Volume 4 Chapter 7 Part 1

Translator: Kurehashi Aiko Editor: Queenie

「Welcome home, Filmina-sa.... ––––.」

The butler wasn’t able to finish the sentence that he started. It was probably because the huge box that we managed to drag back here on the piece of clothing that was left after that man’s sudden transformation. Not only the butler, but every other servant we passed until now were giving us those weird looks. I was painfully aware of them all and just wanted to turn myself invisible so that I could avoid them.

But I couldn’t let them see me shocked or distressed. So just like my Father taught me, I wore a mask of calmness on my face and coughed a few times to diver the butler’s attention towards me again. It was really hard for him to do right now, since he was looking at me and Juri-kun respectively, shifting his gaze every few seconds.

「Filmina-sama, that luggage and that little boy over there....」

「The luggage is full of souvenirs that I have bought. And that boy right here is the one who helped me carry it back here, since I wouldn’t have been able to do that on my own.」

I smiled gently at the butler, telling him the cover story that I had decided upon in advance. To my words, the butler only nodded his head with a really professional expression, raising his hand and calling two more servants to his side.

「I’ll have the luggage delivered to your room right away, Filmina-sama.」

Hearing that my face twitched just a little bit, but I managed to calm myself down in time and give a proper response to that.

「No, that won’t be necessary. This luggage here is full of very fragile things, so I shall bring it to my room myself. This boy here shall help me do it, just as we agreed upon earlier.」

While I was saying all that, Juri-kun kept nodding his head this while time, trying to make my words pass as more believable. The butler’s expression remained unchanged, but I imagine that deep down inside he must have been rather suspicious of me at that point. But it doesn’t matter. Whatever happens, we needed to get the box back into my room as soon as possible.

「I realize that this may go directly against the nature of your job, but I am also starting to feel rather unwell. If possible, I would like to get this box to my room fast and go rest.」

「You feel unwell, Filmina-sama? All the more reason for you not to do that on your own.」

「I appreciate your concern, but it is also for my own good. I was thinking it was right about the time for me to start incorporating some exercise in my life.」

While giggling in a cute way I dismiss any further questions and words that the butler could have had for me, and together with Juri-kun we somehow manage to bring the box all the way into my room at the top floor of the mansion. It was truly a miracle that we were able to do that. Then we gently lower it onto the ground. Then we could finally exhale with relief, as the huge weight was lifted from our shoulders.

「Aaaahhh! That was tiring as all hell!」

Shouted Juri-kun while sitting on the edge of the bed, to which I laughed slightly while sitting on the chair right beside the bed.

「Thank you very much for your help, Juri-kun.」

「Nah, it’s fine. After all, I’m partially to blame for this whole situation.」

Juri-kun shook his head as if it wasn’t that big of a deal, but truth be told, without him being there I would have been stuck in the ruins, not knowing what to do. I then take a look at the young boy that was currently sleeping in bed –– my dear husband, but somehow age-reverted. He was this heavy “luggage” that we were carrying all this time.

After the ruins were wrapped in white light and that man was reverted back to being a small child, we decided that we couldn’t stay there any longer. Together with Juri-kun, I devised a plan and we started to act on it. We then used his cloak to somehow transport the box with that man inside of it all the way back towards the carriage and drove back to the Governor’s mansion. I have torn my dress in many places and my hair was messy as a result, but after many trials and tribulations that involved awkward stares from the servants and lots of stairs to traverse we have finally reached our destination.

While I felt as though I was starting to develop a huge headache, I unwrapped the man from his cloak and had a look at his still unconscious face. It was as lovely and beautiful as I remembered it, making him resemble a fairy or some other fantastical creature like that. What was the meaning of that? Surely it was not a prank on that man’s behalf, for he was way above petty things like that. So the cause must have laid somewhere else, but where exactly?

While I let out a deep sigh, Juri-kun, who was also gazing at the man until now, suddenly looked towards me.

「Missy, so you are the guest of the Governor herself? You must be a really important person.」

Hearing his unexpected words I couldn’t help it but to laugh. The word “important person” sounded rather flat and mockingly in my ears. Seeing my somehow awkward smile, Juri-kun shifts his gaze from me to that man, continuing to speak.

「I’m not the one who’s an important person here. That man is. He’s my husband.」

Hearing my words, Juri-kun blinks rapidly a couple of times. For some reason, as he shifted his gaze towards me and to that man again, Juri-kun’s expression seemed to have grown somewhat darker.

「This little fella? Your husband, big sister? Really?」

「Yes, that’s exactly right.」

No matter how much he would be reverted back in age, I still knew it was my dear husband. What comes to mind right now is the figure of that man as he used to be during his childhood. Now, he seemed to be slightly bigger than how I remembered him from that time, but his unique looks and aura surrounding him were more than proof enough for me to identify him.. But it still didn’t change the fact that right now he was nothing but a small child.

