Kir and Even Sister Mar Are Acting Weird Today...
Kir and Even Sister Mar Are Acting Weird Today...
The entrance ceremony banquet for the nobles had ended.
Together with Kir, I saw my family off at the academy's main gate.
"Yune, you have to call us. If you skip even one day, your sister will be so worried she might just show up at the academy, you know."
"Geez, Charl... I said I've got it, okay?"
"If anyone gives you a hard time, make sure you tell Mar."
"Albert too... Anyway, I got it!"
My sisters and I exchanged quick, simple goodbyes once more.
"Kirschblüte. I'm entrusting Yune to you. Should anyone try to lay a hand on him, you have my permission to use my name."
"Just leave it to me, Mother. For the next two years, I won't let any other woman so much as touch a single finger to Yune."
"That includes you."
"......Yes."
And then, off in a corner, Mom threatened Kir again. ...Really, Mom.
After saying our goodbyes, we turned our backs and headed back inside the academy grounds. I could clearly feel my family watching me as I walked away, but I did my best to ignore it and strode confidently forward.
Only when I reached a spot out of sight of the main gate did I finally let my shoulders slump and sigh.
"Whew... I thought I was going to die. My feet just wouldn't move."
"Pfft. You okay?"
"Mark of a Manly Man: totally fine! And it's not like we're parting forever, right?"
"Good to hear."
Maybe because her own tension had eased, Kir laughed in her usual way. And then, as naturally as ever, she took my hand.
"Come on, I'll escort you to your dormitory."
"Huh? I can go by myself, you know?"
"Don't turn me down. My dormitory is near yours anyway."
"Yeah... okay!"
After accepting Kir's offer to escort me, we strolled through the academy, hand in hand.
-Murmur murmur.
"...Hehe."
"Hm? Kir, what's gotten into you all of a sudden?"
"It's nothing. I'm just happy."
At the sound of people whispering around us, Kir suddenly broke into a grin.
'...Kir's acting a little weird today. Why does her mood keep going up and down like this?'
I wanted to ask her what was up, but Kir pressed herself even closer, as if she wouldn't give me a chance. She naturally laced her arm through mine and looked down at me as she spoke.
"Come to think of it, Yune."
"What, all of a sudden?"
"There's something you haven't said to me, isn't there?"
"Huh?"
"You know. What you said to the classmates you met today."
"...Ah!"
At Kir's question, I finally remembered that I hadn't yet said those words to Kir. Maybe because we'd been so close lately; I'd almost let it slip by. I cleared my throat, steadied my breathing, and then put on the biggest smile I could manage.
"Kir, I'm counting on you at the academy, too!"
Just as I'd done with my other classmates, I gave her the standard "I'm counting on you" greeting. Kir's smile spun wide when she heard it.
"Pfft. I'm counting on you as well, my prince."
"...Gah!! I told you not to call me that!? If other people hear that, they'll call it lèse-majesté!"
"But Yune, you're my one and only prince, aren't you?"
After that, Kir started teasing me with prince this and prince that. Being called a prince at sixteen wasn't exactly pleasant, so I launched a counterattack at once.
"...Well then, you're my one and only princess!"
"...!!?"
"Hehehe. How do you like that? Embarrassing when you hear it, isn't it? If you keep teasing me like that, I'll just keep calling you this, you know?"
"This kid, seriously... Haa. I wonder if I can stand two whole years of this."
"Huh? What'd you say?"
"I said nothing at all, my prince~."
"G-Gaah!!"
Despite my ambitious counterattack, Kir simply laughed it off.
And so Kir and I traded playful jabs back and forth as we made our way to the dormitory.
'Actually, it kinda feels like every time I call her "my one and only princess" she likes it even more? Don't tell me Kir actually enjoys being called a princess at this age...?'
* * * * * *
Kir and I arrived at my dormitory. Standing in front of a building that practically screamed, "A child of an esteemed house resides here," I stared with my mouth hanging open in wonder.
'...I get this whole place to myself?'
I'd heard that the dormitories for noble students at the academy were divided by family title and that people like Kir and me would be given separate houses, but... I hadn't imagined it would be like this. The imposing sight, worthy of being called a luxurious mansion rather than a dorm, drew an involuntary exclamation from me.
"...It hits me all over again, but this is incredible. I get this all to myself?"
"Well, we're great nobles. This much is only natural."
"I didn't know it would be like this. If I had, I would've brought a few more servants besides Chloe."
"Mother likely dispatched some on her own. Look, your family's knights are out front, aren't they?"
"Ah, so they are? Good."
We chatted about the mansion as Kir eventually saw me all the way to its front gate.
"I'll leave you here, then."
"Okay. Thanks. Where's your mansion?"
"Right next door. It won't take me long, so I'll come visit often after classes."
"Yeah! Come by anytime!"
"Got it. Rest well, and I'll see you in class tomorrow. You absolutely have to sit with me tomorrow, okay?"
"Yeah! You rest well too, Kir!"
After promising to meet again at the first class tomorrow, and to definitely sit together, Kir and I parted naturally. The knight who had been watching wasted no time and strode right up to me.
"Young Master Yunes."
"Hm?"
"Please go inside right away. Lady Margarete is waitin' for you."
* * * * * *
It was a fairly large mansion. But even so, finding Mar inside wasn't difficult at all. It wasn't because I asked the family butlers in the mansion, who seemed to have been dispatched by Mom. They came over to guide me, but I sent them away, telling them I didn't need it. After that, I padded my way along.
"Haaah... Hoooh...."
I headed toward the source of the damp-sounding groans.
