Chapter 27 The Only Person I Want To Understand Is You
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
April 20th
Emergency situation.
Fiine and Oratorio made contact before Miss Marcato’s eyes.
Today started with a request for Fiine’s mana analysis, which she agreed to. The analysis progressed exceptionally well, with about half of the prepared equipment showing effective measurement values.
One thing became clear during the analysis: the mana of Draconia differs from that of humans, originating from within themselves. Unlike us, who utilize what exists in the external environment, they seem to be self-contained as individual entities. At least when it comes to mana, that is.
Realizing this sparked a certain obsession within me.
I couldn’t help but want to know the intensity of the mana residing within them.
But I should have thought more carefully, made thorough preparations, and explained everything to Fiine before proceeding with the experiment…
When I took out the device also used as a candidate for the Divine Princess’s control device, my heart was dominated only by pure curiosity. I forgot the situation where both myself and Viola were in danger.
Fiine, connected to the device’s wires, sniffed the smell of the wires with a curious expression, but the moment I turned on the control device’s switch, she showed a different reaction than before.
She laughed as if ticklish.
Even in the realm that would be painful for a human, Fiine continued to laugh in a ticklish manner. Caught off guard by that reaction, as I gradually increased the burden device’s memory, at that moment, with a bang!!, the barrier that Forte had deployed around the house burst.
I couldn’t understand what had happened in an instant. Feeling a temperature difference like being suddenly thrown into a cold sea naked, I hurriedly looked at Forte. She seemed to have momentarily lost consciousness as her body gently started to tilt.
However, whether she regained consciousness faster than her body fell or not, she once again redeployed the barrier at an astonishing speed, returning everything to normal.
A few seconds of seemingly fleeting time.
However, for Miss Marcato, who had anticipated lurking nearby, that alone seemed to be sufficient.
Mana released by Fiine, repelling the load device exceeding a certain threshold, expanded around with tremendous mass, and within that range, she became aware of Fiine’s presence.
By some means, it seemed that Oratorio, who was presumed to be acting together, called out to Fiine, and Fiine responded in an instant.
”It’s Oratorio!!”
The moment Fiine shouted, she broke through Forte’s barrier without any hindrance, leaving only me stunned on the spot and Forte, who had lost consciousness again due to the impact.
…In the future, Miss Marcato will likely take some action.
Whether it’s direct or indirect is unclear.
I immediately contacted Kanon, but it seems Miss Marcato is already in contact with another archbishop, and the likelihood of responding to Kanon’s summons is low.
I need to increase my vigilance.
…It’s not certain that Miss Marcato is the only one targeting our situation.
* * *
”How is it?”
”It’s amazing, isn’t it? You’ve become able to move like that in such a short period?”
”Hehe, once I get the hang of it, it’s quite comfortable, you know? It’s not back to normal yet, but I can already use the bathroom alone.”
”…It reminds me of when you used to boast about the same things when you were little. You seem like a little kid, Viola.”
”What…!? W-Who’s a little kid!!”
As I glared with a flushed face, Alto-oneesama chuckled and covered her mouth with her hand.
”Well, it’s okay. More importantly, you came at a good time today. Forte-san was complaining that there’s been a lot of surveillance around the house lately.”
”Oh, Kanon-sama lent me one of Lute-sama’s inventions. It seems to be able to erase presence even more than ants. It’s a one-of-a-kind item because it can be used for crime, but when I said I really wanted to go see Viola, she agreed willingly.”
”Hmm?”
She really wanted to meet me, huh…? I don’t know, it’s a strange feeling. Back when we were in the kingdom, we rarely sought each other out. But since losing the country, I feel a stronger bond with my big sister. I wonder what she thinks?
”In the end, mana transfer will continue, huh?”
”Yeah, that’s right. The frequency has decreased, though. The parts that have transformed can’t be metabolized on their own, it seems. I have to receive stimuli from the outside to move them again.”
”Can’t it be fixed with magic tools?”
”Well, I’ve tried that too, but my body is changing to match Lute and Frau, so… It seems asking the two of them is the best.”
”Oh? So, Viola, does that mean you’ve become a body that can’t live without Lute-sama and Frau?”
”Well, can’t you phrase it a bit differently?”
”But it’s the truth, isn’t it?”
”…Well, yeah.”
Rather than that, recently, the feeling of not wanting to let go of the two of them has been stronger. It’s not out of a sense of duty; being together with the three of us feels really comfortable.
Is it just my imagination that I feel a sensation as if my mind is slightly adhering together? I kind of want to try if the same phenomenon occurs with someone else.
…
It feels like this curiosity is also transferred from Lute in a way.
”Is there any chance for your legs to recover?”
