CH 31

Ilvalino thought that Cain was good-looking. He would never say that out loud, though. 

Of course, he thought the same thing of Diana, who was a spitting image of him. 

There was a time when Ilvalino thought that if Cain was this handsome at age seven, when he grew older, he would become a real heartbreaker. However, he had since realized that because Cain was so obsessed with Diana, he didn’t seem likely to pay any mind to the young women around him.

This morning, though, Cain’s handsome face was in an unfortunate state. 

He had cried his eyes out, and his eyelids were so swollen that they couldn’t open. His cheeks were bright red from all the chafing caused by wiping away tears. His nostrils and upper lip chapped from blowing his nose too much. 

“You look terrible,” said Ilvalino. 

“…Can you get me a wet towel?” asked Cain.

His voice sounded terrible, too. He hadn’t been wailing at the top of his voice all night, but his nose had been dripping the whole time, and his throat was swollen from constantly swallowing the liquids pouring out of his face.

Ilvalino closed his eyes and held his hand up to Cain’s face.

“You have to hide my face? It’s that bad?” asked Cain. 

Ilvalino ignored him and applied his healing magic to the swelling. 

Since it was weak magic, it didn’t heal him completely, but some humanity was returning to Cain’s reptilian appearance. 

“It’s bad. You rubbed your eyes too much, and they’re still leaking. I’ll bring a towel,” said Ilvalino. 

“W-wait a second,” said Cain.

Ilvalino had gotten up and was heading to the bathroom, but Cain grabbed him by the arm and stopped him. 

“You can use healing magic?” asked Cain. 

“Not really. I can only treat tiny wounds, and that’s about it.”

Ilvalino explained that even though he had this minor ability, he didn’t want people to expect too much from him, so he generally kept it hidden. 

“Well, then you should have hidden it from me, too. My swollen eyes would have healed on their own with a little bit of ice,” said Cain. 

“It’s fine. I told you yesterday, I’ve decided that I’m here to help you,” said Ilvalino.

Ilvalino asked Cain not to talk about his ability too much. 

The people at Elgrandark manor were all generally good people. 

Some of the servants that worked here were from high-ranking noble families. The butler and Elise’s handmaiden were included in that group. 

These people never disparaged Ilvalino or spoke down to him because he was an orphan. They accepted him as an apprentice and took their time to teach him. Ilvalino couldn’t be sure of what they were thinking on the inside, but even if they did look down on him, he appreciated their discretion in not showing it. [Read this novel and other amazing translated novels from the original source at the “Novel Multiverse dot com” website @ novelmultiverse.com]

Ilvalino was starting to think that he wouldn’t mind if the people here knew about his ability. 

“Hm,” said Cain, looking troubled. It was the same look that the butler had had. 

“Anyways, thanks for the other day. My little sisters were really happy,” said Ilvalino. 

“What is this about, again?” asked Cain. 

Ilvalino laid a wet towel on Cain’s eyes, and laid a hand on his nose, and healed around it using magic. 

Cain couldn’t think of what Ilvalino was thanking him for. 

“Remember? You gave them the leftover fabric and embroidery frames from when we were practicing.”

“Oh, yeah. Well, we got those frames with our names on them from Mother, so I figured we wouldn’t need the practice frames, anymore. And I don’t think anyone’s going to notice that a few cuttings from sheets and tablecloths have gone missing.”

On the day that Cain had gone to the embroidery meeting, Ilvalino had returned home to the orphanage. Since he had put in notice with the Elgrandark household that he would be going, he was given lots of presents to take with him. 

He had jarred goods like fruits and jam, as well as sewing materials like needles and thread. He ended up bringing the leftover cloth for embroidering, and even the half-used clothes that Ilvalino and Cain had worked on. 

Elise had also given him new cotton handkerchiefs to take with him. 

“Mother gave you new handkerchiefs… Ilvalino, once the kids improve their skills on those cloth cuttings, they should embroider some flowers or animals on those and sell them in town,” said Cain. 

“I don’t think handkerchiefs embroidered by orphans would sell very well.”

“Really? …I’ll think about it, then.”

Cain wanted to know more about the town, but since the children of the Elgrandark manor weren’t allowed to go into town for no reason, all he knew about it was what he had heard in the lessons from his tutors. 

Because of Ilvalino, he had gone out to the orphanage with guards a few times, but he had gone straight there and straight back, so he’d never had a chance to learn about the average townsperson’s way of life.

Even when he thought about his knowledge from his previous life, it wasn’t enough to have a good idea of what the town was really like…

Cain had already become quite familiar with the frustration of being a powerless child. 

Still, his situation was better than if he were to be transported into Cain’s body at the point where the videogame officially starts. Then it would seem like he suddenly gained knowledge of the previous world. At least now, he had plenty of options on how to plan his life. He decided to think of being transported into a baby’s body as a blessing.  

Cain slapped his own cheeks a few times as if to wake himself up, and smiled at Ilvalino, and said, “All right. I guess I’ll just start with doing what I can. Ilvalino, can I ask you to do something for me?”

“I’ll listen to your request, but you need to eat breakfast. You have to eat some food.”

“You’ve really been forcing these meals on me since yesterday, haven’t you?”

“Well, I made you eat and slept next to you, and now you’re feeling better. I figured Grandma Sakae must have known what she was talking about, and I’ve decided to stick to her teachings.”

He went out to the hallway and came back with a cart holding Cain’s breakfast. When he reentered the bedroom, he saw that Cain was gazing at the flower on his bedside table. He looked like he was melting with adoration. 

This was the flower called Cain, and it represented the love for an older brother. 

Ilvalino sighed with relief, thinking that Cain was going to be just fine.