HTPTMOTMM Chapter 38

To put it somewhat dramatically, this guy's attitude right now looks exactly like someone in the denial stage of becoming a fan who's just barely dipped their toes in...

But what had happened between him and me all this time?

That's when Olivia's words I had heard in the corridor recently came to mind.

"Oh my, what's this! What are you two doing there right now? And that outfit...! Ha, I knew Room 4 went crazy for maids, but what kind of role-play are you two enjoying? And not even in a room but in such an open corridor—it's bad for the children's education!"

'...Could it be because I wore a maid outfit?'

I suddenly felt genuinely wary.

If not for that, it would be hard to think of a reason why Raven would be interested in me when he'd never said a kind word.

'Or maybe this guy is actually really into... women who treat him harshly?'

I became suspicious of Raven's preferences. My suspicion was justified.

After all, the person he'd been obsessing over—Sera, Sera, always Sera—was the maid notorious for being the most aloof in the entire mansion.

I quietly moved away from Raven.

"What's with that look?"

"Mr. Raven, I'm sorry, but you're not my type."

"What do you mean by... Huh? But you knew my name?"

Come to think of it, was this the first time I called Raven by name?

"Did you think I couldn't memorize the names of the few caregivers here? Anyway, I have business to attend to, so I'll go first. Please remember what I just said."

"Ah! Wait, Room 7!"

Raven seemed to perk up at the trivial fact that I had called his name, going off on a tangent before belatedly coming to his senses and calling after me as I was leaving first. I ignored him and quickened my pace.

A little later, I found the pink-haired boy, Vivi, again in a corner of the garden.

He was standing still in the middle of the garden, looking at a boy sitting on a bench. That boy reading a book was Lusca from Room 1.

Vivi pretended to play ball by himself while throwing the ball at Lusca.

Thud!

But Marianne, who appeared like a shadow, immediately batted the ball away. The precisely aimed ball flew back into Vivi's arms.

"Hiek!"

"What's the matter?"

Marianne, the caregiver of Room 1, overflowed with intimidation just by standing still. She stood like Lusca's knight, blocking his front and looking down coldly at Vivi.

"Room 3's child always comes here at this time to throw balls and play. Even when told to go to a more spacious area, you don't listen. What's the reason?"

Vivi, who had shrunk back for a moment, soon puffed out his chest and spoke to Marianne as if arguing.

"I-I... like it here too! Lusca should go somewhere else!"

"This is a space made for sitting and resting. Isn't it basic common sense that you shouldn't bring a ball into such a place?"

Marianne didn't scold Vivi particularly, but her very existence was enough to make children shrivel up.

Vivi suddenly deflated, acting as though he'd never boldly claimed his right to the garden in the first place, and awkwardly shuffled backward.

But as soon as he disappeared from Marianne's sight, he regained his energy.

Vivi, who pursed his lips as if recalling the recent incident, next headed to the pond.

Vivi kept glancing around as if waiting for someone.

Then he spotted Cheswick, who seemed to be taking a walk and was walking this way. Vivi seemed to have noticed him too.

Subsequently, I saw Vivi drop his ball into the pond with a splash as if he had been waiting for this moment.

Then he ran up to Cheswick and tugged at his arm.

"Room 2 brother, I dropped my ball in the pond while playing again today. Please pick it up quickly!"

I could see Cheswick's eyes narrow slightly behind his glasses.

"Alright, I'll pick it up for you."

Cheswick was obediently led by Vivi and stood in front of the pond.

"The ball flew quite far today..."

"I'm really good at throwing balls! Next time I'll throw it even farther!"

Vivi boasted. He looked like a little baby pink bird puffing out its chest with all its might, and his appearance alone was cute anyway.

"Is that so?"

Cheswick tilted his head slowly for a moment, then took off his shoes and entered the pond.

Then Vivi poked Cheswick's back with a tree branch.

Cheswick made a lifeless "ah" sound and fell into the pond.

"Ahaha! Idiot! You fall in the pond every day! Room 2 brother is an idiot!"

Vivi laughed loudly and mocked Cheswick seeing this.

"That's right. Strangely, whenever I come in to pick up a ball here, I keep falling into the pond."

Seeing how natural their interaction was, it seemed this hadn't happened just once or twice.

