Chapter 39
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 39
Chapter Title: Sleep Well, Sister
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In the face of Camilla's icy gaze, I had no choice but to bow my head.
"Just how do you blow up a low-grade circuit? Did you dump mana into it or something?"
"W-Well... something like that."
"Are you insane? Why would you do something like that?"
Was Camilla always this talkative? Her nonstop nagging was giving me a throbbing headache.
"I know..."
I didn't want to hear this from Camilla, who felt like my sworn enemy. But with no room for excuses, I just mumbled and nodded.
Watching me like that, Camilla suddenly ground her teeth.
"Is it because of me?"
"Huh?"
"Because I teased you about staying stuck in low-grade circuits forever?"
A faint fragment of emotion flickered in Camilla's hollow eyes. Was it my imagination? She almost looked sorry.
Camilla feeling guilty? No way that could be true.
"No, it was just my mistake. It won't happen again."
"..."
Even after my words, Camilla's expression didn't soften.
Her violet eyes turned away coldly, tugging at my heartstrings. I hadn't done anything wrong to her, yet I inexplicably felt like I should apologize.
'No helping it.'
Either way, this was my fault. I figured showing some example as the older one once in a while wouldn't hurt.
I tilted my head slightly and leaned toward her. Our noses brushed, and our lips met.
A soft warmth enveloped my lips. A quiet smack echoed in the room.
I slowly pulled back, leaving Camilla's warmth on my lips.
"Sorry. Forgive me?"
I offered the apology to Camilla, who blinked dazedly at me.
The reconciliatory kiss definitely worked. The frozen atmosphere from moments ago melted in an instant.
Camilla's eyes were still cool, but they held a calmer light now.
"...It's the first time you've initiated it, Sister."
She murmured softly, touching her lips with her fingertips.
A brief silence followed, then Camilla silently held out the mysterious envelope in her hand.
"Huh? What's this?"
"It's yours, Sister."
I took the envelope from Camilla. Its unexpectedly heavy weight made my body tilt downward naturally.
"What is this? Why's it so heavy...?"
I tilted my head and opened the envelope. A brilliant golden glow burst out, making my eyes widen involuntarily.
The pouch inside was stuffed full of gold coins. At least dozens of them.
"Five thousand rune."
"...What?"
Stunned by the unexpected amount, I looked up at Camilla. Meeting my demanding gaze, she shrugged lightly.
"For the mana herb."
A short reply.
The mana herb I'd given her before. She was returning the money as payment for it.
"I gave that as a gift. There's no reason to pay me back."
I hurriedly tried to hand the money pouch back, but Camilla didn't budge. She just stared at me with deep, silent eyes.
"You never accept anything, Sister."
"Huh?"
"Small gifts, small favors. You never take them. You always give them back."
"W-Well... I can't just keep taking..."
"Same for me. So take it."
Her eyes brooked no refusal, no room for compromise.
In the end, I awkwardly set the money pouch down on the bed.
"...Fine."
Maybe Camilla had a personality like mine.
Did she also want to accomplish things on her own?
"In exchange, promise me one thing, Sister."
Camilla stepped closer. Our breaths nearly touched.
A year ago, she had been just a bit shorter than me, but now her eye level matched mine.
"W-What?"
"Don't spend this money on anything weird. Use it only for mana circuit materials."
"Mana circuits?"
It was so sudden.
I wondered if she was joking, but Camilla's eyes were utterly serious.
"Don't draw circuits on cheap parchment. Use proper scrolls."
"Uh...?"
"Promise you'll spend it only on circuit supplies."
I was flustered, but it wasn't a bad suggestion. The first thing I'd planned to buy with earned money was circuit nodes anyway.
More than that, Camilla caring this much about my magic circuits—it was a little touching.
"O-Okay... I will."
If I thought of it as payment for the mana herb, there was no reason to refuse.
But since it had come to this, I should clarify one thing.
"Camilla."
"Yeah?"
"This is ten thousand rune worth."
"...Huh?"
"Where's the other five thousand rune?"
Camilla's eyes filled with bewilderment.
We were usually like sworn enemies.
But sometimes like this, she seemed kinda cute.
Roselia's week-long grounding order. I didn't mind much else, but not being able to do business hurt.
I was literally confined to the mansion. On top of that, all my magic circuit items had been confiscated, leaving me with nothing to do.
But there was something even more troubling.
"Not sleeping?"
The bedroom was dimly lit by a faint candle. Camilla's violet eyes pierced right through me.
