"Senior! It's been a while."
".......”
Seeing the uninvited guest who'd barged in during what should have been a peaceful, sunlit afternoon, I found myself at a loss for words.
Beside the intruder—who greeted me with a bright grin and a hand raised high—stood our precious niece.
How did these two end up coming together?
I'd appreciate an explanation of what exactly was going on.
"He said he was an acquaintance of yours, Uncle, so I brought him along. It seemed he'd gotten lost while out for a walk."
As if reading my thoughts, Lyriette fidgeted with her hands and filled me in on the situation.
"Is that so? Thank you, ni—Lyriette."
"...Tch."
Wait, was that a tongue-click I just heard?
Surely she hadn't been planning to demand compensation again just because I'd almost called her "niece."
No, surely our sweet Lyriette wouldn't do that.
She was probably just annoyed that I'd almost called her that again.
I'd have to be more careful going forward.
"Ugh, Senior! Even if you have an adorable niece here, you should still treat your guest properly."
"Who said you're my junior?"
"We studied under the same master, so isn't it only natural?"
"Has the master ever once acknowledged you as his disciple?"
"Um... no, he hasn't!"
My first thought was that I wanted to smash that face of his, grinning so irritatingly cheerful as he answered.
That self-centered attitude of his hadn't changed one bit.
"...Sigh. Fine, it's been a while, Chesper. Have you been well?"
"Of course I have. My research's been going great lately, so everything's coming up roses."
"I heard you got an offer from the Mage Tower."
"Yes. I suppose my research caught their eye. I turned it down flat, though."
I figured as much.
The man was far too free-spirited for that sort of thing.
He could research plenty well on his own anyway; there was little chance he'd go crawling under Clovis's wing just to borrow the Tower's resources at this point—
Poke.
"...Hm?"
While I was lost in thought for a moment, something pressed firmly against my arm, and I glanced down.
Lyriette was looking up at me, pouting, her expression somehow sulky.
"U-Uncle. Could you please introduce me too?"
"...Pfft."
Ah, wait. I shouldn't laugh.
She might get upset.
But she was too adorable, and the laugh slipped out anyway.
No doubt she was sulking because we'd left her out and kept talking between just the two of us.
'So Lyriette has this side to her too.'
Normally she was the type to listen intently to every single word of a conversation, never missing a syllable.
I suppose it felt a bit satisfying to catch a glimpse of her more childlike side, if that's not too strange a thing to admit.
"Sorry about that. This fellow here is a friend named Ern Chesper. Like me, he's devoted to the magical arts, and he occasionally visits my master's workshop to pick up magic by watching over my shoulder."
I stroked Lyriette's head as an apology and opened my mouth to explain.
She made a small, cat-like purring sound, tilting her head slightly along with my touch—utterly adorable.
"So that's why he calls you 'Senior.'"
"That's about the size of it. Though technically he's not a proper disciple, so calling me 'senior' is a bit of a misnomer."
But he'd clung to it so persistently that I'd long since given up fighting it.
Even Master had snapped at first, saying 'Who said you're my disciple!'—but after being trailed around with that same cheerful grin day after day, he eventually gave up too, muttering, 'Do as you like.'
Making even that cantankerous old man throw in the towel—if that doesn't qualify him as the biggest oddball among everyone I know, I don't know what would.
"Anyway, I can't believe you actually came in person. I would've been fine just sending a carriage."
"Knowing your personality, Senior, I figured you'd just send the carriage back empty."
"......."
He'd seen right through me.
"Well, whatever. Sit down. You're a guest too, for now, so I'll have someone bring out some tea."
"That 'for now' bit stings a little, but I appreciate the lavish hospitality all the same."
"Tch."
"You just clicked your tongue again!"
I did. So what.
***
I asked a servant to bring tea, and soon a tidy spread of refreshments arrived in the parlor.
Since we had a guest, I wondered briefly if I ought to call for Edmund, the head of the household.
But he still hadn't fully recovered, so I decided to receive the guest myself.
"This tea is delicious. Ahh, it's been so long since I rode in a carriage for that long, my body and spirit are just wrecked."
"You'll probably be bedridden for days once you get back."
"Ahaha, probably."
"You're the frail one and yet you insist on being stubborn about it."
"Just because I'm frail doesn't mean I have to lie around in some dusty little room all day. Sometimes a person needs fresh air too."
"I'd be relieved if the wind doesn't just blow you away."
Among everyone I knew, this man was easily one of the frailest, right up there with Viola.
If there was a difference, it was that Viola suffered from a minor chronic illness,
but her stamina, surprisingly, was decent enough to get by.
Ern, on the other hand—his basic physical condition was a disaster from the ground up.
From what I'd heard, he'd barely ever left his own room back at his family estate until around Lyriette's current age.
Even now, he looked like nothing but bones.
If chopsticks could walk around on their own, I imagine they'd look something like him.
"Uncle, please try this cookie too. It's not too sweet, so I think you'll like it."
"Is that so? Thank you. Our Lyriette really is the best."
"Heehee..."
Embarrassed by the praise, Lyriette gave a shy little smile.
I picked up one of the cookies our niece had recommended and took a bite.
Definitely tasty.
Black tea, or maybe tea leaves mixed in?
There was a faint bitterness to it that suited my palate quite well.
I drank some black tea to clear my mouth and reached for another cookie when—
"Whoaaa..."
"...What?"
The man sitting across from me let out a sound somewhere between a gasp and a sigh, as though he'd seen a ghost, and I growled at him on reflex.
