175 Here Comes... Ein!

*Author's Note:*

I feel kinda ironic having to name this title as such... It seems somehow connected to the sentence I used to end the last chapter and since I wrote it in the same file, it's so easy to notice. Welp, forgive this useless rambling and enjoy the chapter~!

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"You mean... your party wasn't hosted in your own house?"

One day, Ein made a huge discovery.

...Not really, it was just a conclusion he gathered after hanging out and becoming a part of my group.

I really thought it was natural for everyone—especially those I considered [friends] to have a knowledge on the Hartmann family's situation. But apparently, I was just assuming things... I think I have started to develop Mom's habit...? Like assuming the other party already understood or could understand things naturally.

...I didn't know that it was contagious!

"Uhm... Yeah. You haven't heard about... my family—the Hartmann family's story?" I asked him back.

"I have heard some of it from Mummy and Daddy, that the Hartmann family might be one of the ducal houses here, but there were certain things happening... but I didn't know about your house!"

...I wonder how far Ein knew?

Well, since he was still a child, I was sure that he knew the gist of it, but not the complicated details... Not that I knew about it in details, but hey, I've got thirteen years of my past life's knowledge, so I definitely understood it better than the other kids! Even Alt-nii!! ...I think.

"So, so, so, how is your house??" Ein asked with his trademark sparkling eyes.

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This kid is really adorable! ...Though his curiosity can be annoying at times—but who am I to judge? I'm one curious cat as well!

...Don't tell me I annoyed someone with my curiosity as well? T__T Then I apologize for everything!!!

"My house is... well, it is nothing compared to your house, Ein, but to me, it's—"

"Lyr's house is small just like her, haha!"

"...CARBUNCLEEEEEEEE!"

Before I could finish my words, Carbuncle laughed as she cut me off.

"That's mean! I'm not the small one among other kids my age!"

"...Sorry for being small..."

--I lost it.

Just as I wanted to argue with Carbuncle's words, I unconsciously triggered Iris...

She gloomily continued to eat—forcing herself to eat more than usual! Gah, Iris, no, you shouldn't torture yourself like this!!

Yep, we were in the middle of having our lunch together. It became some sort of a habit for us. Ein would almost always join us, while Alt-nii and his friends often joined us.

Currently, Alt-nii and his friends weren't here.

"Well, Lyra isn't that small—she's tall...for now. Just you wait! I heard Mother said that boys grew up late, while girls might grow up faster but their growth might stop later on... Haha," Luca smirked, perhaps he was imagining the future where he could literally look down on me. As for now, we were around the same height—hah, I might even be a bit taller than him!

"Hmph, challenge accepted! I'm sure I will defeat you, though!" My sense of competition was tingling.

"Uhm... maybe you shouldn't compete for that... My sisters wanted to be shorter or smaller because they wanted to be considered as cute... so you might want to reconsider, Lyra," Kiri suddenly advised me... huh what, that Kiri, advised me?!

"Kiri's right. Just accept your defeat now, Lyra. Better than trying so hard to grow and regret it later like Kiri's sisters?" Luca raised one of his eyebrows.

"So what? I can be a cool swordsman! I can be a cool fighter that can even snatch girls from you!!" I didn't think my words through.

"...Lyr, I never thought that...," Carbuncle was surprised, but she tried to nod in acknowledgement of my—wait what?!

Iris even stopped eating and looked at me in disbelief. I could hear her inner heart screaming, 'Didn't we read storybooks and imagine how nice it would be to have our own true love, a charming gentleman?!'

"No, you get it wrong..."

"Uhm, hello?! Don't shift the topic!!" The forgotten Ein tried to enter the conversation again.

All of us quieted down and our attention was shifted to Ein, who was looking a little bit sullen.

"Besides, it doesn't matter even if Big Sis Lyra is tall and cool, even if she is not cute! If no boy wants to be with her, then I can have Big Sis Lyra all to myself!"

...And there he goes, dropping a bomb.

"Uhm, Ein... That's another thing, you know? We're talking about love here," I tried to correct his thinking.

"Well, I love big sis Lyra! You're like my own family, my own sister!"

"T-that's why, it's different... Eh, a-anyway, let's move back to the topic about my own home!"

What am I doing, trying to explain love to a child?

...I'm also still a child, but at least I have a better grasp of the concept compared to my friends here. Iris might have caught my influence as we read storybooks together and she often caught me talking to myself about how nice it would be to find my true love one day...

I was kinda resuming my previous life—since I didn't get to taste one before, I'd like to taste it in my new life—with supporting and loving family, I thought that it might not be that impossible...

Anyway, I'm still very, very young, so let's not think about it now! It would be scary for me to be involved in "true love" matter right now!!

"My house is small. It might even be smaller than the other nobles lower in ranking than a duke—but it's comfortable and all!"

"It's still bigger than normal houses, though," Iris added.

"Well, I still remember when we had a sleepover there. Aah, I'd like to do it again someday, I also want to speak with your father," Carbuncle added.

"Sure, sure, we can arrange another sleepover~," I nodded enthusiastically.

"I WANT TO GO TO BIG SIS LYRA'S HOUSE!" Ein suddenly raised his voice.

"...Yes, sure? You mean, you want to sleepover as well?" I didn't quite follow his thinking, so I better set this straight first.

"Eeh... Can I just drop by for a visit?" Ein suddenly lost all his enthusiasm and asked a bit worriedly.

"Sure... Nn?" I realized one thing.

Could it be that Ein couldn't bear being away from his parents? Or he couldn't sleep if it wasn't in his own room? Or did he have the habit of hugging his beloved old toy or something...?

Just as I felt that the smile on my face was about to get distorted in a villainous way...

"Oh, right... There's a national holiday coming up soon, why don't we all go to Lyra's house on that day? Leti also wants to see Lyra's house," Luca suddenly came up with a good idea.

Right, Leti has always been curious about where I live!

"Sure, Mom and Dad will be at home on that day, so rest assured about Leti's safety~," I declared confidently. After all, Leti was still small—and she was the adorable princess loved by all. In order for her to come by, as a good host, me and my family should be able to protect her!

"It's settled, then!" Ein happily said... and I imagined him growing dog tail and ears—as he was wagging his tail right now.

"I'll have to tell the dorm manager, then," Carbuncle said.

"Are we going to invite Harvey as well?" Iris asked—I nodded immediately, causing her to smile.

"It will be full team, then? Don't forget to tell your parents!" I said—oops, I haven't even discussed it with my parents... But as long as they don't have any plan, I'm sure they will agree!