I Thought I’d Reformed the Villainous Heroine. But Their True Nature Remained Unchanged, and They Were Still Being Doted On—I Just Don’t Have Enough Lives. - Chapter 5

OMOTENASHI

Ilza’s room.

She had just moved into the Eisenburg house, so she didn’t have many personal things.

It looked like she had brought insect specimens and animal taxidermy from another room. I figured she probably decorated with them like they were really cute stuffed animals.

One day I might end up as one of those taxidermy pieces.

I refused to lose to that fear and carried out my OMOTENASHI hospitality.

I had Ilza sit in a chair and showed her some singing and dancing.

“What is normal anyway~♪ What even is normal~♪”

“You know it, Young Master~?”

Myris threw in a perfect response.

I walked toward Ilza while whistling lazily.

“Ahh, this is rough. Living for real is so tiring~. I just wanna live off unearned income~.”

“Young Master, is your heart completely dried up~?”

“Myris~, I’m already bone dry! My heart is super dry!”

“Put your hand on your chest~ and remember what happened today~.”

I placed my hand on my chest with a serious look.

Then, like I had just realized something, I flashed a bright smile.

“When I woke up this morning~, my pillow was right under my head~. This is… normal!”

“That’s normal!”

“Yes, self-affirmation, self-affirmation♪ What is normal anyway~♪♪♪”

I let my nice voice echo through the room.

Alright, the opening is perfect!!

From relatable material to energetic surreal gags, and now it’s time for physical comedy! There’s no way Ilza won’t burst out laughing at this brand-new entertainment!

This is it! This is the power of my past-life knowledge!

Ilza herself elegantly sipped her black tea and gently set the cup on the small side table.

“Fufu, that was really funny. Big brother Gant, you’re quite good at playing the fool.”

Her eyes and mouth were smiling.

But I could tell she wasn’t laughing from the heart.

My instinct told me that if I kept going, I would reach a death end right away.

“See! Well, I’ll let you off with this much for today!”

I forced the comedy skit to an end while cold sweat ran down my back.

No way! In my salaryman days I used to kill at drinking parties with this act, and it doesn’t work here?!

“Ah! It’s because this isn’t a drinking party! I’m still a kid…”

Ilza narrowed her eyes a little.

“I am being welcomed, right? …Not being made fun of.”

“N-no way… why would I make fun of family!”

“I’m sorry. I’ve lived as a commoner all this time, so I don’t know how nobles do things. If there was something to laugh at, please teach me.”

Her gentle smile was perfectly noble-like.

Way more noble than me.

Whoa, I can feel the hidden meaning behind her words! So noble speech is like Kyoto dialect! Oh, but I’ve heard British culture is close to Kyoto!

“Young Master~. I don’t really get it, but it feels like you’re taking the future~.”

Myris also looked like she was struggling to understand.

Damn, the cultural wall is high! Maybe the double-act comedy between me and Myris is still too early. I practiced it and everything…

“Sigh… Young Master. I’ll go get the welcome meal~.”

“Huh? Yeah… please do.”

Myris looked like she had run out of patience and headed out of the room.

I had planned to warm up the mood to the max before serving food, but oh well. Actually Myris had said “food alone is fine”…

Myris soon came back carrying a silver tray with a food cover. She made a drumroll sound with her mouth, placed it in front of the small table, and lifted the cover.

“Derererere~♪ Here you go, Young Master’s homemade cooking~.”

“Big brother made it? Hmm…? This is…”

Ilza blinked several times and looked puzzled.

On the plate were neatly arranged omurice and pudding. Nothing special. Just a kid-friendly set.

“…I’ve never seen this dish before.”

“Me neither. It’s some secret dish even nobles don’t know about~.”

Yes! I got her interest!!!

“I prepared it for the welcome party! I think you might be the first person in the world to eat it!”

Myris laughed and said “That’s exaggerating~,” but I was pretty sure it was true.

As far as I had checked, neither omurice nor pudding had been invented yet.

The rice was something close to low-stickiness Thai rice, and the ketchup was homemade. But I had stir-fried it properly so the sour and sweet flavors mixed, and I had done plenty of trial and error with the pudding too.

