「Argusta-sama～?」
The voice raining down from above the desk is terrifying in the sweetest possible way.
Inel-kun frantically try to bolt, but I grab him by the scruff of his neck before he can escape.
If we’re getting tortured together, at least we’ll go down half-dead… no seasonal haiku required.
「What exactly have you been whispering into my little sister’s ear～?」
「……Probably just the truth?」
I swear the room temperature dropped several degrees.
Telling the truth gets you executed around here? What kind of reign of terror is this?
Also, doesn’t this woman have some weird switch that flips on sometimes?
Is she okay? Like… mentally?
Should I be worried?
「……Have you ever heard of the guillotine?」
Another icy voice pours down from the desk like liquid nitrogen!
「It’s an execution device that drops a massive blade from above to sever a person’s head. They even use it here in Univance, you know? But unlike other places, it’s not for execution here. It’s used purely for torture. They cast reinforcement magic on the neck, then place a blade weighted with massive heavy blocks on top. As the magic slowly fades, the blade inches down bit by bit, gradually sinking into the flesh… I… actually kind of like that particular torture.」
Her voice turns dreamy and rapturous for some reason, while I’m sitting here drenched in cold sweat from head to toe!
Let the record show, the last sentence is the part we absolutely cannot ignore!
Slowly, carefully, I stretch my hand upward from beneath the desk.
「Y-Yes, sensei?」
「What is it?」
「You said you ‘kind of like’ it… Have you personally witnessed, or perhaps participated in, that torture, sensei?」
「……That’s classified information. Please forget I said anything.」
She delivers the impossible request with the most refreshingly bright smile imaginable!
This is getting dangerous. Time to play my trump card.
I was saving this one for a rainy day, but desperate times…
「Y-Yes, sensei?」
「What is it now?」
「On the days when sensei takes a break… there have been multiple complaints from various directions about lewd moans echoing out from the open window of your lodging.」
「……The room was just hot, that’s all.」
「There were also reports of a man sticking his head out the window, begging for his life, only to be dragged back inside, and people found the sight terrifying.」
「……That was just his favorite thing. You know… that thing.」
I peek out cautiously from under the desk like a little meerkat, just enough to check the battlefield.
Frea’s face is beet-red as she shakes her head wildly with a “no nooo noooo”, looking nothing like her usual cool self.
Meanwhile, poor Krea has completely collapsed onto the floor, legs giving out beneath her.
…She didn’t actually tinkle a little, did she?
Please tell me she didn’t.
Either way, that reaction is so un-Frea-like it almost doesn’t suit her. It’s kind of adorable in a tragic way.
「The most frequent complaint is from kids hearing 『It doesn’t even get hard anymore～!』 shouted in broad daylight, which is apparently bad for children’s education. And then there’s the terrifying follow-up of 『Don’t worry. It still comes out even if it doesn’t stand up』, which earned some very serious ‘that’s too scary’ reports from the male knights.」
「……Love conquers all!!」
「That doesn’t even make sense. And more importantly, sensei, there’s an official petition from the women’s dormitory manager requesting that you please move out of the ladies’ lodging. We’ve been holding it on our end for now… but are you still in the mood for guillotine play?」
「……」
All the fight drains out of her in one long, defeated exhale.
Frea gives a tired, self-deprecating smile.
「I’ll be more careful from now on.」
「Yes. And I promise I won’t spread any more of this around.」
Truce established.
Inel-kun is panicking and trying to help Krea up, only to get kicked for his troubles.
He’s clutching his crotch area, face tomato-red…
But as a gentleman, I pretend I saw nothing.
「So, where’s the cake I asked for? We can eat it together while we gently coax out of Krea why she’s secretly working here without telling her family.」
「Um… Argusta-sama?」
「What?」
「I… really need to go pick some flowers…」
Krea starts fidgeting and edging toward the door.
「No can do.」
「Why not?!」
「Because you’ll just run away?」
「I won’t!! So please let me go!!」
「Still no.」
「Whyyyyy!!」
「Because you’ll definitely run away?」
「I really, really won’t!!」
Okay, okay. Teasing time is over.
Any more and she might actually explode.
「Frea-san. Please go with her so she doesn’t escape.」
「Huh?」
「Even if onee-sam,a doesn’t come along…」
「You’re not allowed to leave this room without supervision.」
「!」
Krea’s already scarlet face somehow turns an even deeper shade of crimson.
She’s probably clenching everything she’s got to hold it in, but with the main event arriving… her limit is clearly approaching critical.
「Understood… Onee-sama… please come with me!!」
「Sure.」
Frea, who still hasn’t quite grasped the full situation, heads out with her now-teary-eyed little sister in tow.
Thanks to this, big sis has probably reclaimed a nice stack of little-sis blackmail material.
Mission accomplished.
「Argusta-sama?」
「Hm?」
「You’re being pretty harsh on Krea.」
「It’s just your imagination～」
Okay, fine.
I do kind of treat her like a fun new toy sometimes.
But honestly?
If I ever had a little sister, I’d want one exactly like her, someone who’d pick fights and get all flustered.
Every day would be lively and fun.
A little while later…
Frea returns with a bright, satisfied smile, and Krea, now in fresh clothes, trails behind her looking thoroughly defeated.
She must not have made it in time.
-0-
The extra cake I had Noie buy for herself ends up disappearing into the stomachs of the two sisters.
Oh well, just for today.
Survival comes first, after all.
「So, Krea… why are you keeping this job a secret from your family?」
I ask while waiting for the maid to pour our tea.
Krea, who had been happily attacking her cake on the sofa, freezes with the fork still in her mouth.
Her eyes dart around guiltily.
Very bad manners.
「……I didn’t want to live the kind of life my elder sisters do.」
She finally pulls the fork out when the silence becomes too much.
「I love my parents. But having my future husband decided for me purely based on family convenience… honestly, I hate that idea. Then I heard Frea-neesama was marrying someone she actually chose herself, and…」
「……」
That’s why she’s clinging to the fork like a lifeline, shaking her head with those tiny “no nooo noooo” motions.
It really doesn’t suit her at all.
「I have zero magic power, so I can never become a mage. But there’s still a chance my child could be born with it. That’s why I thought… if I stayed in the capital, maybe I could meet someone nice on my own…」
「I see.」
She’s still underage, but she’s already thinking so seriously about her future.
Meanwhile, my life is basically like winning the jackpot lottery with bonus prizes attached.
「But even if I stay here, if my parents don’t approve of the person, they’ll just arrange a political marriage anyway, right? And then… my elder sisters would get jealous, hold grudges, and start harassing me nonstop from the sidelines.」
So, you’ve already experienced that, haven’t you?
And it’s still happening right now, isn’t it, Frea-san?
「Even so… I just wanted a chance to meet someone I could truly love.」
Krea gives a small, lonely smile.
For a moment, she looks so fragile and pitiable that my chest tightens.
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