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Chapter : 11 Because They’re Cute (1)
“W-why are you crying?”
The twins burst into loud wailing at the same time. It was seriously loud. My ears hurt. I could see Lloyd-uncle about to shout at them, so I quickly grabbed their hands.
“W-why are you like this, Leon….”
“Huuuu, eeehh….”
“Ian?”
“Huuuuuuu….”
They were crying so miserably.
Since they were looking up at me, I could clearly see their red, swollen eyes and noses, with tears streaming down like chicken droppings. Ew, even snot was coming out.
“You, you, you….”
“Me? Me?”
“You said you, we, are, unwanted! Huu, father….”
“When did I ever say that?”
“You did! You said you didn’t want us!”
Leon shouted loudly. My ears hurt—my eardrums were going to tear.
Ian, while still sobbing as if holding something back, kept biting his lips, while Leon—who seemed more hot-tempered—kept muttering whatever came to mind.
“No, Lloyd-uncle said we don’t need to listen….”
“We’re also Lloyd.”
“Ah, yeah… anyway, we don’t have to listen to uncle. I don’t need to be a knight or anything….”
“……”
Leon and Ian both shut their mouths and glared at me.
What, what is it. Why are they like that…
“We don’t need it. Mom and Dad will protect us.”
“……sob, sniff….”
“Ian, why are you like this….”
When I called Ian’s name and tugged the hand I was holding, Ian’s tear-filled eyes went wide. But only for a moment—he sniffled and said,
“You said you didn’t need us.”
“I mean, you don’t have to do something if you’re forced….”
“Who said we hate it?!”
“You said you didn’t want us!”
Leon shouted again. My ears. I instinctively let go of their hands and tried to cover my ears—but they grabbed me. Both of them were holding my hands tightly.
After gripping them first, they glanced away when I stared at them.
‘Ah, what is this.’
So cute.
I was starting to think these crying twins were cute. Not their appearance, but their behavior.
“But we never said we hated it!”
“We never said that even once.”
You two, your pronunciation is slipping.
‘Did I… ever say I hated them?’
I said I would judge after seeing whether they were suitable to serve me, but wasn’t that basically the same thing? But like they said, I didn’t think I ever actually said “I hate you,” so I hesitated.
“But Leon, you went ‘hmph!’ at me.”
Mother suddenly cut in.
“Shana, can you do that again just now?”
“W-what?”
“That thing you did earlier. Do it again, okay?”
What are these adults doing again? Don’t they see I’m having a serious talk with the twins?
Mother, Father, and even Lloyd-uncle were all nodding with creepy smiles. What… what is this.
‘What are they talking about?’
So what I just did was…
“Hmph?”
“Kyahhh, our Shana is so cute! Do it again, again!”
“Mom! I’m being serious right now!”
Help me cooperate!
“Oh, right, right. Our Shana was being serious… I went too far. Our Shana must be sulking. Do ‘hmph’ again, okay?”
“This is ridiculous!”
“Yes, yes, really. Oh Shana, can I kiss you?”
“No! You can’t!”
I snorted while mimicking Leon and turned away with my arms crossed. It was my way of showing I was angry at Mom, but unlike my expectations, Mom, Dad, and even Lloyd-uncle all knelt down making strange groaning sounds.
What is going on?
“Shana, we have a request.”
Father came closer with a very serious face.
“W-what is it…”
“Can you do ‘hmph!’ once a day?”
A man who looked like a romance novel protagonist, someone who rarely smiled outside Maria Marlon, was making a “hmph!” sound like Leon—it had devastating power beyond words.
I lost my words.
“If Shana does that, I think I can live longer….”
“Me too, me too!”
“Lady Shana, please grant this request.”
These people are really…
“No. I won’t do it.”
“Shana….”
“I’m talking with Leon and Ian.”
Father and Mother stepped back with very regretful expressions. Leon and Ian, whose crying had stopped after the parents interrupted, just blinked blankly.
You were surprised, huh? Me too.
“Sorry, we were talking…”
“Huh? Ah, no, it’s fine…”
“Our mom and dad are just… a bit… like that…”
Mother protested from the side, “Oh, Shana! What do you mean, what’s wrong with us!” but I ignored her.
“A bit embarrassing…”
“…I understand.”
Ian muttered quietly.
Yeah, you understand how embarrassing my parents are, right? They just love me too much, so please bear with it.
Then Leon suddenly remembered the original topic and took a deep breath.
“Oh right! I almost forgot! So we—”
“Leon, we can hear you even if you don’t shout. I didn’t forget.”
