CH 9

A silver-haired young man was sitting in a white chair, his broad, long back turned towards her.

And at the same table, sitting across from him, was a red-haired girl——.

“Y-You’re so unbelievable! Why do you always do that?”

“Unbelievable? How?”

“H-How, you ask…you didn’t have to flatter me by complimenting my red hair. It’s not a pure color like Big Sister’s, and it doesn’t have soft waves…”

She seemed to be trying hard to keep her voice down, but Wisteria could hear her sister’s voice well, higher than her own.

It seemed that Bright and Rosalie had come to enjoy tea and sweets together.

Wisteria stopped in her tracks.

——It was a public place, and it was well-lit, so it was no surprise that a man and a woman would come here to enjoy themselves. As proof of this, there were many mixed-gender couples other than Bright and Rosalie here.

And yet, Wisteria’s heart began to pound.

Bright was friendly to Rosalie as well as herself, so there was nothing strange about this.

There was nothing strange about this, and yet…

“Why are you comparing yourself to her? The red hair of yours is a gentle color–it’s very beautiful.”

Bright said sincerely, as if he truly found it strange.

Wisteria saw Rosalie immediately becoming flustered and blush on the other side of that broad back. She instantly pressed her hand against her chest.

(…No.)

There was a sensation in the back of her chest that burned slowly and uncomfortably. She didn’t want to name it. She didn’t want to know what it was. This feeling that she wanted to turn away from.

Her sister, who had a tendency to be particularly stubborn with Bright, pouted as though she also found this unbelievable.

But Bright wasn’t offended by this.

——He had always been like that.

He, who was kind and gentle to everyone, smiled cheerfully even when Rosalie spoke to him in a blunt way.

“I bet you’d be even more disagreeable if you could use magic!”

Those words leapt out of Rosalie’s mouth with too much vigor.

Wisteria gasped at her words, which could be taken as making fun of Bright’s lack of magic.

——Even Bright fell silent for a moment.

Wisteria was about to raise her voice to chide her when she suddenly heard a bright laugh.

“You really are so unreservedly funny…! You’re the only one who could seriously say that you’re glad I don’t have magic.”

“W-What are you talking about! I’m just saying, it doesn’t matter if you have magic or not, your humanity is the issue here!”

“Ah, that’s what I love about you, Rosalie.”

Bright burst into laughter, clutching his stomach, and Rosalie’s cheeks flushed, looking like she wanted to protest.

Wisteria held her breath.

It was as though she was punched hard in the chest.

For Bright, his lack of magic was a matter better left untouched.

That was supposed to be the case. That was why Wisteria had never spoken of it, even in a playful way. She didn’t want to hurt Bright in any way–she was afraid of making him feel uncomfortable.

But just now, Rosalie had stepped over that line with ease.

And Bright also forgave her without hesitation and even laughed happily.

Wisteria had never seen him laugh like this, or speak in such a friendly tone.

(…No.)

Miss, the attendant called out to her worriedly. Wisteria shook her head and turned on her heel.

She couldn’t look at those two anymore.

Her heart was pounding loudly, as though blood was gushing from a cut on a tender spot.

“Bright? Mmm, he gives off a disagreeable feeling. He teases me whenever we see each other, and he says embarrassing things so matter-of-factly that I’m the one who gets embarrassed.”

What do you think of Bright? Rosalie had answered with wide eyes when Wisteria cowardly asked her that question.

Her bright and determined sister didn’t seem to see the duke’s son, who treated her considerately without regard to her social standing, as a member of the opposite sex.

Wisteria was relieved. Then she cast down her eyes at her own cowardice, as she could only confirm things in this way.

Wisteria’s adoptive sister raised her eyebrows cheerfully and admonished her older sister instead.

“Big Sister, you’re so kind that you’d be deceived by someone like that. You have to be careful, you know! You have to talk back to him!”

Wisteria smiled at her sister’s caring words. Even though they weren’t related by blood, Wisteria thought of her as more than a true sister.

That was why. ——And yet.

(I have to hurry…)

She had to hurry and get results. She had to get enough to be able to hope for an engagement to Bright.

——Rosalie might take him away from her.

Wisteria closed her lips tightly and shut her eyes.

It was a shameful thing. She was ashamed to feel this way about the daughter of her adoptive parents, to whom she owed so much, and her bright and lovely adoptive sister.

Normally, she would have been able to remember her place, but she just couldn’t do it when it came to Bright. 

(I want for nothing else.)

That was why, only Bright——

Wisteria’s impatience burned her.

That was why, she didn’t know.

——The fact that even this burning impatience was a luxury that was only allowed in peaceful days.