Unforgettable Memory (1)
Unforgettable Memory (1)
Shortly before Yune's group found Kir.
"Haaah...."
Kir had stepped out of the hall to sort through her tangled feelings.
Only once she was alone did she let out a sigh.
'...Am I really that small-chested?'
The source of her distress was simple: what her mother, Duchess Schmut, had said to her.
Schmut's conjecture—that Yune had been disappointed by Kir's relatively small chest, and that he pitied her, a woman with no feminine appeal.
The more Kir turned those words over in her mind, the heavier her heart grew. She looked down at her own half-exposed chest and sighed again.
'Yune was staring at Her Majesty the Kaiserin's chest. He really does like large ones, doesn't he?'
Her thoughts drifted naturally to Yune.
Her fiancé. The first man to awaken a woman's instincts in her. Yune.
She had not yet fully grasped the feeling called love, but Yune had already become someone special to her—so special that she regarded her engagement to him, arranged at birth, as an immense stroke of luck.
But she was convinced Yune did not see her the same way.
He openly said things like he wanted to break the engagement, or that he liked her as a friend but would never marry her.
Kir believed the reason was her own lack of womanly qualities. Her chest had not yet fully developed, and her disposition was timid. Even she could not imagine any man wanting to marry a woman like herself.
'...Just watch. I'll grow bigger than Mother, bigger than Her Majesty. Let's see if you can keep looking at me like that then.'
The resolve she had made earlier—to become more feminine—hardened within her once more.
Her mind then replayed the image of the outfit he had debuted that evening.
That maid dress, breathtakingly handsome, praised even by the Kaiserin. A luxurious costume befitting the youngest son of a Grand Ducal House's first debut.
But she could not look upon his attire with innocent eyes.
She had seen nearly every bare inch of him before, and she could vividly imagine the spectacular sight hidden beneath that maid dress.
Yune had never noticed, but throughout the evening in the hall, Kir had been watching him with "those eyes."
...Just like so many other women in the hall.
-Crunch.
'...I'm the only one who's allowed to look at Yune like that. I'm his fiancée.'
As she recalled the reactions of the other women who had been staring at him, another true feeling rose from inside her chest: jealousy.
By now, she regarded him as her fiancé—as the man she would one day marry. The gazes of other women, fixed on Yune, had secretly infuriated her.
Especially when she thought of how their eyes traced the delicate lines of his body visible through the maid dress, his flat chest, his straight, unflared hips.
The discomfort soon boiled into a furious rage that churned hotly inside her. Hot enough that she felt not a trace of cold even as she wandered the gardens in her thin dress.
So she kept pacing through the garden, hoping the winter air might cool her burning heart.
* * * * * *
In the dark garden, Kir's dress shone white under the moonlight, her face shadowed with melancholy.
Anyone could see at a glance—even from a distance—the image of a noble young lady burdened by deep worry.
Perhaps that was why.
"Fräulein Kirschblüte. Might I have a moment?"
"...Yes?"
A man approached her.
'This person is from the Kirchhof Viscount House... What was his name?'
"Ah, forgive the late introduction. I am Bruel von Kirchhof. Please, simply call me Bruel."
Seeing her awkward expression, the man introduced himself as Bruel.
Information about his family flickered through Kir's mind.
A noble house that, unusually, had produced many children. The head of the house had bequeathed each of the family's core businesses to a different daughter but had never clearly named a successor, which intensified the rivalry among the heirs. The Kirchhof Viscount House.
The result of the heirs' political and economic attacks on one another was a textbook fallen aristocratic family whose core businesses had all collapsed.
At last, she turned her attention to his face and studied it more closely.
Murky eyes. An unmistakably gloomy aura. The exact opposite impression of Yune, who was like a vibrant wildflower.
The idea that a man with that expression had approached her was hardly welcome. Her reply came out curt.
"Sir Bruel von Kirchhof. What business do you have?"
"A young lady beautiful as a flower, wandering the garden all alone..."
"...?"
Bruel was murmuring something, but she could not focus on his words at all.
Because.
'...Why is he speaking like a woman?'
His manner of speech felt so profoundly alien to her.
His tone, like that of a middle-aged woman attempting seduction, only made her expression harden further.
