Chapter 294 The Door to Her Heart was Quietly Opened (1/2)

I decided to stay at Alice’s miscellaneous goods store for a while to get to know her.

After forcing the puzzled Alice to agree to stay over, I put my bags in the room Alice had prepared for me, and then returned to the living room.

[……By the way, Kaito-san. How long do you plan to stay?]

[Hmmm. Until I got to know Alice better, I guess?]

[Are you talking about where my pleasu—— Fugyaaahhh!?]

[…….Did you say something just now?]

[I said nothing.]

Then, I ate the food I had bought for dinner with Alice, and since there are lots of stuff that happened today, I went to bed right away.

Alice was acting the same as usual, but I still feel like there was something strange about her……. It looked like she was deliberately trying to act upbeat and divert away the topic.

No, maybe that’s just something I didn’t realize until now, and she’s always been this way……

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The 9th day of the Light month. I decided to start this morning by observing Alice’s workshop to see how she makes things.

Well, actually, Alice is usually with my guards, so it’s her clone that makes her merchandise for her miscellaneous goods store…… but this time, I asked her main body to build one for me, and Alice agreed.

[……Ummm, Kaito-san?]

[Unnn?]

[I- If you stare so intently at me like that…… It’s kinda making it difficult to make them……]

Holding the forging hammer in her hand, Alice glances at me, as if she’s uncomfortable being stared at.

Is she making a sword now? I’ve never seen blacksmithing work before, but it looks kind of cool. Thanks to Shiro-san’s blessing, I don’t feel the heat of the fire, so I can genuinely enjoy watching her work.

[……Somehow, even though this is the first time I’ve ever seen Alice seriously working on something…… You somehow look really cool.]

[!? Ahhh……]

[Ahhh……]

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As I complimented her with a smile, a loud clang rang out, as Alice broke the sword she’s making in half.

[K- Kaito-san, what in the world are you suddenly saying!? Alice-chan has always been cool and cute, you know!?]

[Well, I guess you’re right.]

[Ugghhh…… N- No, no, Kaito-san? That’s the part where you would tsukkomi, you know!? This is the part where you would hit me in the head, saying “What kind of stupid things are you talking about!?”, you know!!!? Why in the world are you normally complimenting me!?]

Even though I complimented her, for some reason, she started complaining…… I can’t understand her.

Well, aside from that, Alice actually had lots of no good areas…… If her no good areas were to be gathered, I bet you could make a mountain out of it already. While she’s a troublesome girl who would quickly fool around, what is certain is that she’s a strong, knowledgeable and dependable woman.

Moreover, while the impact of her mask tends to blur it out, Alice’s unmasked face is as cute as a doll, so I don’t think it’s necessarily wrong to say that she’s cool and cute.

[……Hmmm. Well, there’s that part of you that really likes to fool around every so often but…… Alice is reliable, and I certainly think you’re cute.]

[Wha!? Wha!? …… Uuuuu…… I- I’m feeling a little out of sorts……]

Hearing my words, Alice blushed so red that I could tell even with her mask on, and tried to continue forging to regain her composure.

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Seeing her reaction, which hadn’t been very common before, I felt like I got to know a new Alice, even if it was only a little side of her, and that thought is making a smile naturally appear on my lips.

Then, I continued to watch Alice work for a while.

Nothing in particular happened until the sun went down. We spent the day relaxing, chatting, and watching Alice. Then, we ate dinner and took a bath afterward.

It had been a day since I had barged into Alice’s home, and while nothing big particularly happened, I think I had achieved some small ones. The times when she feels embarrassed when complimented, and when she would flusteredly divert the topic…… Seeing a girlish side of Alice feels refreshing, and it somehow makes me feel happy.

But unfortunately, I still haven’t even gotten a clue regarding my original purpose. Alice doesn’t seem to want to talk about it either…… No, she would sometimes look at me for no reason, so Alice may not be sure of whether she should talk about it or not.

I’m not in a position to step into Alice’s life any more than I am now, so I should wait for her to open up herself.

Thinking about this, I get out of the bath and move to the living room, where Alice should be.

[Alice, I’m done……?]

[…………….]

[Is she asleep?]

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When I returned to the living room, I found another scene that I saw for the first time…… Alice was asleep with her hands on the desk and her mask off.

Hmmm. After what happened with Eden-san, no matter how strong Alice is…… She really would get tired.

Even when she was exhausted from the fight with Eden-san, she had become flustered after my sudden intrusion…… I guess she let down her guard and fell asleep…… Should I have intruded later in the morning?

It would be bad to wake her up, so let’s just let her sleep for a bit…… If I remember correctly, I washed the blanket Kuro and I used at the Sacred Tree Festival and put it in the Magic Box……

Smiling as I looked at the adorable Alice’s sleeping face, I took out a blanket out of the magic box and was about to drape it over Alice’s shoulders…… when I noticed it.

Glittering from the sleeping Alice’s eyes…… were her tears flowing down…… Yes, Alice was crying in her sleep.