2-3 - A Birthday Present

The seasons passed, and early summer arrived. On my first birthday since Milly’s departure, I turned nine years old. To mark the occasion, I was summoned by my father, Robert.

It wasn’t as though I’d expected him to celebrate my birthday like Milly had. Still, I’d held out a little hope that he might at least have a few words for me.

But when I arrived at his office…

“Leon, your fiancée has been decided.”

Father presented me with a merciless reality.

“…My engagement?”

“Indeed. You will eventually marry a daughter of House Sphiel.”

House Sphiel? That sounded familiar. Where had I heard it before? Well… it could only have been at the detached residence. So I must have heard about them from Milly or Claire-nee… Oh, I remembered!

“If I’m not mistaken, they have a daughter three years younger than me, don’t they?”

“…Oh? You’re surprisingly well informed. That is correct. You are to marry Lady Sophia of House Sphiel.”

A girl three years younger than me, huh? Compared to Claire-nee’s prospective husband, she was an extraordinarily good match, but… being told to marry someone I’d never met was another matter.

“…I suppose refusing isn’t an option.”

“Indeed, it is not. However, this should not be a bad arrangement for you either.”

He gave me a meaningful look. I wondered what gave him the nerve to say that after forcing an unwanted engagement on me, but perhaps he’d said it precisely because he understood how I felt?

“…What exactly do you mean when you say it isn’t a bad arrangement?”

“That is—”

“—It means she’s from a backwater noble family perfectly suited to a lowborn wretch like you!”

The door suddenly swung open, and an unfamiliar boy barged into the room. …Well, unfamiliar or not, Father was the only male I’d ever known in this world.

“Blake, what are you doing barging in without knocking?”

“My apologies, Father.”

“Father…? Does that mean you’re my older brother?”

“Don’t you dare call me your brother, you filthy bastard child!”

Blake grabbed a nearby ornament and hurled it at me with all his strength.

Perhaps because he’d thrown it in a fit of rage, his aim was terrible. The ornament struck the wall diagonally behind me and shattered.

That was dangerous… If it had hit my face, I could have been seriously injured.

Was this guy really my brother? He was more like a water heater that boiled over at the slightest provocation. He was supposed to be six years older than me, but Claire-nee was far more mature.

“Did you not hear me? I told you not to call me your brother.”

“…My apologies, Blake-sama.”

I’d hoped to get along with my brother too, but that clearly wasn’t going to happen anytime soon.

Well, he’d probably grown up hearing Caroline-san speak badly of me as the bastard child who might threaten his position, so I couldn’t entirely blame him.

Once he inherited House Granches, he’d probably feel more secure about his position. Perhaps I could try speaking to him again then.

More importantly, though—I turned my attention back to Father.

“In exchange for accepting the engagement, could I ask you to grant me one request?”

“—How shameless can you be? All you need to do is marry as you’re told.”

“Blake, you will be silent.”

“But Father—!”

Father shot him a glare, and my brother took a step backward.

How pathetic—was what I wanted to say, but Father had been rather intimidating just then. I’d somehow gotten the impression that he simply did whatever Caroline-san told him, so that was surprising.

“Leon, let us hear this request of yours.”

“I’d like to visit House Sphiel before the wedding. Would you grant me permission?”

“…Oh? And why is that?”

“If we’re going to get married anyway, I’d like us to get to know each other beforehand.”

Well, that wasn’t a lie, but it was only half the reason.

If we met and I thought we could get along, I’d consider going through with the marriage. But if things didn’t look promising, I intended to find a way to avoid getting married.

As I entertained those thoughts and held Father’s gaze, the corners of his mouth curled into a grin.

“Very well. It cannot be arranged immediately, but I promise to provide an opportunity for you to meet before the wedding.”

…Huh? For a moment, I thought he’d seen through my intentions. Was I imagining things? Or was he agreeing to let us meet despite knowing what I was planning? …Well, as long as I got to meet her, either possibility was fine with me.

With that settled, I thanked him and left his office.

“Little brother, there you are.”

Just as I stepped out of the mansion to return to the detached residence, Claire-nee called out to me.

“Claire-nee? What’s up?”

“Well, today I have a very special present for you.”

“A present…? Why, all of a sudden?”

“Because it’s your birthday, of course.”

O-ohhhhh… With Milly gone and everything that had just happened, I’d thought nobody would celebrate my birthday anymore. So I was a little—no, incredibly happy.

“Thank you, Claire-nee!”

I instinctively threw my arms around her.

“L-little brother, I know you’re happy, but we’d be in serious trouble if someone saw us, wouldn’t we? So, um… save that sort of thing for when we’re alone, okay?”

“S-sorry!”

I quickly jumped away and looked at Claire-nee. Her cheeks had turned bright red.

Um… that was because she was embarrassed, right? Somehow, that didn’t seem like the sort of reaction an older sister should have… I was probably imagining things, right?

“Ahem! Anyway, little brother, can you guess what your present is?”

“Could it be…?”

“That’s right. You said you wanted to learn all sorts of things, didn’t you?”

“Ohhh! That’s Claire-nee for you!”

I wondered what she’d brought. Could it be books? I’d be thrilled if she’d found a book explaining how to use magic… But a history book about this world would be fascinating too, and a world map would be wonderful.

“—Aristia!”

Claire-nee called out to someone behind her, and a girl who appeared to be around sixteen or seventeen emerged from around the corner. She wore plain clothing, but… wow, she was incredibly beautiful.

“Um, what’s special about her?”

“She’s your present.”

“…Huh?”

“I’m saying this slave is your birthday present, little brother.”

“……………………Ohhh, a slave. A slave, huh? I see, that’s exactly what I’ve always wanted—AS IF I’D SAY THAT, YOU STUPID SISTER!”

