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When I said “I love you” back, Luca’s face melted into a smile. He hugged me again and held me for several seconds before reluctantly letting go. I immediately held his hand and he let out a chuckle. It was a bit embarrassing, but I guess it was fine since Luca seemed happy.
“Sorry, Noel. We made you wait.” (Zagan)
“I don’t mind. As a knight apprentice, it is my duty to protect the two of you,” Noel, who had been waiting off to the side, replied with a sharp salute.
She was a good little sister who didn’t even mention our skinship.
“The sun is starting to set. Should we make our way back?”
“That’s right. It already became 4 o’clock without us noticing. Everyone’s waiting for us back at the mansion, so let’s return.” Noel started walking while looking up at the western sky.
Luca and I followed after her. At some point the setting sun had dyed the sky a soft, glittering orange – it was beautiful.
“Still, that baby was so cute, huh? I wanted to squish those cheeks.”
I guess they were cute. They were so light and looked so soft and fragile that I was more worried that I’d break them if I used just a little too much force. Did I feel like that because I was a grown man? In the first place–
“They were cute, but I think that, to me, the newborn Noel was much cuter. When I looked at your face, you’d look back at me, and when I touched your little hand, you’d hold mine.”
It had been about 19 years since then, but I could still remember it. Two weeks after Noel was born, Father brought her down to the basement with him. It was the moment when I heard that my little sister’s name was Noel that I knew for certain that I’d been reincarnated as Zagan, the villain of “Lumiere.” Up until then, I had gathered some evidence, but I was only half convinced.
Discrimination against dark attribute users existed in this place and I myself had black hair and red eyes. This country was called Soleil and it consisted of 12 cities arranged around the capital like a clock. Lumiere and the star fragments existed in this place as well as the Evil God. With all of this information, I had no doubt that I’d been reincarnated in a world that closely resembled the game “Lumiere.”
However, I couldn’t tell if I was Zagan or not.
Zagan’s real name never came out in the game, and the only information about his father was that he was also Noel’s father and the main character’s magic teacher. The fact that he had fought against the Evil God before was something I only learned after reincarnating.
Orobas was the one who taught me that my family name was Brady and that my mother’s relatives, who looked after the Brady territory, were also called Brady. So I didn’t reject the possibility that I was a mob character who just happened to be related to Zagan.
Incidentally, Orobas was never mentioned in the game either.
However, when my sister was born, she was given the name Noel. Noel Brady. There was no doubt that she was one of the heroines of “Lumiere.”
And that Noel was my sister.
The moment I realized that, I was struck with anxiety. After all, Noel was my favorite character in my favorite eroge. I had memories of her R-rated scenes. I didn’t know if I could properly look at her as a little sister.
That anxiety vanished the moment I laid my eyes on Noel. When I looked at her, she looked back at me. When Father encouraged me to touch her hand, she grabbed onto my finger.
I can still remember how moved I felt back then. I remember that touch and the warmth that could never be felt through a screen. She might have been Noel Brady, she might have been a character I knew, but she wasn’t made of 2D illustrations, she was a real person of flesh and blood. That child was my sister.
In my previous life, I was the youngest of three brothers, so I was very happy that I got to have a sister in this life. I was going to take good care of her as her older brother.
I couldn’t leave the basement and would have to leave the mansion one day, so I didn’t get to spend much time with her, but exactly because of that, I looked after Noel preciously in the moments we were together. For four years, I watched over Noel as she grew.
I was looking at the sunset and reminiscing about the past when Noel let out a frustrated voice.
“I’m happy that Nii-sama is praising me, but I don’t remember any of that.”
“I’d be surprised if you remembered things from when you were a baby.”
Even for someone like me, who retained the memories of his previous life, the memories of being a baby were mostly vague and sleepy, so it was only natural that Noel wouldn’t remember.
Also, I couldn’t scold her for calling me Nii-sama earlier. I was the one who started talking about the past and there wasn’t anyone around us to hear her calling me that.
