“Alice was taken…..by who?”
“That is…….Blake-sama…”
“- What! That guy came here?”
“He had asked me a short while ago when you’d be away. It seems his objective from the beginning was Alice.”
“Alice was his objective…..”
That reminds me, when Claire brought Alice, Blake walked in on us. Maybe, he has been watching Alice from that time?
……No, I can ask questions later. Now I must help Alice.
“When was Alice taken?”
“…..Are you- are you planning on saving her? Do you know what will happen if you act against Blake?”
“….I know.”
Turning Blake into an enemy means turning Caroline into an enemy. I have to prepare for the worst.
But, still, I can’t just abandon Alice.
“Mary, this is an emergency, I’ll definitely help Alice. But, Claire can’t find out about this.”
I tell Mary this and quickly turn to run out of the room to help Alice. I stopped after hearing Mary call out to me.
“Blake took Alice this way, you should be able to catch up if you hurry. Please, bring Alice back.”
“You can trust me, I will definitely bring her back!”
I sprinted out the doorway and headed straight to the mansion. The sun had sank completely over the horizon and the road leading to the mansion had been dyed a pale blue from the light of the blue moon.
I run along the road leading to the mansion, relying on the light of torches put up alongside the path. About halfway to the mansion, I could hear the voices of Alice and a man arguing.
“Don’t think you’re in a position to defy me!”
“I’m not your slave, I belong to Leon-sama!”
“If you’re his slave, then you belong to me as well! Do not resist me, quickly take off your clothes and kneel!”
That disgusting older brother! What is he trying to do to Alice!?
I clench my fist and run toward the bush where the voices can be heard.
“Only Leon-sama is my master! I don’t care what you say!”
“Keep resisting. Do you not realize how terrible I can make his life?”
“——”
“Fuu, apparently I’ve found a way to make you cooperative. Now, do as I said earlier.”
“You coward!”
“………Coward, you say, I’m a coward!? You must be joking!”
I could hear a loud slap echo out from the direction of their voices, at the same time I could hear Alice let out a muffled yell. Almost at the same time, I broke through the bushes and jumped out to a small clearing.
I could see Blake standing over Alice with his right hand held high. Alice was kneeling on the ground holding her cheek.
“….Alice!”
I rushed over to Alice.
“…….Leon-sama? Why are you here…….I’m fine, so please go back, Leon-sama.”
Alice’s eyes are filled with desperation. I immediately disregard what she had just said to me. It’s clear why she would say something like that, I could hear Blake threatening her earlier.
Good grief even at a time like this, this girl is worrying about me – I let out a bitter smile. I gently stroke Alice ‘s cherry blossom colored hair to make her feel safe.
“….Leon-sama?”
“It’ll be fine Alice. We made a promise together, remember?”
We’ll become happy together — I think to myself without saying it out loud.
“…….Leon-sama…..Yes!”
I stroke Alice’s head once more and stand up, turning toward Blake. He was trembling with anger.
“…..You…why are you here?”
“That’s what I should be asking, bringing Alice to such a place, what on earth were you planning on doing?”
“Well, that much should be obvious, that beautiful girl is wasted on you. I will make her my woman.”
His answer was what I expected, what a low-life. With that answer alone I almost lose any control I have left, but I must remain calm, if I don’t I won’t be able to protect Alice properly. I desperately hold back my anger.
“….Alice is my slave. Even if I have to make you my enemy, I won’t let you have her.”
“Do you understand what you’re saying, or do you honestly think you can resist me? If you do not give me that woman, you realize how severely my mother can punish you?”
……He’s seriously the worst. Besides, it is troublesome that in this world, even more so in this mansion, what he’s saying is completely true.
If she were to punish me in some way, there are possibilities that Alice will be expelled like Milli, or even worse there is a chance that Alice would be officially made Blake’s slave.
“It seems that you finally know your place, now give up, leave the woman and return to your pathetic home.”
Sorry for being so self-indulgent. I can’t accept a demand like that.
“What’s wrong, didn’t you hear me? Don’t worry, I will return it if I get bored.”
Blake says such vulgar words with a lecherous face. His face, which is illuminated by the dancing flames of the nearby torches, looks even more disgusting.
I want to hit that face right now…but that’s impossible.
If you think about our physical differences, I can’t win. Even if I was able to get out of this situation by force, it would be meaningless because Blake would still hold power over me with Caroline.
