Author: aji (あじ)
Translator: sleepingjay
He cried a lot, and cried to his heart’s content. By the time Andrea had clumsily regained his smile, our surroundings were completely dark and the stars had come out of hiding, glittering brightly in the sky next to the moon.
Holding my hand and walking next to me, Andrea sleepily rubbed at his eyes. I squatted down, turning my back to him, and told him to get on my back.
It was easy to miss it because his bratty image took the spotlight, but Andrea wasn’t actually coquettish. It was the younger twins that would ask me for piggybacks and cuddles — Andrea on the other hand rarely asked for anything in particular.
Maybe that was why he was now looking at my face hesitantly. But I could tell that he didn’t really dislike the idea.
I called him again, this time more forcefully, and he nervously put his little hands on my shoulder, leaning his whole body against my back.
“You can go back to sleep if you’re sleepy.”
“…….En. ……Lilius, I’m not heavy?”
“I’m fine. A kid’s weight is nothing.”
“……Nn. Thanks.”
In the quiet walk down the night road, I told him stories of the stars until he stopped responding, apparently having fallen asleep as we walked. The weight on my back grew ever so slightly heavier, making my heart feel soft. I was about to walk back home like this when a familiar visage came running from the front.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Ylll! Tbe akb~ Qf’nf yffc ibbxlcu obg sbe uesr—”
Vfat mjwf bnfg, mjiilcu bea klat tlr ectegglfv, ijcuelv nblmf. P rtertfv tlw jcv rtbkfv atf riffqlcu Ccvgfj bc ws yjmx.
“Qtja atf tfmx? Tbe uesr rcfjxfv bea pera obg atf ilaaif wjrafg ab riffq?”
“Qfii. C iba bo atlcur tjqqfcfv. Po sbe kjca ab ifmaegf, pera ifmaegf wf.”
“Nah, I don’t scold people. That’s the commander’s role~”
“Haha, you’re not wrong. He’s sure to welcome us back by standing menacingly and nagging us with his complaints.”
“No, no, that’s—”
Seth grinned and broke out into laughter; it was infectious and I laughed too. Our mirth-filled voices mixed in the peaceful night air, when suddenly Seth’s tone turned serious as he asked me:
“Hmm, honestly though, are you okay?”
“Me?”
“Nn.”
“….I’m fine. Jill’s there, after all.”
“Hm. At first I wondered how it would turn out, but you’re doing pretty well, aren’t you?”
Honestly, Seth had given me a lot of support. And because I was perfectly aware of this, I couldn’t complain when he started poking me with his elbow.
But I was undoubtedly annoyed, so I ‘slipped’ and stomped on his foot by ‘accident’. Heavily.
“Oof—! Oww, oww, oww!”
“……Ah, my bad. I’m carrying Andrea, so I stumbled.”
“Huh??? Which part of that was ‘stumbling’?!”
“Be quiet. Andrea is sleeping.”
“Hmph~! You think I’ll just shut up when you say that?”
“Am I wrong?”
“No. I’m going to shut up.”
“Thought so.”
Seth actually had a soft spot for kids, I knew. As we walked along the path while cracking jokes like that, I suddenly remembered Finn, the shadow.
“Speaking of which, what about you, Seth?”
“Huuuh? About what?”
“What do you mean, ‘about what’—your mate! Weren’t you eavesdropping on us a few days ago?”
“……Ahh. So I got exposed after all.”
“Well, I only noticed because of Finn.”
Ok, so the witch is gone, and now it’s time for a small break in the plot? But hey, Seth has a mate… I want to know more! Thank you for the chapter!!!💖