Chapter 116

And so, I learned what Kyle had been getting up to while I was busy.

“Aisha, I—”

“Hands.”

When I warned him with a sharp glare, Kyle, who had been slyly trying to lower his raised arms, stuck out his lower lip.

This was the playroom.

No. From now on, it was the room of reflection.

“I heard you called the knight commanders ‘mister’ and threw a fit saying you weren’t going to train anymore?”

Even as I asked, it sounded ridiculous.

“By the way, who taught you to call them ‘mister’?”

“I’m not telling you.”

“What?!”

When I narrowed my eyes and took a step toward him, he flinched and finally confessed.

“...Grandma Bibi said it wasn’t a bad thing to say!”

So that meant he had learned it from Grandma Bibi.

I sighed and crossed my arms.

“Just because Grandma Bibi says something like that doesn’t mean you should copy her.”

“...Urgh.”

At my words, the little walnut-shaped crease beneath his pouting lower lip deepened.

“...Aisha doesn’t understand how I feel.”

Kyle glared at me for a while, then lowered his eyes as though deeply wronged and jerked his head away.

“Huh?”

“Aisha is stupid.”

“......”

And yet he kept his trembling arms stretched straight up instead of dropping them.

Considering he was serving his punishment properly, it didn’t seem like he had done all this purely out of defiance.

This was...

Could Kyle be upset with me about something?

Gasp.

My previously sharp gaze softened.

If that was the case, making him stand there as punishment could actually make things worse.

First, I needed to change my attitude.

“Kyle.”

I shook my head briskly and approached him with a gentle expression.

“......?”

“Put your arms down first. They must hurt.”

Kyle, who had been full of resentment, gave me a puzzled look.

“You only realized that now? Aisha, rock brain.”

“Want to put them back up?”

“Aisha, angel brain.”

“Good. Put your arms down.”

Having tasted the bitterness of society, Kyle lowered his numb arms. He had now become a proper worldly member of society who knew how to flatter those in power.

But this was only the beginning.

What exactly had upset Kyle badly enough to make him rebel?

I uncrossed my arms and asked gently,

“You used to be doing just fine. Why are you suddenly acting like this? Is there something you don’t like?”

At my softened tone, Kyle glanced at me and slowly opened his mouth.

“...Aisha, you haven’t been playing with me lately.”

My eyes widened slightly in surprise.

So he really was upset with me. And because I hadn’t been playing with him, of all things.

It was true that I had been spending less time with him, but...

“I’m really sorry about that. But I told you beforehand that I’d be busy.”

“I know. But still...”

So he understood, but he was still upset.

Kyle fidgeted with his fingers dejectedly, then suddenly continued in a dissatisfied voice.

“I only did swordsmanship training and etiquette lessons because of Aisha.”

“...What?”

“When I study, Aisha praises me and looks at me. That’s why I did it. But lately you don’t look at me anymore. So I don’t have a reason to study now.”

These symptoms...

I calmly stared at the sulking Kyle and came to a conclusion.

A child gradually going off the rails because of parental neglect?!

I think I saw something like this on TV in my previous life.

Kyle still looked as though he had no idea why he was being punished, completely oblivious to the fact that my suddenly serious mouth had turned into a little triangle.

Good grief. This was largely my fault.

Kyle had basically been like a young animal from the beginning, yet I had called myself his guardian without properly taking care of him.

Whether it meant giving him affection, training him, or whatever else, I should have been making an effort for his sake.

I-In a situation like this...

I had to show him that, as his guardian, I cared about him very much.

I gulped down the saliva pooling in my mouth and hurried to soothe his anger.

“Aww~ Our Kyle was upset because he thought I didn’t care about him~.”

“...Hmph.”

He jerked his head away.

But I wasn’t giving up.

“But even during my magic lessons, I was always thinking about Kyle~.”

“......?”

At my words, Kyle’s ears perked up slightly.

He really is cute.

I laughed inwardly and fluttered my hands.

“What kind of swordsmanship training did Kyle do today~? What kind of etiquette lesson did he have today~?”

“...T-Today’s lesson... I didn’t go...”

“What did he eat for lunch today~? I was sooo curious, but I had lessons, so I held it in. Once I have time, I’m going to spend the entire day playing with Kyle and asking him everything.”

“...The entire day?”

At last, he turned his head and looked at me.

Got you. Took the bait.

I nodded far too vigorously and moved closer.

