"……?"
Waking up in the morning, my arm was numb for some reason.
And there was a feeling of something light yet heavy resting on top of it.
What's this?
Turning my head, I found two pretty flower buds, not yet in bloom, sleeping soundly.
Lyriette and Yuria.
Lyriette's hair, shining like white silk under the morning sunlight, and Yuria's black hair, untouched by the light, boasting its own silken sheen.
The combination of the two looked like a painting.
If this world had something like child models, they'd pass any audition without even trying.
'No, wait, why are they sleeping here in the first place?'
The question crossed my mind, but I understood soon enough.
In Lyriette's case, her new room was close to mine.
Say, she went to the bathroom in the middle of the night and wandered into the wrong room.
As for Yuria, sleeping alone in her room might not have felt right, so she probably just came to mine.
Anyway, they were sleeping so soundly it felt almost cruel to wake them.
What time was it now?
I barely lifted my head to check the large clock on the wall.
7:45.
Not even time for breakfast preparations yet.
'Let them sleep a little longer.'
If it came down to it, I could just ask for breakfast to be brought to the room.
"Zzz…."
"Kuhup. I should get a new pillowcase."
I wiped the drool from the corner of Yuria's sleeping mouth with my sleeve.
"Mmnyam, Uncle Baaaal…."
"There, there. I'm right here."
After straightening out Lyriette's hair—she was chewing on strands of it in her sleep while calling my name—I lay back down, staring up at the ceiling.
It was a morning when a baseless confidence surged through me: that for the happiness of these children, I could do anything.
***
Exactly one hour and fifteen minutes later.
That is to say, it wasn't until the clock struck exactly nine that the two of them woke up.
When I clutched my numb arm and briefly grimaced, Lyriette looked so apologetic about it.
That was my fault.
I could have just cast a quick healing spell and been done with it, but instead I made a scene and let my niece feel guilty over nothing.
Fortunately, we managed to make it just as breakfast was starting, so the three of us headed straight for the dining hall together.
And there,
"Slurp! Gulp. Baal, can I have more of this?"
"Eat as much as you like. Here, have mine too if it's not enough."
"Okay."
A scene unfolded that looked like some kind of vacuum cleaner sucking up food.
It was vivid enough to remind me of a certain pink, adorably round character I'd seen in my past life.
I'd already witnessed this scene back in Arcanel, but the household members, including Lyriette, were seeing it for the first time and looked utterly stunned.
"Well, she certainly eats well."
Edmund watched on, looking rather pleased with himself.
"Indeed. I've never seen a child with such an appetite. Louis, go fetch more food."
"Yes, my lady."
Cassdia, seeing the pace at which Yuria was eating, had already anticipated the shortage and ordered a resupply well ahead of time.
"At that rate, she must have a parasite in her stomach— ah! M-Mother!?"
"You mustn't say such rude things to a lady, Abel."
"I only said it because it was fascinating…."
Abel, having failed once again to keep his mouth in check, was getting his side pinched by Cassdia.
Somehow, it felt strangely moving to see the once-desolate House Argent transformed into something resembling a family from a sitcom.
Good things were good things, I supposed.
This too was a welcome change.
"Whew, full. That's enough for now."
"Glad you ate so well. I'll have to ask them to double your meals starting at lunch."
"Baal. Did I do good?"
"You did wonderfully. No need to hold back—eat as much as you like from now on too, all right?"
"Okay. Yuria's a good girl, so Yuria will eat as much as she wants."
There wasn't much logical connection between being a good girl and eating as much as one wanted, but I decided to gracefully ignore such trivial details.
Anyway, the important thing was that Yuria was eating heartily without worrying about others' opinions.
That way, she'd grow tall the way she wanted, and those thin, bony arms and legs of hers would gradually fill out.
Children were naturally cuter with a bit of chub on them.
Especially, when viewed from the side, those cheeks drooping soft like rice cakes were the key feature.
Just like my dear niece here.
Oh, how adorable.
This one was eating well too.
Before I left for Arcanel, whenever I looked at Lyriette's plate, there were always bits of vegetables left behind, enough to resemble a small meadow.
But today, for whatever reason, it was completely clean.
It seemed what I'd said back then had made quite an impression.
I was watching contentedly when Abel suddenly tilted his head.
"Lyriette, what's gotten into you? Not asking the chef to leave out the broccoli for once."
She'd asked for the broccoli to be left out?
Don't tell me—Lyriette had deliberately pretended to eat her vegetables well today just because I was sitting beside her.
When I shot her a suspicious glance, Lyriette flinched the moment our eyes met.
Anyone could tell she was caught off guard.
"W-what? What are you talking about, Brother? I've always eaten my vegetables lately—"
"What are you talking about? Just yesterday morning, you were the only one without carrots or broccoli on your plate."
