I turn off the lamp, and in the bedroom bathed in moonlight, the person sleeping soundly beside me should be the usual Noie. Probably.
For a long time, I had found it strange that Noie’s sleeping posture was sometimes so bad.
Normally she falls asleep in one position and doesn’t move an inch, yet occasionally I would wake to find her in some inexplicable place, as if she had moved on her own.
Sleepwalking, perhaps? I had considered various possibilities, but the incident the other day solved the mystery.
Tonight, I woke up because she slipped out of my arms. No way I could stay asleep after that.
Sure enough, she was moving in ways that were completely unlike Noie.
That convinced me.
Inside Noie… the lost companions really are still there.
Is it like leftover data saved on a hard drive? Or more like souls lingering inside? I want to ask an expert, but doing so would definitely cause a huge uproar. So, I will keep it to myself.
Besides, I made a promise, so I cannot even tell Noie.
Wait… haven’t I just taken on yet another outrageous secret without realizing it?
This little… I poke her soft, squishy cheeks, tsun tsun, to distract myself.
How’s that? Take this, you pudgy thing! Right here? Is this the spot?
While I keep poking, Noie’s eyes suddenly snap open.
「Ahaha… ahaha…」
「I’m sorry. To be honest, you’re kind of traumatic, so I’d really prefer you not come out.」
I was just playing around and a monster showed up!
The one who went wild with outrageous magic last time, right? Wasn’t her name ‘Blood-Soaked Fashi’?
She moves toward me like a soft-bodied creature, a squid or octopus coming to life, and clings tightly.
「Ahaha… haha…」
「Hm?」
She keeps laughing even as she squeezes me in a hug. Yet no magic flies at me.
What is this? The atmosphere, the presence… it’s different from last time. Oh, right.
I hug her back and gently stroke her back.
「It’s okay. You’re not alone. There’s nothing to be afraid of.」
「……」
A faint breath-like laugh escapes her, but she remains wrapped around me.
「Yeah, it’s fine. I’ll stay like this until you fall asleep… until you feel satisfied, until you get sleepy. We’ll stay just like this.」
「……」
She hugs me even tighter, but it is still only the strength of a young girl.
Is this what it feels like when a daughter has a bad dream and comes to cling for comfort?
Thinking of it that way fills me with a natural tenderness. How strange.
-0-
「……Good morning.」
「……」
When I open my eyes, the first thing in my vision is Noie with a face bright red.
She looks angry, or perhaps embarrassed… emitting a delicate, ambiguous atmosphere somewhere in between.
Well, it can’t be helped. The cause is me.
I gently find her nightwear and help her put it on. She clings to me tightly in response.
「Arg-sama.」
「Yes?」
「When I’m asleep… I don’t like it.」
「Pardon?」
「……If you’re going to do it, do it when I’m awake.」
「I’m sorry.」
She pulls away slightly and gazes up at me with a spoiled, pleading look, so I give her a soft kiss and earn her forgiveness.
-0-
「Arg-sama?」
「Hm?」
「What about the castle?」
「I’m sleepy today, so I’m taking the day off.」
「Is that okay?」
Probably not, honestly.
If Noie and I don’t arrive at the castle on time, the escort knights will come to the mansion.
At that point, if the maids inform them ‘He says he is feeling unwell today and will rest at home’, it will most likely end with an angry lecture from Krea tomorrow at worst.
Two days’ worth of paperwork can be cleared in one serious day of work.
I sit Noie, now dressed in a casual one-piece dress, down on a chair and stand in front of her holding a mirror.
She tilts her head curiously at me, so I turn the mirror toward her.
「Noie.」
「Yes?」
「This form… how does it feel?」
「……Like when I was little.」
「Exactly.」
She tilts her head even further, clearly not quite understanding.
Honestly, I hadn’t wanted to resort to this method… but yesterday Fashi had told me.
『The 「comrades」 are properly seeing the world through Noie’s eyes. 』
Those words gave me certainty. This is surely the most potent medicine.
While we were talking about various things, she started acting spoiled again, and Noie’s current appearance was just so unbearably cute that I ended up losing control for a moment.
「Do you like your previous form?」
「?」
「The silver-white hair and crimson-black eyes.」
「……Yes.」
She nods firmly and it is exactly the answer I expected.
「You like it. But I’m sorry… it seems you can’t go back anymore.」
Noie freezes at the words I have spoken.
She completely freezes… and then tears spill from her eyes with a soft plop.
Like a dam breaking, the tears pour down in streams, her crying face reflected clearly in the mirror.
「No… Arg-sama… I want to go back.」
「I’m sorry. It’s impossible.」
「No! That… those eyes…」
Her words choke off amid the flood of tears and the surge of something rising inside her.
I understand. I have come to understand quite a bit through everything that has happened.
Surely those eyes and that hair color were Noie’s treasures.
The reason she rarely clung to material things was because she always carried the most precious one with her.
She collapses from the chair as if tumbling down, crawling toward me.
I set the mirror on the floor, kneel, and spread both arms wide to welcome her.
Noie clings to me tightly. I stroke her gently.
「That hair and those eyes… they’re Noie’s treasures, right?」
「……Yes.」
I continue to softly stroke her back. Her tear-soaked face lifts to look at me.
Her expression is softer because of her youth, yet her face shows almost no movement from emotion.
Even so, joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure existed inside her, she simply couldn’t see them herself.
Right now, 「sorrow」 was overwhelming.
「So it’s okay now, isn’t it?」
「?」
「It’s the magic spell.」
I cup her wet cheeks in both hands, gently lift her face, and press a soft kiss to her lips.
「……It hurts.」
「I should have taken your clothes off first, huh.」
While we were kissing, Noie had returned to normal.
Silver-white hair, crimson-black eyes.
And now that her body had reverted, the clothes from her childhood were digging painfully into her skin.
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