The courtyard of the Sfir home. Sophia and I are sitting at a table across from each other.
I think that the warm breeze is pleasant and this is the best season to have a tea party in the courtyard…but Sofia hasn’t said anything for quite some time now.
I asked Regis to take her out of her room a bit forcibly, so I feel I need to be a bit cautious.
By the way,I was curious about what Sophia would look like – but she is more cute than I had imagined.
Deep red eyes with medium length, shiny, gold hair. She was also a really beautiful girl that was said to look like an angel when she was a baby.
However, she seems to be pretty mature for her age. After all, children of this world seem to grow up pretty fast, including me.
“Ojou-sama, Leon-sama came from a long way away to see you, so why don’t you ask him something?”
A maid with Sophia tries to get her to talk, but Sophia has no response. That’s why I was very grateful to that maid for trying.
“Sorry, Leon-sama, Ojou-sama is very shy.”
“Don’t worry about it, I’m fine.”
I reassure the uneasy maid and turn my eyes toward Sophia.
“Nice to meet you, my name is Leon. Hey Sofia, if you do not mind would you tell me your name?”
As I looked into Sophia’s eyes, she stared back at my face with a confused expression. I already knew her name, so Sophia was confused as to why I was asking her to tell me her name.
However, Sophia is still cautious of me and still doesn’t respond to me.
Therefore–
“Since I came all this way, I thought I’d like to hear it from you directly.”
I gently answer hoping to show her that I’m not a bad person. Sophia showed a surprised expression for a moment, followed by a slight smile.
“…..Sophia, my name is Sophia.”
Easy enough….it makes me feel a little bad coercing a little girl like this. No, no, it’s true I had to coerce her, but I just have to be sure not to abuse it.
Let’s talk to Sofia sincerely.
“Well then, Sophia. Do you like sweets?”
I say I’m going to talk to her sincerely and then try to get her to like me with sweets……I can’t make any excuses.
“…….Sweets?”
“Yes, a very sweet and delicious snack.”
I send a signal to Regis who was near me. The black tea and custard pudding were lined up on the table.
“……It is a somewhat mysterious type of cake.”
“It’s called pudding, it’s sweet and delicious, so please eat it if you’d like.”
“Well then, errr…….. Let’s eat. “
Sophia is a bit weary. Her expression changed to complete surprise.
“Fuwa……What is this? It’s so sweet and delicious.”
“I’m glad you like it so much.”
It is the same sweet the Claire fell in love with. It seems that it was also effective for a shy princess. It was worth putting the effort into making it.
“……Such a thing, Sophia has never had anything like this. Did you make this, Leon-san?” (TN: This is Sophia talking, she refers to herself in third person occasionally)
“Yeah, I borrowed the kitchen a little earlier and made it…but I’m surprised you understood so well.”
“Because I could sense as much.”
“Is that so……?”
What is it that she senses? Perhaps I smell like the pudding? That could be possible…..Or is it something she was able to understand because we’re sitting at a table outside?
“- Actually, Sophia Ojou-sama is able to read people’s emotions.”
As I was confused, Regis told me this.
It certainly was a special talent that she was born with…..Does it benefit her to read emotions, does she know what the other person thinks?
Perhaps, she was curious as to what I’m thinking about – the look of surprise must have shown on my face as Sophia began to stare at me. At that moment, my eyes met with Sophia.
“Somehow, I’m able understand what Leon-san is thinking about.”
Is she serious…Well, does that mean she knows I thought she was a little strange a while ago?……No, if that was the case she would probably still be cautious of me.
……Oh yeah, Regis said that she’s only able to read emotions a while ago.
That’s it.
I felt guilty using petty tricks like the pudding to get Sophia to talk with me, but I want to talk honestly with her because I don’t plan to deceive her. I feel as if she’s vaguely able to understand these feelings.
As a result, Sophia judged that I held no ill will towards her – at least that’s what I think she did.
……I see. It is a tremendous ability, but I don’t have a complete understanding of it, and it isn’t necessary for me to be afraid if I don’t hold any malice towards her.
“… Leon-san, aren’t you afraid of Sophia? Aren’t I creepy?”
“I was surprised, but I don’t find you creepy.”
“Is that so……”
While seemingly deep in thought, Sophia shows no signs of doubting my words. With her ability I guess that she can tell that I’m not lying.
“I heard that you don’t like to talk with people, is your ability the reason for that?”
“…….Yes, people who know about Sophia’s ability are usually afraid of Sophia.”