“Does Orobas have a photo of the two of us from that time? Or maybe, because Nii-sama’s existence was a secret, not a single photo of you was taken.”
“Ah, shouldn’t there at least be a photo of Zagan as a baby? There might unexpectedly be a lot of photos of him up until he turned nine! I have to ask Orobas about it tomorrow.” (Luca)
“I also want to see baby Nii-sama! If they do exist, let’s ask Camilla to make us copies!”
I glanced at the two of them, who were in perfect sync with each other, with a faraway look in my eyes. I didn’t really want to see any baby photos of myself. Up until I got put in the basement, my hair was shaved so I looked bald. And by the way Noel, the way you phrased that makes it sound like I’m having a baby so please stop.1
Nn, speaking of which
 No, there’s no need to ask Luca about it right now. I could kind of guess why he stopped mentioning it.
When that thought crossed my mind, Luca glanced at me and I immediately smiled back at him.
“What’s the matter, Zagan? If there’s something you’re curious about, I wish you’d ask me without holding back.”
“I was just thinking
 lately you haven’t been saying stuff like you want to impregnate me or that you’d like to have my child.”2
I didn’t think it was such a big deal when I said this, but Luca’s eyes opened wide and he seemed awfully flustered.
“S-sorry. Of course, I knew Zagan was a man and couldn’t give birth, right? It didn’t even cross my mind that it was somehow possible to use a drug and I never thought that it would be better if you were a woman who could give birth. I just wanted Zagan to be mine. I didn’t have an ulterior moti-”
“Calm down, Luca. I get it.” I tapped Luca on the arm as he kept blurting out excuses.
Still, he looked like he was on the verge of tears, so I looked him straight in the eye.
“The moment you stopped saying stuff like that was after I had confessed to you. I mean, you must have been anxious until then, right? You didn’t know if I’d return your love.”
Luca told me he loved me over and over again, but I wasn’t really aware of my feelings for him. Back then, it was unclear when I would finally notice them. Still, if I were pregnant with his child, I’d be his even if I wasn’t conscious of my feelings. If I gave birth to a number of children, I probably wouldn’t leave his side. He must have had those kinds of thoughts in some corner of his mind.
Up until the start of November, it had been my intention to continue to travel separately from Luca. I was even going to go into the last dungeon by myself.
Anyway, I had no intention of rejecting his need to impregnate me. I was also at fault for not coming to terms with my feelings.
No matter how I think about it, him telling me I was going to get pregnant during sex was just a kind of humiliation play. It was only natural to be struck by both shame and tremendous pleasure when he came inside me and teased me with those words.
When I inadvertently remembered those times, my cheeks grew red and my anus began to throb. Luca then stared at my face with furrowed brows.
“Zagan
?”
“N-never mind. Anyway, I know you love me just the way I am, so don’t worry about it.”
“Yeah
 Sorry, Zagan. Thank you.” Luca hugged me tight and buried his face in my shoulder.
I returned the hug and patted his back. It might be wrong of me to say, but a weak-looking Luca was cute.
Still, I was a bit surprised when he mentioned using a drug, even though it was something that had been developed by Camilla in the game and was definitely introduced in Bennet’s scenario. Even in reality, it wasn’t surprising that this topic came up when both Bennet and Camilla were right there and with Luca having chosen me, a man who couldn’t give birth, as his partner.
In any case, the drug wasn’t currently being developed. To make it, you needed the blood and semen of the person who was going to get pregnant and nobody had required any of that from me.
We hugged each other tightly and when we let go after a while, the sky had already grown completely dark.
“Sorry, Noel – we made you wait again.” (Luca)
“I made you listen to something weird – sorry about that.” (Zagan)
“It’s fine, it’s not 5 o’clock yet. Also, I could already guess that the topic of children would be problematic between same-sex couples. It’s better to talk it out and reach a mutual agreement instead of dismissing it as something trivial and having a falling out later because you have different opinions on the matter. Father told me that that is the secret to a happy marriage.”
Noel, who came to stand next to me once again, replied with a smile. She truly was a wonderful sister.