I decided to let myself be "kept" in this house.
The deciding moment came about half a month after the day I'd met his little sister. It was the day I caught a glimpse of the real circumstances of the two children.
That day too, I'd had the boy's blood in the morning and was at human size. I'd been helping with chores lately, so this size was comfortable.
He showed no sign that he was planning to go to work. He was dressed in a well-bred young master style; black shorts with a white shirt and a thin indigo ribbon was tied around his collar; I figured he must have been expecting a guest.
If that was the case, I just had to keep quiet. A simple matter.
I set down a plate of bunny-shaped apple slices on the chest beside Lumina-chan's bed. When I took a seat in the chair, Lumina sat up eagerly, asking, "Are we talking today?"
I'm aware that she's grown attached to me. I've tucked her into bed and also talked to her.
Perhaps because she's only had her brother to talk to until now, she didn't seem to mind whether she was talking with a human or a fairy.
Maybe for a child this age, the feud between fairies and humans doesn't really register.
"What would you like for dinner tonight?"
"Ummm, tomato wisotto, pwease?"
"Risotto... hmm, I seem to remember making that just yesterday."
"Yestaday's was a cweam one."
"Lumina, you really like risotto, don't you."
"Yurp!"
She seems to find "yup" difficult to pronounce, so she sounds a bit like some kind of little lord.
Her lispy speech makes my heart skip a beat.
Holding the plate of leftover, discoloured apple slices, I walked down the corridor.
I'd already finished the laundry and cleaning before going to Lumina's room, so I thought I'd shut myself away in the study to pass the time. Just as I was thinking that,
I heard muffled voices from the ground floor.
While I'd been enjoying my chat with Lumina, it seemed a guest had arrived.
As I crept down the stairs as silently as I could, I realised that the conversation had taken an alarming turn.
"It must be quite a burden to take care of Lumina all by yourself since you're also a child."
"I have been looking after my little sister all this time, and I fully intend to keep managing both my work and taking care of her."
Ah, so the boy had taken the day off work for this.
The boy's boy-soprano and the voice of a middle-aged man were taking stabs back and forth, but I could sense their efforts to remain calm.
The living room door was closed, so the guest couldn't see me. I decided to stay put for the time being.
"But, you are a court mage. More complicated jobs will surely come your way, and..."
"Even so, I have no intention of putting my sister in an institution. I've also made arrangements for when I am away from home for extended periods."
"In that case, your sister could come with you to..."
"I hate adults who treat my sister like an extra."
"........."
"The moment you suggested only taking me in, my answer was decided. My sister could never survive in such an environment. Please leave."
In short, it was a conversation about adopting the boy. I doubt the man bluntly said "only you", but he must have implied it. Since the man had been the one stumbling over his words, the boy probably wasn't wrong.
Making a boy with outstanding talent, one who would one day become the Chief Court Mage, their own child would be such an advantage. Exactly the sort of thing an adult would think. And the sickly sister was a thorn in their side, with no talent to speak of either.
--- Textbook scum.
"A child raising a child is nothing more than playing house. A child without a guardian isn't trusted. There's no one to rely on in an emergency. And the current situation can't be good for Lumina-san either."
"I...!"
He sounded like he wanted to say he wasn't a child. But he bit his tongue and glared at the adult. Even without seeing it, I could tell.
In the eyes of the world, young Louis was nothing more than a child, and him working his hardest for his sister was only ever taken as playing house. No matter how admirably he did his job, at the end of the day he was a "prodigy." He couldn't step out of the "young boy" bracket.
There was a brief pause. After letting out a breath as if to compose himself, the boy grumbled, "It's no use." It was muffled, and I couldn't quite make out what he said.
"Please leave. I will stay in this house."
"A child really can't..."
"Your concern is deeply appreciated. But Fanaria-san, save the rest of what you want to say for when you beat me at magic. I'd rather not be fostered by someone who is weaker than I am and shares no blood with me."
That was the finishing blow.
I can pretty much guess how the man was reacting. It'd be impossible not to get angry at that. Or perhaps the boy was putting on his impertinence on purpose, in order to get the man to give up.
What the boy is saying is just a child's selfishness. A troublesome child who hides under his power.
And to everyone looking on, that man was a good-hearted person going out of his way to care for a child he wasn't related to. That might very well be true. The man might genuinely be a good person.
But the man's reasonable argument didn't sit well with me.
More than anything, if it wasn't in this house, I'd no longer be able to sip on mana under the boy's protection.
I finished descending the stairs and put a hand on the living room door.
"Excuse me for interrupting your conversation."
Perhaps startled by the sudden female voice, the two of them, who had been facing off across the table, both snapped their heads around to me.
The man had streaks of grey in his hair and looked to be in his forties. His deep grey suit had no wrinkles, so he clearly wasn't a commoner. He didn't look mean-spirited, but my eyes had already identified him as the enemy.
The boy started to say "You..." but I cut him off and raised my voice.
"Please accept my heartfelt apologies for overhearing your conversation, and for the rudeness of cutting in on your discussion... Might I be permitted to speak? 'Louis-sama.'"
"... Yes."
"Regarding what you two were speaking about, you are saying that the children of this household require an adult to look after them, am I correct?"
"Indeed."
