The 24-Hour Reincarnation Counseling Office, Episode 27
Just then, Kora extended the basket toward Tom.
“Ahem, well then, I shall take my leave.”
“Yes. Do as you will, Lady Kora.”
As Lora offered her a parting greeting, she fixed her gaze on Sorinte.
“Sir Sorinte, did you enjoy your breakfast?”
At her casual remark, both Kora and Sorinte jolted.
*How cute.*
Lora watched them with a pleased, warm smile.
A sidelong glance. Kora’s gaze turned toward Sorinte.
Sorinte, who had been quiet, slowly opened his mouth.
“I... It was pleasant, Countess.”
Seeing Sorinte use honorifics and a title that precisely addressed her, Lora spoke.
“That’s a relief. More than that, to think you came carrying a basket together with your younger sister—Sir Sorinte must be pleased.”
“...Yes. I am pleased.”
Unlike his slight stammer earlier, this answer was quicker and more certain than before.
Of course, Sorinte could not even bring himself to look at Kora.
But from his ears stained red and his pupils that looked at nothing but the basket, his sincerity was plainly felt.
A brief silence passed, and Kora offered Lora a dignified farewell.
“Then I hope you have a pleasant lunch!”
After hesitating a moment, she spoke in a slightly smaller voice.
“...See you later, Brother.”
“...Right. Ahem. T-that is, ahem.”
Unable to continue, Sorinte took one of the hands holding the basket and waved it slightly.
Kora showed a somewhat stiff yet bright smile, fitting for her stoic face.
“I shall see you again next time!”
“All right. Take care, Lady Kora.”
Lora saw her off with a smiling face, wondering if there would be another chance to meet.
As Kora moved away, Sorinte finally looked at her retreating figure.
Thanks to that, Lora was able to see Sorinte’s face properly.
*He’s on the verge of tears.*
It was a face that looked as though it would burst into tears at any moment.
He seemed to have barely held them back.
It appeared that he had been unable to continue speaking earlier and cleared his throat because it had been choked with emotion.
“Ahem, hm.”
Sorinte kept coughing dryly, as if trying somehow to suppress his welling tears.
“Customer.”
Lora approached his side and spoke cautiously.
“Are you all right?”
At that moment, Sorinte’s face contorted, and a single tear rolled down from his eye.
*Oh dear.*
Lora looked around.
It would be troublesome if anyone nearby saw this.
It was only a drop now, but if he were to cry continuously, anyone could tell even from quite a distance.
“Shall we go inside for now?”
Sorinte nodded. Then he opened his mouth.
“M-Mother said to eat together—”
He also extended the basket forward.
At that, Lora asked with a puzzled expression.
“Did the Duchess ask that we have lunch together?”
“No.”
He shook his head. Sorinte looked as though he wanted to say more, but his emotions seemed overwhelming, and he could not continue.
[Clack.]
Just then, Tom perceptively opened the main gate, and Lora spoke to Sorinte.
“Let’s go in and talk.”
“...Yeah.”
Before anyone knew it, Sorinte had dropped his formal speech again.
Lora passed over it without a thought, but Tom’s gaze briefly touched Sorinte before moving away.
[Clack.]
Lora, Sorinte, and Tom—all three entered the mansion, and the main gate closed.
Meanwhile, Kora Cheoseu stopped walking and looked back.
Seeing the closed mansion door, it seemed her brother Sorinte had gone inside with them.
*...Countess Rien.*
Kora thought of Lora Rien.
*She seemed like a decent person.*
The moment she saw Kora, she had called her “Lady.”
Kora had taken a liking to her for acknowledging her as a knight rather than merely the second child of the Ducal house.
*And her palm.*
Kora recalled Lora’s hand.
*She had many calluses.*
It was unmistakably the hand of someone who had trained in martial arts for a very long time.
Unlike herself, who had a rather sturdy frame, Lora Rien possessed a slender physique.
*Unexpected.*
A meritorious noble house on the decline—she hadn’t paid it much mind.
*If only I had become acquainted with her sooner!*
Clicking her tongue lightly, Kora resumed her steps toward the Ducal house.
Her gentle and warm disposition, her graceful bearing. And even hands that seemed tempered by martial arts.
*From now on, I’ll be the one to run the next-door errands.*
Thinking that she had done well to step forward in her younger brother’s place, Kora’s stoic face was slightly uplifted.
* * *
“Customer, have you calmed down?”
Lora, having moved to a sofa on one side of the first-floor hall, looked at Sorinte Cheoseu, seated where Cross had sat a short while ago.
Tom had already received the two baskets and was preparing lunch.
“...Yes.”
