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Cough, cough.
A small sound, yet unmistakably audible.
At the noise, Diegon turned around to look at Luarel.
"Um, Dad…"
"What is it?"
"My head hurts… and my throat too…"
The weak cough sounded somewhat unnatural, as if deliberately forced.
Still, Diegon rose from his seat without a word.
"Stay right there for a moment, Shu."
"Okay!"
Shortly after, Diegon placed his hand on Luarel’s forehead and spoke slowly.
"You don’t have a fever. But it’s best if you skip your lessons today and get some rest."
"Okay. Um, Dad…"
Dad.
Every time that word reached his ears, something tugged painfully at his chest.
Not joy, but discomfort.
Because that wasn’t a name this child should be calling him by.
Yet Diegon could feel his father’s gaze on him.
'Let her have her way. Especially when it comes to you, support her.'
That’s what he’d been told.
And now, things were coming to a head.
The net had been spread wide—now was the time to reel it in.
It was the tide when the most fish would gather.
“Can I sleep with you tonight, Dad…? I—I keep having nightmares. I’m scared to sleep alone…”
Luarel's crimson eyes trembled with desperation.
If that was acting, it was truly impressive—to even make her eyes seem so earnest.
“…All right, let’s do that.”
“....…!”
“I’ll come to your room tonight and read you a book. So you won’t have any bad dreams.”
Diegon tried his best to sound gentle.
Though his voice still came out a bit stiff, it must’ve been acceptable—no intervention came from his father.
But just then, Shupetty, who’d been watching, shouted out in her clear voice.
“Me too!”
“Hm?”
“Me too! I want to sleep with you too!”
The same girl who had so boldly refused to be treated like a daughter…
Now she seemed jealous?
That look was just too cute, and a wide smile spread across Diegon’s face.
“All right. Let’s all sleep together.”
That probably wasn’t what Luarel had hoped for, though.
***
“Cherry pajamas!”
Check!
“Bunny slippers!”
Check!
“Seal plushie!”
Check!
"All done!"
"I'm ready!"
Clutching a pink seal plushie tightly in my arms, I stood in front of the door.
After letting out a puff of breath through my nose and squaring my shoulders, I opened the door confidently and marched out.
"Where's Sister Luarel’s room?"
"That way. But… are you really sure about this? I’ll stay in the hallway, so if anything happens, just scream. Got it?"
"Yup!"
Lina kept sighing as she walked me over, clearly worried.
But I had to go to Sister Luarel’s room.
Because—
'It’s the perfect chance to look for clues.'
When Sister Luarel asked to sleep with the Admiral earlier, Brother Elzen gave me a meaningful look right away.
And I got it instantly.
'I’ll find out for myself if anything fishy’s going on.'
“Beep!”
Right! With Podong and me, together!
[The Spirit King of Air, ‘Shaparsi’, encourages you.]
[If anything dangerous happens, that little one will protect you. Diegon will be there too, so you should be fine.]
Right. Honestly, I’m also relying a bit on the Admiral being there.
I’ll pretend to be sound asleep, and once Sister Luarel really knocks out, I’ll start my investigation—beginning with under the bed!
“Admiral!”
“Yes, dear.”
A little later, I met the Admiral in front of Sister Luarel’s room.
But then—
“Why aren’t you wearing pajamas?”
“I have to go back and look over some documents.”
“Whhaaat.”
Wait… does that mean the Admiral will leave in a little while?
No way!
[The Spirit King of Fire ‘■■■■■’ encourages you to be brave.]
[The Spirit King of Fortune ‘■■■■■■’ whispers that they'll help however they can.]
Right! I’ve got the Spirit Kings on my side.
I’m not scared—not one bit!
“W-Welcome, Dad…”
Hearing Sister Luarel keep saying 'Dad' still irritated me… but I could tolerate it.
Still… if it turns out you’re really not Sister Luarel, I won’t let it slide.
Hugging my seal plushie tightly, I settled on the outer edge of the bed.
“Shu… Shupetty, can’t you sleep on the inside? I… I want to be closer to Dad…”
“Nope.”
