The door creaked open, despite no permission having been granted to enter.
Perhaps because the intruder was struggling, it moved at a snail’s pace.
“He—heavy….”
A faint groan followed, and the person who poked their head through the gap was none other than Aria.
I blinked.
“Duchess-To-Be!”
The moment she saw me, Aria’s expression brightened instantly. She made as if to dash toward me, and I shot up from my seat.
“Don’t run!”
“Huh? Ah, yes!”
At my reflexively sharp shout, she tilted her head, then settled down like a docile rabbit, approaching with light, cautious steps. She sat right beside me, not across from me, and beamed.
“I missed you, Duchess-To-Be!”
…Am I falling in love right now?
Aria’s face was blindingly radiant. Even though she looked pale and frail—proving that her claims of being sick weren’t just an act—she seemed to glow.
‘Once this girl gets healthy, forget the empire; she’ll be a beauty who could eat up the entire continent.’
I was certain of it. Perhaps it was because I had been looking at portraits, but seeing her face, thinned by illness, made my heart ache.
“Is your body feeling okay now?”
“Yes!”
A frail hand carefully reached out and gripped mine. A soft, pink flush bloomed on Aria’s pale cheeks, and her already pretty eyes curved into crescents.
“Thanks to the mage and the doctor you sent, that day… I slept soundly for the first time in a long while.”
Aria hesitated before whispering softly. She added that she was only telling me because she didn’t want her brother to be upset.
There was something undeniably childlike about her words. It wasn’t that she seemed slow or truly a child, but rather a lack of worldly taint that made me reach out before I knew it. I stroked her silver hair, which still retained a hint of brittleness.
“That’s good. Next time, I’ll bring the comb I promised.”
“Ah.”
“I’m sorry, I forgot it because I came in such a hurry today.”
“Oh, no, it’s fine!”
Aria’s face flushed red. “I—I just, I always, only receive, and today I really wanted to thank you…!”
“I know. Actually, I was just thinking that one smile of yours is worth a thousand debts.”
“Pardon?”
“Ah, just talking to myself.”
Aria, who had been staring intently at me, mimicked my shy smile. Then, she suddenly looked dejected. Why was she like this? I had the distinct illusion that the long rabbit ears atop her head had drooped.
“That day, because you had to call a mage and bring in a doctor… you must have… spent a lot of money, right?”
She looked at me cautiously, then lowered her gaze. Her slender fingers gripped and released her dress hem; her entire demeanor was filled with anxiety.
“Especially since healing mages, they must have been very expensive… I’m sorry I caused you such unnecessary expenditure.”
Her concern was heartfelt. Furthermore, when Aria said she would find a way to pay me back for the cost, I reached out without thinking.
“Money, even if you have to work—guh! Du—Duchess-To-Be?”
“Ah, I did that without thinking.”
I grinned and pulled my hand away from Aria’s mouth. Well, it wasn’t just the content of her words; I suppose I just didn’t like seeing her looking so sorry.
‘Actually, Aria doesn’t really have any reason to be sorry to me.’
Charlize, the ice-rabbit brother, and this scared little rabbit sister. Thinking about my relationship with the rabbit siblings, one could easily imagine Aria snapping at Charlize, *“You started this, didn’t you, huh?”*
‘Of course, she isn’t the type to do that. Still, it would be amusing.’
Besides, regarding the money Aria mentioned…
“Don’t worry about the money.”
“Pardon? But!”
“That amount of money is nothing to me.”
I said it with confidence, though it remained a secret that I had been worrying about how to cover the fee I paid the healing mage just a few days ago.
‘Thank goodness I was able to borrow money from the tyrant brother.’
What would I have done if I hadn’t?
‘Even if he’s a jerk, I suppose I have to thank him for this.’
With that thought, my hands moved instinctively.
I began patting and smoothing Aria’s hair, almost without realizing it. Though it still felt brittle from her long recovery, the texture underneath remained soft.
Was it because I was thinking of rabbits?
In this light, her fluffy hair seemed even more like a rabbit’s pelt.
‘And the fiancé would be a cold snow rabbit…’
I caught myself there, stifling a laugh. A man that handsome and sharp didn’t really suit the image—or perhaps, given how much he resembled Aria, maybe it suited him perfectly.
