Chapter 4
Chick Awakening
The little girl desperately tried to drag the resisting girl onto the bed.
It was a pretty bad sight.
If someone reported it, I’d be totally arrested.
But I’m a little girl.
That’s my greatest advantage right now.
Somehow, Helen finally gave in, and that night I slept warmer than I ever had before.
I never laid a hand on Helen.
We just held hands as we slept — completely legal.
A soft swish of sound, and light fell across my eyelids.
Helen must have opened the curtains.
Hehe… Helen was so cute yesterday.
It’s probably an inappropriate way of thinking, but as long as I don’t say it aloud, it stays hidden in the dark.
“Good morning, Lady Maria! The weather is so beautiful today. It feels wonderful!”
Bright!
You’re so bright!
You’re my sun!
The sun is right in front of me!
I fought down the impulse to drop to my knees and worship Helen and instead sat up smiling.
From “my lady” yesterday to “Lady Maria” today — Helen had become a bit more casual.
Her cheeks were slightly flushed; she was in a very good mood.
I think we’ve gotten quite close.
My goal is for her to call me by the nickname “Marie,” but that’s probably still a long way off.
“Good morning, Helen. You seem brighter than usual today. Will you walk with me in the garden later?”
“Yes! I’d be delighted!”
Ahh… the selfish perverted little girl.
How foolish of me back then to point my finger and demand “I want that one.”
Now I almost want to praise that moment.
Helen and I left the room together, smiling, and waiting outside was a cute knight who looked exactly like Helen and bowed his head.
“Good morning, my lady.”
“Good morning, Rufus. Sorry for monopolizing Helen yesterday.”
Rufus is Helen’s twin brother — one of the “presents” I had begged for by pointing at him.
I apologized for “snatching” Helen away from him, who normally shares a room with her and takes care of her, but Rufus’ face — so much like Helen’s — was frozen in shock.
Of course it was.
A chick who couldn’t even say her own name properly was now speaking someone else’s name.
I’d never once called him by his real name before this.
“You… are my lady… aren’t you?”
Yes, yes.
That reaction.
I get it.
“Brother! What are you saying! How rude!”
“Ah! My apologies!”
“Hahaha.”
Rufus bowed his head, apologizing desperately.
How on earth have I looked to everyone around me until now…?
A chick is foolish, but its parents are hawks.
If the chick cries, the hawk comes to tear off heads — something like that.
“Don’t apologize, Rufus. You see… when I fell yesterday, I awakened.
Somehow my head feels clear, like I’ve regained my true self.”
“Could it be that you hit your head… no, never mind.”
He was about to say “Maybe she hit her head and is totally messed up,” but Helen’s murderous glare silenced him.
Helen… even if you glare with that lovely face, it’s only cute.
True, I did hit my head and turn into a weird one.
I’m aware.
But as long as I don’t show it, it’s not a crime.
I held back my urge to writhe at Helen puffing out her cheeks and angrily scolding her brother, and somehow managed to sit at the breakfast table.
Even though he’s not much bigger than his sister, the butler still lifted me into a child’s chair with high sides to keep me from falling.
He looked worried too.
“Fah…nk you ver mush.”
“Ah… thank goodness. You seem lively. Hehe.”
“I’m glad, Marie. Ufufu.”
“I’m glad. Fufu.”
“Mm.”
I was apparently the last one, and my parents and brother Leon sat together at one end of the long, long table with me awkwardly sandwiched in.
They asked about the bump on my head.
Am I okay?
In many ways I couldn’t say I was, but I smiled to reassure them and explained, as I had to Rufus, that I had “awakened.”
Maybe because I spoke so well, my parents and brother looked unsettled, but they’ll get used to it eventually.
Someday a chick starts speaking human words, so hitting my head at this timing is fine.
I’m in a “whatever” mood now.
“Marie, what will you and Leon do today?”
Even after breakfast, this family doesn’t leave the table right away.
It’s family chat time.
Father asked his usual gentle question.
“Today I’ll walk in the garden with Helen and then have lunch with her.
I plan to invite Rufus as well.”
Shock.
There’s no better word for the scene.
Normally the selfish chick attacks the rest of the family for attention during the day when Father’s away.
My underdeveloped language was probably because Father and Mother always spoke to me slowly like a baby and because I rarely went outside or met people.
“Oh my… really? Not with Mama and your brother today?”
“No. I’ll be with Helen and Rufus.
