Chapter 107 – Sister Time -2-

Eclair’s hands trembled while holding the note left by Roman.

‘This, this… Stupid! No shame…!’

It was true that when the two of them were together, it was good because they showed affection without adding or subtracting. The same goes for snacks and memos that I sometimes leave on the window sill.

If I had seen this memo alone as usual, I would have kept it in my study with excitement and took it out whenever I had time, but it was fatal that it came through Chloe’s hand without even hiding it.

He was a man with no shame in writing such words in plain sight to Chloe.

“Ah, uh… This is… So…!”

As a knight of the Dritna family, as her eldest daughter, she must maintain her dignity as Chloe’s older sister!

Éclair’s gaze, barely freed from the memo, turned to Chloe.

Her waist-length gray hair was pulled back to cover her hot cheeks, but she realized that it was too late to react coolly to her brother’s face, who was looking at her with happy eyes drawing an arc.

“Sister. I was very surprised? Instructor’s academy is very cold and scary. Even the men in our department pretend not to be, but they are all scared.”

“Is it··.”

In the outdoor class where I hid in her armor, I don’t remember paying attention to what Roman was doing because I was focused on Chloe.

At the time, I couldn’t even imagine that it would be like this.

Chloe took one of her strawberries on her cake and ate it with admiration. Eclair also touched the pie crunchily, but his quantity did not decrease at all.

“Even such an instructor seems like a different person when talking about her older sister.”

It wasn’t like we were talking normally. Unsure of what was going on, Éclair breathed in the heat on her face and asked Chloe.

“…What the hell happened to you two?”

At Eclair’s words, Chloe slightly lowered her gaze and pouted her mouth.

“Actually… I thought I should say thank you for the brooch as her sister said—-“

Eclair almost covered her forehead with her hand while listening to an epic story that was nothing short of an adventure.

Hearing Chloe’s story, Eclair immediately knew why Roman had approached Chloe first.

I guess you could say that Roman made up his mind and reserved the dessert cafe in advance. The location may have been advised by Rike.

‘It was definitely difficult for Chloe. I thought briefly…’

It was also his own mistake, telling him to say hello lightly, not knowing how Roman would look from his cadet and younger brother’s point of view.

Since this was the first experience, I simply thought that we would know each other’s personalities and there would be no problems.

It may be that only he and Rike know that Roman will be gentle with Chloe, unlike most high-ranking nobles and authorities.

From Chloe’s point of view, although she is my lover, she will only be seen as a platinum adventurer and a wild strongman who has lived a life crossing the line.

“Probably… You’ve noticed it since you walked around on the first day. Your senses are so sensitive.”

Unlike the free atmosphere, Roman’s five senses are always on edge. She maintains tension due to her job and is sharp enough to feel more sensitive than herself who cares about her posture.

If Chloe hangs around her for days, she can’t help but notice it.

“Yeah, is that so? Was it a lot of trouble…?”

Seeing Chloe erase the expression she had been looking at with interest and her eyebrows drooping, Éclair finally regained her usual mood and smiled.

The memo written by Roman slipped under the book and corrected Chloe’s misplaced worries.

“If he was a nuisance, he would be a man who would say it was a nuisance from the beginning.

“Thank god··.”

Chloe’s stiff expression relaxed a little, and the fork began to move toward the cake again.

“You don’t have to think too much when you run into Roman. You can relax a little. But don’t be too comfortable or act out of line.”

Clearly understanding, Chloe put the last strawberry in her mouth and chewed it, nodding her head. And he began to satisfy his curiosity.

“Sister. All of the people who have a job called adventurers…Are they all like instructors?”

“If you feel the same way?”

“Hmm~ It’s hard to pinpoint and explain… Do you think it’s powerful while creating a comfortable atmosphere, or doesn’t seem to have much interest in authority? It certainly seems free… It’s hard to define in one word.”

Eclair thought of Roman and several other adventurers in her head. And you can answer Chloe’s question right away.

Shaking her head slightly in denial, she advised Chloe in a serious voice.

“No. That’s what makes Roman unique and special. If you happen to meet another high-ranking adventurer of about platinum or turquoise gold… Think of meeting a high-ranking nobleman and act.”

“That’s right…”

In a slightly heavy atmosphere, Chloe mumbled her mouth and sighed slowly.

Shiver-

As her sister sat and concentrated on Roman’s story, Eclair refilled the empty teacup as her throat burned.

“Sister.”

“···Well?”

Feeling slightly uneasy somewhere, Éclair paused for a moment before she answered.

“Is it okay if I ask another question?”

Those shining eyes. Éclair knows that Chloe spends time at her mansion and what books she is interested in lately.

Still, since he is a kid who protects the line, he won’t dig into sensitive areas that can’t be put into words.

“…I’ll answer you wherever possible.”

Chloe’s expression upon receiving her permission was the same as when she received the new edition of a romance novel she had been waiting for in the mail.

“Instructor told me to call him casually when I go to the academy because he’s not an instructor… But what should I call him? Adventurer?”