But still, why his age reverted like that? It must have had something to do with the ruins he was currently investigating. However, with that realization there also came another one: if the ruins were indeed the cause of his age reversion, there was no way for me to do something about that all on my own. I was at a complete loss of what to do.

Rather than being unconscious, it looked like that man was deep asleep, looking so adorable that you just wanted to play a prank on him while he was still like that.. While I was thinking that, I could feel myself becoming ridden with anxiety. What if that man didn’t wake up? When I stood up to try to wake him up forcefully, I could hear the sound of someone knocking on the door.

Startled, my body trembled heavily. I cast a quick glance towards Juri-kun and then look back towards the door again.

「Y-yes? What is your business with me?」

「Please excuse me, Filmina-dono, but my butler told me that you were feeling unwell, so..」

「Ah, p-please wait for moment..!」

The doorknob slowly started to move. I forgot to lock the door behind me when we came inside! I let out a small shriek and rushed towards the door, but it was already too late. The door opened before I could do anything to stop it.

「....!?」

Who could that be? I thought while holding my breath. With neither me nor Juri-kun being able to prevent the inevitable, a new person walked right into the room. Worse yet, I was unable to come up with any excuse on the spot.

The one to enter the room was the Governess herself. For a moment she just stood there, looking at me, then at Juri-kun, and then finally at the man who was still soundly asleep in bed. Her eyebrows rose greatly and you could see surprise reflected in her green eyes. She then slowly closed the door behind her, which echoed greatly in the awkward silence.

「T-this, what is the meaning of this!?」

Asked the Governess in such a shocked voice that for a moment there I wondered if it was indeed her who entered the room. But I could understand where she was coming from, since upon initially seeing this I was equally as shocked and confused. While the Governor was looking at the three of us with really confused gaze, I thought to myself that I would like to know as well what exactly was going on in here. She then blinked a few times as if to see if it wasn’t but a hallucination, but the reality was proving itself to be pretty unforgiving. She then held her head in her hands.

「I have a whole lot of questions right now, but let’s start with the most important one.... Filmina-dono, if I understand correctly, this little boy over there, is he....?」

「.. It is exactly what you think, Leticiela-sama. Somehow, we found ourselves in a quite difficult predicament.」

「No way.. But how..? How could something like that even..!?」

The Governess shouted as I she couldn’t quite believe what she was seeing. Then, after a while she noticed that she seemed to be even more upset about this whole ordeal than me, and bowed to me in apology. She then closed her eyes, letting out a few deep sighs and opened her eyes again, seemingly calmer than before.

「I’m sorry. I don’t know what overcame me. I was very confused for a second.」

「No, please, don’t worry about it. But please, Leticiela-sama, please keep this a secret for now.」

The Governess nodded her head, seemingly understanding what I was getting at. It would be quite a scandal if it got leaked that the Court Wizard was turned into a small child while investigating the forest ruins. It was something we could never let happen.

「–––– Ahh, that’s right, that may indeed be for the best.」

After saying that to herself after a momentary silence, the Governess turns towards Juri-kun, as if noticing him just now.

「By the way, Filmina-dono? This young boy here, is he....?」

「My name is Juri. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Governess.」

I have completely forgotten that Juri-kun was here all this time, but when asked by the Governess he himself stood up and introduced himself, at the same time bowing down deeply to the Governess.

「This child is the guide who’s been showing me around the island since yesterday. He also helped me to carry that man back here.」

To that, the Governess only looked at Juri-kun and answered with a simple: “I see”.

「You have my gratitude for helping Filmina-dono out, boy. But I must warn you, don’t even think about talking around town about what you saw today. Otherwise be prepared to receive the most severe of punishments.」

「R-right. I understand.」

Being told that and realizing that the situation was deadly serious, Juri-kun answered with all honesty. The Governess then looked at him for a moment longer and ultimately turned towards me, opening her mouth.

「Right. Now then, since it is getting rather late, I do believe that you should go home, boy. Where do you live? I’ll send you there via carriage.」

「No way, I mean, there’s no need for you to do that, Governess..」

「No need to be modest right now, my boy. Think of it as a sign of gratitude for helping to carry “that boy” all the way back here. Now, just give it up and accept it.」

「If-if that’s how you put things, Governor..」

Juri-kun got up from the bed and then shook the Governess’s hand in response to her proposition. Then he also turned towards me.

「Great, now that’s been taken care of, can you wait here for a moment? I need to get the preparations ready.」

「Eh..?」

Juri-kun was about to leave, so that would mean that one matter has been taken care off. However, wouldn’t it be better to keep him around for a little while longer so that the Governess would be assured that he wasn’t going to tell anyone about what he saw today? While I was thinking like that, the Governess cast a quick glance at me, seemingly being able to figure out what I was thinking.

「Or you know what, no, scratch that. Sorry, but I may have phrased that wrong. Maybe you would like to move into the mansion here and stay with “that boy” for now, as an exception?」

「Exception?」