”…I don’t know. Lute just says there’s a possibility. I think it means not to expect too much. It’s burdensome to Forte-san too since she’s cooperating with Lute’s escort… At least, I’m fine as long as my arm can move.”
”…But I want to see Viola standing again though.”
”Is that so?”
Ah, saying that, Alto-oneesama nodded and gently placed her hand on my knee with a soft smile.
”I remembered something recently.”
”…What is it?”
”Do you remember Lute-sama? The time when you and Lute-sama danced at the pre-war social gathering.”
”…Actually, I don’t remember.”
”I thought so.”
That’s right…
Why don’t I remember?
Now, I can’t help but want to redo that gathering from the past.
Lute didn’t say anything, but there was a conversation with Beth where the topic of that gathering came up.
Apparently, during that gathering, Lute seemed to have fallen in love with me, and that action led to him rescuing me from the slave market.
”…I want to do it over.”
”The gathering?”
”Yeah.”
I also want to fall in love with Lute at first sight.
I know I’m saying something absurd, but still, I want to redo it.
For me, the encounter with Lute started in this house, but it seems unfair that only Lute was thinking about me two years earlier.
Even now, I’m confident that I can fall in love with Lute at first sight.
Even if I lose my memory, surely my soul remembers Lute.
”Viola…”
”Hmm?”
”You’re cute!!”
”Offu!?”
The moment I was embraced by Alto-oneesama, her good fragrance put me at ease.
As I wrapped my newly functional arms around her back and embraced her, it was very warm.
=
”Happiness is within reach, I’m sure.”
”…Yeah.”
Somehow, it seems like we’ll have a wedding ceremony in the future.
”Will you cherish Lute-sama?”
”I’m not, I mean, we’re not in a relationship or anything.”
”Huh?”
”Even if you say ‘huh,’”
”You haven’t confessed?”
”Well, yeah…”
Stop looking at me with that strange creature-like gaze.
Certainly, I feel a bit odd myself.
”Why…?”
”Why, you say… even without a, a reason…”
”You don’t need a reason! Confess to him now.”
”Don’t say stupid things. Lute would be surprised, right?”
”No, he wouldn’t.”
”He would.”
…
Eh…
He won’t, right?
Would he just casually say okay?
I’m not really looking for anything romantic either… Certainly, it feels strange to worry about a reason.
”But, but… even if we become a couple, nothing will change, right?”
”……”
”W-what is it!”
”Are you serious?”
”I can’t joke about that!”
Certainly, I nodded at Alto-oneesama and glared. She sighed and held her head.
I want to hold my head too. It’s my problem with Lute. Leave us alone.
”Imagine it.”
”…What?”
”If you and Lute-sama become lovers.”
”…”
Lovers…
What do lovers do?
A date?
With Lute?
A date…
Go to a cafe together, talk, shop around, hug each other, gaze at each other… It’s wonderful, but wouldn’t it be the same as now? It’s dangerous now, but we went to a cafe, shopped, hugged, and gazed at each other almost every day. Moreover, half-naked.
”It’s not much different from now.”
”…Is it a lie?”
What’s with that face?
It’s not a lie. We’ve been doing enough lover-like things.
”Do I really need to confess?”
”You’re kidding…”
So what’s with that face?
It seems like despair, annoying.
”What about kissing?”
”Huh!?”
”Haven’t you done it?”
”I haven’t!!”
”Have you been embraced?”
”Ugh…!!”
”Not yet, huh…”
Of course not!! Why would you kiss or embrace someone who isn’t even your lover…
…Hm?
”Hey…”
”…”
”What about Frau-chan?”
”…”
…
…
She’s doing it…
She’s definitely doing it…
Wait, hold on…
”Could it be…”
”…”
”Does Lute-sama only think of Frau-chan as his lover?”
”Guh…”
”Hey?”
”Ugh…”
”Aren’t you letting your guard down?”
”Grr…”
”Consider Lute-sama’s personality. Don’t you think he wants to make Frau-chan happy?”
…There’s no mistake.
Come to think of it, Lute’s attitude towards Frau has changed quite a bit since that time. It seems like they’ve moved from a parent-child relationship to a moderate distance between a man and a woman in a good way.
Frau is being treated properly as a woman… Unlike before when he was hardly shaken by Frau’s actions, now he’s quickly becoming flustered and blushing.
”Well, about that thought… if it’s something aristocratic, it’s fine, right? Whether it’s the second wife or the third wife, Viola and Frau probably wouldn’t mind that much.”
”…”
”But, you know, I think it’s dangerous… Lute-sama is basically from the common folk, right? I think his sensibilities fundamentally lie in sticking with one woman, like Viola or Frau-chan.”
