Volume 8, Chapter 8 “The Truth About Sapling-chan”

Part 1

Dorothea was sitting on her bed in her room, looking up at the ceiling.

She just gave Nix a tour of the castle, but her heart was still beating fast.

Did I do well? Did he hate me?

Thinking about it like that sometimes makes her feel irresistibly embarrassed.

Remembering the small mistakes, she regrets why she did what she did there.

As she was alone with her thoughts, there was a knock at the door and she was startled.

“W-Who is it?”

“Onee-sama, it’s Deirdre.”

“It’s open”

She straightened her posture and allowed Deirdre to enter the room as if nothing had happened.

Deirdre entered the room and had a big smile on her face.

“I have good news for you, onee-sama. They’re in talks to become formally engaged.”

“Hahe?”

Dorothea makes a strange noise when she hears the word “engagement,” but Deirdre approaches her and holds her hand.

“There are still some formalities to be completed, but I’m pretty sure the engagement is confirmed.”

“W-Why? Ano, did Nix-sama say anything?”

There was no talk of an engagement when she showed him around the castle.

Therefore, she thought that she had failed.

However, when she heard that the engagement was confirmed, she was upset.

Deirdre thanked Dorothea.

“I haven’t heard from him in person yet. Onee-sama will have to confirm that directly. ―― And congratulations.”

“T-Thank you”

“Anyway, onee-sama is getting married, huh? I thought if things went badly, you wouldn’t marry anyone. So, what are you going to do about the collar? Your partner doesn’t like collars very much, and I wouldn’t recommend it”

“Ara?”

Perhaps expecting a surprising reaction, Deirdre seemed to be concerned about Dorothea’s change of heart.

So Deirdre tells her why she doesn’t need a collar.

“I realized that we could still connect even without it.”

Deirdre shrugs her shoulders.

“Is it love?”

“I guess you could say that.”

(If there’s a connection stronger than a chain ――)

Dorothea didn’t answer clearly, but she had come to want to have a connection that was stronger than chains.

.

Part 2

“You betrayed me, this hetare bastard!”

On the deck of the Einhorn, I was grabbed in the chest by Nix.

“You were so happy to be alone with her! Everyone said he was definitely in love with her!”

Ange and the others said so, so there must be no doubt.

They seemed to get along so well that it was irritating even to me.

However, it seems that Nix can’t tolerate the fact that everyone was watching him.

“Everyone?! You were all watching us! A bad hobby also has a limit!”

“I was worried about aniki. And yet, you look like you’re enjoying it”

It’s fun to see them in trouble, but why I must see the two of them having so much fun?

“You’re more fortunate than I am, why are you so narrow-minded!”

“I am open-minded, and I think I encouraged aniki to get married! I should be praised for not pulling your leg.”

If I was really jealous, I wouldn’t have pushed it.

I wanted Nix to be happy, so I went out of my way to bring them together, even though they didn’t suit each other.

And yet, to call me narrow-minded is upsetting.

[Both of you, they’re sending us off.]

Nix lets go of me and tenses up in front of the person who appears.

His face was red, and no matter how you looked at him, he was conscious of her.

The same goes for the other party.

Dorothea-san also looked nervous and looked down when she came in front of Nix.

“Nix-sama. A-Ano, I’ll definitely visit you in the near future.”

“Ah, yes. I-I’ll be waiting for you.”

They are both stuttering their words.

As it was, they finished their conversation and Dorothea left, but she kept turning around and waving to Nix.

Deirdre, who had also come to see us off, looked at them smiling.

“They are really pure. Watching them makes me embarrassed.”

“Even he has been complaining about everything, he gets nervous when he is in front of her.”

When I cursed at Nix, Luxion, who was by my side, shook his one eye from side to side and showed his astonishment.

[Master was more trouble than your brother.]

“That’s not true “

[Then why don’t you ask Angelica and the others? Angelica, please tell us your impressions.]

Ange, called by Luxion, looks at me and crosses her arms.

“Leon was more troublesome. You didn’t make it clear until the very end. If we hadn’t had a surprise engagement ceremony, you would have run away forever, wouldn’t you”

“I-I don’t think so.”

When I weakly denied it, Ange said, “I wonder,” and looked at Livia.

[Then, please tell us Livia’s opinion.]

Livia speaks, choosing her words carefully.

“That’s right. I’m not sure if he’s a hetare or not, but I think Leon-san is more troublesome. In the end, we were the ones who confessed. But I don’t regret that we mustered up the courage to confess.”

I tried to say something back, but the words wouldn’t come out.

Thinking about it, I might have been worse than Nix.

[Because Master is too much of a glorifier of your past self, so you must have forgotten how pathetic you were. Does Noelle have an opinion about that?]

Noelle, who had been asked to speak, looked at me with a frown.

“I do, but why don’t you apologize to Nix-san first?”

Everyone’s eyes were on Nix, but he was still looking at Dorothea-san and waving at her.

―― I don’t know why Nix can insist that he is not in love.