I didn’t look after my younger siblings in my past life for nothing!

“Big brother made this… just for me. I’m already so happy my stomach feels full.”

Ilza said something very modest.

Her slightly thoughtful eyes were probably thinking “What flowery words should I line up to praise him?”

Her mental age might be adult-like, but her tongue should still be that of a child!

Please work, past-life kid set!!

“Then, I’ll dig in.”

Ilza picked up the spoon and broke through the surface of the omurice like she was scooping out intestines. My mind was so cornered that this kind of metaphor even came up.

“…Ham. Hom……………n.”

The relaxed smile on Ilza’s face collapsed into a straight expression.

Hii?!?!?

No, she’s eating silently! This is totally the reaction when something is actually delicious!!

Ilza was eating in a daze, but she noticed our stares and blushed shyly, her cheeks turning pink.

“Um………… It’s very delicious…”

“See! I made it with tons of love! Of course it’s good!”

I did ittttttttt! Hallelujahhhhhhhhh!

I felt like my favorability went up with a nice ping!

“Mmm… the rich sweetness… spreads across my tongue. Fufu, it tastes like happiness~.”

She seemed to like the pudding especially, because her cheeks softened honestly.

I had finally grabbed hold of a ray of light leading to a peaceful future.

“Such delicious homemade food… just for me. I misunderstood you, big brother Gant.”

“Haha, what’s that about?”

“I thought a new family member would be hard to accept.”

“Being kind to family is obvious! …Anyway, about that.”

Maybe because I lowered my tone, a wary look mixed into Ilza’s eyes.

She placed her spoon on the plate and took a posture waiting for her step-brother’s words.

I swallowed hard.

While picturing the [contents of the box] behind Ilza, I told her.

“So… about that… The birds and butterflies you control… Maybe it’s better to give the ones that died a proper burial…”

“…Burial? You want me to say goodbye to those children?”

“Y-yeah… the ones that got all ragged look pitiful.”

“I don’t think so.”

Ilza refused outright.

I might have been stupid for earning favorability only to risk it like this.

But it was a problem that would drag on later. If I didn’t correct Ilza’s values to something normal, a gruesome future was waiting.

“Big brother Gant. If something is born into this world, don’t you think it should live its life to the fullest until its body runs out?”

“But those children…”

“They are alive. If I call out because I’m lonely, they respond. They are lovely children.”

I knew from the game that Ilza’s view of life and death was off.

Her understanding of magic was too deep, so she was close to being a demonic existence herself.

To her, the birds and butterflies that moved just like when they were alive were still not dead.

Some hardcore fans said Ilza’s view of life and death was close to proving philosophical zombies or something. I didn’t really get it.

Still, it was clear that as she grew, she would blur the line between life and death…

“B-but… no… um…”

Myris seemed to realize she shouldn’t butt in and stayed quiet like a proper attendant, without any light remarks.

I wanted to look away, but I still stared straight at her.

“…This isn’t a rule, or an order, or even a request. …I’m just telling you my values. I think it’s pitiful when something that should die can’t die.”

“Is that what normal means to you, big brother Gant?”

Her adorable eyes that showed no bottom.

I felt like she was measuring how much use I still had.

I put strength in my gut, knowing that if I folded here there would be no future anyway.

“Yeah, that’s normal for me.”

“…I understand. My caretakers also… seemed a little scared. I’ll cremate those children and scatter the ashes on the earth.”

Ilza smiled like she was very understanding.

I felt relieved at her answer, but at the same time I realized how good she was getting at faking normal behavior. It was terrifying. I had thought maybe I could get her expelled from the house depending on how I played it, but that seemed impossible.

I gave her my biggest smile in return.

“Thank you, Ilza. Let me welcome you again!”

※※※

That night, I happened to see Ilza secretly slipping out of the mansion.

If I had chased her here, maybe a drama would have started, but unfortunately I love peace.

Besides, I didn’t have any cards to do anything about her. I could only watch quietly.

…But the incident happened so easily. It happened right away.

It was the incident that became the trigger for Ilza becoming obsessed with me, or rather, super super clingy… anyway, the relationship completely changed.