”…”
It’s quite plausible.
I think Lute doesn’t hate me, but that’s a separate issue from sticking with someone. And now it’s complicated with Forte-san getting involved.
Even if he says he’s lost his memory, knowing Lute, he shouldn’t feel nothing about scattering Forte-san’s virginity. It’s becoming ambiguous because Forte-san doesn’t insist on it, but if that point is attacked, Lute would probably be splendidly shaken.
If I think about it, could I even become a lover? Frau as the wife, and Forte-san as the mistress… If Lute were to say, ‘There are many more wonderful men in the world than me. Be happy, Viola,’ it wouldn’t be surprising.
”Oh no…”
”Right?”
Certainly, the current situation is dangerous. Frau and Forte-san are both heading towards the act of offering their virginity to Lute. Lute won’t easily dismiss them. In the case of Forte, the current relationship is maintained only because she exercises self-restraint.
On the other hand, Lute probably feels responsible for me, especially considering that my limbs are now immobile.
So, if those limbs start moving…
…
Come to think of it, there’s Fiine. She’s providing Lute with rare Draconia mana for my sake. Am I the only one not offering something to Lute?
”Wh-what should I do…”
”So, that’s why I’m saying you should convey your feelings.”
”Ugh…”
But, is it really such a simple issue? Even if I convey them, it won’t change my relationship with Lute, Frau, or Forte-san… Oh, this isn’t good… My thoughts are likely to become tangled.
”Viola, you know, I’ve been thinking lately.”
”…What about?”
Saying that, my big sister gently combed my hair.
Since coming here, apart from Frau occasionally taking care of the tips, it has been growing, now reaching beyond my waist.
”It’s not good to assume that the other person thinks this way or that my feelings should be understood… It’s not good.”
Come to think of it, in the past… my sister cut my hair.
I cried and got into a big fight with my sister, hitting her warmingly due to the sudden event.
”No matter how close you are to someone, no matter how much you share feelings with someone, even if your feelings truly understand each other… expressing them in words is an important thing.”
When I was older, I asked her the reason for her actions at that time.
”Even if you can understand the other person’s feelings as if they were in your hands… wouldn’t it make you happy to hear ‘I love you’? It becomes unsettling if you don’t hear it.”
”Yeah.”
It seems my sister wanted to make me even cuter.
”Words, you know, they don’t have a shape, they can be lies, and they can disappear in an instant.”
Making her already proud little sister even cuter.
”But, I think words have incredible power. If you don’t convey them, you might regret it.”
”…”
When I remembered that, my chest suddenly felt uneasy.
In my mind, my sister had always been my sister, my guide, someone who couldn’t make a mistake, my pillar of support. Since when did I realize that wasn’t true?
”Onee-sama.”
”Yeah?”
Was it because of that?
”I, about Onee-sama…”
I felt the need to convey it.
”I love you.”
Upon saying that, my sister looked a bit surprised, then immediately softened into a gentle smile.
That warm smile, the one that I’ve always relied on, belonged to my dear sister. It had a mysterious charm that made me want to lean on her, overflowing with warmth and vividness.
”I love you too, Viola.”
But she told me to say that to Lute-sama.
”…”
From that day on, my sister disappeared from the capital of the Imperial Kingdom.
* * *
”Conditions for exchange?”
”Yeah! Conditions for exchange!”
Fiine-chan happily said with a wagging tail, her intentions clear.
”By the way… what are the conditions?”
”It’s a secret!!”
Finally, it has come… not just my thought but probably everyone’s. As evidence, Forte-sama looks flustered with a pale face, and Viola-sama gazes silently and intensely at Fiine-chan.
As for Lute-sama,
”…”
A complicated expression. However, he seems much calmer than I expected. Maybe it’s just my misunderstanding?
It’s the fifth day since he started analyzing Fiine-chan’s mana.
Fiine-chan’s restlessness was increasing day by day, overshadowing the smooth progress of mana analysis. The reason was clear, though.
”Fiine, can’t you wait a bit?”
”A bit? How long is ‘a bit’? Fiine has been quite patient.”
Simply put, Fiine-chan’s interactions with Lute-sama had increased. To advance the analysis, Lute-sama stuck close to Fiine-chan, and the opportunities for their skin to touch grew. Fiine-chan, delighted to have Lute-sama all to herself, spent the past five days clinging to him every day.
Her lizard-like tail always coiled around Lute-sama, and when she asked him to stroke her green hair, she purred like a cat. Her large and charming eyes narrowed as she gazed at Lute-sama, and those eyes only left him when she was asleep.