Deirdre-senpai, “Ara-Ara” looked satisfied at the sight of them.

“Then I will go too.”

As the Deirdre senior exits the ship, Jenna, who was watching the smitten Nix, shrugs her shoulders and lets out a big sigh.

“He is so lovestruck, I can’t believe it.”

Finley also looked at Nix and shook her head, saying he’s pathetic.

“I think the heat will die down soon enough.”

Jenna agreed with Finley’s opinion, and the two of them got into a lively discussion about the future of Nix.

“You think so too? Right now he’s carried away by the heat and meek, but soon he’s gonna come out of his shell and be just like he was in the beginning.”

“You can’t hide your true nature forever. I think aniki will be dominated in a few months.”

“I’ve heard that once you’re married, the rough edges of your partner suddenly start to show, so isn’t it sooner?”

Nix turns and yells at the two who talk with no dreams or hopes.

“Can’t you guys talk about something more positive!”

“Isn’t it a realistic and dependable story? If Nix is prepared now, you won’t get hurt. You should be thanking us.”

Jenna’s realistic talk left me and Nix speechless.

That’s why, in a fit of anguish, I blame Jenna and Finley.

“If you’re a girl, you’d be lovelier if you dreamed more.”

The two of them looked at each other and snickered at my opinion.

“W-What is it?”

Jenna and Finley were laughing, covering their mouths with their hands.

“I just thought Leon, who’s more insecure about his future than Nix, should see some reality.”

“Aniki should worry about yourself.”

That attitude and expression were annoying.

As siblings fussed over each other, Dad and Mom put their hands on their hips and let out a deep sigh.

.

Part 3

Spring break is just around the corner.

There was one problem that needed to be taken care of before heading to the school.

It’s a place to plant sapling-chan.

[Taking into account Yumeria’s request, I have selected a floating island to plant a sapling of the sacred tree.]

Luxion took me to a floating island that was, no matter how you looked at it, deserted.

The land was covered with rocks and sand as far as the eye could see, and it didn’t look like a place that was suitable for plants.

“Are you sure this is the right place? Isn’t this land unsuitable considering what we’ve seen?”

We arrived early in the morning at the newly discovered floating island by using Einhorn.

I rub my sleepy eyes and yawn. The sky was still dark.

“Was it necessary for us to come at this hour?”

[You complain a lot. Given our plans for the day, this was the best time.]

According to Luxion’s plan, if we plant at this time, we will be able to complete our schedule today without any problems.

It was Yumeria-san who pushed the wheelchair Noelle was in.

Noelle holds the sapling in her lap.

Noelle looked around and was just as anxious as I was.

“Are you sure you want to plant it here? If it withers, we’ll be in big trouble.”

Encouraging the worried Noelle was a confident-looking Yumeria-san.

Her large breasts were pushed up, making them look even more pronounced.

My drowsiness woke up instantly, and when I looked there, Ange, who was standing next to me, lightly nudged me with her elbow on my side.

“It hurts”

“Pull yourself together. The only thing you’re allowed to look at is our chests.”

“Eh, am I allowed to see that?”

“It’s fine”

My mind was still not awake, so I took a bite out of Ange’s suggestion.

But when I was told I could look, I couldn’t help but get cold feet.

Being embarrassed makes me excited, but on the other hand, I have trouble reacting when she’s so bold.

“It’s morning. So, I’ll pass.”

“Even if it was night, you’d still refrain.”

I finished my conversation with Ange and turned my attention back to Yumeria-san.

Yumeria-san is taking a hoe and digging up the area where the sapling-chan will be planted.

From an amateur’s point of view, it doesn’t look like a good place to plant a tree.

After all, there was no water nearby. Livia anxiously asks me.

“Is it really okay? I don’t think it’ll grow up here.”

“I think so, too. Luxion, are you sure it’s safe?”

When I asked him about the obvious problem, I got a surprising answer from Luxio.

[My judgment is in line with Yumeria’s.]

“Eh?”

[The sapling of the sacred tree will grow in this land. Don’t you remember? The sacred tree is a plant that grows by absorbing the magic element ―― magic power in the air. Water and soil are important, but more than that, if there is magic power, it will grow.]

According to Luxion, a minimum of water and soil is all that is needed.

“Sapling-chan is amazing”

[It’s a stubborn plant]

“There are better ways to say that.”

While we were talking, Yumeria-san got ready.

When she receives sapling-chan from Noelle, she will plant the tree.

Yumeria-san’s large breasts swayed every time she moved.

I looked at her for a moment, and Cordelia-san, who was standing behind Ange, coughed.

” ―― Marquis, your gaze is too obvious.”

“It’s the nature of men. It’s unconsciousness. There’s nothing I can do about it.”

I make a pathetic excuse, and Livia puts her hand on her cheek and gives me a troubled look.

“Boys is always like that. They look at chests and buttocks.”

[Especially Master is particularly focused on a woman’s chests.]

“Oi!”

