Chapter 233 - Elder Brother — What Was Lost

Rudeus's Perspective:

Early morning.

I woke to the sound of soft breathing.

The sky outside was still that pale, washed-out white particular to winter. Snow in the courtyard hadn't fully melted yet. The air carried a clean, cold bite.

When I sat up, Sylphiette and Roxy were still curled up beside me, fast asleep. The pregnancies had been making them drowsier and drowsier lately.

--------

After Windsor started school, the household felt different.

The most obvious change was the mornings. They'd gotten quiet.

Before, Windsor would already be at my door by this hour, wooden sword in hand, demanding practice. Now she had to go to school first.

Breakfast was strange without her.

Lara Greyrat lay sprawled across the table, swinging her legs, looking completely deflated.

"Windsor-sis really isn't here anymore..."

Lucy Greyrat was quietly and seriously drinking her milk. "Because classes start today."

Lara Greyrat sighed. "What's so great about school. Better to just stay home and play."

I reached over and flicked her on the forehead. "You'll be going too someday."

"Dad plays favorites! You only ever flick me!"

"Sorry~ Lara Greyrat is just too cute."

"Hmph. That trick stopped working ages ago. I've noticed, whenever Dad's hands are free, he just starts pawing at me."

"...That phrasing is way too weird..."

Beside us, Tina raised her hand with great seriousness.

"Dad."

"Hm?"

"When I go to school later, can I bring snacks?"

"...Why would you even think of that?"

"Because I'll get hungry."

Incredibly persuasive. I genuinely didn't know how to respond for a second.

Eris laughed. "Truly worthy of being my daughter."

"No... how does that behavior resemble you in any way, Eris?"

"How does it not!"

"When you were little and taking my lessons, were you really sitting there thinking about sneaking snacks?"

Eris thought about it for two whole seconds. Then nodded.

"I was."

"...I always thought... you were taking the lessons seriously... Eris, I'm deeply hurt."

"Sorry, Rudeus~ but lessons really are boring!"

She said it and just hugged me outright.

"You're forgiven."

"Thank you, Rudeus! I love you!"

Sylphiette sat beside us, pressing a hand gently to her temple. Roxy lowered her head over her tea, the corner of her mouth twitching.

Aisha had already started coaching Tina.

"You can hide them in your bag~ and hey, should we get Tina her own maid? Like Pursena?"

"Can I really?"

"Of course."

"Then Lara Greyrat-sis can be my maid!"

Tina pointed straight at her.

Lara Greyrat's mouth twitched. "Tina~ what are you saying?"

"Because you keep saying you're never going to school, so you can be my maid instead! At least you'd have something to do!"

"...Fine. I'll go to school."

"Huh?"

Anyway. The kids were still exactly this adorable.

Mm.

How did I manage to raise children this cute? Back when I was teaching Eris, I briefly considered myself some kind of master educator.

Was I, though?

I was still drifting through that thought when Aisha propped her chin in her hand.

"But brother~ your teaching really is excellent, you know."

"Right?"

"In magic, and in..." She leaned close to my ear. "Bed."

"...It's early morning."

"Ehehe~"

Sylphiette took a sip of tea and nodded. "It's true. Rudy's teaching is wonderful. The school teachers definitely won't be better than Rudy."

"Don't flatter me that much."

"It's just the truth. Though Windsor's main goal in going to school is really to learn how to socialize."

Roxy smiled lightly. "Still, if Lara Greyrat ever does go to school... that school is going to be turned upside down."

...Mm.

Well.

Lara Greyrat is very cute.

But the school does have practical magic classes.

Ah...

Right on cue, Lara Greyrat planted her hands on her hips, beaming.

"I will rule that school! Hahahaha!"

Lucy Greyrat finished her milk and glanced over.

Her expression said everything: This person is actually my older sister.

She sighed quietly and said nothing.

--------

Just as breakfast was winding down, the sound of a carriage reached us from outside.

I glanced toward the window on instinct.

Parked at the mansion gate was the carriage Ariel had gifted to Norn.

"Norn's back?"

--------

A few minutes later, the hall had gone quiet.

The maid served hot tea and withdrew. Only 3 of us remained: me, Norn, and Ruijerd.