But even so, because he wanted to examine the variations in Mana fluctuations throughout the day, she slept in the same bed. Of course, I found myself fiercely envious of Fiine, who was curled up sleeping soundly on Lute-sama.
”…Or rather, as I mentioned before, I fainted just from Fiine kissing me. And that, well… when it comes to that kind of thing, fainting isn’t the only outcome.”
”Mmm…”
Yes. Because of that. Even though that’s happening without any problems, now he feels like a fragile existence. The cause is…
”Why don’t you experiment with Forte?”
”…Hmm.”
Forte-sama.
It had already become common knowledge among us that something had happened between Lute-sama and Forte-sama, but I never imagined it would be connected to such a significant truth.
Neutralizing Draconia’s Mana.
Whether that would also nullify the efficacy of Draconia’s Mana, I’m not sure, but at the very least, it seems it won’t do anything as devastating as disrupting human senses.
Perhaps the reason why Lute-sama is delaying analyzing Forte-sama is because he won’t be able to come up with an excuse when Fiine comes asking about it.
Well, I do feel a bit reluctant to see the little Fiine-chan and Lute-sama doing such things. But well, Fiine-chan can grow up, you know.
”Then, how about experimenting with Forte first as an exchange condition?”
”Forte-sama…?”
”I-I don’t mind, but…”
When Forte-sama said that with a slightly flushed cheek, Lute-sama made a grand troubled face and fell silent. I think having a personality that can’t come up with appropriate lies is a disadvantage at times like this.
”Forte will probably finish the experiment faster, right?”
”Well… probably, but…”
”…”
Because he can analyze in a way that Fiine-chan can’t try, using the method of mana transfer. A sweet reward from Lute-sama that only Viola-sama and I could enjoy.
Lute-sama didn’t say it explicitly, but even I, who had heard the outline of the analysis, understood. There’s no way Forte-sama or Viola-sama wouldn’t know.
”Frau… I want to hear your opinion…”
”Huh?”
But, when Lute-sama turned his gaze towards me and asked for my opinion, it honestly caught me off guard.
Consulting me?
Not Viola-sama?
”What do you think?”
W-why, I wonder…
Well, I’m happy, but honestly, I never expected to have a say in this situation, so I was just thinking, “Oh no.”
Looking at Viola-sama sitting in a wheelchair next to me, she only directs a quiet gaze towards me, and it doesn’t seem like she’s angry or jealous.
…I-is it okay to speak?
Viola-sama, wouldn’t she feel uncomfortable…?
”W-well, I…”
Honestly, if Lute-sama did such a thing with someone else, I wouldn’t like it. With Viola-sama, it’s rather pleasant, but with Forte-sama or Fiine-chan, there’s still a sense of resistance.
But…
”Viola-sama…”
Viola-sama’s legs that are gazing at me…
”I want to see you standing soon.”
If she could move, I think it would be wonderful.
I don’t know how painful and frustrating it is for her.
Her hands started moving… the more I saw her desperately practicing to move her hands, the stronger the desire grew for her legs to move too.
She must have been so happy, beyond what I could imagine. Even though in front of Viola-sama, the more I feared that Lute-sama might be taken away by someone else… I couldn’t say to stop.
”…Frau.”
”…Viola-sama.”
As I held Viola-sama’s hand, she awkwardly squeezed my hand back.
”Lute-sama… if… if, for example, with Forte-sama’s cooperation, the mana analysis progresses smoothly…”
”…”
”For example, would it be possible for Fiine-chan to transfer mana with ease?”
”…”
As I said that and looked at Lute-sama, he wore a troubled expression.
…
Considering Lute-sama’s personality, he would never say anything absolute, but he probably already has ideas for magic tools.
A peerless great magician.
Alone, it feels like he’s tackling the difficulties of the Imperial Kingdom, or rather, the world itself.
”If that’s the case… as Fiine said… I’d like you to analyze Forte-sama, please.”
”…Understood.”
I’m sorry. Despite Lute-sama’s concern for Viola-sama and me… even though Lute-sama is the one putting himself on the line… Why do I say such selfish things without hesitation?
”What about Viola…?”
”…Just having my hands move is enough, really.”
”…”
”But…”
”…But?”
”If my legs could move, I want to dance.”
”Ah…”
As I sink into sentimental thoughts alone, Viola-sama remains composed. Even from an outsider’s perspective, it’s clear how much Lute-sama is moved by those few words.
Looking straight into Viola-sama’s eyes, Lute-sama’s face grows increasingly red.
”At that time… you’ll dance with me, right?”
In that moment when he said that and smiled, Lute-sama’s expression clearly changed. Ah, even though I thought I couldn’t compete…
”Of course.”
Somehow… I was happy.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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