As the sun sat high in the sky, Sophia and I casually walked through the city streets. It was a perfect day for a walk but it seemed like a dark cloud hung over Sophia.
“There’s something I wanted to do before lunch, is it okay if we go together?”
When I asked her this, Sophia turned away and puffed out her cheeks. Without looking at me, she said, “You should do whatever you want, Leon onii-chan.”
I brought Sophia to a newly built temple in the city of Vesta. The sunlight reflected brilliantly off the stained glass, creating a magnificent scene.
“It’s quite beautiful, don’t you think? Crane told me about it.”
I looked back at her but she still remained silent. She actually looked annoyed that I even said anything.
“…Sophia?”
“Nu~nu~nu~. Why are you acting like everything’s okay, Leon onii-chan?”
“…oh, it’s about that. I guess I haven’t apologized properly yet. I’m really sorry for what happened yesterday.”
I tried to bow my head to her but Sophia groaned before I could.
“Mouuuuu~, it’s not like that. You apologized to me earlier but I still haven’t apologized to you. Why are you forgiving me so easily!?”
Ah…that’s what this is about.
I still didn’t think I had apologized yet, but it seems Sophia had already accepted my apology (soliloquy).
“It’s fine. You don’t have anything to apologize for.”
As I gently stroked her fluffy blonde hair, her eyes opened wide in shock.
“…what? But I punched you.”
“Well, I definitely didn’t expect that from you.”
Even if she was mad about what I said, that was the first time she ever hit me. I was more than a little surprised when it happened.
But that wasn’t because I was surprised to see Sophia using violence. It was due to the fact that I didn’t realize how emotionally unstable she was at that time.
“I made you a promise. I will help Elyse, so don’t worry like that.”
“…eh?”
“I know you’re pretending not to worry but you don’t need to do that with me.”
Sophia smiled and thanked me for gathering the ingredients, but was also worried about having me help her mother. She was starting to think it would all be too much for her.
I bet she feels like I’m only helping Elyse for her.
“…Leon onii-chan, you noticed.”
“Because it’s about you, Sophia. I don’t need to have your ability to understand how you feel.”
Sophia’s mother is suffering from an incurable disease, and yet, Claire brought us all to a lake to play and Alice was hoping something eventful would happen at the Guild. Why would they do this when Sophia is so worried?
The answer is simple. They can tell how worried she is. They were hoping they’d be able to lighten the mood, even if only just a little.
Well…I don’t think everyone has been trying to help Sophia take her mind off things. Crane, for example, is just genuinely obsessed with big-breasted lolis.
“…that’s right. Everyone always has to look after me.”
“I don’t think you need to feel bad about that. Actually…everyone wants to spoil you, so when there’s something on your mind don’t feel like you have to hold it inside.”
“That’s…. But my mother helped kill your parents.”
“And I still came here to find ingredients for the medicine needed to cure your mother. If I didn’t want to be here, I wouldn’t.”
“I know…. I know, but that’s just because you’re so nice, Leon onii-chan! I know you’re just forcing yourself to do this for me!”
So that’s what she thinks.
“I’m not forcing myself. You can use your ability to tell that much.”
“I said I only use it when I think it’s really necessary.”
“…isn’t it necessary now?”
“I think I want to know how you really feel.”
“Then, you’ll need to read my heart.”
I want her to stop using it for mischief. But I’m okay with her using it now if it means she’ll feel less anxious.
These were my honest feelings, but…Sophia shook her head.
“…if you’re hiding your true intentions and just doing this for me, I don’t want to use my ability to find out.”
“I see….”
In other words, she doesn’t want to use her ability in order to feel like she can trust me. I’m glad that she feels this way.
I’m happy to see her growing. I’ll tell her my honest feelings so she can tell how I really feel.
“From the bottom of my heart, I want you to make up with Elyse.”
“Really? You’d be okay with that? You’re not just saying that because you know it’s what I want?”
“It’s okay. You don’t need to worry. Why are you doubting me so much?”
“Because…I regret killing Father, I regret hurting Mother…. I absolutely don’t want to hurt you.”
…really, Sophia.
I guess she’s aware that everyone wants to spoil her. She really is so cute and kind. When it comes to helping Sophia, I would never feel like I’m forcing myself.
“I could never hate you. I can’t say how Elyse feels but ever since I told you I’d help cure her, you’ve been smiling so much more.”