Had Abel's memory always been this good?
Remembering that his sister's plate had broccoli and carrots on it just from yesterday morning.
Maybe it meant he was paying closer attention to Lyriette these days.
Rather pleased by that thought, I nodded along—
"...Brother, please come to the training grounds once you're finished eating."
An untimely north wind seemed to blow from the seat beside me.
Had someone left a window open somewhere?
"Oh! You want to go again today? Sure thing. I thought we'd get a day off now that Uncle's back."
"Yes. I'll keep you company until you're the one who says to stop."
"That's my sister for you!"
Hey, what lies ahead of you is hell, you know.
One thing was clear—Abel's ability to read the room was still crawling along the floor.
Everything else about him had improved somewhat, so why hadn't that?
"Thank you for the meal. I'll excuse myself first, then."
Offering a silent prayer of condolence in my heart, I rose from my seat.
Lyriette and Yuria stood up right after, as if they'd been waiting for this moment.
"Yes. Enjoy your time with the children. If Yuria needs anything, don't hesitate—just have the servants take care of it, anytime."
"Yes, I intend to, Brother."
"Ah, and Cassdia says she has something to discuss with you… I'd like it if you could stop by her room later."
"Sister-in-law does?"
Cassdia wanted to see me? What could this be about?
I glanced at Cassdia as if asking if this were really true, and she nodded, somewhat awkwardly.
"Yes. If possible, I'd appreciate it if you could bring Miss Yuria along as well. There's a matter I'd like to discuss in confidence."
"With Yuria… Understood. I'll see you later, then."
Surely it wasn't going to be about how Yuria couldn't stay with the family.
If that were the case, I'd genuinely have to flip everything over once and for all.
Well, I doubted the reformed Cassdia would do something like that.
It was probably about future arrangements, or some other matter entirely.
After giving a light bow in greeting, I led the two of them out of the dining hall.
Now that I thought about it, this was a little funny.
Yuria made sense, but even Lyriette following after me?
"By the way, Lyriette, didn't you say you were meeting Abel at the training grounds?"
"What? Ah—!"
"Ha, seems like you'd forgotten."
It had all sounded so natural that I half-suspected as much.
Even having said the words herself just moments ago, she'd apparently forgotten in an instant.
Knowing him, Abel was probably already grinning and heading out of the dining hall toward the training grounds.
If she didn't rush to her room to change clothes right this instant, she'd barely make it in time.
"Argh, no choice then. I was the one who suggested it, after all. Uncle, please play with Yuria for a while. I'll finish up quickly and come right back."
She surely meant she'd return once training was over.
But having witnessed that scene by accident earlier, the "target" in question now felt more like Abel's very life hanging in the balance.
"Lyriette, wait a moment."
Whether she truly intended to send him off in one blow or not, I caught hold of Lyriette just as she was turning around with grim determination.
If I let her go like this, she'd surely be blinded by the thirst for revenge, and regardless of whether it was her own brother or not, she'd merge him with the training ground floor and return with a refreshed expression on her face.
"Yuria, if you don't mind, would you like to come watch Lyriette's morning training with me?"
"Morning training? What's that?"
"Lyriette is a swordswoman. She trains with her brother every morning through sparring matches."
"Sparring? Fighting? Like, pow pow?"
Yuria asked, knocking her two fists together as she spoke.
It seemed that, in her understanding, sparring was basically the same as a brawl.
I wanted to tell her that wasn't quite right.
But remembering how Lyriette had just looked, the words of denial refused to come out for a moment.
Considering it was always the same person getting beaten up, it did seem roughly similar.
No wait, as an uncle, I shouldn't be thinking things like that.
"Strictly speaking, it's a bit different, but anyway, what do you say? Would you like to come watch together?"
"Yeah, I'll go."
Well, that settled it.
From the looks of it, Lyriette still didn't want to be separated from us just yet.
This was the best possible choice.
"Did you hear that? Go change your clothes quickly and come back out, Lyriette."
"Y-yes…! I'll be right back!"
"Don't run. You'll trip."
"Yes!"
As expected, Lyriette brightened up, spun around at once, and disappeared down the hallway.
And after that, we were forced to witness, up close and personal, Abel getting thoroughly beaten up in the training grounds.
***
"I've come as you called for me, Sister-in-law."
"Yuria came too."
"Welcome, both of you."
After watching the two of them go at it in the training grounds—though it was really just Abel being one-sidedly beaten up—Yuria and I headed toward the Argent couple's bedroom.
Normally, we'd talk in the drawing room or somewhere outside.
The fact that she'd specifically called us to her bedroom suggested this was fairly important.
"I take it this concerns Yuria."
"Yes. Though, to be precise, it's not only about Miss Yuria."
"Hm?"
Not only about Yuria?
That had a curious ring to it.
