are you?”
Milli stood up from the chair and calmly positioned herself in front of me.
“I am sorry for the sudden visit. My name is Michelle; I am a maid for Claire Ridill.”
“What is it Michelle, what are you doing here? Aren’t any unauthorized people banned from entering this building?”
“That is true, but didn’t someone here break a different rule earlier?”
“… What could you possibly mean by that?”
“Do not be alarmed, I only need to have a little chat with Leon-sama.”
“As I said earlier, this is not a place for unauthorized people to be, please make it quick.”
“- Milli, wait.”
I stand up out of my chair and pull on Milli’s sleeve.
“……Leon-sama?”
“I’m sorry, Milli, I’d like to talk with her.”
“But……I understand, if Leon-sama says so, I will not say anything.”
Milli moved to my side so I could face the maid called Michelle.
“You are Leon-sama, correct?”
“That’s right, I heard you say you are Claire Ridill’s maid, what kind of business do you have here?”
It doesn’t seem like Michelle is here on Caroline’s orders. Which means this is not the worst case scenario, but…It is not possible to predict the real reason because the emotions on Michelle’s face keep changing rapidly.
I prepared myself, so as to show no emotions when Michelle revealed her reasoning for being here.
“May I ask you a question before telling you why I’m here?”
“Okay, but…what?”
“Are you interested in your sister?”
“… ……………………………? I’m sorry, it seems I misheard you, so could you ask that again?”
“Once again, are you interested in having a relationship with your sister?”
“I still don’t understand your meaning.”
“A relationship between brother and sister—-That is are you interested in a sexual relationship with your sister?”
“I know the meaning of your words, what I meant was I don’t understand why you are suddenly asking about that! Why are you bringing something like that up to a child!?
“Is it really that strange a topic for a child? It is certainly rare among commoners, but there are cases from time-to-time among the aristocracy.”
“….is that so?”
Truly this is a different world … No, I guess it isn’t so strange considering the cultural level of this world. It would have been a common occurrence during the medieval time period.
“Did you not know, Leon-sama?”
“A child my age shouldn’t know about stuff like that, right?”
“To that extent, do you understand the meaning of that kind of relationship?”
“–Buuu!”
“Besides, from what I heard from Claire-sama, I was skeptical, but you supposedly have a strangely mature way of talking?”
“That is….”
I see. Recently, I have not been conscious of how I speak because I only speak with Milli.
If the fact that I’m not just an ordinary child reaches Caroline’s ears, I’m sure she would be determined to make my life difficult. It is something I want to avoid anyhow……
“There’s no need to make such a face, anything we talk about will stay in this room, so it’s okay.”
“….What do you mean by that?”
“The events of the other day have not been reported to Caroline, and that means I do not intend to talk about this conversation.”
“Do you really think I would trust you?”
“I take it you’ve noticed that nothing has happened over the past three days?”
“…..that’s true.”
If Caroline had heard about what happened she would have already taken action. It is evidence that Claire Ridill has been silent this entire time.
“I see, so you waited this long on purpose to prove you can be trusted.”
“… It really is amazing that your understanding reaches that far, I thought that Claire-sama was very mature for her age…… I’m honestly doubting that you really are a child.”
“Leon-sama is very intelligent.”
Milli proudly says, but in reality I have about 19 years from my previous life, plus another 6 years of life experience in this world.
If I were actually twenty-five years old, I’d feel that I should have more knowledge than I currently do…No, no no, I only know this little because I’ve been restricted from studying properly.
……is it night already? I was too deep in thought and the color of the sky had changed. Fortunately, Michelle seems to have remained silent this entire time. Now, lets try to do something to get her on my side.
“While, I feel that that this is not such an amazingly high level of intelligence…..Well Leon-sama is a human being so there is no doubt you may even be a so-called genius.”
No, just someone who has been reincarnated – I couldn’t even say it if I ripped my mouth open, so I just feigned ignorance.
“I know that you and Claire have been silent, but what is your real reason here?”
“Would you like to answer my earlier question before I answer that?”
“Your earlier question?”