Ian pointed it out, and Leon pouted awkwardly. Then he looked straight at me.
“You hate us?”
“I told you I don’t hate you. Did you not hear me?”
“…Are you really three? It feels like I’m talking to my mother….”
“We don’t hate you! But I also hate people I don’t like!”
“……”
“And I don’t need a knight anyway. You don’t have to protect me. Am I some glass bead….”
“You really…”
“You don’t have to come meet me while getting hurt like this either.”
“It’s nothing.”
Leon was trying to act tough. But his wounds clearly required more than just “it’s nothing.”
They’re still so young.
“If it hurts, say it hurts.”
“……”
“Don’t hold it in. If you don’t like something, say you don’t like it.”
I don’t like rude kids, but it hurts to see children who matured too early or endure too much.
“You must be upset because uncle Lloyd scolded you.”
Lloyd-uncle protested, “I didn’t really say anything….” I ignored him.
“They’re still kids…”
“I don’t want to hear that from someone younger than me.”
“You must be having a hard time.”
The twins both fell silent as if they had agreed beforehand. After a brief silence, Ian spoke first. Even though they looked identical, I could tell them apart by expression.
Ian raised his head with a resolute gaze.
“Who said we hated it? We never did anything forced.”
Huh.
“If we really hated it, we wouldn’t have done it!”
“Yeah, we were just curious!”
“You’ve heard your name so much since you were born that your ears must’ve bled.”
“So of course we wanted to see you.”
I became serious.
That… that’s…
“Hey, that… sounds like… se….”
“Se what?”
“Not that, se… se…!”
Brainwashing…
Someone fix my pronunciation…
“You mean brainwashing?”
“Where did you learn that word, Shana?”
“I saw it in a book.”
“Is there even a fairy tale that mentions brainwashing….”
Let’s assume there is.
“No! Training is training, and we saw you with our own eyes!”
“You just saw me…”
“Only about 15 minutes ago…”
“So you’re saying you hate us?”
“No…”
“So you hate us becoming your knights!”
“Uh… I don’t like that…”
Even Leon, who had been shouting, and Ian, who spoke calmly, both fell silent. I glanced at them nervously.
Ian spoke quietly.
“Why don’t you like it?”
“I don’t need knights….”
“You don’t know that.”
“You’re too young…”
“You’re younger.”
“I don’t want to force kids to do something…”
“You never said we had to force it.”
“I can’t be responsible for children’s jobs…”
Especially two children at once. The twins looked offended by my last words.
But it’s true.
If I walk around calling them my knights, what will my dignity as an adult become? I don’t want them to get hurt protecting me. A knight with a sword is supposed to be like that.
“But if we’re friends, then—”
“J-just you wait.”
“Huh?”
“Just wait! We’ll definitely become your knights!”
Leon shouted and ran off somewhere.
Ian, left alone, looked straight at me and said,
“We’re seven.”
“R-really?”
“We’re at the age where we want to do exactly what we’re told not to.”
So that’s why. Their mother must have drilled that into them enough for them to say it themselves…
“Lady Shana.”
“Y-yes?”
“We just wanted to see you. The person we would serve.”
Why is it suddenly “Lady”…
“Lady Shana, don’t underestimate our lineage.”
What lineage are you talking about… are you wagyu beef or something?
“We will definitely become your knights, so be prepared.”
Then Ian also turned around and ran off somewhere.
I blinked blankly, then looked at Father. He, Mother, and Lloyd-uncle looked like they were about to burst out laughing.
“Dad.”
“Yes, Shana…”
“What… did Ian mean by ‘be prepared’…”
“Pffft… hahah…”
“……”
“Sir Lloyd, your sons are really…”
“……”
“They’re just like you when you were young…”
In the end, Father and Mother burst into laughter. Lloyd-uncle sighed, rubbing his forehead.
Was it a mistake to tell seven-year-old boys not to do something? Did I just provoke them? Did I mess up?
Is wanting to become knights something to “prepare” for? Isn’t that a good thing for me? No, that means I’ll have to hire two of them later…
I frowned seriously.
And ignoring my laughing parents, I grabbed Lloyd-uncle’s pants.
“Yes, Lady Shana.”
He knelt down to meet my eyes, his face slightly red with embarrassment over his sons’ behavior. I pulled him closer and whispered into his ear.
“Uncle.”
“Yes, Lady Shana.”
“If they become knights… how much do I have to pay Dad?”
“Pardon?”
“…I don’t think I can afford to become rich…”
“……”
“How am I supposed to pay salaries…”
How am I supposed to hire two of them?