"Haaah, haaah... Huff!"
'Is this mansion poorly soundproofed? ...No, it's not. The door is just open.'
Mar's voice grew louder as I approached a slightly open door in a secluded corner. The stuffy yet familiar smell slowly filling the hallway told me exactly what Mar, inside that room, was doing all alone. My sister, who must have been stressed from all the graduate-student work lately, had only one obvious thing to do by herself where no one could see her.
'Honestly, Mar... At least she could close the door when she does this.'
I sighed, strode quickly up to the door, and immediately yanked it wide open.
-Slam.
"Mar!"
"H-Haah!? Little brother?!"
Inside the room was, of course, Mar. Wearing only a single piece of underwear and rolling around on the floor. I took in her completely drenched body, saw the clear liquid dripping from her and forming puddles on the floor, and screwed up my face as I spoke.
"I told you not to work out in the house! It smells of sweat!!"
Only then did she scramble to her feet and look at me.
"S-Sorry. I got so into it I didn't even notice my little brother was coming. Does it really smell of sweat?"
Mar was breathing roughly and wiping the sweat from her face with a flushed expression. A sigh escaped me when I saw she hadn't even properly adjusted her clothes, not noticing that one strap of her underwear had slipped off her shoulder.
"Yeah. A ton. ...But why are you working out in here?"
"I haven't been able to train at all. Your sister was so busy she couldn't sleep for two days straight."
"......."
"You were late, so I used the time while I was waiting to squeeze in a quick workout. Sorry about the sweat smell, little brother."
'...Oh, come on, no need to be sorry.'
But the moment I heard her say she hadn't slept for two days, any thought of scolding her melted away like snow. Mar had become a graduate student because of me and was working so hard she couldn't even sleep for two days. If I scolded her over this, that would mean I lacked something as a person. Yeah.
Feeling a little awkward, I picked up her outer clothes from the floor and stole a glance at the soaked underwear she was wearing.
"Go wash up first. Do you need a servant?"
"Nah. You know I hate that kind of hassle. I'll just roughly rinse the sweat off with cold water or something."
"Okay. Do you have spare underwear?"
"Ah... I'll just throw on my clothes."
"No matter what, that's a bit much. I happen to have something decent, so take this."
"A ribbon? Why a ribbon all of a sudden?"
"It's not just a ribbon. This is...."
* * * * * *
Taking the artifact I'd handed her, Mar went off to wash. True to her word about just rinsing off the sweat, she came back in under five minutes.
"...Little brother?"
"Yeah? What?"
Oddly, she poked just her head out past the doorframe and then partly revealed her upper body while looking at me.
"How is it, little brother? Does it look like I'm wearing clothes?"
"Yeah."
"Really? What does it look like?"
"A white headdress, a black-and-white top. And a yellow ribbon. It looks really pretty, Mar!"
"Yeah? So this is what other people would see too...."
Only after I complimented her with, "You definitely look like you've got clothes on, and they're pretty," did she come inside, reassured. She kept fidgeting as she walked over, then flopped down onto the sofa. With a strangely flushed face, Mar was wearing... a formal suit. By Ryu Si-u's standards, it was an outfit you'd be fully justified in calling a maid uniform.
Of course, she wasn't actually wearing a maid uniform. In reality, she was still wearing the outer clothes she'd just taken off. The reason she looked like she was in a maid uniform was purely due to the effect of the artifact I'd given her.
The ribbon I'd given her was an artifact that altered the wearer's outward appearance to a designated look, regardless of their actual gear. I'd originally asked around and obtained it to try to do something about the penalty from the invisibility potion, but as you can see, that designated look was a maid uniform. I mean, a formal suit. To me it was like a chicken rib—an item I'd just been keeping in my subspace pouch. Seems it finally came in handy like this.
Filled with admiration, I began inspecting Mar's outfit, intent on examining every single fold and wrinkle.
"This is really amazing. It suits you incredibly well, Mar!"
"...."
"You know, I'm surprised this look suits you so well? I wish you'd go around dressed like this all the time. Hehe."
"......."
I kept praising and looking over her outfit. But Mar suddenly covered her clothes with her arms.
"...Don't stare so blatantly, little brother. It's a little embarrassing."
"Huh?"
She even had a slight blush, as if she were somewhat bashful. It was such an un-Mar-like reaction that I tilted my head, wondering what was up with her.
"All of a sudden? Is a maid— I mean, is a formal suit that embarrassing?"
"That's not it... Just a second. Let me go put some clothes back on."
"Underwear? It probably hasn't dried yet, though?"
Mar even awkwardly got up, saying she'd go put on the underwear that she'd just hurriedly sent to a servant for laundry and that wasn't even dry yet. I quickly sat her back down—by throwing myself into her lap and clinging to her, just like usual.
"...!!?"
She naturally sat back down on the sofa. And I was now sitting on her thighs, facing her. I immediately spoke up, telling her I'd give her a massage.
"Don't be like that. You've worked hard lately, right? You must be tired from working out, so I'll give you a massage!"
Mar looked startled, her body rigid for whatever reason. I figured it was just exhaustion from the workout she'd been doing moments earlier, and I tried to place my hands on her shoulders, but...
"Ah, no!!"
-Snatch. Swish.
With reflexes befitting a knight commander, she blocked my hands, then lifted me up and peeled me off her. I stood there dumbfounded, wondering why she was acting like this.
"I'm going to go put some clothes back on, so you just wait there for a little bit, little brother!"
"Mar!?"
But she left me behind and headed back out.
'What's gotten into her all of a sudden? Both Kir and Mar are acting weird today....'