Chapter 31

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Regarding the parts that have been published in book form, I have intentionally left the typos, omissions, and additions as they are, hoping that they might serve as reference material later on.

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After returning from town and the following day, it was quite difficult as Regulus kept watching me wherever I went.

He would follow me even to the toilet and the bath, and stand in front of the door, asking, "Nii-san, are you there? You're not going out, are you?"

It was a bit of a horror, and I thought my belly fat would fall off. It was an illusion, though.

But after Genzaburo helped in the vegetable garden and whispered something to Regulus, he stopped following me around, and no longer followed me to the toilet or the bath.

Instead, he started to say with a serious face that was uncharacteristic of a child, "I'll do my best, so you do your best too, Nii-san." I wonder what I'm supposed to do my best at. Dieting, is it?

The next morning, it was a clear day.

The day to go to the Imperial Capital has finally arrived! Applause!

We were supposed to leave at noon and meet at the mansion's entrance at ten, but there was no carriage or even a horse.

What's going on?

As I stood there dazed, the front door creaked open, and Mr. Romanov extended his hand.

"Come on, let's go. Hold on tight, please."

"Huh? Mr. Romanov, how are we going to get there without a carriage or a horse...?"

"We're going to use a teleportation spell."

"Teleportation spell!?"

Fantasy, here we come!

I eagerly took the hand Mr. Romanov offered. He smiled.

"Did you forget anything? Your allowance is in your waist pouch, right?"

"Yes, I'm fine."

"Teleportation is a type of spatial magic that consumes a lot of mana, but when you open your eyes again, you'll already be in the Imperial Capital."

"Wow, that's amazing..."

"It's convenient too. You can go anywhere you've been before. But if two people suddenly teleport right in the middle of the Imperial Capital, it would cause a commotion, so we'll teleport to my friend's house in the Imperial Capital."

"Wait, then should we bring a gift for the host...?"

Oh no, I didn't prepare anything!

As I panicked, a wink flew from the handsome elf.

Lately, I really get killed by handsome people a lot.

As I looked away, Mr. Romanov stuffed something into my waist pouch.

"Don't worry, I had Mr. Rottenmayer prepare it for you."

"Huh... What did you just put in there...?"

"It's a cold steamed egg dish made by the head chef."

"What...! I haven't even had it yet!"

"First come, first served."

I want to eat the cold steamed egg too.

As I pouted, my cheeks were pinched.

"Well, well, you can eat it when you get back, Phoenix-kun."

"I guess so..."

"Alright, let's go!"

"Huh!?"

As soon as Mr. Romanov grabbed my hands, I felt a strong pull and instinctively closed my eyes.

After just a few seconds, Mr. Romanov's voice came from above.

"You can open your eyes now, we've arrived."

"Wha...?"

I slowly opened my tightly closed eyes.

Instead of the harsh light of summer, I felt a soft, warm orange glow.

Gradually, I could see a bookshelf lined with many books, a carpet with intricate designs, a polished amber desk with quills and papers scattered on it. On one of the papers, several sets of five straight lines were drawn.

"Sheet music...!?"

"Oh, you know about it?"

"Y-Yes! This is the paper used to write musical scores, right!?"

"That's right."

"The fact that this is here... Could it be... Could it be...!?"

This must be the house of someone who enjoys music, or even composes it!

As I was about to ask, Mr. Romanov covered my mouth with his finger and nodded with a gentle smile.

"The owner of this house is a peculiar person, but he is said to be unparalleled in playing instruments, both in the past and present."

"Is this amazing person a friend of yours, Mr. Romanov!?"

"Yes. Well, I'm not very knowledgeable about music, but I can tell that his performances and compositions are wonderful."

"Wow, Mr. Romanov is really amazing, isn't he?"

"You're interested in music, but not in dragons, aren't you, Phoenix-kun?"

"Ah..."

I've never even seen a dragon.

Compared to that, music, which is more accessible, naturally draws my interest.

As I looked away, I could sense Mr. Romanov smirking.

"Well, that's fine. Let's go greet the owner."

"Yes, we should thank and greet him."

"I did let him know I was bringing you, but I didn't specify the exact time."

Saying that, he headed towards the exit of the room we had landed in, which seemed to be on the second floor. As we approached the stairs, we could hear a faint argument.

Mr. Romanov put his finger to his lips.

"───So, you... "

"Wh... What...? ...I... Who...!?"

One voice was a relatively soft male voice, the other a shrill female voice.

It sounded like a lovers' quarrel, and Mr. Romanov frowned.

"Hmm, maybe we came at a bad time."

"Um, are they having an argument?"

"Not exactly an argument, more like one person is being cornered."

"Ah... Should we leave them alone?"

"No, it doesn't seem to be a lovers' quarrel, so I think it's fine to go out and do a favor for him."

"Why isn't it a lovers' quarrel?"

"Elves have very sensitive ears."

He said it casually, but that's a big deal, isn't it?

As I made a subtle face, Mr. Romanov, ignoring my confusion, started down the stairs, pulling me along.

We descended rhythmically and found ourselves in what seemed to be the entrance, where two people were visible.

One was a tall, slender man with sharp ears, long golden hair tied loosely in a braid, and green eyes. The other was a beautiful woman with fox-like eyes, wearing a dress in the Rococo style, with a corset and a wide skirt supported by a pannier. The shrill voice was probably from her.

"Hello, I'm interrupting, Vitya."

Without any sense of the situation, Mr. Romanov called out to the elf-like man, and the woman's eyes narrowed sharply. It was scary.

However, the elf man, whom Mr. Romanov called Vitya, ignored the woman and, with a bright smile, threw himself at Mr. Romanov.

"Ah, Alyosha!? I've been waiting for you!"

The dazzling smile he gave was toxic to the eyes. Meanwhile, the anger from the fox-eyed woman intensified.

Despite this, the elf, who wasn't oblivious to the atmosphere but simply didn't care, suddenly noticed me holding hands with Mr. Romanov and hugged me affectionately.

"You must be A-tan! I've been waiting for you! Sing for me!"

Please stop, a timid white pig is about to die from all this.

By the way, who is 'A-tan'?

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