If I left Elyse to eventually die from her disease I could maybe feel like my revenge was complete. However, I don’t think Sophia would ever recover. I can’t let that happen.
If I save Elyse, I won’t be happy about the act, but I know Sophia will be pleased. And that’s what I want more than anything.
So it’s an obvious choice for me.
“I also want you and Elyse to make up for my own personal reasons, so I will definitely cure Elyse.”
With this as a preface, I took out the gothic hair ornament Akane had given me before we left and attached it to Sophia’s hair.
“…Leon onii-chan, what is this?”
“It’s a hair ornament. I thought it would go well with your gothic dress.”
“That’s not what I meant…. Are you giving it to me?”
“Of course, it’s a gift…. By the way, I only give accessories to girls that are important to me.”
“Fueeh!? L-Leon onii-chan, that’s….”
Sophia became red the instant I said this and I swore I could see steam rising from her head.
She looked at me with an expression filled with expectation and anxiety. I looked straight into her eyes and said,
“I like you, Sophia.”
“…in the same way you like Alice onee-chan?”
“To be honest…it’s similar but also different.”
“Of course. I’m just a little sister to you.”
Sophia misunderstood my words, so I quickly tried to make things clear.
“I want our relationship to be unique to us. It may be different than my relationship with Alice but, as a man, I like you.”
“Umm…what does that mean?”
“…let’s see. I like Alice as a girl that can walk side-by-side with me and I like you as a girl that I want to protect.”
I don’t need to say this now but I like Claire because of how dependable she is. Those are my honest feelings.
“Then…does that mean you like me, Leon onii-chan?”
“Isn’t that what I said?”
“You…do….”
Sophia blushed and placed her hands on her cheeks, but I still have more to say.
“Hey, Sophia. I can’t exclusively be with you but I want to ask you to only be with me. I know it’s selfish but I want to know if you’re okay with that.”
“That’s…fine. Of course, because I like you, Leon.”
Sophia closed her eyes and slightly stuck out her lips. I grabbed Sophia by the shoulders and kissed her on the cheek.
“…Leon…onii-chan?”
“An actual kiss will have to wait until you’ve grown up a little more.”
Sophia will be thirteen this year. Comparing her to Japanese girls, she’d be around sixteen or seventeen. Although, she actually appears a little younger.
In this world, I’m already old enough to get married. I’m a little reluctant to kiss a girl on the lips when she’s not old enough for that.
“…hmm~, Leon onii-chan, my hair ornament seems like it’s about to fall off.”
“Oh, sorry. Did I put it on wrong?”
The moment I leaned down to look at it, Sophia wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me forward.
“Uwaa!? What are you –!?”
She caught me off guard so I couldn’t resist. She pulled down on my neck even harder and I had to step to her side to avoid falling on top of her.
And at that moment,
“–Ei!”
She stepped forward and swept my other leg off the ground. I couldn’t do anything to stop her as my back hit the ground with Sophia still clinging tight to me.
Sophia straddled me as she leaned forward and brought her face close to mine.
“ –nn~…. Ehehe~, that was my first kiss.”
“W-Wha–!?”
“Ehe~, Leon onii-chan, your face is red.”
“T-That’s not….”
There’s no way I can remain calm when a girl that I’m attracted to just kissed me.
I told her to wait until she’s grown up, not act more adult — Sophia smiled as if she were reading my feelings.
“I’ll be old enough to get married this year.”
“I-I know that.”
“So that means it’s okay for me to do stuff that you do with Alice onee-chan.”
“– buu!?”
I did my best to not show a reaction but I couldn’t stop myself.
“You know, Leon onii-chan, Sophia is ready whenever you are. If you ever want to be honest with yourself, I’m ready at any time, Leon onii-chan.”
“O-Okay…I-I understand.”
I could tell my face had become redder than Sophia’s. She’s become even more corrupted by those two than I’d imagined. She seems more mature than them at this point.
I need to get a grip. And I also now realize that I need to do a better job protecting Sophia.
I got up off the ground and then looked back down at Sophia.
“…*cough* anyway, I’ll definitely help you reconcile with Elyse. After all, if I don’t, I won’t be allowed to be with you.”
“Fueh?”
“Don’t you think she’d object to us being together? I’ll earn her favour and get her to accept our relationship.”
