Vol 1 Chapter 3 – About How Oneechan Was Cute 【Vol 1 — A Happy Childhood】

“Forbidden Magic—Curse Arts“…?

At my tilted-head mutter, Sophia jumped up and covered my eyes with her hand.

“Wah-wah, Will-kun!? Waaah, what are you looking at!”

And with that, Sophia returned to the room and apparently put that book back on the shelf.

Hey, hey, what’s with this “Curse Arts” stuff…?

Forbidden Magic—it reeks of super dangerous stuff.

What exactly was our sister planning to get involved in…?

With both eyes covered, carried by Sophia, I—a helpless three-year-old—felt like I’d seen something I shouldn’t have and trembled with fear.

It was probably just my imagination.

There’s no way Sophia-neesan, whose selling point is her cheerful honesty, would stick her nose into something so suspicious.

As I was being escorted by Sophia, forcibly convincing myself of this,

“Ah, Will! …sigh, thank goodness. You were with Sophia.”

“Wah! Alicia-san!? I-I wasn’t doing anything!”

Sophia frantically waved one hand at Alicia, who suddenly appeared from around the corner of the hallway. Her other hand properly continued supporting me.

Seeing Sophia like that, Alicia sighed in relief and placed her hand on her chest.

“Yes, yes. Even if you say sleeping Will is just too cute, you can’t monopolize him, okay?”

“Eh? Ah, um… sorry…?”

Sophia nodded vaguely, still confused.

“Come on, Will. Come to Mama.”

As she said this, Alicia placed her hands on my body.

She tried to pull me toward her. However, Sophia quietly resisted, trying not to let me be taken away.

Um, this is a little painful…

Stop it! Don’t fight over me!

The underwater battle was soon decided in favor of my mother, Alicia.

Glancing at Sophia, who looked sad at being separated from me, I was brought to Alicia’s chest.

Yes, the quality is certainly higher here.

Then Alicia’s hands slipped under both my arms, slowly lifting me up.

I reached eye level with my mother.

“Will, what were you playing with Sophia-oneechan?”

A question as gentle as a loving mother.

Without thinking, I opened my mouth honestly.

“Eh? Sophia-neesan was in Papa’s—”

“Wah! Will-kun, that’s—!”

Grab—my body was pulled backward with full momentum.

Using a chest that, while certainly inferior to Alicia’s, still had plenty of softness for a nine-year-old as a cushion, I dove backward into Sophia’s arms.

Hey, aren’t these people handling a three-year-old a bit roughly?

Held tightly in Sophia’s embrace, my line of sight crossed with Alicia’s half-lidded eyes.

For some reason, a cold sweat ran down my cheek.

Alicia gently furrowed her brows.

“Papa’s…? Sophia, could it be, again without permission—”

“Waaah, that’s not it, Alicia-san! Will-kun said he wanted to play house. Will-kun was playing Papa and I was playing Mama. Right? Will-kun?”

A desperate gaze filled with pleading was directed at me.

But in front of me was my mother with an even more suspicious expression, her brows furrowed further.

“Is that true? Will”

What cruel judgment to force on a three-year-old…

It’s painful no matter which way I choose.

…No, wait?

At that moment, an image of a lightbulb flashing appeared above my head.

Maybe with this, I could learn magic.

In an instant, I closed my eyes, then enveloped myself in a childish aura and spoke clearly and brightly, full of innocence.

“Yeah, Mama, I was playing house with Sophia-neesan.”

◯

“I’m really happy that Will-kun covered for me… but it’s complicated how Will-kun can now lie so naturally and read the room so well… When did Will-kun become so corrupted…”

Ugh, what a pain.

In Sophia’s room, sitting on Sophia’s lap, held firmly around the chest area, I rested my head against her ample bosom.

Sophia lamented, “Will-kun has learned to lie,” while pressing her nose against my hair and rubbing it around.

This was getting really annoying, so I decided to quickly put my magic learning plan into action.

“Sophia-neesan, why were you in Papa’s room?”

“Gulp… You’re quite persistent, Will-kun…”

When I turned my head, Sophia was puffing out her cheeks slightly with a guilty expression.

“Hey, why? Why?”

“Will-kun, you don’t need to know!”

Hmm.

As expected, she must have been planning something that would definitely get her in big trouble if found out.

Then she would definitely try to change the subject again.

“More importantly, let’s play with oneechan, Will-kun! Anything is fine! Let’s do whatever Will-kun wants to do!”

With an unusually heated, loud voice, Sophia made her proposal to me.

With gestures added, looking quite desperate.

Just as expected.

Perfect, I was waiting for those words.

“Then, I want to try using magic!”

“…Hweh? …Uhm, no, that’s…”

For about two years now, she had been learning magic from my father Lucas on his occasional days off.

At that time, I was just watching from a safe distance while being held by Alicia, so while I understood what magic was, I didn’t know how to use it.

However, if I could ask Sophia to teach me directly, everything would be solved.

That would be the plan for me to be able to use magic.

Additionally, I seem to recall Papa and Mama saying that Sophia possesses genius-level talent when it comes to magic.

She would be suitable as a teacher.

“Sophia-neesan, please.”

“No, but it’s dangerous… and if I teach Will-kun magic now, I’ll definitely get scolded by Alicia-san… ugh.”

Sophia held her head, suffering from conflict.

Still not enough pushing?

“Sophia-neesan, you said… anything I wanted to do…”

“Ugh, eeh… but magic is…”

With teary eyes, I tried to make my voice sound sad.

I saw a wavering in Sophia’s eyes.

Just a little more?

“I promise I won’t do anything dangerous. I’ll listen to what Sophia-neesan says.”

“…Uuun. But even so, it’s dangerous…”

One more push.

Here I decided to use my secret technique.

I fixed my gaze on Sophia with pleading eyes.

And then,

“Please, Sophia-oneechan…”

“O-Onee…chan…!”

Sophia’s eyes went wide, then her mouth softened and her face melted.

The next moment, I was hugged even more tightly by Sophia. Geh.

“S-Say it one more time… Will-kun.”

“I-It’s hard to breathe, Sophia-oneechan, let go…”

“O-One more time.”

“Ah, fine! I love you, Sophia-oneechan! So please, quickly… ugh”

Apparently my secret technique was too effective, and I was tossed around by Sophia-oneechan, who squealed with delight while writhing her body.

Seriously going to suffocate… I’m not a stuffed animal, you know…

But well, anyway.

From that day, my heart-pounding secret magic training with Sophia began.