“H-hey! What’s that supposed to mean, calling me stupid!?”

“I’m calling you a stupid sister because you’re being stupid! What on earth are you thinking, giving me a slave as a present!?”

“Honestly, little brother, you just don’t understand.”

Claire-nee sighed as though there was simply no helping me. Why was she acting as though I was the unreasonable one here?

“Listen, little brother. She’s such a cute, young slave, isn’t she? Obviously, there’s only one thing to do. I think she’d be a good person for you to gain all sorts of experience with.”

“Don’t give me that ‘I think she’d be a good person’ nonsense! What are you trying to encourage your little brother to do!?”

Even if I bent over backward to accept that slavery existed because this was a different world, I still couldn’t understand why anyone would give a slave to their little brother for his birthday.

I was beginning to think Claire-nee’s head was filling with more and more flowers as she grew older. While I was thinking that, she leaned close to my ear.

“You might not know this, little brother, but she’s an elf. She’s lived much longer than her appearance suggests, so she should have a wealth of knowledge.”

After whispering those words, Claire-nee spun around, stepped away from me, and flashed a mischievous smile.

“—So, you see, I think you should have her teach you all sorts of things every night from now on.”

Her words sounded almost identical to what she’d said earlier. At first, I’d thought she was suggesting something ridiculous, but after considering her whisper, the meaning changed completely.

“…Wait, did you give me this present because bringing books here would get noticed by the maids?”

“Hehe. That’s our little secret, okay?”

She pressed a finger to her lips, looking almost like an angel. At first, I’d wondered what kind of nonsense she was up to, but she’d actually remembered my request and found a way to fulfill it.

“…Thank you, Claire-nee. I’m sorry I called you a stupid sister earlier. This is the best birthday present ever.”

“Hehe. I was hoping you’d say I was the best big sister ever instead.”

She was probably joking, judging by her mischievous smile. But to me, this really was a present that made me incredibly happy, so…

“Claire-nee, you’re the best big sister ever.”

“~~~~! Ahhh, you’re just too adorable, little brother! When you react so sincerely, it makes me want to grant your every wish!”

With that, she wrapped her arms tightly around me. …Huh, I’d still been thinking of her as a little girl, but she’d actually been developing quite a bit… No, wait, that wasn’t the point.

“Hey, weren’t you the one who said it’d be a problem if someone saw us, Claire-nee?”

“Oh, that’s right. Sorry!”

Claire-nee let go of me, her cheeks turning pink. Seriously, there was something a little strange about her reactions.

Hoping nobody had seen us, I glanced around and spotted Blake watching from a distance.

…Don’t tell me he saw that? This could be bad… But as soon as he noticed me looking, he turned on his heel and walked away.

“Little brother, is something wrong?”

“Huh? …Um, no, it’s nothing.”

“Really? Well, that’s good. And don’t worry about the slave. I’ve already obtained Mother’s permission.”

“…………….Huh?”

“I’m saying that if I gave you a slave as a present, Mother would hear about it almost immediately, wouldn’t she? So I made sure to get her permission beforehand.”

“Permission…? Don’t tell me…”

“It’s probably exactly what you’re thinking. I told her that since you’d gotten engaged, I thought it would be a good idea for you to gain some experience so your future bride wouldn’t be disappointed in you.”

“Oh, wow…………….”

What the hell was I supposed to say to that? I had an older sister who was so worried about her little brother’s knowledge of adult matters that she’d arranged for a slave to teach him, and a stepmother who’d actually approved of it.

While I was trying to process that, Claire-nee leaned closer again.

“I’ve explained it that way to the maids too, so make sure you act the part, okay?”

“…Act the part?”

“For example, you could sleep in the same room as Aristia every night. Oh, but boys around your age aren’t satisfied with just once a day, are they?”

“—Pfft!?”

H-hey! What kind of question was that supposed to be!?

“I think it’d be better if you acted the part several times a day. What do you think, little brother?”

“I-I think we can just play it by ear!”

“No, that won’t do. If anyone discovers the truth, she’ll end up just like Milly-san. We need to make your behavior convincing enough that nobody suspects anything.”

“Well, that’s… true, but…”

Grrr. What? What was this embarrassing interrogation supposed to be? Was I seriously expected to explain that I hadn’t even started puberty yet, so that sort of thing wasn’t happening…?

—AS IF I COULD SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT!

“Listen, Claire-nee. I’ll make sure everything goes smoothly, so could you leave the rest to me?”

“No. I deeply regret what happened to Milly-san. That’s why I want to do everything I can to make sure you never have to suffer like that again.”

YOU’RE MAKING ME SUFFER RIGHT NOW, YOU KNOW!?

Argh! If she’d been doing this deliberately, I’d have called her a stupid sister and complained. But she genuinely seemed to be worried about me, and what she was saying made sense…

What on earth was I supposed to do?

“Well, fine. If you won’t tell me, I’ll just ask Michelle for advice.”

Huh!? Ask Michelle for advice? Did that mean she was planning to discuss how many times a day I supposedly did those things with Michelle!?

And then Michelle would explain to Claire-nee what was normal for someone Leon-sama’s age!?

Aaaah! No, no, absolutely not! That was far too embarrassing!

“Only at night! Just at night is fine!”

“Huh? Really? I thought boys your age did it more often.”

“I’m not at that age yet! It doesn’t start happening more frequently until I’m a little older! So once a day is perfectly fine!”

The moment I finished shouting, I realized what I’d just said, but it was already too late.

“Really? Well, if you say so, little brother, then I suppose that’s how it is.”

“Y-yeah. That’s right…”

I nodded with the lifeless eyes of a dead fish.