And then, the pond.
I narrowed my eyes.
The image reflected on the pond still lingered in my mind.
A fox different from the me I was now.
Far larger, complete, a shadow whose tail split into many.
I didn’t know whether there had truly been nine, or whether it had only looked that way because I was exhausted.
But it had been too vivid to dismiss as a simple mistake.
‘Haku.’
Elysia’s thought reached me carefully.
I opened my eyes a little.
‘Something happened in the garden earlier, didn’t it?’
So she had noticed after all.
Elysia had pretended not to know, but she hadn’t missed it completely.
I didn’t answer for a while.
Elysia sat down beside me.
She didn’t reach out her hand.
As if she meant to wait until I spoke first.
That consideration only made it harder to say.
‘Something was reflected in the pond.’
‘Something?’
‘It looked like me, but also not like me.’
Elysia’s breath stopped ever so slightly.
‘Was it scary?’
‘……I don’t know.’
I pulled my tail a little closer to my body.
‘Rather than scary, it felt unfamiliar. But it didn’t feel like a complete stranger either.’
‘Was it Haku’s power?’
‘Probably. Or something left behind in this body.’
The name Wolyeong was still difficult for me to say aloud.
Elysia quietly stroked my back.
‘Haku is Haku.’
It was such a simple thing to say.
And yet, strangely, those words helped quite a bit.
I closed my eyes.
‘I know that too.’
‘Really?’
‘Yeah.’
A brief silence passed.
‘……Probably.’
Elysia’s hand stopped.
I added needlessly,
‘No, I don’t mean anything strange. It’s just that there’s too much I don’t know about this body.’
‘Mm.’
‘Sometimes things that feel like memories that aren’t mine flash past. Smells, light, things like the moon.’
‘Mm.’
‘But if I talk about them, I feel like it’ll become a big deal.’
‘Isn’t it already a bit of a big deal?’
‘That’s why I don’t want to talk about it even more.’
Elysia laughed softly.
‘That’s just like Haku.’
‘I’m being serious.’
‘Sorry.’
But her thought was still gentle.
‘Still, thank you for telling me.’
Again with the thanks.
I folded my ears back.
‘I’ve heard “thank you” too many times today.’
‘Then I’ll say it another way.’
‘What?’
Elysia thought for a moment, then said,
‘I’m glad you didn’t hide it alone.’
I couldn’t answer.
That was a little unfair.
Pretending nothing was wrong, I buried my chin in the cushion.
‘……Don’t tell Iris for now.’
‘Okay. If Haku doesn’t want me to, I won’t tell her.’
‘Or Marquis Theodore.’
‘Okay.’
‘Or Noel.’
‘Okay.’
‘Or the spirits.’
Elysia smiled faintly.
‘Even if I don’t tell the spirits, they might already sense something.’
‘That’s the problem.’
I let out a short cry like a sigh.
Perhaps the sound had drifted outside, because a very faint presence beyond the door flinched and stopped.
Someone was there.
I pricked up my ears.
Elysia also immediately looked toward the door.
“Who is it?”
After a moment of silence outside the door, a cautious voice answered.
“It’s me. Clarice.”
Clarice.
She was Iris’s cousin, if I remembered correctly.
I hadn’t properly met her yet, but I had heard her name.
From what Elysia told me, she was quite close to Iris.
A young lady from a collateral branch of House Asteria, exceptionally talented in magic, and someone who had grown up with Iris since childhood.
Her personality was said to be a little more openly expressive than Iris’s,
but when the two of them started researching or observing something, their teamwork became oddly perfect.
……That made me a little uneasy.
Handling one Iris was already difficult enough, and now another Asteria who worked well with her had arrived.
‘Elysia.’
‘Yes?’
‘Is that person dangerous?’
‘Rather than dangerous…… I’ve heard she gets along well with Lady Iris.’
‘That’s what makes her dangerous.’
When I sent that thought seriously, Elysia seemed to hold back a small laugh.
‘Is it all right to meet her?’
I looked toward the door.
In any case, I wouldn’t be able to avoid her forever while staying in this mansion.
Besides, it would be better to meet her while Elysia was by my side.
‘It’s fine.’
Elysia nodded and spoke toward the door.
“Please come in.”
The door opened quietly.
Clarice Asteria resembled Iris, yet was different from her.
Hair with a slightly stronger blue tint than silver, clear and lively eyes, and an outfit that was neat but a little more ornate than Iris’s.
If Iris had the air of cold crystal, Clarice felt like that same crystal with a little more starlight mixed in.
As soon as she entered the room, she looked toward me.
More precisely, she tried not to look, but in the end, she couldn’t help herself.
“I heard you were resting. If I’m disturbing you, I’ll leave right away.”
Her tone was polite.
But her eyes couldn’t hide it.
Curiosity.
And a little bit of anticipation.
‘She has the same eyes as Iris.’
‘Does she?’
‘Yeah. She just isn’t holding a record board. She’s already making tables in her head.’
Instead of answering, Elysia smiled faintly.
Clarice took one step inside, then immediately stopped at a certain distance from the cushion.
“I heard from Iris that it isn’t good to approach Haku without permission.”
Oh.
She was more courteous than I expected.
I stared at Clarice.
Clarice seemed to tense up ever so slightly under my gaze.
Even so, she didn’t look away.
