Chapter 6

“Uppies.”

Serina searched through the drawer, looking for something very seriously.

Lacus and Helia simply stared at her blankly.

“Found it!”

Serina pulled out a small light-pink wrapping cloth and a yellow blanket with blue checkered patterns from the drawer.

Then she spread them apart so there would be distance between the two.

“This is our house, and this is the dog house!”

Serina pointed innocently with her finger.

“Huh? Helia isn’t living with us?”

“Yep! Princess Helia isn’t a puppy, she’s a dog! Dogs are bigger than puppies! So she’d probably want to run around and live in a bigger place!”

When Lacus looked confused, Serina made a face that clearly said, Isn’t it obvious?

“Umm… Serina, this is just pretend play, so you don’t have to think that deeply about it, right? And dogs would probably be happier living together with people.”

Since Helia was a princess playing the role of a dog, separating her space too probably felt a bit wrong to him.

“But then the reason I made her the dog role disappears. And if I raised a puppy or dog, I’d want it to live in the house too! Who do you think I’m doing all this for anyway?!”

Seeing Lacus interfere again and again, Serina slowly began getting irritated, even if he was her beloved brother.

So she decided to ask the person involved directly.

“…Princess Helia, do you think so too?”

“Serina!”

As Serina asked while pretending to look discouraged, Lacus quickly shouted while watching Helia’s reaction.

For a brief moment, silence filled the room.

“…Well, I’m not actually a dog, so I’m not completely sure, but I think every puppy would feel differently. Even if the house is separate, if it’s still in the yard, wouldn’t that be fine?”

Helia’s answer was close to agreement.

“See? It’s fine, right? Just because we’re apart doesn’t mean there’s no affection. Everyone needs their own time too!”

Serina reacted passionately as if this was her chance.

Then she finally let out the feelings she had been holding against Lacus.

“The person playing the dog role isn’t even complaining, so why are you scolding me? You promised to play with me today too. Just for today, I want you to listen to me…”

“Alright, alright. Big brother’s sorry. Let’s do it however Serina wants.”

“Hmph. I really can do whatever I want, right?”

“Of course. Naturally. Has your brother ever lied to you?”

No, he hadn’t. Serina knew that better than anyone.

And that made her even more upset.

Serina sighed while looking at her clueless brother.

“Wait, now that I think about it, none of this would’ve happened if Brother hadn’t included Princess Helia in the first place.”

The anger that had finally calmed down slowly rose again.

Originally, she hadn’t planned to go this far…

“He deserves punishment!”

Dogs should act like dogs. Babies should act like babies.

Serina quickly ran to the drawer again. Then she pulled out a beige baby bonnet and bib she had used when she was little.

“…Huh? Serina, why are these suddenly here?”

“Brother has to wear these while we play house. Babies absolutely need these things, right?”

“Serina, do I really have to? Can’t we skip it today?”

“What? …So what you said earlier was a lie? You said you never lie to me…”

Looking like she might cry, Serina waved the bonnet and bib in her hands.

Lacus looked completely devastated, as if he couldn’t believe the current situation.

Then he slowly accepted the bonnet and bib and put them on.

The outfit didn’t match his age at all, but strangely, it didn’t feel awkward on him.

Rather, it suited him surprisingly well.

His soft white hair, turquoise eyes, and neat puppy-like appearance made it work.

“Wow! Brother, you’re really cute right now! You look like a baby!”

“R-Really…? That’s good then…”

The older brother who normally looked mature now completely looked like an actual baby.

Serina had secretly wanted to see him like this at least once, so teasing him while getting revenge felt pretty satisfying.

She giggled while making fun of her dazed brother.

“Then, now we’ll officially begin! Please go to your assigned homes!”

After confirming both of them had sat down, Serina immediately started the roleplay.

“Baby, are you hungry?”

At Serina’s question, Lacus hesitated, unsure if he was supposed to answer.

But worried that saying something wrong would upset Serina again, he simply nodded.

“Here’s food for our precious baby~”

Serina laid Lacus down and pretended to feed him milk, while Lacus awkwardly pretended to drink it.

“There we go. Good job eating. Is it yummy~?”

Serina smiled while looking at Lacus.

Then she looked toward the wall and pretended to panic.

“Oh dear, it’s already this late? Doggy must be waiting. Our baby is such a good child, so you can quietly wait, right~?”

Happy about his temporary freedom, Lacus quickly nodded.

Then Serina stood up and walked toward Helia.

“By now her pride must be completely crushed, right?”

Serina checked Helia’s expression.

She looked incredibly calm.

Seeing that Helia still wasn’t angry, it seemed her patience was stronger than expected.

“But can she really keep enduring this?”

Serina secretly laughed mischievously to herself.

“It’s finally time for your walk! Excited? Where should we go today~?”

Serina clapped brightly and held out her hand toward Helia.

Then Helia suddenly lay down without saying a word.

