Because of this nickname and my face, in the past I got mistaken for a girl often.
Frankly speaking, I do not remember how many times some love was confessed to me.
It was all from guys, after all ..
Moreover, there were even two particular bad idiots that asked for my hand in marriage.
One of them later stole my treasure away.
In the past I had a weak const.i.tution, and the occa.s.sions I had to spend in bed were numerous.
From what many doctors eventually found out, a certain medical herb that only grew in a certain territory in a neighbouring country would have effect.
And as luck would have it, the one that governed said territory happened to be an aquaintance of my parents.
Thanks to that I could go there for recuperation.
For the first time after arriving at the territory, as expected, I was still spending time in a bed.
However, I didn’t get bored.
As for why, that is because there was a girl there alike a cute angel.
Because I only had brothers, I had a something similar to a longing feeling for a little sister.
The one that appeared there was Ririina.
At first she got brought along to my place by her elder brother Ricardo.
Well, that Ricardo was also a problem ..
There was an occa.s.sion where these siblings misunderstood me as being a girl.
That guy didn’t treat me like you would someone of the same s.e.x and similar age.
But I, who liked interesting things, didn’t clear up their misunderstanding and left it at that.
Especially Ririina, I thought, might stop coming over to play if she knew that I was a boy. (1)
Ririina always came talking to me so cheerfully.
But about 90% of those stories were about the monsters she hunted ..
There aren’t really many, are there, girls like that ..
“Chris-sama~~! How is your bodies’ condition today?” [1]
“Good day, Ririina. Today it’s relatively good. Did Ririina come to tell me some interesting story?”
“Yes! To be honest I went out monster hunting with Big Brother yesterday. And there appeared a strange monster that we hadn’t ever seen before.”
“Hee~. What kind of monster?”
If I said something thoughtless like ‘It’s dangerous so stop going on monster hunts’ here Ririina would surely not come visit me again, is what I considered.
Unaware of such calculations, Ririina cheerfully talked about the monsters.
“You see, it was a big star.”
“Star? The stars that float in the sky?”
“Yes! but saying that it wasn’t yellow, the one we saw yesterday was red. And it was also sort of wet.”
A wet star-type .. a sea star?
Why, I wonder? There shouldn’t be any sea close by here.
“You saw that monster for the first time, didn’t you? Was there anything else strange?”
“Hm, that’s it for yesterday. But Big Brother said he recently saw fish flying in the air.”
Fish flying in the air, huh, those would be flying fish?
Be that as it may, really, why would such things appear in an area that didn’t have any sea, I wonder.
It would be several years later that that question reached an answer.
The feelings I directed at Ririina during this time were with certainty those one would have for a younger sister.
I honestly lost track of the number of times I thought to myself to just return to my country taking her back with me due to her adorability.
But there is something I want to tell my past self. ‘Why did you not bring her with you and return at that time!’ that is.
If I had taken her away, even forcibly, then we wouldn’t have got taken by that idiot, and Ririina would have never been troubled by this farce of a foolish cancelling of the engagement.
If it was me I could have indulged Ririina in syrupy sweetness until she could no longer see anything but me. (2)
However, in that case I would have probably never thought of her as anything but a little sister.
It churns up my insides but for making me realise my feelings after having her stolen away alone I have to thank that idiot.
I, too, was still naive.
Even after Ririina became that idiot’s fiancee I continued to gather information on her.
Obtaining information like that, I had any number of ways.
Ririina, with her characteristic guts, steadily progressed through that harsh Queen training.
But then of all things for that guy to declare a breaking off their engagement.
When I heard of that I involuntarily broke out in laughter.
Despite having finally been about ready to give up, that guy went and destroyed the happiness he had obtained through no merit on his own .. For me this was a once in a lifetime chance.
If I let this go I felt I would have never another chance to bind our fates together.
From then I acted quickly.
I caught the count of the territory that just so happened to stay in our country at the time and went back with him to that territory.
Ririina, who I hadn’t seen in a long time, .. had become beautiful.
How unhappy am I not to have seen the progress of that, is what I lamented.
The Ririina who I had met at that time was very amusing.
Widening her large to begin with eyes even further, she made a surprised expression.
She had thought of me as a girl it turned out after all. As expected of Ririina.
Now then, this is finally a chance to return my treasure to me.
But if I got impatient and failed here, then this time I would be able to overlap our fates anymore, this time for sure.
To he who waits good things come. [2]
For the time being, in order to make Ririina my bride, although annoying, there is a need to return to my country once.
Before I eradicate that bunch of hyenas aiming for the status of my wife I can’t welcome Ririina with peace of mind.
At the opportunity when, after the revolt, the previous engagement got cancelled I completed the first stage for now by telling her to come with me to my country.
“Ririina, I will return to my country once. But I will return right away so don’t you be bad and follow anyone else, you hear.” [3]
Saying so, I placed a kiss on Ririina’s back of the hand.
“Eh, a, ano, Chris-sama.”
She was shaken, which was rare.
That was a good tendency.
“Haha, you can’t let down your guard around guys, you hear. You are fascinating, after all. That’s why, you must absolutely not carelessly get close to any guys, you hear.”
Ririina became red.
How cute~, isn’t fine to just take her with me right now?
However, I can’t have this precious treasure get harmed.
I need to eliminate anything that may possibly harm her, even if the chance is low.
That why I must endure for just a bit longer.
I will never again hand over my treasure.
Translator’s notes
I .. think the chapter speaks loudly and clearly for itself. The guy seems more villainous now than anything else. In fact, if the author actually ends up making him into a villain that would have been an incredible built-up so far then. I haven’t read as far as his next appearance (we’re closing in on the last chapter I have read at the moment) so I’ve no idea, honestly.
[1] Just like in ???’s Dream she still talks proper as a child. But -sama for example is written in Hiragana, as opposed to Kanji, signifying that she is still very young here.
[2] I admit, I made this one up. The original line might be a set phrase I’m not familiar with, but looking at the contents it should be pretty much the same meaning : 慎重かつ大胆に事を運ばねば。
[3] You know that phrase you tell children not to follow strangers? Yeah, that’s the one.
(1) Something tells me the guy might have had better chances in the present if he had just come out and cleared things up at this point. It’s Ririina, she probably wouldn’t care if you were a spirit or alien either.