” Are you interested in starting a relationship with your sister?”
“…… so you were serious earlier?”
“Of course I am serious, so do you have any interest in something like that?”
“That’s impossible, I never even considered something like that.”
“If you have not thought about it yet, there is the possibility that you may consider something like that in the future…….”
“No, there is no chance that will happen.”
I spent my entire previous life supporting Saya. From the outside it may have seemed like we were as close as a couple, but the only love there was familial love.
Therefore, I can’t even imagine having a relationship like that with my sister.
“…..Really? Then, I understand.”
“I’m afraid you’ve really understood nothing at all.”
I throw out some sarcasm, but Michelle has a pleasant face on, seemingly convinced she knows my true intentions. Seriously, I do not know what she is thinking, this person.
“Anyway, will you tell me what other reason you had for coming here?”
“Oh, yes, first I’d like to thank you for the other day.”
“Are you thanking me for treating Claire’s wound?”
“Yes, ojou-sama can be quite obstinate, so you were very helpful. So how on earth did you persuade her?”
“It wasn’t particularly anything amazing, I just told her that if germs enter the wound it may become infected.”
“…Eh? What is that?”
I thought Claire Ridill didn’t understand because she was a child, but is the medical level of this world really that low? That would explain why everyone seems confused when I mention germs or bacteria.
“Well, you know that the wound may become infected, right?”
“Yes, I know that much, but…”
“The cause of that is the germs.”
“……In other words, in order to prevent infection, we should prevent the germs from entering the wound?”
“Or, you can wash away the germs with clean water.”
“Well……I heard that there is a custom, when injured, to wash scratches out with alcohol, is this also for the same reason?”
……A custom….Do the people of this world only have an understanding of sickness and disease to that extent? It seems that the medical knowledge of this world is lower than I thought. I must be careful not to get sick or injured badly.
“Er……The reason is the same, but it’s better not to use alcohol.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah, it’s ideal to wash it with clean water, preferably water with no salt in it, which seems to heal the wound quickly if you wet the wound gently to clean it and do not let it dry.”
Even on Earth this fact has only become known recently, it is unlikely that people in this world would know this much, but when you disinfect or dry the wound it causes it to heal slower.
“Thank you for telling me this valuable information.”
“Don’t worry, it’s really not a big deal.”
“The knowledge itself may not be a big deal, it is more so a matter of how you came to know of this…but I feel it’s better not to ask where you learned this from.”
“I would appreciate that.”
“I understand, now, all that’s left is that final matter -”
“Hey, Michelle, how long are you going to keep me waiting?”
The door opens and cuts off Michelle’s words, and silver hair gently entered the room.
“……Ojou-sama, please wait outside until I call you.”
“Michelle worries too much, Leon said I can trust him.”
Claire’s unhappy voice is directed towards Michelle. The long silver hair belonged to Claire Ridill.
“……You came too?”
“Well, I came.”
“No. No, ‘I came’, Caroline doesn’t want us to get along, is it okay for you to be visiting me like this?”
“Hmmm I wonder……Mother would probably get very angry if she knew. So, if you want me to keep silent and you are threatened by mother, maybe you can’t defy anything that I say?”
“I understand what you’re trying to get at, but you must not say stuff like that to me, okay?”
“Iyaaa, could my brother be threatening me?”
“No, I would never do something like that. No matter how you look at it you speak too frankly, could you show a little sense of urgency–”
“You see, Michelle, you heard that, right?”
Claire Ridill still fails to hear any of my words and she turned toward Michelle with a big smile on her face.
“Yes, Leon-sama is certainly a person who appears to be trustworthy, but Ojou-sama, please show a little more caution. Was there anything else Ojou-sama, it’s getting late we should be going back, right?”
“See, Michelle worries too much. Hey, don’t you think so too Leon?”
“No, I think it would be better to remain a little cautious as well.”
“How can my otouto-kun, who sneaked away from his confinement to help a girl he didn’t even know, say that?”
“Muu, it sounds strange to ask, but did you just say otouto-kun?”
I can see a pattern forming here.
“Because you and I are related by blood, right?”