“I see…”
Adults with ulterior motives are afraid of her abilities and innocent children fear her unknown power.
Sophia is a noblewoman – she is also the daughter of a Count. I guess there were lots of adults approaching her to use her for her position. That’s why I understand why she would have so much distrust for people.
A girl that reminds me of Saya, carrying the same kind of hardships as us in my previous life. I kind of want to protect Sophia somehow.
“You do not have to worry about people who are afraid of your ability.”
“….Eh?”
“You know people who are not afraid of your abilities Sophia, right? Don’t worry about the people that are afraid of you. Just ignore them and spend time with the people that aren’t afraid of you.”
Of course, that is an extreme solution. People who are afraid of Sophia’s ability could also be good people and I think that there are also people who may change their opinion of her given time to get to know her.
That’s what I think anyway, hopefully more people would be able to accept her.
“…..Leon-san is mysterious.”
“You think so?”
“Yeah. It’s the first time I’ve ever heard anyone say that. Everyone else has said that I should try harder to get along with people, and Leon-san’s heart feels really warm.”
“Warm huh, maybe that’s because you resemble my younger sister and I feel like I need to help you.”
“Leon-san, you have a younger sister?”
Woops. I carelessly let something slip.
I’m sure Sophia can tell I’m a little flustered. I wonder if it’s okay……there’s no way she could guess that I’m talking about someone from my previous life, right?
“If I had a younger sister, I would think she would be like you.”
“Is that so?”
I wonder if she doubts my word. Sophia looks into my face. There is something I want to hide, but it’s not something to be ashamed of, so I return her gaze normally.
“Leon-san is still mysterious……Hey, Leon-san, can I call you Leon onii-chan from now on?”
“Oh, okay…is that because I told you that you were like a younger sister?”
“I wonder? When I saw Leon-san, for some reason, I wanted to call you that.”
“….If you’d like to call me that, then go ahead.”
“Yes! Thank you, Leon onii-chan!”
That’s how I succeeded in getting to know Sophia. We enjoyed the rest of the tea and pudding while talking to each other.
Needless to say again, my family situation is pretty terrible.
So, when talking with people, I usually avoid answering any questions related to my family…but because Sophia is able to understand my feelings, it was very easy to talk with her because she would avoid any topics that were a bit hard for me to talk about.
“So Leon onii-chan is on good terms with Claire-san.”
“That’s right, Claire is an irreplaceable family member to me.”
“That must be nice, I’m envious of Leon onii-chan.”
“You have an older sibling too Sophia?”
“I have an older brother, but no older sister. Ever since Eric onii-chan joined the Order of the Knights he rarely ever visits.”
“Well, joining the Order he must be aiming to become a knight?”
“That’s right, Regis was saying that Eric onii-chan is very talented.”
“….Regis?”
As if he was just a butler, he seems to have served as the head of the Sfir Knights.
“I thought that your physique was very good, Regis.”
“It seems like Leon-sama is quite well-trained as well.”
“Proper swordsmanship is a little beyond my ability.”
Alice had no experience with sword fighting or any other style of fighting.
Although I do have some practice, but it’s more like two people practicing with wooden sticks rather than actual swordsmanship.
“Sophia also practices swordsmanship.”
“Huh, is that so?”
I imagine the childish Sophia practicing hard with a sword and it warms my heart.
– At that time, a maid came to me from the mansion. She whispered something to me.
“Leon-sama, preparations have been made for your return.”
“Oh, thank you. Then, I guess this is goodbye for now.”
I acknowledge the maids words and she leaves. I can see Sophia looking at me, she is on the verge of bursting out into tears.
“……Leon onii-chan, are you leaving already?”
“Yeah, I’m sorry, I have to leave here soon. I need to return by the end of today.”
“Can’t you stay today and just return tomorrow?”
“That is…”
I am a child of a mistress and I am not allowed much freedom. No matter how much I may want to stay overnight, my escort guards would never allow it.
“……I’m sorry”
Sophia muttered that suddenly. She was probably able to read my feelings.
“I’m sorry, I don’t dislike being told that you want me to stay, but I definitely have to go back home today.”
“Yeah, I understand…… then Leon onii-chan, will you come and visit again?”
“Of course, I promise, I will definitely come and visit again.”
“……Okay, then I’ll be waiting, it’s a promise.”
In this way, I finished my meeting with Sophia safely and returned to the Grances’ territory.
However–
“Leon-sama! Alice-san, Alice-san has been taken!”
When I returned I was greeted by these desperate words from Mary.