I also realized why Cheswick had fallen into the pond twice in a week and was dumbfounded.

'I see, so that's why the Room 1 sister mocked Cheswick before.'

The pond was quite wide and deep, with water reaching up to Cheswick's chest.

A little later, Cheswick, who had gotten out of the pond, handed the ball he had retrieved to Vivi.

"But I told you it's dangerous to play ball in the pond, Vivi."

Then he began squeezing the water from his soaked clothes with his hands. Almost simultaneously, Vivi grinned like a demon and kicked the ball toward the pond with his foot.

"Room 2 brother! The ball accidentally fell in the pond again. Go pick it up! Quickly!"

"......"

Vivi laughed delightedly.

This time, Cheswick also seemed to reach his limit of patience, as he stopped squeezing water from his clothes while maintaining his smiling face.

Vivi didn't seem completely clueless either. He gradually stopped laughing under Cheswick's steady gaze.

"Wait just a moment."

But Cheswick went into the pond again without another word and picked up Vivi's ball for him.

This time, Vivi didn't play any more mean tricks and quietly glanced at Cheswick from beside him.

Cheswick didn't give any attention to such a Vivi and spoke in a passing tone while picking up the shoes he had placed on the ground.

"But Vivi, did you apologize to Dian?"

"Apologize? Apples are for eating. Red apples are especially delicious."

Vivi, who had flinched for a moment, answered with an innocent face, giving an irrelevant response.

"Dian seems to still be lying down in shock from that incident. Aren't you worried?"

"......"

This time, no words flowed from Vivi.

But after a moment, Vivi glared and shouted at Cheswick as if arguing back.

"I helped Dian so he could give something pretty to the caregiver sister as a gift! So why should I apologize?"

"Well, because you know it was a bad thing to do?"

Vivi again seemed to lose his words and closed his mouth.

Vivi's hands fidgeting with the ball became busier. His eyes looking down at the ground also blinked a bit faster.

"Eugenia said it's better to be bad and smart than good and stupid."

After hearing Vivi quietly whisper these words as if muttering, I could understand why his condition was like this.

'The caregiver was the problem.'

Wait... but hold on, the Room 3 caregiver?

She told me her child was too good to do such things, but behind the scenes she was teaching him to live badly? The inside and outside are too different.

"Certainly, being bad and smart might be more convenient for living in the world than being good and stupid."

"Right? Eugenia is really smart after all."

"But if being bad and smart isn't enjoyable, it's better not to do it, Vivi."

Cheswick ruffled Vivi's hair with his wet hand.

"I'm not the caregiver in charge of Room 3, so it's awkward for me to say things like this."

Vivi's neatly combed hair became disheveled under Cheswick's hand. Vivi looked up at Cheswick with wide eyes while holding his ball.

Then, as if suddenly coming to his senses, Vivi slapped away Cheswick's hand.

"My hair's all wet now...! What do you think my hair is, a towel? You idiot, Room 2!"

Vivi shouted angrily and ran away across the lawn.

Cheswick looked after him briefly, then turned his head.

"He's not a bad kid, Lynne."

Ah, he knew I was here?

I stuck my head out from behind the bushes.

"I wasn't trying to spy."

"I know. It's not like the mansion is so big that we could do anything secretly anyway. And it's fine if you watch."

Huh, but saying it's not a big mansion. That sounds very privileged.

The 41st World that Cheswick belongs to must be an upper world in this worldview. Or maybe since there are leaders even among snakes, he could be rich in a lower world.

While I was having such trivial thoughts, Cheswick suddenly added as if realizing he had misspoken.

"Ah, but since you and Dian almost got hurt because of Vivi, it might be unpleasant from your perspective if I seemed to defend him just now. I'm sorry if I upset you."

"No, I don't think Vivi himself is a bad kid either."

I looked at the collection of data before me with fresh eyes.

If Cheswick was indeed a new attackable character in the renewal version, he might be quite popular among players as a gentle character. Even I was developing a favorable impression despite the short time we'd spent together.

"By the way, Lynne. I heard the priest left the mansion very early this morning. It's a shame we couldn't have breakfast together since he was fasting and praying anyway, but still disappointing. Minuel was in a bad mood this morning because he couldn't see the priest directly."