The Noble Lady of Lust

Chapter 443: Important Matters

”/_ \\”

It seems I misunderstood what Elena said. Apparently, when she said there was something she needed to discuss with everyone, she didnʼt include me.

I couldnʼt even start to speak before I was stopped and pushed aside.

Now they were all talking away from me, while I stood there wondering what this was all about.

That went on for a while until they finally seemed to reach a conclusion and came back.

”Ahem!. Honey, as everyoneʼs representative, Iʼll tell you the conclusion weʼve reached.” (Astrid)

Astrid stepped forward from the group and began to speak.

”Seriously, whatʼs all this about? Why did you need a meeting without me in it? And, by any chance, are you the spokesperson because youʼre the oldest?”

”Ugh! (ノへ￣,) Yeah, thatʼs why. I just realized that, too.” (Astrid)

”Oh! Donʼt worry about it. Actually, youʼre not. Thereʼs an imposter among the ones who call you ʼbig sister.ʼ”

”Aha! I knew it! Ha! Iʼm not the oldest after all!” (Astrid)

”Sweetheart!.” (Leyla)

”Hey! I didnʼt name names. There are lots of people who call Astrid ʼbig sisterʼ… like Alice and… anyway, what were you going to say?”

”Oh, right. About your secret, everyone… hmm… um, how should I put this?… Ugh, I donʼt know why they picked me—Iʼm really not good at this. The thing is… hmm…” (Astrid)

”Damn it!, this is frustrating! Fine, Iʼll say it. Listen up, you idiot! … What we were saying is that if you donʼt want to tell us whatever that stupid secret is, just keep it to yourself until youʼre ready to say it.” (Eira)

”Eh? Was that what they were arguing about?”

”Tsk! Yeah. That way you donʼt have to worry about whether or not to tell us when you donʼt seem to want to.” (Eira)

”Okay, I see... but I refuse to accept that conclusion!”

”Huh?” (Eira)

”That argument was pointless, because Iʼd already made up my mind, so Iʼll just say it. Come what may.”

Iʼd already made up my mind, and I wasnʼt going to drag this out any longer.

It was getting tedious and even stupidly complicated, so, without further ado, I began.

”Well, this all started on the first day I arrived in this world, when—”

”(≖_≖ )” (Elena)

”—when Aeloria reincarnated me, as you all know.”

Anyway, I continued my story, of course, strategically omitting the vomiting incidents.

It was time to finally get rid of that thorn in my side

.

.

”Well, to sum it up, I know about the future because my alternate self from another timeline left me all the memories of what happened to him. Even today, with every metamorphosis, I keep unlocking some of those memories. Okay!, thatʼs all. Any questions? Raise your hands.”

ʼPhew… I finally told them everything.ʼ

When I finished, the girls fell silent. After a brief moment, Astrid was the first to speak.

”honey! Is that where you got that advanced knowledge of runes, arts, and breathing techniques that you teach us?” (Astrid)

”Oh! Excellent deduction, my dear Astrid. Indeed, my alternate self lived for a long time and inevitably picked up a lot of things. Ahem… not to brag, but he became a very powerful being—to the point that I still donʼt fully understand just how powerful he was.”

”I… I have a question.” (Eira)

”E-Eira, okay. Feel free to ask.”

Eira was the second to speak. She was looking down, so I couldnʼt quite make out her expression, but her voice sounded heavy. That worried me a little.

”By any chance, since you knew so much… did you use that knowledge to deceive my sister, me, and even that old witch?” (Eira)

”Nop, a mistaken deduction, my dear Eira. ”

”Huh?” (Eira)

Now I understood what was going on with Eira. In fact, that was one of the reasons I wanted to avoid bringing up the subject.

But there was no longer any doubt: it was best to be straightforward.

”Well, I wonʼt deny that at first I wanted to pursue a relationship with you and had some plans, but it all went to hell when I ended up spanking you and leaving your butt all red in that alley.”

”o(≧口≦)o You moron, donʼt say stupid things!” (Eira)

”Why the embarrassment? You know, before you joined, it was a recurring topic at our meetings.”