Seeing that, Bruel shrugged.
"Now, now. There's no need to be so tense, Fräulein Kirschblüte."
"...Forget it. I wish to be alone, so I would be grateful if you withdrew."
"Please, don't be like that. It will only take a moment, so spare me a little time."
Uncomfortable, Kir tried to dismiss him quickly, but he paid no mind and pulled something from inside his jacket.
It looked like a bead, subtly emitting a red glow and visibly high-quality.
"This is an elixir our family has newly developed."
"...? You developed an elixir?"
"Quite so. A precious elixir of the rarest kind, said to be obtainable only from a ten-thousand-year-old carp that dwells near a red dragon's lair. We have developed one over ninety percent identical to it."
Bruel began to boast about the so-called elixir in his hand.
He explained that this elixir could even be mass-produced, and that anyone who used it would be able to accumulate mana in their body with ease.
"The Fire Magic Tower has also certified its safety. See for yourself."
"Hmm... It's real."
"Correct. This is a masterwork created by the full mobilization of our family's technical expertise."
Kir had thought it highly suspicious, but the presentation of an appraisal certificate officially issued by a magic tower left her no choice but to believe the elixir was genuine.
Still, her reaction remained cool.
"It is certainly remarkable, but why are you showing this to me? This seems like a matter for the adults... or rather, for the heads of our houses to discuss."
"Due to certain... unfortunate circumstances in our family, I am the only one available to step forward at present."
"Then you could simply speak directly to my mother, couldn't you?"
"Ah..."
Kir pressed him, arms now crossed. Bruel hesitated briefly before continuing.
"Her Grace the Duchess is, well... always in the company of other nobles, is she not. I wished to show this item to Her Grace alone."
"Why?"
"Because a technology like this gains far greater value when monopolized by a single family rather than being revealed to all."
"...Hmm. So that was your thinking."
Kir reluctantly accepted his explanation. She thought she would have handled it far more effectively herself, but she assumed this was the best idea a man could conceive.
Seeing her give a half-hearted nod, a smile crept onto Bruel's lips—a smile wholly unlike Yune's innocent laughter, carrying a faintly chilling air.
Then he produced one of the two inner cores he carried in a pouch and extended it toward her.
"This is a gift from me. Please, try one."
"...I have no need of it."
"When ingested by a minor, it accelerates growth by circulating mana through the body. You will not regret trying it."
Bruel pressed the elixir on her.
Her interest flickered for an instant at the claim that the elixir accelerated growth.
'If my growth accelerates... will my chest grow faster too?'
Kir wavered briefly, wondering if it might solve the chest concern she had been agonizing over.
But she shook her head.
"If I need it, I will formally purchase and ingest it later—after others have taken it and its effects have been properly verified."
"...Tch."
"Now, if you'll excuse me. I will at least inform my mother about the elixir."
She had become more cautious since the previous attack incident. And she had sensed something deeply unsettling in his murky eyes.
Waving him off, she moved to leave.
But.
-Thud.
"Don't refuse. Just take it, while I'm still asking nicely."
"...!!"
Bruel blocked her path. Her breath caught for an instant.
'W-why is he being so terrifying?'
His expression, twisted like a vicious demon. And his menacing words.
Timid by nature, she recoiled in sudden fright and stumbled backward.
"Wh-what is this? I said no."
"I said eat it."
Kir retreated several more steps. Bruel, now dropping all pretenses of formality, strode steadily toward her.
Before she realized it, she had been driven to a dead end in the garden. There was nowhere left to step back.
Her vision filled with Bruel's figure, backlit by the moon.
-Plop.
'I-I'm scared... Why is he doing this? Even if his house is declining, he's still a noble son. What could he possibly gain by doing this to me?'
Her legs gave out and she dropped to the ground.
She was completely incapacitated—so helpless that she could hardly have resisted if the approaching Bruel had forced the elixir into her mouth.
But.
In that maze-like garden where no one had seemed likely to come, someone appeared.
-Step, step.
The one who appeared was Kir's fiancé. Yune.
Wearing an uncharacteristically serious expression, far from his usual carefree smile.
"Get away from Kir. Now."