[Are you embarrassed to be found out? No problem. People already know that Master’s eyes are always directed at the chests.]

“Eh?”

I looked around at the people here, and they all nodded.

[Master’s gaze is blatant. It may be right for a creature to be faithful to its sexual desires, but let’s learn to be modest as human beings. I understand that you prefer women with large breasts, but please stop embarrassing yourself.]

“Why should I be lectured by you?”

This artificial intelligence, he naturally reveals his master’s sexual preference, you should hide it better?!

“It’s done!”

When the dirt-stained Yumeria-san shouted out to us to let us know, Sapling-chan was planted in the devastated ground.

Even looking at it this way, I get worried because it doesn’t look like it will grow.

“Shouldn’t we give it water and nutrients?”

“This child is strong. So, it’ll be fine.”

“Strong child?”

Yumeria-san put down her tools and bent down in front of Sapling-chan.

“It’s a strong child that has endured in a harsh environment for a long time. In an environment that provides little or no nutrition, it has survived all these years by clamping itself to the sapling and slowing its growth.”

Yumeria-san’s words were as if she had seen Sapling-chan all the time.

“Do you know that much?”

“Hm~m, I feel like I can hear the voice, I think? Actually, this child should be much bigger than that.”

Luxion who heard that approaches Sapling-chan.

[It’s an amazing plant.]

Yumeria-san stood up, put her hands on her hips, and said something outrageous.

“That’s why this is where it’ll grow up!”

When Noelle heard that, she tilted her head.

“You mean it’s going to grow up nicely, right?”

“You’re wrong. This is where it will return to its true form.”

“Is that possible?”

Noelle was surprised, but so were we.

However, Yumeria-san is one of the elves who can use a special kind of magic.

When it comes to plants, she can be a real expert.

“Leave it to me. Here I go ~”

After saying that, Yumeria-san started dancing around Sapling-chan.

The dance was rather comical.

“What is that dance?”

I ask, and Yumeria-san answers while dancing.

“It’s a dance I made myself. I worked very hard to get it back to its original form. Strong child-rearing, keep growing! Strong child-rearing, keep growing!”

She danced with Strong child-rearing and calling it.

The movement was rather intense, and her large breasts swayed.

“O~oh! Tte, Arere?”

I was so mesmerized that I couldn’t help but speak out loud, and then my vision was blocked and it became pitch black.

All I hear is Luxion’s voice.

[You never really learn]

It was Ange and Livia, standing on either side of me, who blocked my view.

Two people were blocking my view from both sides with their hands.

“Y-You’re wrong! As an employer, I was just checking on how my workers were doing!”

I make an excuse that shows my ulterior motive, such as I wanted to watch Yumeria-san dance for a little longer.

But the two of them did not permit me.

Livia whispers in my ear.

“We will keep an eye on it for you, so don’t worry.”

I can hear Ange’s voice from the other side.

She breathed into my ear, and I felt a little throbbed.

“Yumeria is working well. Leon, you don’t have to worry about anything.”

For some reason, their gentle but somewhat charming voices were also a little scary.

They seem a little angry.

” ―― Are you two angry? Did I make you angry?”

When I was anxious, the two of them suddenly pulled their hands away from me who is surprised.

For some reason, I felt a blinding light and closed my eyelids tightly.

Soon the strong light disappeared and I was able to open my eyes and saw the grown-up appearance of Sapling-chan.

No, it’s not a sapling.

It is already about the size of a young tree.

It’s a little taller than I am.

“How did it grow so fast in such a short time?”

The young tree, its glossy green leaves swaying in the wind, had the same leaf shape as the sapling-chan.

I was amazed that the tree had grown so fast in such a short time, and Yumeria-san was smiling and wiping the sweat off her face from dancing.

“This is the original appearance of this child.”

To my surprise, Noelle approached by herself in a wheelchair to see Sapling-chan ―― Though it was already a young tree, she touched the sacred tree.

When Noelle touches it with her right hand, the crest on the back reacts by emitting a faint green light.

I also felt my right hand getting hot, and when I checked it, I saw that the crest had appeared.

Noelle, who touched the sacred tree, smiled and shed a tear.

“As Yumeria-chan says. This child is much stronger than I thought. I see, that was an unnecessary worry.”

Will it grow in such a wasteland? I was worried like that, but it seems that it will grow without problems.

I feel the power from the sacred tree.

I approached Noelle and put my hand on her back, and she cried for a while, probably because she remembered her hometown.

I guess she was still feeling lonely away from her hometown.

Noelle swears to the sacred tree.

“I have to be strong, too. I’ll protect you properly this time.”

Noelle is a survivor of the Lespinasse House, which once betrayed the Sacred Tree.

Noelle is going to protect the sacred tree this time ―― She was determined to lead correctly.

Yumeria-san was flustered and comforted Noelle.

“This child is strong and kind, and I’m sure it’ll understand how you feel. So, etto ―― please don’t cry.”

” ――Yes”

Noelle wiped away her tears, but still didn’t stop.

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