A Secret Massage
"Go eat your meal or something."
"I can't do that. How could I just leave when the uncle who took care of me when I was hurt is the one in pain now?"
"I'm telling you, I'm fine. It'll get better if I just stay still. I don't need a massage or anything."
"You have fifteen massage tickets and everything. They say if you save them, they turn into poop! I'm not leaving until you say you'll use a massage ticket."
"...Fine. I'll use one."
"Yay!"
She was so insistent that I had no choice but to agree. Using the massage tickets in such an awkward way wasn't part of the plan, but... like Charlotte said, since there were fifteen of them, using one as a trial run wouldn't hurt.
I sat on the bed with a resigned sigh and lifted my leg onto the chair with a thud. My muscles twitched and spasmed, sending an indescribable pain shooting through my calf.
"Whoa. That looks really bad. It must hurt a lot when a cramp hits such a skinny leg."
"..."
She was right. No matter how you looked at it, these weren't the legs of someone who went outside often. It was the body of someone who spent all their time shut in a room, but lately I'd been dragging it all over the place, so it was only natural that something like this would happen.
Charlotte knelt in front of me, rolled up my pant leg, and carefully placed her hands on my twitching calf muscles.
"W-wait a second."
"It's fine. Leave it to me."
"...Ugh."
She immediately grabbed my foot and started kneading the muscle. Her touch was surprisingly skilled. Had she massaged someone else's legs before besides mine? A strange, directionless jealousy began to rise, but—
"I've had plenty of cramps myself, so I know all about them. I run right after waking up, run right after eating, so I've already become an expert at catching cramps!"
"..."
Well, that was a relief. I felt a weight lift off my shoulders. As I felt the muscle spasms gradually subside under Charlotte's rough but effective hands, I found myself oddly reluctant to see the pain disappear.
"Cramps, cramps, run away! Meow!"
"...What the heck is that?"
"It's a cramp! If you pretend to be a cat, it'll run away!"
"..."
That was quite the adorable idea. Charlotte meowing at my calf was like a wild cat. Hmm. Calling her a cat felt too energetic. Maybe a compromise—dog-cat hybrid—would do.
"Thanks. I think all the cramps have run off now."
"Hehe. Then how about lying down for a bit?"
"What?"
"It'd be a waste to only use the massage ticket for a little leg rub."
This kid. She had a surprisingly strong service mindset. Usually, when kids gave massage tickets, they were just trying to earn a bit of pocket money and would half-heartedly follow through when it came time to use them. The fact that all fifteen were full-body massage tickets meant they were quite the bargain.
"Then step on my back. My back muscles feel all knotted up."
"S-step on you? Really?"
"Yeah."
"Uncle, you'll get crushed to death by me...!"
"I won't die, so don't worry and get on."
Just how heavy did she think she was? Or did I really look that frail? After hesitating for a long while, Charlotte slowly placed her foot on my back as I lay face-down on the bed.
She wiggled her toes, and I could feel them tickling my back.
"Kugh. Grrgh."
She stood on my back with both feet, spreading her arms for balance. Every time she shifted her weight uncertainly, the pressure moved to a different spot, and I couldn't help but let out uncontrollable groans.
This was it. I'd been struggling because I couldn't reach my own back, but my arms were fine. If I used up all fifteen massage tickets, I might end up buying more right away.
"D-does it hurt?"
"It's fine. That was just for effect."
"Uncle, you sound like an old man..."
"..."
Hearing that made me feel like Charlotte and I had suddenly grown distant. Come to think of it, how old was the age gap? Charlotte was thirteen, and I... well, Aslan was twenty-one, so there was an eight-year difference. That was enough to make us more like an older brother and younger sister, wasn't it? But I couldn't bring myself to tell her to call me "big brother." My conscience wouldn't allow it.
"Does it feel a little better now?"
"I'm satisfied. You can get down."
"Hehe. Then for the finishing touch!"
"...?"
She plopped down on my back and hugged me tightly.
"...What is this now?"
"The maid sisters said hugging is the best massage. They said if you hug someone, they'll feel energized."
"Who on earth said that? I need a name."
"Why? Are you going to punish them? Then I won't tell you."
"..."
Her arms were strong, probably because of her physical power. A fairly intense pressure wrapped around my body.
"Like this, I can hear your heartbeat, Uncle. Can't you feel mine?"
"I can't."
"Want to put your ear on my chest?"
