Chapter 3

"Aniue, I've come."

"Hello, Aniue. And... Enesia-san as well."

Takeru, a black-haired boy who timidly hid behind Edward, entered.

His attitude towards Enesia, who was harsh to him and his mother Miyahi, was extremely cold.

Because he was scolded once for calling her 'Anesama,' he now addresses her formally.

To prevent Takeru and his mother Miyahi from accumulating too much mental stress, Todd regularly holds tea parties with Miyahi and talks to them.

There was also a secondary purpose: to show Takeru that he and Todd are good friends, and to get information about Akitsushima from Miyahi.

But the main purpose, of course, is to dote on his real younger brother.

The effort paid off, and Todd couldn't help but smile when Takeru called him 'Aniue.'

But he remembered that he was still angry with Enesia and quickly put on a serious face.

Fortunately, Enesia didn't seem to notice the change in Todd's expression.

"..."

Enesia's nose was already running, and her eyes, which were continuously filling with tears, were bloodshot and red.

Still, she stubbornly refused to cry.

Edward observed the situation with interest, while Takeru, standing behind him, was flustered, unable to understand what was happening.

"You both came. Actually, some sweets from Akitsushima arrived, so I thought we could have them together. It wouldn't be bad to have a family-only gathering once in a while, right?"

Todd's words seemed to be the final straw, and Enesia finally collapsed to the ground.

The tears streaming down her face quickly wet her small hands.

"U, u... uuuuun!!!"

"..."

This time, it was Todd's turn to be silent.

It would be easy to forgive her and hug her right away.

But he knew that spoiling her wouldn't make her a good person, so he gritted his teeth and continued to ignore her.

A shadow appeared between the silent Todd and Enesia, who was sitting on the floor and crying.

It was Takeru, standing there with a determined look that was hard to believe from the timid boy he had been moments ago.

"Aniue"

"Yes, what's wrong?"

He asked, pretending not to understand.

Inside, Todd was making a fist in triumph, but he tried to stay composed.

"It's not right to make a girl cry."

"That's not true, Takeru. Enesia did something that deserved to be ignored... She was saying bad things about you. It's not something to be forgiven."

"... When girls fight, the boy has to apologize. My mother taught me that."

Miyahi, a woman who held Akitsushima's unique values, different from those of Reinsgaya, and continued to uphold them, had passed on her dignity and grace to Takeru.

Takeru, who would not easily dislike someone just because he had been mistreated, was always kind to his family and cared more about others than himself.

This time, his nature worked in the right direction as planned.

As Todd felt relieved, Enesia, who had been standing behind Takeru with a dazed look, started crying even more intensely.

"S, sorry!! I, I did something terrible..."

She began to cry and apologize, clinging to Takeru's back.

Surprised that the person he was supposed to protect, Enesia, was crying, Takeru realized that he had made her cry and started to panic.

Then, following Enesia's lead, Takeru also started crying.

The two of them cried and apologized to each other, as if the reason they started crying in the first place didn't matter anymore.

"Looks like things are going well, Aniue."

"... Yeah, I hope this will improve their relationship a bit."

He noticed Edward standing behind him, nodding with a knowing smile.

Though startled by the sudden voice from behind, Todd managed to hide his surprise and responded.

"Aniue, did you know this would happen?"

"That's an overestimation. I just hoped it would turn out this way and acted accordingly."

"Hehe, I'll take that as a compliment."

After the tearful apologies, Enesia no longer mocked Takeru.

She began to trust Takeru, who had protected her, and started including him in the pretend play she did with her younger sister Anastasia.

Takeru played the role of a knight protecting the princess, played by Enesia.

Embarrassed by the girls' play, he always blushed and smiled shyly.

His slightly red face always wore a smile like a sunflower—.

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