Calm down. I can’t save Alice if I make a mistake here. I need to remain calm and think clearly about this.
It is out of the question. It’s not like I can just ask for forgiveness. So, in order to survive this situation, I need to get Blake to give up himself….
The objective of Blake here is Alice herself. And the reason for that is because Blake is lustful towards Alice. In other words, if Alice is unattractive to him, will Blake lose interest?
If so —
“…..Alice, do you trust me?”
I whisper to Alice, and she nods immediately.
“What are you whispering about?”
“It’s nothing serious, I merely commanded her to spend the night with you.”
I stood up suppressing my anger and spoke with a polite tone.
“…Fuu. At last you’ve given up? It would have been much easier if you just acted obediently from the beginning.”
“I’m sorry, you are right – nii-san.”
The moment Blake feels as if he’s won, I called him nii-san. Immediately, Blake’s face contorts with anger just like that day.
“…You…what did you just say?”
“Oh, nii-san, did I say something strange, nii-san?”
“I told you never to call me your older brother, you are just the filthy child of a mistress!”
It’s different from that day, there’s nothing nearby for him to throw. That’s why he begins to approach me to hit me himself. That’s why I spoke quickly before he could close the distance.
“Have you misunderstood something? Wasn’t it you that approved of me as your brother first?”
“….What are you saying?”
I guess he’s curious about what I mean. Blake stopped moving towards me.
“Alice is my slave, right?”
“What are you trying to say!?”
“Haa, you don’t understand it yet?”
“That’s why I asked what you are trying to say! Speak quickly!”
“Like~I~said, this is how it is”
I embraced Alice sitting behind me and grabbed her ample breasts.
“–Hyan!”
I have to make it believable. Alice lets out a surprised voice, but she doesn’t show any signs of resistance. Good this should help it be more convincing, I played with Alice’s breasts. Every time I move my hand Alice lets out a sweet voice.
…… I thought they were big, but these are truly amazing. I guess my hands are small, but they’re so soft……So bras don’t exist in this world?
………… No, I need to stop thinking so much about them.
“You! What are you trying to do!?”
“What, do you still not understand? This is how it is between us.”
I pulled the collar of her clothes with the hand not currently grasping her chest and revealed Alice’s neck. There is a kiss mark on her white skin.
Adjusting Alice’s position so Blake can see it clearly by the light of the torches, I show a vulgar smile on purpose.
“I’ve trained Alice for over a year. I taught her what I like every evening since I’ve got her. What makes me happy, what pleases me, everything all in order to better serve me.”
“What are you saying….”
……Hmm? What is this reaction. Perhaps, did he not even know the reason that Alice was brought to me? Come on, he should’ve at least investigated that much.
However, this is actually more convenient this way.
“You want to embrace Alice, right? Having relations with the same woman is rather brotherly. This meaning, you must understand that as well, right nii-san?”
“….You bastard…..”
His face has become dark red and his veins begin to burst out of his neck and head.
“Aah~, I’m sorry. You’re not my older brother. You’ve just become attracted to a woman that I’ve trained to my liking. So why not just say you want to embrace a woman that has been trained by your younger brother……Trained by your otouto-kun?”
“You must be kidding!”
A furious Blake comes running at me. I saw it and moved to the side so that Alice would be out of harm’s way. At this time, I was beaten up by Blake.
“Do not get carried away! I was just playing with you, who would be interested in a woman that would be with a disgusting child like you!”
Blake keeps cursing at me who had been knocked to the ground, and keeps on kicking me further.
After kicking me more than ten times, Blake’s anger seemed to subside. He let out a sharp breath and began to walk away.
I kept rolling around on the grass and confirmed that Blake had actually left. Then I got up after counting for thirty seconds.
“……………Haa~, we’re safe”
At that moment Alice hugs me from behind.
“Leon-sama, Leon-sama, Leon!”
“… Alice, are you okay? I had to do terrible things to you, are you alright?”
“I am fine, you’re the one I’m worried about. Are you okay!?”
“I’m fine, I was able to block most of his kicks.”
It’s a complete lie. When he was beating me I tried my best to block, but being in a vulnerable position like that made it nearly impossible. There was also an even bigger difference in our strength than I had imagined, so I took quite a bit of damage……It was worth it to keep Alice safe.
“I’m sorry, Alice. You had to be with such a disgusting man.”