“Yeah. The lessons only last two months, so once they’re over, I’m going to play with Kyle all—day—”

Then, with the feeling of someone carefully trying to catch a frightened herbivore, I gently took his hand.

Boom—!

“?!”

My vision flashed as though thunder had struck.

For an instant, all the strength left my body and I nearly collapsed, but Kyle firmly caught my back, allowing me to regain my balance.

“Aisha! Are you okay?!”

“......?”

I think I almost passed out just now. What happened?

At his urgent shout, I looked around, but nothing had changed.

The only thing I saw was Kyle’s worried face.

“Aisha, are you sick? Should we go see the physician?”

“...No. It’s not that bad.”

First, I calmed the startled Kyle down.

Something had definitely felt strange the moment I grabbed his hand...

Just in case.

“Kyle.”

“Yeah?”

I abruptly grabbed his hand again.

Lurch—

“......”

Just as I thought.

It was weaker than before, but the moment my bare skin touched his, nausea rose in my stomach and my head began to spin.

“...Something feels strange when I hold your hand.”

I muttered gravely.

“Aisha, that happens to you too?”

Kyle’s eyes widened, and he exclaimed as though delighted.

“What? It happens to you too?”

“Yeah!”

Gasp. Could there really be something going on between the two of us?

When I stared at Kyle in shock, his eyes sparkled as he clutched at his chest.

“Whenever I’m close to Aisha, my heart starts pounding, and it feels like someone’s tickling my whole body.”

“......?”

Huh? That sounds a little different from what I’m feeling.

“Aisha, does your heart start pounding and your body get all ticklish when you hold my hand too?”

No. My heart pounds and my head spins...

“......”

Unable to say such a thing to his bright, innocent face, I swallowed the reply and kept my mouth shut.

“Maybe we can communicate through telepathy or something?”

When I didn’t answer, Kyle opened his mouth with an excited “Woooow!” and asked eagerly.

“......”

Only then did I realize it.

Our Kyle has been relying on me a lot!

And here I was, not even realizing it, thinking things like my head spins when I touch Kyle’s skin and all that....

“...Hehe. Yeah, maybe we really do have telepathy between us!”

And so, after playing with the excited Kyle for a while, I left the castle.

But.

Grandma Bibi might know something.

I had let it slide because Kyle had gotten all excited about telepathy, but the dizziness still bothered me.

“Kyuu!”

Just then, I heard a familiar voice and turned my head.

“Kyuuut—? (Long time no see, Aisha?)”

“Grandma Bibi?”

By coincidence, I had run into Grandma Bibi while she was out for a walk.

By now, she was a wonderful, kind monster who could proudly stroll among all the knights without a care.

“Kyuu, kyuu. (I heard you’ve been learning magic lately. Is it going well?)”

“Yes. You’re getting along well with Guide too, right, Grandma Bibi?”

“Kyuu~! (Of course~!)”

I bent my knees slightly to meet her eyes, and she nodded before scampering closer to me.

“That’s good, Grandma. I actually had something I wanted to ask you...”

That was when it happened.

“Kyuu? (Hold on, little one.)”

“Yes?”

As though she had sensed something strange, she suddenly stopped and began circling me, sniffing the air.

“Kyuu, kyuu? (What... is this?)”

“Grandma, what is it?”

“Kyuu, kyuu, kyuuut—? (Little one. You didn’t go out on some monster subjugation like those knight brats, did you?)”

“Monster subjugation...?”

Why was she suddenly talking about monster subjugation?

I shook my head.

“No? I’ve never participated in a monster subjugation before.”

“Kyuu...? (Really...?)”

Grandma Bibi tilted her head, staring at me suspiciously.

“Kyuu, kyuuut? (Then why is the smell of monsters on you so strong? It’s stronger than before. I’m sure of it.)”

“What...?”

The smell of monsters had gotten stronger?

Come to think of it, before I went to the public sparring match with the royal family, Grandma Bibi had said that I smelled like monsters.

“Grandma, there’s something I wanted to ask you about that. When you hug Guide, has he ever gotten dizzy or felt strange when he touches you?”

“Kyuu? (No? What are you talking about?)”

Grandma Bibi, whose nose was astonishingly sharp, shook her head as though she knew nothing about that.

...So Grandma doesn’t ? NоvеIight ? (Original source) know either.

“Hmm.”

I rubbed my chin and sank into thought.

If even Grandma Bibi didn’t know, there was only one way to find out.

And that was...