Helen watches over me kindly like the Holy Mother.
Her smile shines on me like the sun, and her loveliness is a miracle sent by God…”
“Lady Maria!”
Oh no.
I almost outed myself as a pervert.
If Helen hadn’t cut me off, blushing, I’d have been done for.
“…”
Everyone fell silent.
I’d become far too eloquent.
And suddenly independent.
That must be terrifying for them.
But my worries were unfounded.
Father and Mother clasped hands, moved to tears at how “grown up” I’d become.
I’m so lucky to have such tolerant parents.
“…”
It seems to have worked.
Everyone except my brother, who was staring at me with a damp, suspicious gaze…
“Helen and Rufus are mine.
What I do with them is my own business, isn’t it?”
An evil-sounding line for a sunny afternoon.
But I’m no villain.
Not even a chair.
How could a mere chair sit beside its master at lunch?
How could a mere belonging share a meal with you, my lady?
I only said it to soothe Helen and Rufus.
“Helen, Rufus, can’t you relax and eat when I’m around?
If so, I won’t force you.”
“N-no! That’s not it… we’re just dirty orphans…”
“Helen.”
I placed a finger lightly on Helen’s lips to stop her words, and when she raised her eyes in surprise, I met her gaze firmly.
“You — no, you two — are beautiful.
I love you both. I’m so proud of you.
So please don’t think of yourselves as lowly.
And if you lose confidence, tell me.
Each time I’ll teach you the truth.
The truth of how wonderful and beautiful you are… slowly, over an entire night.”
I smiled at them both.
They both nodded over and over with tears in their eyes.
Why do children like these call themselves dirty objects?
They must have had such hard lives.
What a frightening world.
Once they calmed down, they were finally able to eat lunch — of course, all three of us together.
Just seeing their smiles made me feel like I could eat three bowls of rice.
“I’ve always wondered… why did Lady Maria take us in?”
Rufus asked, now friendly enough to use my name.
It’s something I’ve wondered too.
I don’t remember very well.
“Love at first sight, I think. Nothing else makes sense.”
It was a vague answer, but they smiled shyly without doubt.
When our pleasant afternoon ended and we returned to the mansion, a voice called from behind.
In the entrance hall…
The voice belonged to a ninja, apparently — Leon-sama, who had completely hidden his presence and snuck up behind me.
How long had he been there?
“Marie, would you like to read with your brother?
I’ll read you your favorite picture book. Come to my room?”
Helen and Rufus stepped back and bowed.
Leon-sama extended his hand with prince-like grace.
To me, it was more “Prince (lol)” than actual prince.
“Yes, brother. I’d love to.”
I placed my hand gently in his, and as he escorted me, he carried me up the stairs.
I’d been carried in the morning too.
Whether it was because the stairs are dangerous or because I was scared, I don’t know.
When we reached the second floor and entered Leon-sama’s room next to mine, he released my hand and stared at me as if assessing something.
So I stared back.
Why is Leon-sama in this marquis household?
In the game my sister played, he was supposed to be the third son of a duke.
I try to remember, but it slips away.
If only I had some clue…
“Marie. Can you tell me why you’ve been acting so strangely since yesterday?
To me, it’s like you’ve become a different person.”
He spoke gently and slowly — maybe he’s used to talking to babies — but his eyes were clearly those of someone looking at an enemy.
“Yes, I think it’s strange too.
What’s happened to me, I wonder?
Does this new me frighten you, brother?”
Leon-sama’s eyes flickered with confusion.
He stroked his chin as if thinking.
He began asking me questions only I could know the answers to —
What book he’d read me the day before yesterday, what he’d given me for his birthday — many things.
I see.
He really thought I’d been replaced by someone else, a double.
This man thinks like a ninja.
I honestly told him when I didn’t remember, and after the questions ended, Leon-sama opened his arms.
Apparently I’m supposed to go into them.
I wish I could swap with my sister.
Like a double.
“I’m sorry, Marie. It was brother who was acting strange.
Can you forgive me?”
“I’m the one who changed suddenly.
You’re not strange at all, brother.”
“By the way…”
His voice, from within his arms, suddenly dropped.
Sensing danger, I looked up.
He was smiling mischievously.
“Yesterday, like when you were talking with Lord Siek’s son —
can’t you talk with me like that too?
That cheerful Marie was fun.”
Within Leon-sama’s arms…
This wasn’t a hug.
It was a capture.
