Chapter 13
A New Side of My Absolute Fave…!

Translated by: chocolalaEdited by: kemostt

“…Alba is so cute. I like you so much. Thanks for sending me off and welcoming me home every day!” Brother muttered with a sigh as he hugged me for longer than usual, and it took him another ten seconds before he released his hands from my back.

His face showed zero emotions, but he looked battered. Was this the face that Bruno had been referring to as him having some matters involving women?

But Brother didn’t look happy at all. Usually, wouldn’t being in love make one’s heart flutter and throb with excitement, and turn their life into something exhilarating yet painful—in short, be very lively? But from what I could see here, Brother only looked like he was suffering.

“I also like you a lot, Brother. So much so that I want you to take the day off just so you can be by my side all the time.” I said to him while still in his arms, despite his hands no longer resting on my back. 

In response, I could hear Brother chuckling above my head. So, I lifted my face from where it had been pressed on his chest and there, I saw Brother’s smile—something I hadn’t seen lately. 

Yes, it was because Brother had been smiling less these days that I could feel something was off.

As I saw Brother off to school on the horse carriage, I felt a sense of crisis; at this rate, Brother’s facial muscles would die even without it being Father’s fault.

“I wonder if Brother didn’t forget to bring anything…” My muttering was apparently heard by the butler, Sven, who was standing next to me.

“I heard something from Master Bruno. At Young Master Orsis’s academy, it is allowed to bring in food from outside.”

At those words, I looked upwards to the butler with a start.

“Sven, there is something I need to do in the kitchen.”

“Young Master Alba, you are wise. I’ll go with you.”

Sven held my hand and led me to the kitchen, as I decided that I must prepare a bento1 for Brother and bring it to him.

It had been three years since I came to this world, but I had barely stepped into the inconspicuous areas of the mansion. I nervously entered the kitchen with Sven leading me; the place was akin to a battlefield. I’d never imagined that there would be so many people involved in preparing lunch for me, Father and Mother from this early in the morning. 

In the spacious kitchen, there were more than ten cooks busily buzzing around. But, actually, if I thought about it, although there were only four of us in the family, behind the scenes there had to be dozens of people working in the mansion. And their meals were also prepared here in the kitchen; the cooks must’ve really had it tough.

Sven called one of the cooks, indicating to them that I had something to ask. A cook with a big and sturdy body scrutinized me before bending down on one knee to ask me, 

“Young Master Alba, what business do you have with us?”

Our eye levels matched. Wah, this person is a good guy! I praised inwardly for his considerate action and decided to trust him. Although that might make me seem too easy to please, I believed the importance of someone matching eye level when talking. When big people were to talk to me from above, it would put too much pressure on me, so I would feel belittled and end up shrinking away.

“Thank you for the meals, they are always delicious. Um, I have a favour to ask you.”

“Yes, what might it be?”

“Recently, Brother has been feeling down. According to Bruno, the food at the academy cafeteria does not taste good, and I’m afraid that’s why Brother became like this, so I’m thinking of bringing delicious food to him. I’m sorry, you must be busy with your work, but can you please make some food that I can bring to Brother?”

In truth, I had some other guesses about the actual reason, but as a seven-year-old child, and also merely as a step-brother, I couldn’t possibly voice them out, so I kept those hidden in my heart. To say that I was actually bothered about Brother’s women issues—it wasn’t what a step-brother should be thinking. If I actually said that out loud, if I happened to die, I wouldn’t be able to rest in peace.

“I understand. Then I shall make a very, very delicious meal, more delicious than anything Young Master Alba can imagine!”

“Yay! Thank you! Sorry for troubling you, but I’m so happy!”

Thoughtlessly, I had already made a fist pump in the air when the cook bumped his fist against mine; I giggled at the sudden gesture.

It’d take half an hour before Brother’s bento was ready, so in the meantime, I stayed to observe from a place that would not bother the other people working in the kitchen. The kitchen was a battlefield. There was someone busily arranging plates, someone stirring a big pot, and other people prepping ingredients quietly without even chatting as they buzzed around. Not even a single line of idle talk was exchanged. 

I also noticed another thing: the food for the workers was actually even better than what I had had when I lived in the Baronial estate. It made me wonder whether it was my medication costing so much that caused it to be like that, and I couldn’t help feeling guilty about it. 

Currently, only my grandparents are living in that Baronial estate, but I hope they can now live a better life. I was immersed in thinking as I remembered their gentle faces when suddenly a basket was placed in front of my eyes, custom-made with a clasp engraved with the crest of the duchy. I had no idea what was inside, but I was convinced that the content must be very yummy.

As it happened, Sven had arranged to take me to the school in a timely fashion. It was an ostentatious outing with a solid escort of guards.

“Listen carefully, Young Master Alba. Inside the academy, do not break away from me and even if you happen to see Young Master Orsis, do not rush to his side.”

“Yes, I’ll do my best.”

That was referring to me doing my best to refrain from running up to Brother the moment I caught sight of him. After all, I was pretty sure that I would run to him straight away if I didn’t put all of my mind to it.

The journey lasted for an hour, with Sven and I swaying in the carriage. I looked out, thinking how I hadn’t been in a carriage for such a long time since I moved into the Duke’s house. Let alone riding a horse carriage, I barely even went out of the estate; this trip made me a bit excited. 

It was thanks to Brother and Bruno that I had the opportunity to go out like this. I should pay my respect to them afterwards.

“Are you properly carrying your medication with you?” 

“Yes! It’s in my bag!”

“I’ll carry the basket.”

“No, I want to bring this personally to Brother. It is not that heavy, let me carry it.”