”(►__◄)” (Eira)

”Ahem!... Anyway, thatʼs where my plans ended. The same was true for Selene, but she came looking for me on her own, things happened... then you got in the way, being the siscon that you are, and kept chasing after me, and you already know the rest.”

”Hmph! Who chased after you, you idiot!... Fine, I get it. Even knowing the future doesnʼt mean things will turn out the way you want... or you wouldnʼt have come back twice half dead.” (Eira)

”Hehe~, youʼre very reasonable at times like this.”

”Dear, what about me? Did you lie to me when you said you didnʼt know I was Eira and Seleneʼs mother? Wait… did you also pretend not to know my secret—and act surprised when you found out?” (Leyla)

”Well, Lily, my alternate self never met you—all of that really was a huge surprise.”

”Oh… so that really was a coincidence.” (Leyla)

”Yes. Our meeting in this timeline was fate.”

”Fufufu, so thatʼs how it was.” (Leyla)

”Yes. Oh, three questions at once. Letʼs see: Astrid, you already asked, so… Alice, you first. Cordelia next.”

Well, itʼs normal for everyone to have questions. I donʼt have anything left to hide, so Iʼll answer whatever you ask.

”b-big sis… o-our first meeting… did you know I was there?” (Alice)

”Nah! That was just another coincidence. Elena and I had gone there to look for the legacy of lust. Although my alternate self did know you, at that moment you were covered up and I didnʼt know it was you—until you came to visit me to thank me. That was also fate.”

”Hee~! I see, so my big brother and I really were meant to be. Hehe~” (Alice)

”All right, now Cordelia. Youʼre the newest addition, and I told you a lot of things recently, but I havenʼt had a chance yet to go into detail about some other things. You must have more than one question about me, and I suppose youʼre also curious if I knew that you and Astrid were mother and daughter.”

”(ㆆ_ㆆ) No. I wanted to ask if that annoying woman is their mother.” (Cordelia)

”Hey! Watch how you talk about my mother.” (Eira)

”Hee~ My cutieʼs sticking up for me. But donʼt worry, little Cordelia and I get along fine—sheʼs just maybe still a little upset with me because I annoyed her a bit yesterday.” (Leyla)

”So this happened because you were, as always, looking for trouble. Tsk. And itʼs not like I defended you or anything hmph!. What did you do to her?” (Eira)

”Yeah! Iʼm curious, too.”

”Hehe! Well, I—”(Leyla)

”Thatʼs irrelevant. Answer my question!” (Cordelia)

”Ugh… right. Yeah, itʼs just like you heard. Theyʼre mother and daughters.”

”They donʼt look anything alike. (ㆆ_ㆆ)” (Cordelia)

”Tsk! Look whoʼs talking. Itʼs not like you look much like your mother either.”(Eira)

”Little Eira. Thatʼs something I have a bit of a complex about, so Iʼd appreciate it if you didnʼt bring it up too much. /_ \\” (Astrid)

”Huh? Youʼre the one with the complex?... Haah~! Anyway, Iʼm sorry about that. Itʼs just that sheʼs been getting on my nerves lately.” (Eira)

”Well, I get that itʼs a little hard for others to understand Lia, but I know she just wants to make friends or something like that. Isnʼt that right, Lia?” (Astrid)

”(ㆆ_ㆆ), thatʼs not something you should get involved in.” (Cordelia)

”O-okay.” (Astrid)

”Yeah, I see even youʼre having a hard time with her.” (Eira)

”Anyway, letʼs not get sidetracked. Where was I? Oh, right. Astrid, you wanted to ask something, didnʼt you?”

”Oh, yes! Honey, was our relationship also fate?” (Astrid)

”Huh? What are you talking about? We first met in a required class at the academy. Iʼve told you several times already that, with all the intention in the world, I went after you. Thatʼs why I maneuvered everything to become your assistant and all.”

”Yeah, I guess thatʼs true. /_ \\” (Astrid)

”Oh! But the fact that everything moved so fast—Iʼd say that was definitely fate. I mean, I had a long-term plan to build a relationship, but it only took a single day.”