Once we'd taken our seats, Cassdia personally poured the tea and brought up the topic.
"To be honest, I've been thinking about Lyriette ever since that incident before."
"I see."
"Due to my own shortcomings, I took a great deal away from that child. The greatest loss was surely parental love, but almost as significant, I think, was her right to experience the world."
The right to experience the world.
Those words carried real weight.
Indeed, Lyriette's past ten years had been little different from abandonment.
She hadn't even been able to make friends, let alone receive a proper education.
At most, she'd had lessons in basic manners, etiquette, and history.
Even that hadn't been for her own sake, but merely so she wouldn't embarrass the family name wherever she went.
"I do intend to hire tutors for her, but that alone doesn't seem like enough. So first, I wanted to give that child a chance to make friends. Ironically, it seems my thinking overlapped with yours."
"I see."
Quite the coincidence.
But well, the more friends, the better, in any case.
"By any chance, do you know of the rehearsal debutante, sir?"
"I understand it's a gathering meant to serve as practice before entering society proper—small social circles arranged for young children."
"That's right. So I decided to arrange such an occasion for Lyriette. When I asked her opinion on it, she agreed readily. Though she did say she'd prefer no boys be present…."
"Hm."
Somewhat unexpected, but understandable in a way.
Lyriette had never had friends to begin with.
Making new acquaintances at all would already be a burden for her, and if the other party were of the opposite sex, that burden would only grow heavier.
It seemed her goal for now was to start by making friends among her own gender.
Taking things one careful step at a time—that cautious choice suited her, and I liked it.
"But why tell this to Yuria and me?"
I understood the reasoning behind it for myself, but couldn't quite guess why Yuria had been called in as well, so I asked—and she extended her hand.
Toward Yuria.
Quite courteously too, as if inviting her to dance at some social ball.
Drawn in by the gesture, my gaze shifted along with it.
"I hear you intend to raise Miss Yuria as your disciple, sir."
"Yes, that's correct."
"Then naturally, she'll inevitably become entangled with other nobles as well. Even if this child comes from common birth."
That was certainly true.
Especially if she grew close with Lyriette, it would be all the more unavoidable.
"So I thought, why not take this opportunity to have Miss Yuria attend as well?"
"Yuria too?"
"Yes. Of course, she'll need to receive some basic etiquette training beforehand, but you were already planning on that regardless, weren't you?"
"That's true, but…."
That much was necessary if she were to stay at the manor, after all.
"Once that's finished, perhaps we could arrange the gathering then. Only if Miss Yuria herself is agreeable, of course."
"Is there any possibility that children from other houses might look down on her for being commoner-born?"
If Yuria were to suffer some needless heartbreak because of this, I couldn't accept that.
When I voiced my concern, Cassdia smiled demurely.
"Don't worry. I intend to invite only young ladies known for proper conduct and kind hearts from each house. Whatever happens behind closed doors, I can't say for certain, but at the very least, nothing of that sort will happen to her face."
"Behind closed doors, you can't say for certain, huh…."
Well, covering even that much would be asking too much, I supposed.
That level of assurance was more than enough.
But still, the most important thing was Yuria's own wish.
"Yuria, what do you think?"
"Think about what?"
"This lady is offering you a chance to make friends. Of course, whether they actually become your friends will depend on your own effort."
"Friends? Like Yuria and Lyriette?"
"That's right."
Yuria still didn't fully understand what a friend was.
Her relationship with Lyriette was only called "friendship" because I'd labeled it as such—she had no real idea what kind of bond friendship entailed, or what friends actually did together.
And yet, despite that, having one more person like Lyriette in her life seemed to appeal to her somehow.
"Yeah, I'll do it."
"Are you sure you're all right with this?"
"Lyriette said she wants lots of friends. Said that's a good thing. If Yuria does good things, Baal will be happy too."
So she'd decided it wasn't a bad choice, since it was something Lyriette wanted, too, huh.
It was a little worrying, but since she wanted it herself, there wasn't much more I could add.
"You'll need to take separate lessons until then—will that be all right?"
"Lessons? What about Baal?"
"I won't be able to stay with you during those."
"Then I won't do it. I'll sleep with Baal."
"No, I meant you'll be with me when it's time to sleep."
"Then I'll do it."
…I honestly couldn't tell where Yuria's tolerance threshold lay anymore.
Apparently it was fine for me not to be around normally, but absolutely necessary at bedtime.
'Could it have something to do with Yuria's past?'
The question crossed my mind briefly, but now wasn't the time to dwell on it.
"All right then. Let's study hard starting today, show Lyriette how impressive you've become, and make plenty of friends too. Sound good?"
"V."
Was that a gesture of confidence, showing she could do it?
I patted the head of Yuria, who was making a V-sign with both hands.
For now, all I could do was hope things would go well from here.