The atmosphere was odd.

Especially Norn. She'd been avoiding my eyes since she walked in. Her ears were a little red.

...Wait.

A bad feeling crept over me.

Ruijerd sat straight-backed as always. Silent. Composed.

Then he spoke.

"Rudeus."

"Hm?"

"I want to marry Norn."

The air went still.

I wondered if I'd heard him wrong.

"...What?"

Norn kept her head down, silent.

Ruijerd continued, calm as ever. "We have already thought it through carefully."

"Wait, wait, wait—"

I held up a hand.

My head was already spinning.

"Why has this jumped straight to marriage? When did you two even start?"

"Brother..."

Norn murmured, but I didn't have the bandwidth to deal with her right now.

No, more accurately, I couldn't process any of this.

Ruijerd and Norn?

I'd noticed they got along well, sure. But I'd read it as traveling companions. Protector and ward.

And now we were at marriage?

Wasn't that a few steps skipped?

How old was Norn even,

I looked her over.

...Alright. She had grown up. Almost 25 now.

Ruijerd was quiet for two seconds.

"I must take responsibility."

I frowned. "Responsibility?"

Then it hit me.

The air turned to ice.

I looked at him slowly. "...What exactly do you mean by that?"

Ruijerd didn't flinch. He just said, very quietly, very seriously:

"Norn and I have already been together."

The teacup hit the table with a sharp crack.

"What?! Ruijerd! You did that before marriage?! You—"

"Brother!"

Norn shot to her feet. Her voice was shaking. She stepped directly in front of Ruijerd.

"It wasn't Ruijerd's fault! I was the one who made the first move!"

"...What?"

Her ears were blazing red. She gritted her teeth and kept going.

"I was the one who invited him to the hot spring. I was the one who moved closer to him. And after that, after that, I was also the one who first..."

She trailed off, too flustered to finish.

Then she pivoted. "It's not like you and Eris sister-in-law waited until marriage either!"

"........"

I put my hand over my face.

I absolutely did not want to hear any more of this.

Too much information.

My little sister took the initiative. With Ruijerd. What kind of development was this?

Norn was clearly worked up now. "Brother, stop making that face!"

"I don't know what face I'm supposed to be making right now."

"The point is, it's not Ruijerd's fault! You're not allowed to blame him!"

"Alright, alright... what did Father say?"

"I wanted to tell you first... then Father..."

"Norn, you..."

How was I even supposed to approach this?

Did they actually suit each other? There was an age gap of several hundred years between them. 500, probably.

But... if Norn genuinely felt this way...

And I was only just now realizing: Norn had this side to her. This stubborn, fierce side.

Ruijerd spoke quietly. "Rudeus."

"You. Quiet."

"..."

"I really want to hit you right now."

He nodded. "You may."

"Good. You'll take it without flinching, or I'll use magic instead."

I raised my fist.

Norn stepped in front of him again.

"Ruijerd, are you seriously hiding behind my little sister right now? That's what we're doing? Huh?"

"Brother, calm down!"

"I am calm."

"You are absolutely not calm right now!"

"Because someone stole my little sister!"

"No one stole anyone!"

"Didn't they?!"

"I was the one who made the first move! And I was the one who used the drug!"

"A drug?! Norn, how could you, you — you—"

"...It was advice from Her Majesty Ariel..."

"I'm going to kill her. The Asura Kingdom needs a new ruler."

"Brother, don't take your anger out on Her Majesty Ariel, this was my choice! I wanted to do this!"

"But Norn, you've always been so, and you, you never—"

"Brother! I'm 24 years old! Almost 25!"

"...But, "

"No buts. I love Ruijerd!"

The hall erupted.

And right then, the door swung open.

Roxy poked her head in. "What happened?"

Sylphiette and the others were right behind her. The argument had clearly carried.

They stepped inside and took in the scene.

Me, standing with my fist raised.

Norn, planted in front of Ruijerd.

Ruijerd, sitting there looking perfectly ready to take a hit.

The atmosphere somehow got even more delicate.

Aisha blinked. "Oh my."

Sylphiette asked carefully, "Rudy... what's going on?"

