Chapter 19 — The Storm-bringing Intruder (2)
"So, what did you come here for then? Is Uncle still trying to bring me back, by any chance?"
"No way. Papa has already given up on that."
Eruka said as she shrugged her shoulders in exasperation.
She quickly downed the tea that was served to her while standing, then carelessly placed the cup back on the table.
"A lone wolf like brother wouldn't fit in with the academy's post well. In that case, it would be much more worthwhile to have you continue acting eccentric while producing results from your research."
"Look at that. Did you finally understand my ways?"
"If you ask me, that's just you being lazy, though."
Eruka said as she glared at Allen with a piercing gaze.
Meanwhile, Charlotte gently tugged on Allen's sleeve.
"Allen-san, why are you calling him 'Uncle', when your sister calls him 'Papa'?"
"Ahh. Didn't I mention it before? She's my step-sister. We're not blood-related."
Allen replied as he pointed his chin to Eruka.
In fact, Eruka and Allen don't resemble each other much. The only common feature they shared was their hair color, but while Eruka's was black, Allen's was a mix of black and white.
"I lost my parents at a young age, you see and was taken in by distant relatives which was the Crawford family. Eruka is their daughter. She's actually the same age as you."
"I-I see... I'm sorry if I pried into your family affairs."
"It's not a big deal. It's not something I'll be worried about even if you know."
"Wait up, I'm still feeling pretty confused about what's happening."
Eruka said as she stared at Charlotte with a sour look.
"Who's this girl? Is she brother's girlfriend?"
"Girlf–!"
At that moment, Charlotte's face turned bright red up to her ears.
Flustered and in a panic, she looked back and forth between Allen and Eruka.
"T-that's not it! But, um, well... um… T-that might also not be that bad–..."
"She's right, Eruka. Don't say such rude things."
"Eh?"
Charlotte turned around as if she heard something shocking.
Giving her shoulder a light tap, Allen blurted out.
"If she were mistaken for being in a relationship with someone like me, an emotionally unstable social misfit and a sly genius magician, it would make Charlotte feel utterly disgusted. To protect her reputation, I will firmly deny any such misconceptions."
"I don't even think of you that way, though!"
"Brother, sometimes your self-assessment is just too perfect, you know."
Eruka, with a curious expression, stroked her chin and gazed intently at Allen and Charlotte.
"If she's not your girlfriend, then who is she? Why is she even here with someone like you, Brother?"
"U-uhm, that's…"
Naturally, Charlotte did not know what to answer.
But Allen casually blurted out
"This is Charlotte Evans. She's a convict who fled from a neighboring country."
"W-Wait, Allen-san!?"
"Huh...?"
Eruka, who twisted her neck as if she still couldn't understand anything, was given a rough summary by Allen.
Being accused of a crime she didn't commit, Charlotte was forced to flee her country. Allen is currently sheltering her and in the process of teaching her various "naughty things."
After the explanation, Charlotte, with a pale face, whispers something to Allen.
"I-is it okay to tell her…!?"
"No matter how we try to deceive her, she'll eventually find everything out on her own. It'll be much faster if we explained everything to her now."
"B-but she's your sister… I'll be worried if something happened to you, Allen-san…"
Charlotte said, looking concernedly at Eruka.
After a while, Eruka let out a massive sigh before pressing her hand to her forehead.
"Haaah… I've known that Brother was an idiot for a while now, but it seems that I was wrong. You're a complete idiot!"
"Hoh? And the reason?"
"It's already obvious, isn't it!?"
With a snap, Eruka pointed her finger at Allen.
"Instead of giving her food or letting her hit you… Teach her 'naughty things' that would actually make her, a girl, happy!"
"So that's the part you chose to focus on for your tsukkomi!?"
