New Family
Shiron had no desire to intrude on a family reunion. He waited a moment for their attention to turn his way.
"And those children are…"
"I'm Shiron Prien."
"…I'm Lucia Prien."
Shiron bowed at the waist in greeting. Lucia hurried to copy him a beat later. Unaccustomed to proper etiquette, she figured the noble young master's way of doing things had to be the right answer.
"Mother! These are the new friends I made!"
"…I see."
And yet even after the introductions and Siriel's additional presentation, her reaction remained distinctly lukewarm. When Shiron glanced up, Eldrina's expression had hardened into something stiffer than before they'd greeted her.
"Darling. A word with you."
"Very well."
Siriel's mother, Eldrina, took Hugo and disappeared into the mansion ahead of them.
"……"
Just like that, only the children were left standing at the front gate.
"Siriel. Was there something weird about the way we greeted her just now?"
"Huh? Seemed normal to me."
Siriel shrugged at Lucia's question.
"Young Master, is something the matter?"
Ophelia poked her head out from inside the carriage.
"Not sure. For now, let's sort the luggage later."
Shiron had a feeling his relationship with Eldrina was not going to be smooth sailing. Apparently Hugo hadn't given her any advance notice. You couldn't exactly move another household's people in without discussing it first — and if things took a turn for the worse, they might end up having to find a place of their own.
Good thing I brought Encia and Ophelia along.
A short while later, an elderly man in a formal suit approached.
"The madam requests your presence."
"Yes."
Shiron wiped the sweat from his brow and answered.
There were times when the advantages of possession simply didn't apply.
When someone who never appeared in the story — or who drifted through without leaving any real impression — suddenly takes an interest in you.
In his previous life, Shiron had been a longtime player of the game Reincarnation Sword God. Thanks to that, he could rattle off the personalities and even the petty preferences of every character who showed up in the main story. What he did not have memorized were the traits of people who never appeared at all.
Which was, most likely, exactly the situation he was in now.
The room he was guided to was a parlor meant for receiving guests. Ornate decorations chosen for appearances caught the eye, and every sofa and carpet was unmistakably high-end. He could feel the softness of the carpet even through his shoes.
He had just settled onto a sofa and started looking around when a woman entered belatedly.
Silver hair that shimmered where the light caught it. Blue eyes. A figure that was voluptuous without quite crossing into vulgarity.
It was Eldrina — Siriel's mother, a character who barely registered even in the lore of Reincarnation Sword God, little more than a background mention attached to the killer whale that was her daughter.
"You must be overwhelmed. I'm sorry about that."
The woman before them offered the children a warm smile.
"Allow me to introduce myself again. I'm Shiron Prien."
"…I'm Lucia Prien."
"Don't just stand there. Make yourselves comfortable."
Eldrina seated herself on the opposite sofa, and only once her permission had been given did the children sit down in turn.
Had that been the right move just now? Eldrina covered her mouth with a fan and smiled with her eyes. Shiron found the mannerism unsettling. Something about it got under his skin.
What exactly did she and Hugo talk about…
Truthfully, it was only natural for adults to size up children they were meeting for the first time. Calling in the people you'd be living with starting today to make sure they weren't complete disasters wasn't even particularly uncomfortable. In the real world, that was simply how things worked — and because he understood the reason, he could accept it.
But this was a world inside a game.
He had been possessed into a game world that had become indistinguishable from reality, and yet the fundamental nature of the place hadn't gone anywhere.
Intuitiveness.
A character's personality was usually revealed to players through the narrative as the story unfolded — but when that wasn't possible, it was often laid out plainly through their appearance. Hugo was a steadfast warrior. Encia was a mischievous girl. Under the banner of "plausibility," the pieces snapped together like a puzzle.
She's a half-lidded-eyes type.
So Shiron assessed her character from her looks and conducted himself accordingly. Acting cocky the way he had in front of Hugo was out of the question.
Half-lidded eyes, and a noble lady on top of that?
In a world where outward appearance carried so much of a character's plausibility, Eldrina had been openly appraising them this entire time.
She's going to be difficult.
Shiron suppressed every physiological tell — rolling his eyes, fidgeting with his hands, scratching the back of his hand, anything that could be used against him. He didn't dare touch the fancy desserts or lemonade set out in front of him either.
