Chapter 129
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 128
Chapter Title: Taming the Tomboy (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Ugh…."
The past Schwarz, bound tightly by red vines and unable to move a muscle, glared at Kairen with eyes brimming with tears and flushed with humiliation.
"Raise your hands higher."
"Eek…."
"Oh? Your hands are dropping?"
But despite that, at Kairen's cold command, her two arms shot up toward the sky against her will.
"For an intruder…."
"……."
"You're trying to make a fool of the Belverks…."
Even so, Schwarz continued to glare at Kairen with fierce eyes, spitting out harsh words to maintain her momentum.
"Am I really just an intruder?"
"……What?"
"Then why are you obeying my commands?"
But at Kairen's following words, Schwarz flinched slightly, her momentum faltering.
"What the hell are you?"
"You don't need to know."
"Kuh?"
As Kairen brought his crimson eyes close to Schwarz's face and whispered, cold sweat began to bead on her forehead.
"You should brace yourself…."
At the same time, Kairen's two hands slowly rose and rested on Schwarz's shoulders.
"I don't know what you're planning…."
"……?"
"But the Belverks' personal maid isn't that easy to handle."
Schwarz, who had been quietly biting her lip, flashed a cold smile at Kairen, who looked triumphant, and made her bold declaration.
"Even if my ten fingernails are torn out, my chest is sliced open with a knife, or one of my eyes is gouged, I won't make a single groan…."
But upon hearing those words, Kairen froze, his hands still on Schwarz's shoulders.
"I won't show the reaction you want…."
"……."
"…What?"
Seeing that, Schwarz tilted her head in confusion.
"No, I just remembered something from the past…."
"Something from the past?"
"Ah, anyway…."
But that lasted only a moment. Kairen quickly returned to his original expression, his eyes blazing, and thrust his hands into Schwarz's clothes with a shout.
"Hya!"
And then, a brief silence filled the room.
"……Hic."
The one who broke the silence was none other than Schwarz, who had been staring at Kairen with contemptuous eyes.
"Kyahahahaha?!"
"……."
"S-Stop! Eek?!"
Suddenly feeling an unfamiliar thrill course through her entire body, she widened her eyes, twisted her body, and burst into laughter.
"D-Don't do thaaat!"
But that lasted only a moment. Regaining her senses, she gritted her teeth, put on a serious face, and yelled at Kairen.
"Wh-Why are you doing this to me…!?"
"Well, that's, you see…."
Kairen flinched slightly at her reaction but soon narrowed his eyes and began moving his hands again.
"Revenge!"
And once more, Schwarz's dazed laughter echoed through the room.
"S-Serioushly, stop! Stop it!"
"…Tickle tickle."
"Dangerous! It's really dangerous!"
Her laughter gradually turned into desperate pleas as she struggled to breathe, but Kairen's revenge(?) showed no signs of stopping.
"I was wrong!!!!!"
Thanks to that, at some point, she was shedding tears, abandoning all bravado, and screaming.
"…Hic."
How much time had passed since I started tickling the past Schwarz out of burning revenge?
- Shudder….
As I pulled my hands out from under her clothes and stepped back, her body trembled violently before her eyes rolled back and she slumped limply.
'Did I go too far?'
I did have that thought upon seeing her, but considering what the future Schwarz had done to me, it still felt insufficient.
'But why do my commands work on the past Schwarz?'
While thinking that, a sudden question popped into my head.
'The contract between me and Schwarz was made two years before the present….'
Could the future contract affect the past? No, that seemed too much of a leap….
"…Big Sis!"
I was furrowing my brow and mulling over this new question that had arisen since starting the time travel when—
"Are you feeling better?"
"……!"
"I came to see you during my rare outing time…. Schwarz?"
Suddenly, a frail-sounding voice reached my ears from behind.
"You didn't try to harm Big Sis without my permission again, did you…."
I turned my head toward the voice and immediately swallowed hard, my face tensing up.
"…Huh?"
The one who opened the door to Mother's room and entered was a girl wearing a white mask.
"Who are you?"
She was undoubtedly the most crucial puzzle piece, deeply involved in the incident from ten years ago.
"…Mm."
The young Astridje, lying in bed sweating coldly, slowly opened her eyes at the sudden voices coming from beside her.