"...I'll pass."
A hug, huh. It had been a while since I'd been held like this. Maybe the part about feeling energized wasn't entirely a lie. After hugging me for a long time and making little "nnngh!" sounds of effort, Charlotte finally pulled away.
"Massage complete! How was it? I'd like you to give me a rating!"
"Clumsy. And awkward. I thought you were great at dealing with the cramps, but once you got on my back, it was a completely different story. You couldn't find the knotted muscles at all and just wandered around."
"Ugh!?"
Her skill was mediocre at best. Even if I'd had a giant cat sitting on my back, it probably would've felt about the same. But skill wasn't what mattered.
"However, I'll give you ten points for sincerity. Thanks to you, I feel energized. Overall score: nine points."
"Yay! That means you'll ask for another massage, right? Right?"
"There are still fourteen massage tickets left. I would've used them all even if it was mediocre."
"Hehehe."
With a satisfied laugh, Charlotte carefully climbed off me. Then, wiggling her toes, she searched for her shoes under the bed before hopping down and putting them on.
"I'll keep what happened today a secret. If Julia hears about you struggling and flailing around with cramps, she'll tease you mercilessly."
Charlotte looked up at me with an intrigued smile. A secret, huh. Whether Julia found out about my cramps or not didn't really matter to me, but—
"This means we're sharing one secret each now."
"I suppose so. Thanks for keeping it a secret."
"Hehe."
Since Charlotte seemed happy, I decided to keep it a secret. Sharing secrets. It felt like we'd become best friends, which wasn't bad. I felt quite pleased that I'd gotten one step closer to Charlotte's heart.
"As a reward, should we go buy that doll I promised you today?"
"Sounds good! Shall we go now? I'll get ready right away... Huh?"
"What is it?"
"There's someone outside."
Charlotte's expression instantly hardened, and she whipped her head toward the door. She rushed over to check the slightly open gap, but finding no one, she quickly scurried back to me.
"Someone was eavesdropping! I couldn't see their face!"
It was probably one of the maids. I decided not to worry about it too much. But if someone had seen this scene, the maids' gossip would likely be filled with today's events for a while.
Why do I keep getting tangled up with these kids? It's giving me a headache.
I wasn't the type to raise a cute, kind wife candidate just to marry her either. I was only putting up with it because they were Yuri's friends, the hero and protagonist. I was sick and tired of villainous pairings.
"Uwaaah..."
Awawawa. Peeking through the slightly open door gap, Julia covered her own mouth.
What was that? Was that supposed to be a massage? How was hugging a massage! Even an idiot could tell that wasn't a massage!
The maid sisters taught her that? Lies...!
When the maid sisters had taught her how to give a massage, Julia had clearly been with Charlotte. She definitely hadn't heard anything like that back then!
She's so bold...
Julia had known that Charlotte followed Aslan well and liked him. But she'd believed without a doubt that it was all an act. After all, even though Charlotte looked kind, she was actually incredibly black-hearted. She smiled brightly on the outside and seemed thoughtless, acting nice to everyone, but deep down, she was someone who harbored intense hatred. Julia had thought Charlotte was only acting that way toward Aslan too, but—
Why is she really like that!?
What was happening inside the room was hard to believe came from a child who hated Aslan.
Julia covered her eyes with her hands as if she couldn't bear to watch Charlotte's actions, but her fingers unconsciously parted, revealing everything.
"Sounds good! Shall we go now? I'll get ready right away... Huh?"
"What is it?"
"There's someone outside."
"...!"
At that moment, Charlotte's head whipped around, and their eyes met exactly. Charlotte dashed toward the door in an instant. Julia tried to flee quickly, but in her haste to stand up, she tripped and fell.
"Hnngh..."
"...!"
Charlotte flung the door open and came face to face with the fallen Julia. With an unreadable, leisurely smile, Charlotte glanced behind her, slipped out the door, and whispered quietly.
"You don't have to worry, Julia. I'll become the countess. You wanted to leave here so badly, didn't you?"
"Ah..."
"Shh. Be quiet. He'll hear us inside."
"..."
Charlotte giggled quietly, then wiped the smile off her face and turned around.
"Someone was eavesdropping! I couldn't see their face!"
Lying sprawled in front of the now-closed door, Julia remained frozen. You wanted to leave here so badly. It was true. It was definitely true, but... Julia chewed on her lips, feeling strangely unsettled. Her chest ached and throbbed.