"My husband tells me you practically live with lemonade in your mouth? Our Siriel is quite fond of it herself. I do hope it's to your taste."
Eldrina smiled warmly at the children.
"No need to stand on ceremony. Eat as much as you like."
"…Thank you."
Only then did Shiron begin picking at the cake in front of him. He didn't particularly want to, but there was no helping it.
"…"
And so, little by little, until every last dessert on the table had vanished, Eldrina said nothing at all.
"It seems it was to your liking."
"Thanks to you…"
How many minutes had passed? Shiron had completely cleaned the plate of whatever purpose it had been set out for. Only then did Eldrina nod, apparently satisfied.
"I hope you'll understand that I didn't call you here separately to lecture you on how to behave in this house."
"Then what for?"
Lucia asked, squirming a little.
"I thought you were his hidden children."
"…?"
What kind of nonsense is this? He'd been wondering what she was going to say after dragging them in here like this.
"…May I ask why you would think that?"
Still half-stunned, Shiron found himself asking before he could stop himself. Eldrina laughed, looking faintly embarrassed.
"How should I put this? Delusional jealousy? Envy? Yes, that sounds about right."
"Jealousy?"
Lucia stared at her with an expression of pure disbelief.
"My husband is rather exceptional, you see. Ever since he was young, the pests have been swarming around him."
"Pests…"
"…That must have been quite the ordeal."
"It was. It got so tiresome I worried every time he was out of my sight. Though I suppose it's not entirely incomprehensible."
Eldrina knew full well that her husband Hugo belonged to a very special family. Not just a little special — extraordinarily so. The stature of a man who received immunity and deference from both the Emperor and the Pope was enough to wear out anyone's tongue explaining it.
"Even the Emperor doesn't dare slight him, and his martial prowess is said to be the greatest on the continent. Isn't that terribly attractive?"
Shiron found Eldrina's narrowed eyes almost greedy.
"Does that mean you don't love Uncle?"
Lucia's eyes flashed as she asked. Hugo was a good man, and the sense that this woman was treating him lightly was more than enough to sour her mood.
Eldrina chuckled, clearly amused.
"What a bold question."
"Was that something I shouldn't have asked?"
"Not at all. I'm rather pleased, actually."
Eldrina crossed her legs and looked down at Lucia.
"I can say this with absolute confidence. Search the entire world and you won't find a single living creature that loves Hugo Prien more than I do. That's how I survived that wretched free-for-all."
"Sounds brutal."
Shiron let out a long sigh.
"Madam. Why are you telling us all this? It doesn't seem like the sort of conversation that would do Uncle any favors if he overheard."
"Who knows? When I lay things out this bluntly for children, most of them react more or less the same way. There have been a few who showed up claiming to be Prien descendants while my husband was away, you see."
Eldrina tapped her shoulder lightly with her fan.
"Every last one of them teared up and backed down. But you two talk back without the slightest hesitation. That's a first."
"Then, Madam — has your suspicion been cleared?"
Shiron offered a lukewarm smile as he regarded the wildcat sitting across from him.
"Of course."
The answer was clean and thoroughly satisfied. Lucia, however, crossed her arms, looking thoroughly unimpressed.
"Isn't that a rather dangerous way to go about fact-checking? There's always the chance we go tell Uncle everything that just happened."
"As if I'd lose confidence against a couple of well-spoken children. Besides, my husband is no fool."
"It's pretty ugly, picking on kids like that."
"If I'd cared about appearances, would I still be sitting here?"
Eldrina curled her lip as if she'd just heard something absurd.
"It wasn't a bad deal for you either. Being cleared of suspicion is a gain, isn't it?"
She rose from her seat and moved behind Shiron and Lucia.
"Welcome to the family."
Click—
Having held onto her doubts until the very end, Eldrina finally seemed satisfied. With those parting words, she vanished from the room.
Once no presence remained nearby, Lucia whipped around to face Shiron.
"Shiron. Can you believe it? That's Siriel's mom!"
"…Yeah."
"They only look alike — their personalities are complete opposites!"
Lucia poured it out in a rush of indignation, so worked up that Shiron could practically hear an illusory grrr — like an angry Chihuahua.
He tilted his head.
"Siriel might turn out just like that when she grows up."
"…Don't say something so horrible."