“I am fine, but you didn’t need to provoke him so much! What if you had been killed!?”
“No, I knew he wouldn’t hold back…at one point I was afraid he wasn’t ever going to stop.”
It’s impossible for me to be certain that Blake wouldn’t have gone even further. If he had a sword, I feel like there would have been a strong possibility of him attacking me with it.
“If you knew that, then why would you do such a thing!?”
“Because there was no other way for me to help you, Alice.”
“I…I wouldn’t want to be saved if it meant losing you, Leon-sama!”
“Alice…..?”
“Do you know how it made me feel seeing you get kicked!?”
“When I was being kicked?”
Well, Alice did not try to stop him. If Alice had tried anything, I was worried that the anger of Blake would turn to Alice.
“If I had tried to help you in the fight, all of the good you were trying to do for me would’ve been wasted. I had to force myself to stay out of the fight because I knew you were trying to protect me.”
“I see, you guessed my true intention.”
“Yes, I did, but I wanted to help so badly. I would rather face the consequences myself, then to have you be hurt in my place. So please never do anything like that again!”
“Alice….”
Alice never underestimates herself. She always lives in full force, trying to find her happiness. That Alice, she would rather endure whatever she had to, rather than see me get hurt……
Uwa, what do I do? Alice wanted to protect me as much as I wanted to protect her – thinking about that makes me pretty happy.
“……Leon-sama, you said that you have to become happy. How do you plan on doing that if you’re so willing to put your life in danger? Or were you lying when you said that you want to be happy?”
“……It wasn’t a lie… But that’s why I did it, because I want to be happy together. I decided to help Alice even if it was dangerous.”
“What do you mean……?”
“…I feel the same way as Alice… I don’t want you to be a victim. I would never want to abandon you in order to save myself. If that were to ever happen I could never become happy.”
I embrace Alice, who had been holding my arms.
“Leon…sama?”
“You said,” Let’s be happy together .”
The same words as one year ago – but with a little different meaning now. Alice, who had stiffened her body, relaxed in my embrace.
“….Is it ok for me to believe you?”
“I’m not lying, these are my true feelings. If you believe me, I will protect Alice with all of my power, because it’s something I need to do to make myself happy….”
Although we were able to survive the encounter with Blake, he still may report back to Caroline — Alice and I could be separated as soon as tomorrow.
Under such circumstances, there is no way I can guarantee that everything will be okay.
“My position in the family is the lowest, I was able to manage somehow this time, but next time I will not be able to do anything. Still – “
“Still, I believe Leon-sama.”
“Are you sure? Even if I truly want to protect you, I’m not sure I’ll be able to do anything the next time something like this happens.”
“If your feelings are genuine, than that is enough, and I will not only be protected by you. I will also protect Leon-sama for my own happiness, because it’s something I need to do to make myself happy.”
Alice smiled a little, embarrassed.
“Well, then, we need to protect each other.”
“–For each other’s happiness.”
“That’s right, first of all, we need to deal with the matter at hand.”
“Is it that Blake-sama may still do something?”
“……I don’t know.”
I honestly have no idea what Blake will do. Would he rather hide what happened out of embarrassment, or come up with a fake story about what happened in order to get revenge on me?
“I’m not sure, so we’ll probably have to prepare for the worst case scenario.”
“That’s right. If we prepare for the worst case scenario, we are less likely to be surprised by anything that may happen. It would be better than staying optimistic and possibly getting hit with the worst possible outcome and not being able to recover.”
If Blake makes up a story to tell to Caroline, she will definitely become an enemy.
If that were to happen, we would need something that would allow us to negotiate with Caroline, but…either way this situation would be very difficult on Claire.
If that’s the case, there is only one person that can help.
“The only option is to meet with Father.”
“….Robert-sama? Will he really be on your side?”
“I’m not sure…”
Perhaps, I think that he will, at the very least, hear my side of the story. But, I’m not sure if he will be on my side. And even if he were to be on my side, it is a completely different matter whether he’d be able to protect both Alice and I entirely.
Even so, if there are no other options for us, there’s nothing else I can do. I’m just going to try my best here, so that we can live freely and be happy.
Just thought I’d add this image at the end. Seems like there’s been a lot of confusion over some character descriptions. This picture doesn’t have Sophia or Alice, but hopefully it will help some people out.
This image isn’t from the light novel and not even sure if it’s official art. But, they do look like the characters from the light novel.