“…Is that so? It’s really not heavy for you? I understand. But if your arms feel tired, please tell me without restraint.”

“Thank you!” I cheerfully replied to Sven, who in turn squinted his eyes as he hooked up the corners of his lips.

He reached out a hand towards me in invitation, so I joined my hand with his. With this, I could finally legally witness Brother’s figure in the academy; my steps naturally had a bounce to them.

We walked down a corridor, and I could see classes were in session inside the classrooms, but at my height, it was hard to see much of the inside. The windows were installed further up than an adult’s chest. There were no depictions of the junior high in the game, so everything felt fresh to me; I was thrilled. Sven might have already known where Brother’s classroom was, because he led me there without any hesitation. 

Suddenly, a large bell in another building rang. It was a solemn sound. At the same time, the classrooms began to buzz. 

Oh, that must have been the chime. As I walked along while looking at the bell, visible from where I was standing, Sven’s footsteps came to a halt.

“Young Master Alba, this is Young Master Orsis’s classroom.”

“Thank you.” I glanced up at Sven, wondering how competent he was.

I was impressed by his calculated time allocation for getting to the classroom just in time for the chime—even factoring in my short legs. Even though I had been walking at a comfortable pace and had been slower than usual because of my distractions, we still made it to my brother’s classroom just as the bell rang. He’s so capable, it’s a little scary.

As I waited for Brother to come out, I thought to myself, This man is not to be trifled with. The students began to file out of the classroom. They were all looking at us curiously as we stayed standing in the corridor. But they were all well educated with manners, and so no one approached us unnecessarily.

Even after everyone had gone, Brother still hadn’t come out of the classroom. He might be talking to someone though, because I could hear his voice from inside.

Despite thinking how it was not good manners, I released Sven’s hand and sneaked a peek into the classroom. Brother was there. He was surrounded by three girls. From my angle, I could see Brother’s back, so I was not sure what his face was like at the moment.

“Wouldn’t it be nice if you could join us for lunch today?

“No, thank you. I promised Bruno that I would have lunch with him.”

“Oh, but Mr. Wald has been invited by a girl from the class next to ours. Don’t you think it would be thoughtful of you to make him feel a little popular?”

“Indeed. It takes a lot of courage for a lady to ask you out to lunch. I wish you would ask me to lunch once in a while, Mr. Saliente.”

“I don’t think it’s courageous at all for a woman to ask a man out, I think it’s immodest. I’m not going to have lunch with you. Please don’t ask me again.”

Brother is so cool! He’s using ‘Ore’2! See that, he’s using ‘Ore’ to address himself! 

It was the first time I had heard him use the not-so-soft word and I was, absentmindedly, very excited.

“It’s horrible to hurl words like that at a woman..!

“I agree. Do you know how much courage it took Anne Rose to ask you…!”

“How many times do I have to tell you that you’re bothering me?”

“My father has just made a proposal of engagement to the Duke of Saliente. So to speak, I am your prospective fiancée.”

“I’m not going to accept it, and I don’t want to hear you call yourself a prospective fiancée just because your father brought forward a proposal. There is no point in talking further with you. I’m going to go now.”

Brother turned around. At the same time, he saw me squirming and clutching my chest.

“Alba?!”

He picked me up, hugged me tight and looked at my face—I had been squirming and twisting as a reflex reaction from seeing the wild side of Brother.

“Why are you here…? The medication, do you bring it? You’re still conscious, right?”

He put his lips on my forehead, and as he checked my temperature, his gaze was downcast as he muttered Sven’s name.

“Why is Alba here? It doesn’t seem like it’s a seizure, thank goodness.”

“I’m concerned as to how you’re doing nowadays, so using lunch as an excuse, I came to the academy…”

“I see. I’ve made you worried, haven’t I?”

Ah, he’s back to using ‘Boku’3. But, no problem, since Brother who calls himself ‘Boku’ is also cute and wonderful. To be able to enjoy both is what we would call killing two birds with one stone!

I had been so excited that I thought I was going to have a seizure, but this time I managed to take a deep breath and calm down. It seemed that even in normal times the medication had some effect.

“It’s okay, I’m not having a seizure. Brother is just too cool and handsome, so I just…”

“You crouched down just now. It’s been a long time since I last saw you curling into a ball like that. However, I’ve shown you something unfavourable. It’s embarrassing, so I’d be happy if you can forget that. Did you bring lunch for me? I wonder if there are Alba’s and Sven’s portions too. Let’s eat together. Today’s lunch is going to be so fun. Thanks, Alba.”

Brother smiled while trying to conceal his shyness; yet again, he won my heart. Even so, when Brother held me in his arms without faltering, he was so cool. I wonder how badass he was going to become once he grew up. I couldn’t wait!

In the classroom—visible over Brother’s shoulder—the girls who were spurned were glaring at us with very frustrated, devilish expressions. What a waste to ruin your pretty faces like that! Nevertheless, when I glanced at Brother’s face up close, I couldn’t help but to exclaim inwardly how beautiful and perfectly proportioned it was.

With a face like that, how could he not be popular? However, this was the first time I had heard that someone had even proposed an engagement to Brother; I felt a pang in my stomach when I discovered such a thing.

As the heir to the Duke, someday he would have to marry some nice, beautiful, kind young lady and have children…

The more I thought about it, the more my stomach churned, and I couldn’t help but tighten the arms wrapped around Brother’s neck.

Footnotes

Meal in a boxThere’s multiple words for the first person pronoun in Japanese, 俺‘Ore’ is a masculine way to address oneself, quite a rough one. In translation, it’s lost since English only has ‘I’.僕’Boku’: another male first person pronoun, more polite than ‘Ore’