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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: The Pecking Order
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I watched Leon's retreating back before approaching Chessier.
“Are you okay? Does it hurt?”
“No.”
“I’m sorry. For this to happen right after you came to my house… I promised I'd make sure you never got hit.”
“Why are you sorry? And I deserved it.”
“Huh?”
“I think he misunderstood what I said.”
“What do you mean?”
Chessier stared at me, then sighed and continued.
“He came to me and asked if I was really your friend.”
“And?”
“I said I wasn't.”
“Then what did you say?”
Chessier hesitated for a moment before answering in a small voice.
“That I’m a toy—”
“What?”
I was so dumbfounded I could only blink.
“I thought he wouldn't like it if I said I was your friend. I was trying to say that I'm your toy, not your friend.”
“……”
“I think he understood it the other way around.”
“The other way around? Ah!”
So, Leon…
It seemed he'd misunderstood Chessier as saying, ‘She's not my friend, she's my toy.’
“No…”
“I tried to clarify because it seemed like a misunderstanding, but he didn't give me a chance.”
An enraged Leon must have thrown a punch without warning, and I arrived before the misunderstanding could be corrected.
Finally understanding the whole situation, I ran my hands through my hair in frustration.
“Ughhh.”
“I said it weirdly. Sorry.”
“No, no… This is my fault…”
I was just joking around because Chessier seemed burdened by my kindness.
“Chessier, listen.”
“If someone asks again,”
I was about to correct him and say not to mention the toy thing anymore, but Chessier cut me off.
“Should I answer that we're friends?”
“……”
Chessier asked, avoiding my gaze.
It sounded like a casual question, but I could sense a hint of worry.
As if he were afraid of being rejected…
“Yes! Definitely!”
I nodded with a bright smile.
“…Okay.”
“Your lip is split again…”
“I'm fine. More importantly, I think you should go check on him.”
“Ah, right.”
I sighed, remembering how hurt Leon had looked.
Throwing a punch like that was too much, but he must have gotten angry out of concern for me…
* * *
“She's my sister! My sister!!”
“Why are you acting like such a child! Stop it!”
As soon as I arrived at Leon's room, I squeezed my eyes shut at the commotion spilling out from behind the door.
A thoroughly grumpy Leon seemed to be taking his anger out on our aunt.
“Brother…”
When I carefully opened the door, my aunt turned around.
“Oh, Lilis?”
“……”
As if he hadn't expected me to come so soon, Leon's eyes widened in surprise before he quickly turned his head away.
My aunt hurried over, pleased to see me.
“I heard you and Leon had a fight. Do you two want to talk? I'll step out.”
“Yes.”
After my aunt left, I hesitantly approached Leon, who was sitting on the edge of his bed.
“Brother.”
“What.”
“I heard why you hit Chessier.”
“……”
“You were angry because Chessier called me a toy, right?”
“Yeah. He's a bad guy. Who calls a person a toy?”
“It's a misunderstanding… Chessier said that *he* was *my* toy. Not that I was his toy.”
“What?”
“Actually, I was the one who told Chessier to be my toy.”
Leon's jaw dropped.
“It was a joke, of course. I shouldn't have made a joke like that. It was my fault.”
“……”
“Anyway, Chessier… said that because he was afraid you wouldn't like it if he said we were friends.”
“That's ridiculous. Why would I hate that?”
“You didn't seem to like Chessier. You were glaring at him yesterday…”
“That wasn't because I don't like him!”
“It wasn't?”
Leon whipped his head to the side and added.
“It was because it seemed like you were closer to him.”
“…Wha?”
“You must like him a lot if you brought him home to live with us.”
“……”
“And we were supposed to go spider-catching just the two of us, but then you suddenly wanted to bring him along. I was annoyed because it seemed like you liked him more.”
I stared blankly at the pouting Leon.
It was a reason I'd never even considered.
He kept bringing up status, so I thought he was against Chessier being a commoner.
‘So it was jealousy?’
Realizing this, I grunted softly and climbed up to sit next to Leon.
“Sigh, Brother… Chessier is a friend, but you're family.”
“……”
“Look at me… Hmm?”
As I whined and pulled on his arm, Leon turned to me, still looking sullen.
I started speaking, gently kicking my feet against the side of the bed.
“You know, I thought Dad was the only family I had. So when I lived in Zenon, I was always jealous of kids who had older sisters or brothers…”
“……”
“But then I came here, and now I have older brothers too. And they're super, super cool and handsome… um, and good at catching spiders, and kind…”
I turned to see Leon listening intently, his eyes wide.
“Heehee. I'm so, so happy these days. I thought I was fine with just Dad, but now that I have brothers to play with, I love it.”
I threw my arms around Leon's waist. He flinched, then hesitantly began to pat my head.
