Vol 3 Chapter 43 – Tea Party

The day after I thoroughly humiliated myself.

With a reborn state of mind, I greeted El-sama, whom I happened to run into.

“Oh my, you have a nice expression today. I think I’d like to spend some time with the current you.”

“I am truly honored.”

It seems I somehow managed to earn a passing grade to be by her side.

“I have some good tea leaves. Would you accompany me, even if my tea-pouring skills are still lacking?”

“Yes, El-sama. If you’ll have me, I would be delighted.”

“There’s no need to be so formal. Call me with ‘-chan’, okay?”

“…Umm.”

“Let me rephrase that. Call me El-chan.”

“…Yes, El-chan.”

“Fufu.”

For the young girl standing before me, the word “lovely” feels the most appropriate.

Her black outfit, akin to mourning clothes, highlights an unnatural allure despite her youth, yet her amber eyes display a pure clarity, forming an astonishingly magnificent beauty.

Overall, the impression of a terrifying loveliness burns itself into my mind and refuses to let go.

Following her words to wait a moment, I ended up chatting with Selphi-san until preparations were complete.

It seems she was both my conversation partner to kill time and my guide to El’s room.

“…”

“Fu, kkufu, s-so, what did Aroma-san say then?”

“…! …?”

“Ahahahaha! S-Such a thing happened…! I guess you really can’t judge a book by its cover…”

“… …?”

“Y-You say keep it a secret, but… I feel like I’m going to burst out laughing every time I see her face from now on…”

“…”

“A-And what’s more, eh? …Her Majesty did?”

“…!”

“I-Is it true she was drooling…? Pu, bufu, kukuku…”

I’ve known the vampire lady since I was working in the kitchen, and she had always treated me relatively kindly, but this was the first time I had spoken with her for this long.

However, she was an unexpectedly good conversationalist.

Thanks to Garon-san, my mental state had stabilized significantly, so hearing stories about Christela didn’t bother me at all anymore.

In fact, the “Can’t-Help-But-Laugh Stories of Her Majesty and the Prime Minister’s Blunders” that Selphi-san shared with me were incredibly enjoyable.

It seems she still has quite the repertoire, so I’d definitely like to have her tell me more from time to time.

But, even though it’s none of my business, isn’t this lèse-majesté?

“…”

“Eh? The preparations are ready? How did you… Ah, you sent a bat to check.”

How convenient. When you hear “vampire,” the strong image is of a king of the night with many powers and many weaknesses, but here, she does things like serving duty and seems to be in a fairly normal position.

…That being said, while I see a few people of races like harpies or werewolves inside the castle, I’ve never seen another vampire besides Selphi-san.

“Come to think of it, are there no other vampires here besides you, Selphi-san?”

“…”

“Ah… um, I’m sorry. I asked something terrible, didn’t I?”

It seems Selphi-san is truly the last of her clan.

Vampires are known as immortal kings, but I had no idea things had turned out that way.

I did something incredibly inexcusable.

In an atmosphere that had somehow turned slightly sour, I followed behind Selphi-san and headed toward El-chan’s room.

Despite wearing a butler’s uniform, soft lines that clearly marked her as a woman swayed right before my eyes.

Seeing her bottom swaying back and forth left and right put me in a slightly awkward state of mind.

The fact that she had a somewhat petite build surely fueled my sense of guilt, but on top of that, my exchange with Garon-san yesterday was, for some reason, giving the current me the kind of excitement and immorality one might feel while having an affair. Even I found myself pathetic.

No, that’s not it.

Garon-san is my mom, remember.

Ah, but we aren’t blood-related. No, no.

While pondering such pointless things, my eyes still never left that tight outfit right in front of me, which looked ready to trace the very lines of her underwear at any moment. With miserable feelings welling up inside me, I somehow managed to arrive safely at our destination.

“Welcome. I’m sorry to have kept you waiting.”

“Please don’t worry about it. I have quite a bit of free time on my hands these days.”

“Nfufu. Well then, won’t you have a seat over there?”

Prompted, I sat down in the chair opposite her.

“…”

“Ah, it’s fine, Selphi. I want to pour it myself.”

El-chan reached for the teapot herself, intercepting Selphi-san’s movements, and poured the tea with her own hands.

“My older sister has a child’s palate. She can’t even drink black tea unless it’s full of milk, isn’t that strange?”

“Ahaha, well, everyone has their own tastes.”

“But when you try your best to practice and pour a cup for someone, only for them to immediately dump a mountain of sugar and milk into it, even I feel sad. She could at least taste one sip just the way it is.”

“Mhm, I can’t say I don’t understand, but… Being able to drink it deliciously might be the best thing after all.”

“You say the exact same thing as Aroma.”

Saying that, El-chan elegantly covered her mouth and laughed, but if Aroma-san heard that, she’d probably lose her mind.