She wore a black negligee with lace trim, still in her nightclothes.
"...I should."
I was lying next to her in a thin white negligee.
One bed.
One blanket.
We lay side by side, the same blanket covering us down to our thighs.
Roselia, who had issued the grounding, had said firmly: choose between Camilla's room and hers.
In the end, I chose Camilla's room. There was no way I could share a bed with Roselia and her destructively powerful body.
One dose of that stimulating memory was enough.
'Camilla's side feels more comfortable.'
A week. I could endure it.
Truth be told, I'd been thinking lately that I needed a good, long rest. The occasional auditory hallucinations and increasing headaches were probably from lack of sleep.
This could be a chance to recover my weary body with a full week of rest.
I let out a short sigh and slipped deeper under the blanket. Camilla followed, quietly pulling the covers up to her face.
And then silence fell.
Only the hoot of an owl broke the quiet night air. I closed my eyes to sleep, but the unfamiliar setting kept drowsiness at bay.
I glanced sideways. Camilla was staring at the ceiling with her eyes open too.
'Hmm... this feels a bit awkward.'
I'd thought we'd grown closer after all our fights, but lying in the same bed made the air feel strangely uncomfortable.
"Hey, you don't sleep-talk or anything, right?"
I spoke up to break the awkwardness a little. Since I wasn't falling asleep easily anyway, chatting might not be bad.
"Sleep-talk?"
Camilla's eyes rolled toward me.
I turned sideways to face her more comfortably. Camilla hesitated a moment, then turned to face me too.
Lying side by side, I flashed a slightly mischievous smile.
"No snoring, no teeth-grinding, nothing like that?"
"...Do you, Sister?"
Camilla frowned slightly.
Her disgusted expression suggested she disliked such habits too.
"No, not me. But back at the orphanage, there were quite a few."
Camilla's shoulders trembled faintly at my words.
The small vibration transmitted through the touching blanket.
"At the orphanage... you slept with others?"
"Of course. We weren't nobles or anything—nearly twenty kids crammed in one room."
Only Senior Isabel had her own room. Come to think of it, I wondered how she was doing.
"So... someone slept right next to you?"
Camilla's eyes widened.
Her slightly quivering eyelids were clearly visible.
"Yeah, pretty much."
Annie was on one side, and some other girl I wasn't close to on the other.
Thinking back, after the first night sharing with Annie, she started avoiding me a bit. The girl on the other side would avert her eyes or bow her head whenever she saw me.
'...Huh?'
Wait a second.
Did I maybe sleep-talk?
Now that I thought about it, something was off. Annie aside, there was no reason for the other girl to avoid me.
...Nah, probably not?
No way I snored loudly or muttered in my sleep unconsciously. Or ground my teeth.
The sudden possibility made me uneasy.
I might join the Hero Party someday and live in dorms—such habits would definitely be a minus.
If I had any, I needed to fix them now while young.
"Camilla."
"Yeah?"
"If I sleep-talk or do anything weird while asleep, tell me, okay?"
Camilla tilted her head with a puzzled look.
"...You said you don't."
"Of course I don't... but just in case."
Yeah, probably not.
I didn't have habits like that even in my previous life.
No way it'd appear in my second life?
A deep early morning where even faint moonlight couldn't reach.
"...Hot."
Camilla stared blankly at the ceiling.
Next to her, Bella clung to her tightly, arms wrapped around like hugging a doll.
Her slender breaths incessantly tickled Camilla's nape.
"Hnn... heh..."
If she'd just stay still, it might be bearable.
But Bella wriggled around, rubbing her face against Camilla's shoulder.
Each time, her blue hair brushed Camilla's skin, leaving itchiness behind.
"...You said no sleep-talking."
Camilla sighed deeply.
Even as her sister, she could be a bit annoying, Camilla thought.
Yet she didn't push Bella away.
It was uncomfortable, but not bad. At least less lonely than enduring the night alone.
Camilla slowly turned her head. Bella's beaming, sleeping face—pure white—came into view.
Delicate features under long lashes. Camilla's gaze lingered on Bella's slightly upturned lips.
Swish—
The blanket rustled. Camilla's upper body leaned forward.
Camilla's lips carefully descended onto Bella's sleeping ones.
Smack—
The tender sound of lips meeting.
Camilla pulled back slowly, a satisfied glint in her eyes.
"Sleep well, Sister."
Leaving a greeting Bella couldn't hear.
Her violet eyes slowly closed.