“It’s nice to meet you, Haku. I’m Clarice Asteria. Iris’s cousin.”
After thinking for a moment, I moved one ear.
I could at least accept a greeting.
Clarice’s expression brightened very slightly.
“……You really responded.”
There was admiration mixed into her voice.
Then she placed the small basket she was holding on the table.
“I brought something to eat. Of course, I’m not trying to lure you with snacks.”
I pricked up my ears.
‘She just said “lure” herself.’
Elysia replied through thought,
‘I think Lady Iris must have given her some precautions.’
Clarice continued a little quickly,
“Iris told me Haku should avoid strong spices, ingredients that might be toxic,
and overly salty foods. So I asked the kitchen to prepare these very mildly.
Still, if you’re not sure, it’s fine if you only check the smell.”
It seemed Iris had informed her.
I looked at the basket.
Soft bread cut into small pieces, boiled meat, thinly sliced fruit.
It was similar to what had been served at breakfast, but arranged with a little more care.
I got down from the cushion and walked toward the table.
Clarice’s eyes sparkled.
They really sparkled.
‘Elysia.’
‘Yes?’
‘That person is holding back a lot right now.’
‘Holding back what?’
‘Screaming.’
Elysia swallowed a laugh.
I went close to the basket and sniffed it.
It was fine.
I could eat it.
But if I ate it right here, I felt like I would be completely playing into Asteria’s scheme.
I could already imagine Iris and Clarice standing side by side and coming to conclusions like, “Haku prefers bread warmed gently.”
I bit only the smallest piece of bread.
Then I returned to the cushion.
Clarice’s face brightened a little more.
“He ate it…….”
It was a quiet mutter to herself.
I raised my head.
Clarice immediately cleared her throat.
“I’m sorry. I was happier than I expected.”
She was honest.
Honest in a different direction from Iris.
Elysia said gently,
“It seems Haku doesn’t dislike it.”
“Really?”
Clarice immediately looked at me.
I averted my gaze while chewing the bread.
I didn’t dislike it.
It tasted fine too.
But I didn’t want to make that too obvious.
Just then, there was another presence outside the door.
It was Iris.
“Clarice. Are you inside, by any chance?”
Clarice turned toward the door.
“Yeah. You can come in.”
The door opened, and Iris entered.
The moment Iris checked the situation in the room, she saw the basket on the table and the small bread crumbs around my mouth.
“He ate it.”
Clarice said quietly, but with an extremely proud look on her face,
“Yeah. Only a very small piece, though.”
Iris’s eyes trembled ever so slightly.
“Which piece was it?”
“The smallest piece of bread in the upper left.
Almost no scent, and the temperature was lukewarm.
Haku smelled it three times first, and didn’t eat it right away.
He hesitated a little before taking it and going back.”
“What was the reason for the hesitation?”
“It seemed closer to pride than wariness.”
“I agree.”
I froze in the middle of chewing the bread.
What is this?
Why are the two of them immediately in sync?
‘Elysia.’
‘Yes?’
‘Those two are dangerous.’
‘A little…… I think you’re right.’
Iris and Clarice looked at each other and continued their conversation very naturally.
“Was there any strong rejection?”
“No. But I think he thought that eating it right away would make it look as if he’d been lured.”
“That is possible for Haku.”
“Right?”
Why do the two of you know me so well?
I lowered my body on the cushion.
Iris and Clarice’s gazes descended on me at the same time.
At that moment, I realized.
These two weren’t rivals or anything of the sort.
If they were rivals, they would at least keep each other in check, but these two were instead supplementing each other’s observations.
Clarice picked up the emotional reactions Iris missed, and Iris organized the magical significance Clarice missed.
The worst.
No, not in a bad way.
But on the subject of observing Haku, they were the worst combination.
Seeing my reaction, Clarice blinked.
“Are you uncomfortable, by any chance?”
Instead of answering, I covered my face with my tail.
Iris said very seriously,
“His current reaction appears to be a mixture of fatigue, embarrassment, and slight wariness.”
Clarice nodded.
“The embarrassment seems to make up a larger portion.”
“I agree.”
“Especially the angle of his folded ears……”
I jerked my head up.
Stop.
Elysia finally burst into laughter.
“You two, Haku says to stop.”
Iris and Clarice stopped at the same time.
Then they spoke almost simultaneously.
“I apologize.”
“I’m sorry.”
Their teamwork really was good.
Pointlessly so.
I buried my chin in the cushion again.
Clarice said with a slightly apologetic expression,
“I heard a lot about Haku from Iris.
So I thought I absolutely had to be careful if I met you in person……
But once I actually saw you, you were even more interesting than I expected.”
Iris calmly added,
“And cuter than expected.”
I glared at Iris.
Iris was completely serious.
“It is an objective fact.”
Clarice quietly nodded.
“That’s true.”
Don’t agree with each other at the same time.
I sent a thought to Elysia.
‘I don’t think I should stay in this house for long.’
Elysia replied with amusement mixed into her thought,
‘Why?’
‘They’re twice as dangerous as when it was just Iris alone.’
‘Still, neither of them treats Haku carelessly.’
That was true.
Neither Iris nor Clarice tried to touch me.
They hadn’t forced snacks on me, and they were doing their best to restrain their instinct to record things.
The only problem was that even while restraining themselves, they worked far too well together.