The second customer, Sorinte, nodded with a composed face.
Perhaps because he had barely held back tears that threatened to pour forth, his reddened eyes and deep pupils made him look like a man with many sorrows.
*He certainly has his share of troubles.*
Instead of her inner thoughts, Lora spoke different words.
“What did you mean earlier about the Duchess?”
“I had told the attendants that I would be having lunch at the Rien estate today, but Mother—Ahem.”
Suppressing his welling emotions once more, Sorinte paused briefly before continuing.
“Mother prepared... it for me.”
“I see.”
Though she answered, Lora was puzzled.
*But I didn’t make a separate lunch appointment with the customer?*
As if sensing her bewilderment, Sorinte spoke.
“The fall of the Empire after ten years.”
Ah.
Yesterday’s memory suddenly came to mind.
“Did I not say I wished to hear about that? I came to speak of it.”
Yesterday, Sorinte had briefly mentioned the Empire’s future.
He had said that in ten years, the Empire would fall.
*And I also heard about the Reilin Order.*
An order that worshipped the god who governed time and fate.
It overlapped significantly with the Rien household, which carried out the missions bestowed by the god Ririen.
“That’s right. We were going to talk about that today.”
Lora checked the clock.
“Shall we talk after we eat?”
The fall of the Empire.
It was a very heavy subject.
It would be enough to converse after filling their stomachs.
“All right.”
Sorinte’s expression was composed.
Lora kept in mind that the man who had been nervous and at a loss over every one of his younger sister’s reactions was showing a calm demeanor when it came to the fall of the Empire.
She had already heard what kind of life he wished for.
*The second customer wishes to live with his precious ones, including his family.*
Even so, Lora had a question.
*Could he still wish for the Empire’s destruction?*
About that, she could not be certain of anything.
[The customer does not tell the counselor everything truthfully.]
[Sometimes they embellish their pre-regression life with lies; sometimes they hide their past life. Moreover, there are times when they do not truthfully reveal everything they did before their regression, or what their current wishes are.]
She recalled the contents she had seen while recording the third customer, Cross, in the orb a short while ago.
*Trust the customer, yet do not trust them.*
It was one of the maxims passed down by former heads of the household to later generations.
*I must remember.*
Resolving not to forget those words, Lora also thought of the tears Sorinte had shed.
*At least his heart toward his family and his desire to live his life anew seemed genuine.*
He did not seem proficient enough at expressing emotions to act that out.
“It’s a small dining room, but it’s enough for two people to dine in.”
Lora entered the small dining room adjoining the kitchen and guided Sorinte to a seat.
[Slide.]
Just then, Tom entered pulling a tray.
“I thought you might converse, so I brought the food all at once.”
At Tom’s explanation, Lora nodded.
“Customer, is that all right?”
“...Yes.”
Lora gave Tom a signal, and Tom bowed his head slightly before leaving the dining room.
[Click.]
After the door closed, Lora looked at the dining table.
She clasped her hands beneath the table.
*My goodness!*
All the food except the soup had been sent from the Ducal house.
*The presentation is no joke!*
They were dishes possessing a beauty that Lora could never have imagined and emitting a delicious scent that made her nose tingle.
*Calm down!*
She composed herself as much as possible and picked up her fork and knife.
“Shall we eat?”
“...Yes.”
Lora wore a genuinely bright smile.
“Thanks to the Duchess, we’ve been able to enjoy such a delicious meal. Please be sure to convey my gratitude.”
“...Mm.”
Sorinte avoided answering.
“Is it still difficult to say such things?”
Lora asked, subtly moving a piece of bread that emitted a savory fragrance onto her plate.
“...It’s a bit difficult. The words don’t come out as my heart feels.”
Sorinte held his fork but could not even think of what to eat.
He seemed to hate himself for this, furrowing his brow deeply.
“But I think you’re doing well.”
[Slide.]
Lora subtly pushed the bowl of bread toward Sorinte.
*It feels a bit awkward to eat alone.*
Sorinte finally alternated his gaze between the bread and Lora, then moved a piece of bread onto his plate.
Relieved by the sight, Lora opened her mouth.
“Earlier, the sight of you standing together with Lady Kora looked truly harmonious. You resembled each other so much that anyone could tell you were siblings.”
She meant it.
“Is that so?”
Sorinte’s expression brightened slightly as he quietly asked back.
Lora nodded at once.
“Of course. How was breakfast?”
Sorinte had gone carrying a red berry pie. She wanted to hear a little more about how his breakfast had been.
“For the first time in a long while...”
It was at that moment.
*Huh!*
Lora was startled.
[Trickle.]
Sorinte shed tears again.