I was quiet for 2 seconds. Then I lowered my fist, covered my face, and sat back down.

"...Norn is getting married."

A beat of silence.

Then:

"EH?!"

Now it was the wives' turn to be stunned.

--------

10 minutes later, a kind of order had returned to the hall.

Surface-level order, at least.

Sylphiette had already started gently asking Norn questions. Eris was staring at Ruijerd with a complicated look.

"So you like Norn, huh."

Ruijerd nodded. "Yes."

Completely direct. It left Eris with nothing to say.

Aisha had fully committed to spectator mode. She was eating snacks and watching me with bright eyes. "Is brother very angry?"

"Yes."

"Calm down, calm down~" She started feeding me fruit.

Roxy took a quiet sip of tea, then looked at Ruijerd.

"So. Have you actually thought about the future?"

"Yes."

"This isn't just responsibility?"

"Responsibility is part of it."

A pause.

"But I like Norn."

The hall went quiet.

Norn's ears went completely, instantly red. She dropped her head and stared at the floor.

I pressed my hand over my forehead. My feelings were a genuine mess.

Sylphiette's expression softened into something gentle.

"That's wonderful, Rudy."

"Sylphiette?"

"Mr. Ruijerd really does seem serious."

"But..."

"Rudy."

She took my hand. Her voice was soft.

"Norn has grown up."

I didn't answer.

Beside me, Norn glanced over quietly.

Then, just barely above a whisper: "Brother."

"Mm...?"

"I really will be happy. I know it."

I didn't know what to say.

Because the look on her face was genuine. Settled. It wasn't stubbornness, and it wasn't impulse. It was the quiet certainty of someone who actually believed what she was saying.

Time really does move fast.

That shy, hesitant little sister, the one who used to shrink into herself, was now standing up for the person she loved. Walking through my door and saying: I want to marry him.

I let out a long breath.

Aisha immediately perked up. "Brother agrees?"

"I just..."

I rubbed the bridge of my nose.

"Have the feeling that the little sister I raised just got taken away from me."

Aisha pinched my cheek. "Isn't it enough that one little sister is still by your side? Too greedy."

"Aisha. You know that's not what I meant."

"Hmph hmph~ who knows?"

Roxy said, calmly: "I do understand how Rudy feels."

"Roxy..."

"Though Rudy should know, situations like this might come up 4 more times."

"...What?"

"We have 4 daughters, after all."

"...Stop talking, Roxy."

Roxy smiled and said nothing more.

Norn laughed despite herself.

I looked at Ruijerd.

After a long silence, I finally spoke.

"Have you really thought this through?"

"Yes."

"You're not allowed to make Norn cry."

"I won't."

"You're not allowed to make her sad."

"I won't."

"You're not allowed to have any contact with other women. Norn is a Milis Church believer, you know that."

"Yes."

"And one more thing."

I paused. Then said it through gritted teeth.

"Before the wedding, no more fooling around."

One beat of silence.

Norn's face went scarlet. "B-Brother!"

My wives were all smiling.

Only Ruijerd nodded, completely serious.

"Understood."

Looking at that expression, I confirmed something.

This man was genuinely ready to spend the rest of his life with Norn.

And just then, noise came from outside. The sound of school letting out.

"Dad!"

The next second, Windsor burst through the door, schoolbag in hand.

She stopped dead in the middle of the hall.

"Uncle Ruijerd?"

Then she looked at Norn.

"Aunt Norn?"

A beat.

Lara Greyrat drifted in behind her.

"Oh!"

Her eyes went wide. "Are you here to get married?!"

I twitched the corner of my mouth. "...Did Lara Greyrat dream that?"

"No, it's the atmosphere! It just feels like that!"

"What atmosphere is that, exactly?"

Windsor turned to me with a thoughtful look.

"Dad."

"Hm?"

"Should I start calling Uncle Ruijerd my uncle-in-law?"

I reached out and ruffled her hair. "In a little while."

Then I looked at Ruijerd.

"Ruijerd."

"Yes."

"You'll need to prove yourself, to me and to my father. Prove that you can protect Norn."

"Understood."

He nodded without a moment's hesitation.

➤ Next: Elder Brother and Father