Trying to swallow my amusement, I stealthily checked her expression. I shouldn’t be the one being watched; I was the one who needed to stay alert.
‘Looking at her reaction… thankfully, she doesn’t seem to know the rumors yet.’
For some reason, Aria appeared completely oblivious. Was she the only one in the dark? Did everyone else here know, only keeping it from her out of fear of the shock?
That made a grim sort of sense.
“Um, Duchess-To-Be…”
Aria hesitated, then squeezed my hand.
“Actually, I have a favor to ask. C—could I possibly tell you?”
Seeing the desperation on her face, I felt a sharp prick of tension.
‘Oh my, don’t tell me—is she going to ask me to break off my engagement with her brother?’
A cold sweat broke out across my back. It wouldn’t be strange if she did. While I had managed to hold somewhat normal conversations since inhabiting this body, the previous Charlize had committed enough offenses to warrant it. Had Aria discovered what her brother had been doing behind her back?
All sorts of ominous scenarios flooded my mind. But before I could even interject, her bloodless lips parted again.
“Um, that… could you please brush my hair one more time?”
“No!”
“Pardon?”
“Pardon?”
We stared at each other in shock. Aria was the first to react, lowering her rabbit-like eyes as her shoulders slumped. I could almost see phantom ears drooping on her head.
“…Right, I shouldn’t have dared to ask such a thing, should I? I—I’m sorry. I was being rude.”
“It’s not that.”
I hurriedly grabbed her hand before she could pull away. Aria flinched, surprised.
“I’m sorry, my ears haven’t been working well lately. I misheard you.”
“Pardon?”
“Why are you acting like making such a request is a burden?”
I felt genuinely surprised by her reaction.
“We’re friends, aren’t we?”
“……”
Aria’s large eyes trembled, the movement impossible to miss. She opened her mouth hesitantly.
“W—was I too rude?”
“No. In fact, I wish you would ask for things like that more comfortably.”
“……Really?”
“I don’t make empty promises.”
I grinned.
“And I’m certainly not someone who needs to resort to them.”
Fearing she might flee, I gently pulled her hand. When I told her to turn around and trust me with her hair, she complied quickly, still looking startled.
‘She’s cute. Really.’
I began working through her hair.
“Do you happen to have a comb?”
“H—here it is!”
Oh, so she had come prepared? I looked at the comb she shoved toward me and held back another laugh.
…What am I supposed to do when she’s this adorable?
‘Actually, if Aria lives a long life, couldn’t she be the protagonist?’
Of course, that was out of the question given the age gap between her and that tyrant. Besides, it would be a total waste to tie her to him. The more I thought about it, the more I realized his sister was a pitiable, saintly woman—far too good for a man like him.
Since this novel is a masterpiece of R-19 and confinement tropes, after all.
I pushed away my thoughts and adjusted my grip on the comb.
‘……It’s worn out.’
Perhaps because it had been used for so long, the comb was coated in a layer of grime from countless touches. It had been well-maintained for its age, but the chipped paint and the decorations—all but fallen off—tugged at my heart with a sudden, sharp pity.
“I have a comb embedded with my favorite jewels.”
“Yes? Oh, yes.”
“But I have two of them, don’t I? I think I should give one to you, Aria. Take it.”
“What? No, such a precious thing is……”
“Don’t you want to have the same item as your friend?”
“…….”
“I know I do.”
I turned around and gave Aria a wide grin, watching a faint flush creep across her cheeks.
She pressed her lips shut, then nodded vigorously.
I turned her head away again and began to brush her hair with the utmost care.
Of course, I hadn’t made any real progress since we were in the carriage. The more I brushed, the more it felt like Aria’s hair was becoming a static-filled mess. But because she seemed to be in such a good mood, I put my absolute best effort into it, moving with extreme caution.
‘I cannot ruin this pretty hair any further……!’
Just as I was focusing with the meticulous spirit of an Italian craftsman, treating every strand like a singular, delicate embroidery stitch, a shy voice escaped Aria.
“……Actually, ever since I was young, I’ve imagined what it would be like… to have an older sister.”