And grabbed Serina’s hand.

“…What is this?”

Was she genuinely playing along?

Or was this some kind of revenge method Serina didn’t know about?

Caught completely off guard, Serina became flustered.

But she quickly calmed herself and continued the pretend play.

“Doggy, should we just walk around the yard once or twice today? Doggy, do you love walks that much?”

To irritate Helia, Serina deliberately added the word “doggy” to almost every sentence.

But Helia didn’t react at all.

She simply moved according to Serina’s actions.

Only Lacus, who was watching nearby, gradually turned pale.

After they completed one lap around the room and were about to begin another—

Creeeak—

Someone opened the bedroom door.

“Children, are you getting along well with Princess Helia—…? Good heavens…”

It was Serina’s mother, Aura.

Aura covered her mouth in shock, looking unable to believe the scene before her.

“…Huh?”

Why was Mother suddenly here…?

Serina was so startled that she could only open and close her mouth silently.

“I’m doomed.”

Why did nothing ever go the way she wanted?

At this point, Serina tightly shut her eyes, prepared to get scolded again.

Lacus, who had been watching the situation from the blanket, quickly looked around.

He himself was lying on the floor wearing a bonnet and bib.

And Princess Helia looked as though Serina had dragged her around like an actual dog.

Even though they had all agreed to play together willingly.

The situation was a complete disaster.

No matter who saw it, this definitely did not look like ordinary pretend play.

“First, I need to stop Mother before she explodes.”

Lacus hurriedly spoke to Aura.

“Mother! Please don’t misunderstand. It’s just normal pretend play! Everyone agreed to it!”

“I-Is that so? Then why is Princess Helia doing… this?”

Lacus froze.

He had absolutely no idea how to explain it.

“I was acting like a puppy. Since it was the role I chose myself, I got too immersed in it. I’m sorry. You must’ve been surprised.”

Thankfully, Helia immediately continued speaking.

“…Is that so? You don’t need to apologize.”

Since they were still children, Aura couldn’t fully understand the situation, but she decided to let it pass.

“Helia, thank you.”

Lacus secretly signaled his gratitude toward Helia.

After Aura left, Lacus let out a sigh of relief and gently patted Serina, who had frozen stiff like stone.

“Serina, now you understand, right? You shouldn’t make someone play the role of a puppy next time. Not Princess Helia, and not anyone else.”

Serina slowly nodded.

Only then did she properly look around at the remains of their pretend play.

“Pretend play is a lot scarier than I thought. I’m never doing this again.”

“What is this?!”

Serina continued carrying out her plans, but every single time, Aura accidentally interfered.

There were a few things she technically managed to do.

But since she failed to leave even the tiniest scratch on Helia, she couldn’t really call it success.

“In the end, separating them failed… And how am I supposed to bully someone without looking evil? How did the villainesses in novels even do this? I seriously, seriously don’t know…”

Serina glared at the innocent romance novel.

Then she suddenly remembered a villainess in one story cutting off the heroine’s carefully grown hair to torment her.

“…But cutting someone’s carefully grown hair feels a bit too much, doesn’t it?”

Serina thought of Helia’s hair, which nearly reached her waist.

Growing hair that long required tremendous effort and time.

Since Serina had grown her own hair before, she understood that very well.

Holding her head with both hands, Serina agonized for a moment.

“Still… my plan is to become a villainess even worse than the ‘Little Villainess.’”

Half-hearted methods wouldn’t work.

Right. I’ll just close my eyes and do it this one time!

Serina clenched her fists and made up her mind.

Then she suddenly jumped in place after thinking of a good way to cut the hair.

“Ah! Right! I’ll ask to play hairdresser! But… if I use real scissors, it’ll be too obvious. What should I do?”

Serina immediately became troubled again.

“Hmm… Did I have scissors in my room?”

Thinking she should at least look for scissors first, Serina started searching her room.

Then she discovered a carefully stored toy shaped like a boat.

When she was little, she always brought it into the bath along with her duck toys.

It looked exactly like a real boat, though it didn’t actually float on water.

“Ah! Right, toys! I’ll ask for toy scissors! Then I can use my magic to cut the hair instead!”

After thinking of the solution, Serina immediately rushed outside.

Just then, Merrily happened to be walking down the hallway.

“Merrily!”

“Yes, Miss Serina. Is there something you need?”

“I want toy scissors!”

“Toy scissors? What are you planning to use them for?”

“I want to play hairdresser with Princess Helia, but real scissors are dangerous.”

“I see. Then I’ll place a request with a toy craftsman.”

“Okay! Thank you, Merrily!”

Serina smiled brightly in gratitude.

Then she returned to her room and threw herself onto the bed.

“There’s no suspicious intention, and it’s completely safe since they’re toys! Even if the hair gets cut, they’ll probably think it was an accident. I hope the toy gets finished quickly!”

Looking forward to playing hairdresser, Serina laughed mischievously to herself.