'She's staying longer today….'
Spotting her 'guardian angel' in the distance, she frowned unnecessarily and averted her gaze downward.
'…It's troublesome if she stays here too long.'
Astridje, hiding her true feelings behind a cold expression, was about to snap at her again when—
"Hey, are you the guardian angel?"
"Uh, well…,"
"Wow, you're really cute."
Suddenly, a bright, kind voice familiar to her rang in Astridje's ear.
'Little Sis….'
Seeing her one and only little sister, wearing a white mask, standing before the guardian angel, Astridje hurriedly closed her eyes and pretended to sleep.
"But why is Schwarz acting like that over there?"
"Ngh… Hic…."
"She's my personal maid…."
At that moment, the white-masked girl pointed at Schwarz, who was slumped over while watching Kairen warily, and asked her question.
"She was after Lady Astridje, so I disciplined her a bit."
"R-Really?"
Hearing Kairen's explanation, she jumped in surprise and hurried over to Schwarz.
"Schwarz! I told you not to harm Big Sis!"
"……."
"Please. Big Sis is all I have…."
Continuing in a trembling voice, she paused for a moment.
"…If Big Sis disappears, I won't have a reason to live anymore."
With that, she issued her warning, her eyes visible behind the white mask turning red.
"If this happens again, the contract is off."
"…Ugh. Got it. Hic."
"Remember that…. Hey, are you okay?"
Only then did she belatedly notice something off about Schwarz's condition.
"Sh-She's fainted?"
"I-I might have disciplined her too harshly."
Turning her head, she heard Kairen scratching his head behind her.
"You're amazing…."
"Hehe."
"Thank you. For protecting Big Sis…."
Her eyes sparkling, she suddenly approached Kairen.
"As you can see, I'm weak, useless, and can't even control my personal maid properly. I'm trash."
"……."
"I'm a total failure as a Belverk. It's questionable if I can survive until adulthood."
She clasped her hands behind her back, her expression slightly cowed, spewing self-loathing before glancing at Kairen.
"S-So, um…."
Finally, the white-masked girl cautiously broached the subject.
"C-Could you maybe… be friends with me too?"
"……."
"I've heard so much about you from Big Sis! I've always wanted to get close!"
As she extended her hand, Kairen flinched slightly and gave an awkward smile.
"I may not have much to offer, but having more allies might help you too!"
It was around then that Astridje, pretending to sleep in bed, began quietly biting her lip.
'My guardian angel….'
This was probably the first time in her life she felt jealous of her little sister.
"……."
But feeling her heart tighten, Astridje bit her lip even harder yet still didn't rise from her place.
'…She's more needed by Little Sis than me.'
Even so, it made more sense for the guardian angel to protect her frail, powerless little sister—whose martial prowess was enough to make all her other siblings wary—than someone like her.
No, even without her yielding, things would naturally flow that way.
A sister with zero social skills, having closed off her heart for so long she couldn't even converse properly with others.
Compared to someone like that, it was only natural that her kind, sociable little sister—who remained popular even while wearing a white mask—was superior….
"…Sorry, but I'll have to decline."
"Huh?"
"For now, I'm… an outsider."
Astridje, who had been rationalizing it all while clutching the blanket tightly, suddenly doubted her own ears.
"And…."
But it was too clear to be a dream or illusion.
"I'm Lady Astridje's guardian angel alone."
With those words from Kairen, a brief silence descended on the room.
"I see…."
The white-masked girl, who had frozen for a moment in the silence, lowered her gaze with a dejected voice.
"If that's the case, I guess there's no helping it…."
But just as she accepted it with a sheepish attitude and withdrew her hand—
"…Gasp."
Suddenly, the sound of someone sharply inhaling filled the room.
"Did you hear that just now?"
"…Who knows?"
"Was it Schwarz?"
Perhaps due to the numerous assassination attempts, the white-masked girl immediately grew alert and scanned for the source of the sound.
"But Schwarz is still unconscious…."
"……."
"…Who on earth?"
This time, even she wouldn't pinpoint the source.
- Thump, thump….
She couldn't have guessed that it was her own big sister— who had hurriedly pulled the blanket over her head, rolled onto her side, covered her mouth, and flushed bright red.