Because it seems that woman despises me like a venomous snake.

Since my own impression of her when we first met was rather good, I can’t help but feel a little sorrowful at her attitude of treating me like absolute filth.

But, well, it can’t be helped. Often, there are things in life that just don’t go your way.

Yesterday, I exposed my own disgraceful state, unable to easily control even myself after toying with various phenomena, so I am acutely aware of this.

As long as I clearly separate what I should give up on and what I shouldn’t, I can keep from losing sight of myself.

Mother Garon is here to support me, and in the first place, I also have Puria-san and Alice-san.

At least for now, I’ve decided to include Aroma-san in the category of things I should give up on.

I’ll love her someday, though.

Heehee.

“…That’s a lovely aroma. Unfortunately, I’m completely ignorant when it comes to types of tea leaves, but this is delicious.”

“You don’t have to force yourself to be polite. It’s not particularly high-grade stuff anyway. I’m still terrible at making it, so using expensive leaves would be a waste… But, yes. I’m glad you like it.”

“Yes, it’s quite the excellent preparation.”

“What is that?”

“It’s apparently a standard phrase used at times like this.”

Saying that, we exchanged smiles.

It was a warm moment.

“By the way, I apologize for yesterday. It seems my foul mood showed on my face.”

“It’s fine. But I wonder why you’re in such a good mood today.”

It was undeniably a gentle time.

“Umm, well, I hesitate to go into too much detail, but…”

“Ah, you don’t have to say it. I’ll guess.”

And that time was over just like that.

“Something happened with Garon, didn’t it?”

“Uwe!?”

A sharp crack echoed.

Looking around to see where the sound came from, I understood immediately.

The handle of the cup she was holding, still resting on its saucer, had been shattered into pieces.

“That bitch… Garon is truly a hopeless child. And you, too. Coming back home to a hen and a vixen. Shouldn’t you have a little more restraint?”

Saying that, she leaned her face in right in front of mine.

Her amber eyes were so transparent that it felt like I could see straight through to their depths, and knowing that this was surely not something I should be doing with a young girl, I cast my eyes downward.

“There are many girls in Diabolo, aren’t there? In the first place, there aren’t many men left among the demon race itself anymore.”

That was certainly something I had been curious about as well.

I occasionally saw male-lineage races like Minotaurs, but even so, I felt like male demons made up less than ten percent of the total population.

“Perhaps because there are no men, it makes it all the more… ah, I’d hate for you to think I’m indecent. I’ve read many romance stories written by humans. But, because they ultimately had no connection to my actual self, they were just empty things I viewed with a cynical eye.”

“Right.”

“But, you said it, didn’t you? That you would love me.”

“Yes. I love you.”

“If you love me, shouldn’t you look only at me? Ever since you touched me that time, my heart hasn’t stopped pounding.”

“I-I’m truly honored.”

“But you know. When I see you wagging your tail so much for other girls, that pounding turns into boiling nausea. Hey, do you understand my feelings…?”

“…Umm.”

“Will you look only at me from now on?”

“…”

“Look only at me.”

“…”

“For now, just words are fine. Say ‘Yes’.”

“Y-Yes.”

“Nfu, good boy, aren’t you? Then, shall we play?”

SCARRRRRRRY!

This is bad, this is so baaaaad!

SCARRRRRRRY!

W-W-W-What do I do, this is absolutely the kind of person you shouldn’t mess with.

W-Wh-What do I do?

N-No wait, it’s fine, I have Mom with me now.

I should be slightly upgraded compared to the me from yesterday.

S-She’s cute, right?

Unexpectedly, you know, it’s an expression of possessiveness, or a slight rampage of puberty, or whatever you want to call it.

Yeah, it’s fine, I can totally love her.

She’s super terrifying, but it’s fine.

…Alright.

What the heck, she’s cute, she’s cute.

El-chan is cute, isn’t she?

If she’s feeling jealous over me, isn’t that something I should be rather proud of as a man?

It’s fine, El-chan.

I will properly love you, even if it costs me my life.

So you don’t have to be so scared.

I’ll absolutely never leave you alone, okay?

Heeheeheehee. Fufufu.

“…Muu. You really are quite stubborn, after all.”

“? What is?”

“Nothing at aaaaall.”

Nine was confident in his ability to read the true nature of others.

But perhaps there was hubris in that.

For a long time, Nine continuously overlooked the fact that Electra—who had touched the deaths of many people and bathed in their intense emotions at their final moments—was more skilled than anyone else at understanding a person’s true nature.

—In the words of an old, already-destroyed world: “When you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.”

At this point, he still had not realized that he was no longer the one doing the gazing, but had already become the one being gazed upon.

How this would affect his dream, no one yet knew.

—And, staring unblinkingly with eyes completely devoid of emotion, the beautiful vampire watched this entire exchange.

Staring.

And then, she smiled.