Chapter 1 Part1 (1/2)

A favourable rating of over a minus

That day was the first ti out of place in『 this world』 When Iwariness and distrust in his eyes– a young boy ould later become my「step-brother」, Sylt, it had been a winter day

As it was, I was born as the only daughter of a wealthythat there was anything strange about my life, I spent my days nor, it hadn’t been any different from the other days——

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「Ah!」

Upon hearing the bells attached to the front hall entrance sound, I, who’d been doing hoorously stood up It seems my dad came home

「Welcome home, Dad! 」

Although I careet my dad as usual, the moment I opened the door of the saloon, I unintentionally stopped in my tracks

In front of the entrance hall washis htly clad only in a thick suit without the war Behind that dad of mine, was a solden hair hiding his face

It’s a boy I haven’t seen before, but who could he be?

Even my mom, who came out to meet my dad just as I had, widened her eyes when she saw the boy

「 …dear?」

Although ly declared, 「…if you’ve done the unforgivable by bringing home a child from a lover, please be prepared, okay?」

「That’s not it!」,

「He was trudging along the streets Although it looks like he ran away fro if he’s dressed as lightly as this…」

Hearing my dad’s explanation, Mom replied with a「 Good heavens!」 , and cupped a hand over her mouth as she looked at the boy

I wonder, was he around six years old? Long trouser over a thin long sleeved shi+rt, no shoes or socks, and hair that was dry and hard as if it had been frozen His small shoulders were covered in dad’s black pelt coat, but looking at the young boy’s pale face, it doesn’t seeh to warm him up

Lillebonne, the toas residing in, was very cold region It wasn’t that far from the most prosperous imperial city in this country, Le Havre, but unlike the ihout the year here There’s a lot of forest land that haven’t been clai tons of snow falling is a little inconvenient, but the public order here is excellent That’s why, children without fa outside… were virtually nonexistent I’m sure Dad felt pity for him, so that’s probably why he invited him to our house

The young boy was flickering between listening to our conversation and gauging his distance to the door of the entrance hall His face, which was covered in dirt, held wariness, distrust, and even fear, in it He’s probably tensed with the thought that we e He see happens

Without thinking, I called out to him

「Aren’t you cold?」

With a jolt, his shoulders trembled as he looked my way

When our eyes ht I quietly closed the door behind me as I posed a question to him

「Your hands and feet are bright red Will you be taking a bath?」

Upon my words, he looked at his own hands and bit his lips However, he didn’t make any further movements other than that nor did he bother to reply

In that tensed atentle voice descended over us

「 Aah, that’s right Rikka」

Gently s like she always does, Mom turned to me and said:

「Why don’t you show him the way to the bathroom」

「 Oka~y」

With the patter of slippers on the floor, I went past the entrance hall’s fireplace and made my way to him

The young boy’s eyes wandered to me with a bewildered look, and then, he took a tiny step back

His eyes darted between me and the entrance hall door several times

— What should I do? Should I run?

That see off, so I stood before hirin Then, I reached out my hand to him

「 Let’s go, come on」

When I held his hand, it was cold as ice

「 …!」

In the nexthis breathe, he shook off my hand And with a start, he drew back and stared at me

Since his face twisted as if he was about to cry at any ti

「 It’s okay, go with her」

Dad crouched down and gave the young boy a light push in the back With just that, the boy stu his long sleeves, I saw that his wrists were very thin and even his hands were sain, I reached out a hand to him

「 Let’s go? 」

He didn’t shake me off for a second time His cold hands robbed the heat away from mine, and just like the times I touched snow, my hands turned cold as well

And so, I pulled his hands and headed to the bathroom

Since my family was modestly well-off, our hoe There were six other rooms in between the entrance hall and the bathroom

Just as we passed through the second rooht hand in order to switch it with my left

「 ………」

The rip fro a little

「 Ah, sorry Are you okay? 」

There was no reply, instead, as if he was clinging to a life-line, his left hand grabbed htly

As soon as I led him to the bathroom, Mom and the servants came in to ad hands ht even be injured somewhere

「It would be bad if he gets frostbites」

After saying this out of concern, Mo boy and took the servants with her as she entered the bathroom

After I finishedtable of the saloon Even though I thought of doing my homework fro boy was onit

His eyes, which made it look like even his heart had frozen over, was soet out of my mind

I wonder, how long had he been that way? While I stared distractedly at my homework, still seated in my chair, the door of the saloon opened up

「Rikka」

「Mom」

I ran up to her and asked about him

When I did so, Mo to me with her usual kind smile

「That boy had frostbites all over his hands and feet just as I thought We’ve applied ht now, but could you bring warm soup over to him? 」

「Yeah, okay Hey, Mom? That boy, what’s his name?」

Mohtly troubled expression and shook her head

「 … he hasn’t said a single word to us」

I blinked

…not even one?

After she gently embraced me like that, Mom smiled

「Rikka, do you want to have a little brother? 」

「Huh? Uh? Yeah?」

Without fully understanding what she, Mom nodded

「Alright I’ll be talking to your dad for a while, so I’ll leave you to deliver the soup, okay?」

「Yeah, got it」

I nodded as I thought over what Mom’s question had meant Little brother………… Little brother? Sure, I did want siblings

Having no one in the sahborhood, I didn’t have anyone to play with et to school by horse carriage So, having soe to play as very attractive for an only child like me

Receiving the waro to where he hen I suddenly realized with a start

…I forgot to ask which room he was in Nohere should I carry this to?

Not knohich roo the door of each roo the third roo,「It’s pitch black here too」, I was about to make a U-turn, when for some reason, I felt the presence of life

When I strainedin the corner of the room

I wonder, did the candles on the candlestand die out? Relying on the fitted lights from the corridor to see, I set the soup on the table Then, I picked up a candlestand that had been placed there

After setting the candlestand on a table at the corner of the roohtened up

This relatively ss like a bookshelf, a desk, a table and so the furniture placed with the bed It wasn’t normally used, but the servants always swept it clean It was a room not far off from the saloon

The young boy continued to sit, hugging his knees, motionless

「 I brought some soup Won't you drink some? 」

Even when I called out like that, he set his head over his knees, and, with bandaged covered hands, gripped his arht

U er…

Soht in front of my eyes

【Name】