"Nothing. I just didn't know you could make an expression like that, Senior. You were always so busy burying your nose in books with that 'I've seen everything life has to offer' look in your eyes."
"I can't exactly deny that."
"You had zero interest in anyone else, and you practically dragged a north wind around with you wherever you went."
"I don't recall being quite that bad."
Did he think I was some Northern Grand Duke or something?
I pointed out that he was exaggerating a bit, but he shook his head calmly.
"I'm serious! Your eyes were always like this, and no matter what anyone asked you, all you ever said was 'Yeah' or 'No'—those were literally the only two answers you ever gave!"
"So what's your point?"
"No, I'm just wondering what on earth happened to change your personality so much in the meantime."
"Nothing much happened. If you insist there has to be some kind of trigger, I suppose it'd be thanks to our niece here."
"That young lady over there?"
Only then did Ern turn to look at Lyriette with an expression of genuine interest.
One might expect it to be embarrassing to be stared at so intently by someone she'd never even met.
But Lyriette simply met his gaze head-on with a strangely composed expression.
Anyone watching might've thought they were having a staring contest.
"She really is quite the adorable young lady."
"Isn't she?"
"Wow, look at you puffing up with pride. It's almost offensive how doting you are."
"Say whatever you like."
Why should some third party care how much I doted on my own niece?
I was just tipping my teacup, trying to breezily ignore him, when—
"For a moment there I actually thought you might've gotten yourself a lover."
"What!?"
The table shook from the force of his careless remark.
And the cause of that wasn't me.
"...Excuse me?"
"Lyriette?"
It was Lyriette, sitting right beside me.
She'd suddenly slammed her hand on the table and shot up to her feet, and my heart nearly stopped.
Thankfully, she hadn't spilled her tea.
Even that unshakably self-centered Ern blinked in surprise.
Realizing she'd drawn both our stares at once, Lyriette seemed to belatedly register that something was off, and quietly sat back down.
"I—I'm sorry. A bug just crawled by for a second..."
Ah, right.
She always seemed so composed that I sometimes forgot—Lyriette secretly hated bugs.
Anyway, back to the conversation.
"A lover? Don't be ridiculous. There's nothing going on."
"Why not? It's about time you snagged yourself one, Senior."
"Since when are women fish you 'snag'?"
"Is there just no one who catches your eye? If that's really the case, then maybe I could—"
Thump!
"I'm sorry. Another bug, this time..."
"O-oh, I see. You're not hurt anywhere, are you?"
"No, I'm fine, Uncle."
Strange—why was it that I, sitting right beside her, never once managed to spot these bugs?
If anything, I fully intended to burn the wretched thing to a crisp on the spot for daring to frighten our niece.
"...Ahaha?"
"What are you smirking about like that, so unpleasantly?"
"Nothing much. I was just thinking the young lady must really like you an awful lot, Senior."
"Well, of course. Uncle is my family, and my benefactor besides. There's no one else in the world quite as precious to me as he is."
Somehow, Lyriette's tone struck me as a touch cold, but more than that, what mattered was what had just come out of her mouth.
I never expected to hear the word "precious" fall from Lyriette's own lips.
Ah, come to think of it, hadn't I also heard "I love you" from her not too long ago?
Either way, a deep sense of fullness welled up inside my chest.
Perhaps I'd been living my whole life just to arrive at moments like this one.
"I see. Hearing the young lady say that only makes me feel even more sorry, somehow."
"Sorry? Whatever for?"
Lyriette looked at Ern with eyes that seemed strangely unsteady, then glanced briefly at me.
"It seems that, starting today, you'll have to part ways with your uncle for a while."
"Hey, that's—"
I'd meant to tell Lyriette that myself, separately, later.
I was about to scold him for cutting in so obliviously when—
"So it really was that, after all."
"...Lyriette?"
"I'm sorry, Uncle. I already knew. I happened to overhear you talking in your room a while back."
Talking in the room—could that have been that time?
It seemed she meant the conversation I'd had with Master.
The door had been left slightly open, and I'd gone to close it afterward.
But to think Lyriette had been standing just beyond it the whole time...
"I'm sorry. I should have told you first, of anyone. That was my mistake."
"There's nothing for you to apologize for, Uncle. If anything, it's me who did something wrong."
"No, don't be silly. What could you possibly have done wrong?"
Probably she was feeling guilty for having kept it hidden until the very last moment, worried I might be upset if she told me too soon.
I was trying to comfort and soothe her, strangely wracked with guilt as she was, when—
"No, Uncle. Lyriette is a bad child—"
"...Lyriette?"
Clatter!
Out of nowhere, the teacup slipped from Lyriette's hand.
And like a doll whose spring had run out, her body tilted limply to the side.
Thud.
Before I could even register what was happening,
Lyriette's body rolled off the chair and onto the floor.
***
Uncle.
You always told me I was a good girl, didn't you?
But I'm not.
I don't think I ever was.
Honestly, I never meant to use a method this awful.
What difference could something this trivial possibly make, just holding you back a little while longer?
But you know, Uncle.
Isn't it strange?
Even though I knew everything, my body moved on its own.
Even knowing I'd become the bad girl you dislike so much.
Even knowing I could never keep you by my side forever.
I couldn't just stand by and watch even one more second with you,
even one more minute with you,
even one more day with you
disappear from my life, even by a little.
Uncle, even a girl like this—
could I still remain your beloved niece?
No—I will remain so.
At least in front of you, I'll stay your good girl.
So please, just for today, just this once, forgive me for being a bad girl.