“Hmm-…”

It was an unexpected question. What should Chloe call Roman?

“Brother-in-law?”

Éclair raised her head in agony at a title that was hinted at.

“Oh, no! I haven’t married Roman yet…”

“You’re meeting seriously on the premise of marriage, aren’t you? Instructor looked like that.”

“…That’s what it looked like? Me, really?”

Obviously, whenever Roman meets him, he shows his actions and emotions that envision the future. No lies are felt there.

Naturally, she believed that she would have a future with him, but the fact that Chloe seemed to be thinking about her relationship properly—even though she couldn’t express it because she was right in front of her younger brother, the feeling was good.

“Yeah! It’s like she puts her sister before herself… Which puts me at ease.”

“Hmmmm…!”

Chloe gave a small laugh as her sister replaced her response with a clearing of her throat.

“It’s not common in the empire to actually meet each other with only emotions like this, right? So everyone falls for novels or plays…”

The harsher the reality of eating and living, the more popular virtual media such as fiction soars. Chloe understands the minds of people who immerse themselves in books, plays, or entertainment to quench their thirst and escape from reality.

In the past, he himself used to lock himself in the manor and read books to escape reality.

“That’s right… I know that I’m a special case and I’m blessed.”

“Huh? That’s not what I mean! Unnie is finally getting paid for all the hard work she’s done up to this point.”

Chloe corrected Eclair with a face asking what she was talking about. Eclair stared at his own face reflected in the water surface of the teacup at his brother’s attitude that he couldn’t get over this.

The laughter that hangs in your mouth is not artificial. It was a natural smile that was unimaginable in the past, when people forcibly practiced facial expressions in the mirror due to events in the imperial family.

Eclair corrected the stem of the story that almost flowed into the past with the keyword of suffering.

His foolish past itself is a dark history that tears and smashes his blanket and is more embarrassing than his love story with Roman, so he hastily changed his line.

“Regarding the title, brother-in-law, it’s still early, so refrain from it. If someone else hears it, it’ll be a problem, so wouldn’t it be okay if you were just an instructor?”

“Your brother-in-law certainly shouldn’t let other people hear it…”

“Right.”

After swallowing the last cake, Chloe pondered for a while, then clapped her hands lightly and came up with another answer.

“There are some similarities between my sister and the instructor.

“…!”

What surprised Eclair now was not the title.

“Um, isn’t this okay?”

Éclair, who put the teacup down, asked Chloe, who asked innocently.

“…Chloe. I’m not scolding you for this, but I’m really curious about it… Is Roman afraid or uncomfortable?

“Uh?”

I have watched Chloe from a distance as she participates in banquets or events that are unavoidable for any aristocrat, and I also know that it takes a long time for his younger brother to open up to others.

Especially for the opposite sex, it takes a longer period of time and effort, so there are no opposite sex around.

I’m not really in a position to say anything… But first of all, I don’t feel any hesitation when talking to men at work.

When Chloe talked about Roman, she seemed very comfortable.

There was a moment of silence, and Chloe placed her fork on the empty plate and put her hands together and wiggled her fingers.

“…This may be very rude.”

“Don’t worry, just talk to me.”

After organizing the sentences in his head, Chloe spoke slowly, her eyes fixed on the empty plate in embarrassment.

“I… I’m always bad at measuring the distance with people, so I make a lot of mistakes. Up until this point, there were a lot of cases where I just rushed my heart out of excitement and ruined the atmosphere.”

“…”

“Actually today too… I was nervous with the instructor and made a lot of mistakes. Just thinking about it made me feel ashamed…”

“Well.”

Eclair nodded his head in understanding because he knew Chloe.

The fact that he thinks more and acts slower than others is because he is afraid of harming others, so it is the result of actions that come out with prudence.

However, as it piled up and the results were often not good, Chloe’s timidity was highlighted.

“Everything else, even if they say it’s okay at times like that, their eyes are always a bit… Scary.

“···Right.”

It felt like Eclair’s heart was pierced by an awl watching Chloe speak calmly, suppressing her emotions as much as possible.

The sensitivity of people’s gaze was the same as the sisters. But the difference is stark in the way they accept it.

“But today, the instructor talked properly for the first time, but something… That, looking at the instructor, I wondered if he would feel like this if he had an older brother… Even if he makes mistakes, uh, his eyes are as soft as an older sister’s…”

Eclair also thought that if it was Roman, it would be the same in that situation.

“…”

“This too…! Come to think of it, I must have gone ahead alone because I was so excited…

Seeing Chloe shrinking by giving an answer in a bad way because she had no answer of her own, Eclair smiled and gave the answer.

“Chloe. Next time we meet Roman and we become two—”

*****

The two of us ate dinner and went for a walk.

As soon as Rike returns, she sits at her desk and is in the middle of studying the academy’s rote subject.

“Whoa-“

Sitting cross-legged, Roman exhaled the breath in his body and made a careful decision. Which of the two paths would be more efficient?

[ Activates the second form. ]