"In that case, please entrust that role to me. I will handle the housework, look after Lumina-sama and take care of everything around the household. If Louis-sama can focus on his work, all of Fanaria-sama's 'concerns' would then be cleared up, would they not?"
Er, this person's name is Fanaria-san, right? I'd only heard it the once, so I was a little uncertain.
"Forgive my late introduction. I am Eleanor, the housekeeper of the Stillus household."
And so, I became the caretaker of this house.
It was just a temporary measure and I know I'm lacking as a guardian. But in that moment, where his argument had hinged on the absence of adults, it was effective enough. The sudden appearance of a new character had thrown cold water on the mood, and I had no confidence I could keep bluffing my way through in the future.
And one more thing that changed was the boy's attitude.
That very night, after I'd introduced myself as his housekeeper, I heard him complaining like a child for the first time.
The boy had shut himself away in the bedroom right after the man left. He hadn't eaten the tomato risotto I'd made for dinner either.
Standing in front of the bedroom door, I opened my mouth to call out to him. When,
"Sorry, please don't come in."
...came a feeble voice. It was the tearful voice of a sulking child who didn't understand why he was being scolded.
"I'm sorry."
"What are you apologising for?"
"I dragged you into this."
Who could ever predict that this meek child is the future Demon King?
"I know it's my own selfishness. No matter how hard I try, I'm just pretending to be an adult. It might have been better if I had just let them take us in."
I went to knock, then stopped. I'd been told not to come in, after all. But then, what was I supposed to do about this mood?
After hesitating, I decided permission be damned and opened the door. I strode straight in and stood imposingly beside the boy, who was hugging his knees on the bed.
"I told you not to come in."
"I haven't officially started working here yet, and whatever a kid might say, the older one is in charge."
"You're awful, you know."
"Bit late to say that."
As I said it, I hugged the angelic boy. His small frame fit perfectly in my arms, and I was moved by the fact that the boy is still a boy.
The boy didn't resist either; he seemed to be in the mood to be doted on. He gripped my clothes as if clinging to me, and I couldn't even bring myself to think about his real age. I pressed his face against my chest. My clothes gradually grew damp.
I'm sure the boy has never been able to rely on anyone until now. He had to protect his sister, and children his age must have been afraid of his magic. The enormous barrier he'd cast over this house hadn't been solely to keep me from escaping.
"Maybe Lumina would have been better off living among lots of people at an institution than being alone in this house. But I..."
"Mhm."
"Everyone's scary. Money-obsessed adults are afraid of my power, and stupid, and mean, and just because I'm incredibly cute..."
"Mhm... Mhm?"
"The money our parents left behind belongs to their children, doesn't it? Why do they want to get their hands on that? Just because I'm a brave little boy, they think I can't do anything, they've even pushed me down before, it's disgusting, it's stupid..."
"U, hmm?"
"Why do you think I awakened to this kind of mana in the first place!"
"No, snapping at me isn't..."
Even if you ask me with your eyes snapped opened like that...
Tears streamed down his face again, and he sank back into my embrace. He whimpered "uuuh" as he sobbed. With his big teary eyes and the way he was clinging to me, he was simply a child.
According to the boy, he'd been attacked by some pig of a noble, and since nobody had come to help, his mana had awakened at the very last moment. Apparently that was when he was three. Humans are terrifying.
I waited for him to calm down and whispered to the boy.
"I'm not good at comforting people, so listen to my honest opinion, all right?"
"... Ok."
"I'd rather you didn't put her in an institute."
I ran my fingers smoothly through the silent boy's hair and went on.
"Lumina-chan probably prefers a house she's used to as well. She seems like the type who likes quiet places. And she adores her Onii-chan. I was a bit of a shut-in in my past life, so I hate noisy surroundings too."
If I think about what's best for Lumina-chan, keeping her here doesn't seem a bad choice either.
"I'll be here. I'll make sure to look after Lumina-chan. And of course, if something dangerous happens to you, I'll help you out however I can."
Even though I'm hardly an adult either.
A dream house for children alone might well be a child's dream. The kind of carefree, thrilling feeling you get on a school trip at night when the teacher's not around, or a sleepover.
And no matter what happens, Louis Stillus's magic is a cheat. With him wielding his magic, any calamity that might befall this house could be dealt with. --- Yes, there's definitely a part of me that's relying on him too.
As long as I can eat his mana, and go on living carefreely, I'm all set.
When I lay down still holding the boy, the bed creaked.
Even the gaze protesting at being dragged down was adorable, so I grinned broadly, and the boy let out a resigned sigh. His stubborn face, so clearly wanting to say "What am I going to do with you," yet looking happy anyway, felt dear to me.
And so, unable to let go of the boy's warmth, I let my consciousness drift into sleep.
Later on, I would end up deeply troubled by the two mistakes that I had made here.
The first was judging Louis Stillus based on his stats as a game character. I'd completely overlooked that he was still growing.
The second was that I missed the moment a dark gleam flashed in the eyes of the boy who had his face buried in my embrace.
When the boy murmured "Warm," and his arms came around my back clumsily, I could only take it as an innocent gesture. I had no idea that a hunter's fire had been lit there.
A dark character plays a dark character, and a Demon King plays a Demon King.
That's just how things unfold.
I failed to see that foreshadowing.