“Certainly we are half connected by blood, but …”
“So, I am your onee-chan and you are my otouto.”
“No, I understand the logic, but what if Caroline hears you say that?”
If we were to get involved with each other it could be very dangerous. Although I do not mind getting the little brother treatment from Claire. Yet, I’m still worried if it is alright for me to act like a younger brother.
“It should be fine. Even though I look young, I have a good eye for people I can trust.”
“That’s because there are only trustworthy people in this room, but what about any other people that may hear you? If you go around trusting everyone you’re bound to get hurt.”
Claire is still only seven years old. It’s likely that she hasn’t experienced the real world yet and she has only been surrounded by people that either work for, or are trying to get close to, the Grances family. So, I think with her situation it would be hard to find someone she could truly trust –
“Well, there is no one else that I trust, except Michelle you are the first.”
“……Is that so?”
“Most of the people around me just try to use me.”
“Really?”
When I looked to Michelle for confirmation, she made a small nod.
“That is……well, it sounds like quite a tough environment.”
“Right? I hate it, just the other day a partner for my marriage had been decided without my permission.”
Oh, is that why she was crying at that time?
Even I, with the mental age of a 26 year old would feel hopeless. As a seven-year old girl, there is really nothing you can do but cry.
“It sounds tough.”
“It will be the same for you.”
……I see. If I think like that I feel sympathy for her, with our circumstances we are likely to be used as tools for marriage.
“I understood that you trust me, but why did you come here, Claire Ridill?”
When asked, Claire Ridill suddenly puffed out her cheeks.
“Mo ~ It’s not Claire Ridill, why do you call me by my name? It’s Claire onee-chan, right?”
“Kuu, Claire onee-chan? It is a little embarrassing.”
“Eh~ Why?”
Why? ‘It’s because I am older than you’ – not like I can actually say that.
“Umm..Is just Claire enough?”
“Claire?”
“Yeah, I shorten Claire onee-chan to just Claire,……..is that no good?”
“Oh no, it’s not that it’s bad, can you say it one more time?”
“Claire.”
“Again!”
“…….Claire?”
“…… Yeah! I love it, it’s amazing. Hehehe, Claire~”
Claire throws both of her hands in the air and twists around as if to start dancing. I think she has some places that have grown quite well. These places will be something to look forward to in the years to come.
It would usually seem a bit strange to start bouncing around like that, but maybe because she fits so well with the surrounding environment, it doesn’t seem strange at all. I wonder if this is the real Claire.
“So what’s your business here Claire?”
“…….Business? I don’t have anything like that, I just came out to find otouto-kun, I did not get a chance to properly thank you before.”
“Thank you, but I told you I didn’t need any thanks for helping you.”
“Why, did you not want me to come see you?”
“That is….”
Someone I thought may hate me actually wanted to meet with me. It makes me very happy.
However….
“Are you alright? Will you get in trouble if Caroline finds out?”
“I’m fine. Nothing that you need to be concerned about, but you have done what you came to do, you’ve returned your gratitude properly.”
“Are you just trying to get me to leave?”
“Claire-sama always has this suspicion.”
Oh, I think I understand.
Well, I wonder if Claire is okay. I don’t think that Milli will get into trouble if Claire has just come here to play…… Is it okay if she hangs around?
I was a little worried and glanced toward Milli, she nodded. Huh, I can’t tell if she’s saying it’s okay or not, but I guess it should be fine.
I’m not too sure, but I’d like to talk more with Claire either way. I’ll try to not rely too much on Milli.
“I’m happy you came to see me Claire.”
After remaining quiet for a long period of time, Claire’s face brightened at my answer.
“Okay then otouto-kun, ask me something. I will tell you about anything you’d like to know.”
“Well, if that is the case, would you tell me about the plants in this world?”
“……Plants? Sure, but…what plants do you want to know?”
“Okay, for example – -”
Thus Claire’s knowledge was like a single stone thrown into the quiet ocean of my mind.
The ripple born from that stone eventually becomes a huge wave, causing several incidents….I, of course, had no idea about this at the time.
