By the time the meeting ended, the sun had fully set.
I returned to my room.
A room with the bare minimum of furniture. I thought I should start sorting through my belongings, but no motivation stirred, so I sat on the bed. I'd expected to sink into the hard mattress. Apparently I was more tired than I realized.
"Haa..."
There shouldn't have been anything particularly exhausting today. Fatigue clung to the inside of my body like a blanket. Could this be what they call mental exhaustion? No, that wasn't it.
I'd been shaken too. Sauros, Philip, Hilda. I hadn't been particularly close to any of them, never had deep conversations. But if I closed my eyes, I could still picture them. Sauros, coming back from a ride through the territory, checking on the crops while asking about
They were gone now.
More than that, the house itself was gone. That sprawling mansion where loud voices sometimes echoed through the halls no longer existed. The grand hall where I'd danced with Eris, the tower where Grandpa Sauros used to carry on his affairs, the library piled high with territorial documents. All of it, gone.
Not just the mansion.
I hadn't seen it firsthand, but the garden trees
...Why is it that when I think of Buena Village, all I can picture are trees? Well, whatever.
In any case, everything was gone. I'd understood it intellectually when
Losing something that was always there is always painful.
"Haa..."
I let out my second sigh when— *Knock knock.* Someone rapped on the door.
"...Come in."
Even though answering felt like too much effort, I ushered them in. It was Eris.
"Good evening,
With that, she stepped in front of me and struck her usual pose. She didn't look the least bit dejected. That was so like Eris—her entire family wiped out, and yet she seemed stronger than me by far.
Then again, maybe she was hurting. Normally she wouldn't knock on a door. She'd have kicked it open.
"Well, I had a feeling something like this might happen." "I see..."
She said it offhandedly.
I had a vague memory of her saying she'd steeled herself for something like this before. Preparing herself for the death of her family. I couldn't imagine doing that. Even now I kept telling myself that Zenith, still missing, was alive somewhere. Intellectually I knew she was more likely dead, but still.
"Eris, what are you going to do from here?" "What do you mean?" "Did you hear what Alphonse told us?" "I did. But that doesn't matter." "Doesn't matter...?"
Eris looked straight at me. I belatedly noticed that her outfit was different from usual. It was the black dress she'd bought in Millis but had never once worn. It suited her red hair beautifully and looked almost like a gown. The slightly thin fabric made the outline of her chest rather obvious. Huh? Was she not wearing a bra?
Looking more closely, her hair seemed damp and glossy. She had that soapy smell right out of the bath. But there was something else too—a slightly sweet scent that Eris never usually carried. Where had I smelled that before? Perfume, maybe?
"Rudeus. I'm all alone now."
Alone. Right. She had no family left. She might have blood relatives somewhere, but they weren't family.
"Oh, and I turned fifteen recently."
Fifteen. Hearing that, I panicked. When was it? When exactly was her birthday? Mine was only a month or two away, which meant hers had already passed by more than a month. I hadn't even noticed.
"Uh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize at all."
When had it been? I didn't think she'd shown any sign of it. I'd assumed Eris would make a huge fuss on her birthday. Was there anything she'd said that day that— "The day you didn't notice, but
Right, that day. I remembered. Right in the middle of the road. So that was why. That was why Ruijerd had started calling Eris an adult. This was bad—I might have messed up. I genuinely hadn't noticed.
"Should I... prepare something for you? Is there anything you want?" "Hmm, there is one thing I want." "What is it?" "Family."
I was struck speechless. That was... not something I could prepare on a whim. I couldn't bring people back to life.
"Rudeus, become my family." "Huh?"
Glancing at Eris's face, I saw it had turned bright red, unmistakable even in the dim light. Was this... a proposal? No way.
"Does that mean, like, siblings?" "I don't care about labels."
Her face was red all the way to her ears, but she didn't look away.
"I mean, that is, let's, let's sleep together."
What did she just say?
Stay calm. Think about the words. ...Sleep together. I see. So in the end, Eris was hurting too. She wanted me by her side to soothe the pain. Family—in this case, a game of pretend family. But still.
"I might end up doing lewd things to you tonight, you know?"
I said the same thing I had that other night. Honestly, I had no confidence. Climbing into bed with Eris, feeling her body heat up close—there was no way I could hold back. She had to understand that much.
And yet— "T-today, it's fine." "Like I said before, it won't be just a little." "I know. I'm saying it's okay to completely wreck me."
At that answer, I stared at her face. What was she talking about? Huh? Because—when someone says something like that, every bit of me goes into standing ovation mode?
"W-why are you suddenly saying something like that?" "You made a promise that when I turned fifteen, remember?" "That was about when I turned fifteen, wasn't it?" "Either way is fine." "It's not fine."
Something was off. Something was definitely off. Think—what was off?
Right. Eris was feeling lonely. She might have been throwing caution to the wind. I'd experienced this kind of scene in visual novels before. Two people soothing each other through someone's death. Becoming physically intimate. Yeah, I could understand that.
But what did that make me? I'd be taking advantage of her vulnerability. Of course I wanted to—the virgin-redeeming part of me was overjoyed, thinking "I finally get to lose it!" But shouldn't this be something done under more normal circumstances? In this emotional state, for both of us... if it happened impulsively, I felt like we'd both regret it later.
Ah, but this might be the last chance Eris ever offered me.
If she decided to go to Pilemon's place or something, the promise of fifteen would surely be thrown out. No—more importantly, I couldn't let Eris's first time be taken by someone else...
I wanted to. I wanted to do it. But something felt wrong. I'd always mocked indecisive harem protagonists. Called them spineless cowards who couldn't man up when it mattered. But now that it was my turn, I froze. I couldn't think of a single right thing to say. No matter which choice I made, I was certain I'd regret it later.
The only scenario I wouldn't regret was probably about two years from now, on my fifteenth birthday, with Eris wrapped in ribbons on my bed saying, "It's your birthday present. My hands are tied because I might punch you if you're not gentle. Do whatever you want." That was probably it.
Ah, wait—I'd nearly died not that long ago. Right before death, I'd been overwhelmed with regret, thinking there were things I hadn't done yet. The next two years might bring something similar. You don't get to cheat death over and over. Maybe I should just throw caution to the wind right now?
No, but... still...
"...Honestly!"
Maybe she couldn't stand my indecision. Eris cleared her throat with a small cough, then gently sat on my lap. She put her arms around my neck in an embrace. My view filled with her sun-browned chest and her beautiful face. Eris started to say something, then paused as she felt something touch her thigh. Her face went even redder.
"What is this...?" "Something you made cute, Eris."
She gave a little "hmm" and pressed the tip of my manhood against the inside of her thigh with gentle pressure. The sensation was soft and intoxicating. My manhood rejoiced, and the man on the other end started breathing harder.
"You're excited, aren