That’s not necessarily the truth. Sophia has been adopted into the Grances family, so there wouldn’t be any issues if Elyse objected.
However, it would be nice if Sophia had her mother’s blessing. That’s what I truly want.
“– thank you, Leon onii-chan!”
“– whoa.”
Sophia jumped up and wrapped her arms around me. She looked up at me with a bright smile. That’s the best smile I’ve seen from her.
…yep. After all, Sophia’s the cutest when she’s smiling. While thinking this, I lightly hugged Sophia back.
We then left the temple and continued our walk through the town.
Under the clear blue sky, Sophia happily clung onto my arm before her expression suddenly hardened.
“…is something wrong?”
“Umm…I hit you yesterday. Are you bruised anywhere?”
“Don’t worry. I was able to defend myself.”
Well, she easily punched straight through my defence…but I obviously wasn’t going to say that.
I casually changed the subject by asking her, “Where there any stores you wanted to visit around here?”
“Ah, well, there are some restaurants built in the redeveloped areas that I’m interested in.”
“Oh, new restaurants…. Is the food there good?”
For a brief moment, what happened when Sophia and I visited Wells Clothing Shop flashed through my mind.
Because Sophia was interested in the store, I allowed her to go without thinking much about it. But that shouldn’t happen with food.
“It’s a shop that Sarah from the Adventurers Guild recommended so I think it should be fine~”
“Sarah-chan….”
She would know about the quality of meals at Muhle Academy and that Sophia is a good cook, and she still recommended this place….
“Besides, you don’t need to worry. I just want to study new ingredients and different cooking methods. Even if the taste isn’t what I’m used to, I won’t complain.”
“Okay then, let’s go to the restaurant.”
We walked for a few minutes before an old-fashioned shop came into view.
It looked like the building techniques from Muhle had been used to construct it, so it wasn’t old but had been built to look like the older buildings. It was different from the Japanese style but it somehow looked nostalgic.
“There are more customers than I expected.”
“Yeah, it’s good that we didn’t get here much later.”
Sarah told Sophia that the shop was quite busy during the evening. If we got here any later, there may not have been any tables available.
“Welcome. A table for two…?”
A waitress that appeared to be in her mid-teens greeted us as we entered. However, once she saw our faces she fell silent.
“…is something wrong?”
“– no, please, excuse me. Take a seat at any of the open tables. I’ll be back to take your order in a moment.”
The waitress turned on her heel and hurried to the back of the shop. As we sat down at a table, I could see that the waitress kept turning to look back at us.
“What’s with this strange atmosphere?”
I thought it was just the waitress but I could see several other customers and staff staring at us. Their stares didn’t feel hostile, but they definitely weren’t welcoming.
“If you want, Leon onii-chan, I could use my benefit to find out.”
“…no, you don’t need to do that.”
If she did, her happy mood may be ruined and it’s not like I desperately need to know.
Sophia is trying to avoid using her benefits unless she absolutely has to, so I shouldn’t force her to use it for me when I’m slightly worried.
I decided not to worry about the stares and flipped through the menu.
The lunchtime menu had many different types of food. Most of them were based on a local cuisine from the village of Reiji. In the evening there were even more items available from this town, and the current menu also had ‘Local Cuisine from Reiji’ written at the top.
Is this restaurant sponsored by that village?
“Thank you for waiting. Are you ready to order?”
“Umm…I’ll have the A special. What about you, Sophia?”
“Hmm~ I’m not sure…. Can I try some of yours, onii-chan?”
“Of course.”
“Thank you! We can each try the different specials. I’ll take the B special.”
The second part she said to the waitress.
“– Certainly. One A special and one B. I’ll get those out to you as quickly as I can.”
She said this and left. Honestly, something seems off about her. What could it be?
As I thought this, I could feel an intense gaze coming from behind me. Right next to the table, a boy less than ten-years-old was staring at me.
“Oi, you!”
“…are you talking to me?”
I don’t think there’s anyone else he could be talking to but I asked anyway.
“You’re both nobles! Why are you in a place like this!?”
“I’m not sure how to answer that…. We heard that the food here was really good so we came here to eat.”
“Liar! You’ve come here to do something bad again!”
“…something bad?”
I turned to Sophia to see if she knew what he was talking about. The next moment —
“You killed my parents!”
The boy punched me across the face.