”Hee~ I see.” (Astrid)

”Can that even be considered a good thing?ಠಿ_ಠ” (Eira)

”Great! This is turning out to be easier than I thought. Does anyone else have another question? Oh, Selene, you too. Okay, ask whatever you want.”

It seems even Selene has questions. Iʼm curious what it might be.

”…When are we going to eat?” (Selene)

Well, itʼs still nighttime, and we should be sleeping at this hour... but I guess staying awake takes energy too.

”...Hmm, I donʼt know, but I have some snacks if you want them. By the way, donʼt you have any questions about what I just said? You werenʼt shocked or anything?”

I gave her the snacks and, just in case, encouraged her to ask something anyway, but her response surprised me.

”Hm?... I knew it. nomm” (Selene)

”Huh? What do you mean you knew it? Who told you?”

”You... Nom... this is delicious╰(￣ω￣)” (Selene)

”Me? When?”

”Nom...You were talking about that...Chomp … you were stroking me… nom. More” (Selene)

”￣へ￣”

Now that she mentions it, I think there were many times when I had to think about future plans and stuff like that, and Iʼd put Selene on my lap and stroke her while she slept.

Maybe I got so distracted that I ended up thinking out loud. I did that a lot. I really wasnʼt being careful at all, and Selene is smart enough to put the pieces together on her own if she heard me.

It seems Iʼm not good at hiding things from girls—or rather, Selene is very good at hiding things.

Even now, Eira was looking at her with a face that said, ʼWhy didnʼt you say anything if you already knew?ʼ

”Well, that just leaves you, Elena. Why donʼt you raise your hand? Donʼt you have any questions?”

”No, Iʼll refrain from asking for now.” (Elena)

”Huh? Why ʼfor nowʼ? Donʼt you want to ask in front of everyone else?”

”You know, even someone as useless as you should be able to understand that you donʼt always have to open your mouth just because you can.” (Elena)

”O-okay, my bad. Iʼll stop rambling. I was getting a little excited and nervous there. Oh, Silvia, I forgot you were here. Do you want to ask anything? You already knew everything, didnʼt you?”

”I just want to ask: Why, instead of answering questions, donʼt you do what you did with me and give them a memory stone?” (Silvia)

”Oh! Well, right now I donʼt have enough mana to cast the spell to transfer memories to a memory stone, and unlike you, they didnʼt doubt me at all and believed me right away...”

”I really donʼt understand why they believed you so easily.” (Silvia)

”Tsk. That idiot may be what she is, but she doesnʼt lie when it comes to important things. Besides, you were useless in the end. Why havenʼt you left yet?” (Eira)

”Hey, Eira, donʼt be mean to Silvia. Besides, it wasnʼt you who brought her here...”

ʼAgainst my will.ʼ (Silvia)

”Against her will. Why did you even bring her here?”

”That doesnʼt matter anymore. You already spilled that secret anyway. Besides, itʼs not like I did anything to her or hurt her.” (Eira)

”Yeah, good point. The whole Silvia thing isnʼt that important.”

ʼIdiot.ʼ (Silvia)

I hear Silvia complaining in my head, but I donʼt have enough mana to cast that kind of spell anyway, so Iʼll just ignore her.

”By the way, now that I have a moment, I have to say your new look really suits you. It makes you seem more mature.”

”Hmph! Itʼs not like I need a compliment from you. Just donʼt go crazy like that old witch, and thatʼs enough.” (Eira)

”Hee~ your tsundere attitude just makes me stronger. But, on the other hand, what Silvia says is true. Iʼve already told you the gist of my secret and what caused the previous events, but I still need to tell you what I know about that line—though itʼs a shame I canʼt do it quickly with a memory stone.”

”Forget about that for now. There are more important things right now.” (Eira)

”Are there?”

”Of course there are. And this is what I wanted to talk about. My goddess said a lot of strange things that didnʼt actually happen. I played along, as you asked, but thereʼs something I want you to answer for me about that. Youʼre the one everyone is looking for right now. Are you that ʼwolf ʼwho caused all this commotion?” (Eira)

ʼOh!. well, I guess it is something important to address.ʼ