I have to be on the outside so I can sneak a look under the bed later!
I firmly refused and even shut my eyes.
Sister Luarel hesitated, then had no choice but to lie on the inside.
“Long, long ago, in a distant sea, a shark and a dolphin lived. One day, the shark challenged the dolphin to a race to the Dragon King’s palace…”
The Admiral opened a picture book and began reading in a calm voice.
I quietly listened to his gentle narration.
Then… snore—
Gasp!
The sound of me snoring startled me awake. I rubbed my eyes.
No! I can’t fall asleep now!
Suppressing a yawn, I squeezed my eyes shut and started counting jellyfish.
One jellyfish not sleeping. Two dancing jellyfish. Three wiggly jellyfish…
Time passed slowly.
I could hear Sister Luarel gently breathing beside me. Then came the soft sound of the Admiral closing the book.
Now’s my chance!
The moment the Admiral opened the door and stepped out—
I rolled over.
“Oof!”
I landed on my butt, but that’s fine.
Now I could check under the bed.
With a pop, Podong appeared and rolled underneath.
Stretching, I casually muttered.
“I gotta go potty.”
Sister Luarel’s room had the same layout as mine, so I knew where the bathroom was.
Nothing suspicious in the room… except a ridiculous amount of cosmetics.
I slipped into the bathroom and looked around carefully.
[The Spirit King of Fortune ‘■■■■■■’ whispers that if it were them, they’d look above.]
Above?
I stretched my neck up as far as I could—and just then, Podong popped up again, shaking its head.
Looks like it didn’t find anything either.
'Then let’s inspect the ceiling!'
Saying that made me feel pretty proud.
Like a real kid detective!
With a flutter of its tiny wings, Podong soared up and—bam!—crashed into the ceiling with all its might.
I was a little worried Podong might get hurt crashing into the ceiling, but then I remembered—it’s wind, so there’s no way it could get hurt!
“Pwap!”
“Huh?”
“Ppyabya-byap!”
“......!”
Bounce, bounce, bounce-bounce!
It flew this way and that—Podong was going wild!
Worried that Sister Luarel might wake up, I quickly pressed a finger to my lips and whispered.
“Shhh!”
But just then—
“What are you doing in there?”
A voice came from just outside the bathroom door.
Suddenly a chill ran down my spine, and I blurted out.
“Just a sec!”
“Can I come in?”
“No! Not yet! I’m embarrassed!”
Was there really nothing here?
Then I should probably just go back out…
But the Spirit King of Fortune wouldn’t have said to check above for no reason—
While standing on tiptoe to turn on the faucet, splashing water noisily, Podong showed up again—this time carrying something in its mouth.
'A pair of glasses?'
I quickly looked up—and there, in the ceiling, was a small gap.
Then Podong returned with something else—this time, a faded green ribbon.
'This looks familiar…'
The round glasses… they look like Daisy’s.
And the green ribbon—it belongs to Austin, the maid.
But… why are they here?
“Nothing weird’s going on, right? I’m coming in.”
Knock knock.
Knock knock knock knock.
Knockknockknockknockknock!
Sister Luarel started pounding the door rapidly—
Thank goodness I locked it!
Click-click. Clack-clack. Rattle-rattle-rattle!
Clickclickclickclickclickclickclickclick—!
Eeeeeek! Why is she acting like this?!
Podong, quick—hide the evidence again!
Fix the ceiling too!
I had this awful feeling—like I mustn’t let her know I saw what was up there.
Flushhhh.
I made sure to flush the toilet like everything was normal and opened the door with the calmest face I could muster.
“What’s wrong? I wasn’t done yet!”
“…....”
“I’m gonna sleep in my room now.”
“…Alright.”
In the dark, her magenta eyes gleamed.
A chill crept down my neck, but I didn’t forget to grab my seal plushie.
The whole time, Sister Luarel kept glancing into the bathroom.
“I’m leaving, okay?”
I raised my voice intentionally and reached for the door handle—
“Wait.”
Suddenly, Sister Luarel rushed over and smacked my hand away.
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