“You're my family, and you'll be by my side forever. Even if I make lots of friends in the future, you'll always be the most important person to me.”
“…Really?”
“Yes, really. Let's play together a lot and eat lots and lots of delicious food together from now on.”
Leon took my cheeks in his hands, gazed at my face, and then grinned.
“Okay.”
Then, he pulled me into a tight hug, like he was hugging a teddy bear, and asked.
“So, who do you like more, him or me?”
Twelve years old, an age where one is particularly sensitive to such questions.
I held back a laugh and hugged Leon even tighter.
“You, brother!”
“Then who do you like more, Theo or me?”
“You, brother!”
“Puhaha! Who do you like more, Uncle or me?”
“Eh. That's a bit…”
I shook my head firmly.
Not even Leon could beat Dad.
“Alright. I'll let you off for Uncle.”
Leon burst out laughing.
* * *
The next day.
Chessier was summoned to the twins' room.
‘Is he going to punish me for what happened yesterday?’
Leon was sitting in a chair with his legs crossed. His refined face and arrogant posture were that of a typical young nobleman.
“Hey.”
Chessier looked at Leon.
“I'm sorry for hitting you yesterday.”
Words he'd never imagined came from Leon's mouth. For a moment, a stunned Chessier was at a loss for words.
“I heard I misunderstood. Still, violence is wrong, so I'm apologizing. And this isn't because Lilis forced me to. I'm being sincere.”
“…It's okay. I was the one who said it weirdly.”
“Right. Drop the formalities.”
“……”
“I said drop them.”
“Okay.”
At his reply, Leon smiled with satisfaction.
“Leon's way of speaking is a little rough, but he's not a bad kid. Please try to understand.”
“What about me!”
Leon snapped back at Theo, who was lying in bed.
“You're Chessier, right? I'm Theo. Make yourself at home. Even though it's not our house…”
Indeed, Theo was the complete opposite of Leon in every way except for his face. From his gentle expression to his way of speaking.
However…
‘Is he sick?’
For some reason, he looked ill. His pale complexion and bluish lips were noticeable.
“Hey! If you're going to live here from now on, we need to establish the pecking order.”
Chessier tore his eyes away from Theo and looked at Leon.
Pecking order?
It was a very noble-like statement, but…
‘Is there even a pecking order to establish? I'm just a commoner living off their charity in this house.’
As Chessier looked on, puzzled, Leon grinned.
“Lilis said she likes me more than you.”
“…What?”
“Hahaha! You punk, that's the face of defeat!”
It was just a look of disbelief…
“And she said she likes me more than this Theo guy, too.”
“Really?!”
Theo, who had been groaning under the covers, shot upright.
“Yeah, really. If you don't believe me, go ask Lilis.”
Watching the genuinely shocked Theo, Leon proudly wiped his nose.
“I couldn't beat Uncle, but how can you beat a dad? We'll have to make him an exception. So, that makes me number one in the ranking. No objections, right?”
*That's* the ranking he was talking about? Chessier was dumbfounded.
“Hey, Leon. Wait. Who did she say she liked more between Chessier and me?”
“I didn't ask that. You might be third place.”
“Ha.”
Watching Theo's serious expression, Chessier quickly spoke up.
“I'll be third place.”
“…Huh? You're yielding? You're a nice kid.”
“What are you talking about, you idiots? Lilis is the one who decides that!”
The fact that they're fighting over rankings for something like this is stupid!
Chessier resisted the urge to shout that.
“Hah, what's Lilis doing right now?”
“She's probably in class. Kehkeh… Why? You want to go ask? You think you can beat him? Don't bother, you'll just get your feelings hurt.”
Theo clutched his dizzy head and quickly got out of bed.
But he couldn't even take a single proper step before he staggered and collapsed.
“Ugh.”
“Hey, Theo. You okay?”
“No… *Gasp*.”
“Ah, damn it. Again?”
Theo clutched at his collar. Cold sweat suddenly started pouring down his face.
“Hey, wait! I'll go get the servants!”
Leon ran out of the room without a backward glance.
‘Is he really sick?’
Left alone with Theo, Chessier didn't know what to do. Theo's condition, which had seemed like just labored breathing, continued to worsen.
“Ugh, ghk, hh.”
A startled Chessier flinched back.
His pupils rolled back in his head. His arms and legs convulsed.
Soon, a scream erupted from Theo, who was sprawled on the floor.
“Aaargh! Aaaargh!”
“……!”
His body writhed as if thrown into a fire, crawling across the floor.
“Aaaaaaaargh!”
Theo clawed violently at the nape of his neck. He dug in so hard that his skin soon tore, drawing blood.
“What the…”
As if trying to endure extreme pain, Theo continued to hurt himself.
“Stop it!”
Chessier instinctively ran to Theo, pinning his body down and restraining his self-harming arms.
