I was blinded by the money and said yes, but I had to ask for the opinions of the children as well.

Once I let Noelier out, I sat down in front of the children.

I slowly opened my mouth as I saw Zion, who had an unsure face, and Rachel, who seemed a little sulky.

“What would you like to do?”

“What?”

“What?”

When the children responded at the same time, I glanced at the door and said.

“I mean about that man.”

“…. I don’t know.”

“I don’t know either.”

The children shook their heads while pouting their lips.

If I just said no, I would have refused his offer and Rachel would be sent back. The children’s vague answers made me more perplexed. I sighed faintly.

Perhaps anxious about my appearance, Rachel looked at me with a nervous look and wept.

“… Do I have to go?”

“Huh…?”

“I, uh, do I have to go with him?”

“Well, that’s….”

The ends of her eyes drooped as if she were about to cry. The corners of her mouth drooped down and her eyes reddened.

I shook my head in a hurry.

“Oh, no. Well, it’s not like that….”

“Are you sure?”

“Um….”

“….”

When I didn’t answer, Rachel’s mouth dropped as if she was going to shed tears at any moment.

Anyone would think I’m throwing you away…….

Even so, I couldn’t keep Rachel here.

By all means, Rachel was Noelier’s sister.

By process of elimination, there was one answer left. I opened my mouth while looking at Rachel.

“Let’s do this. Why don’t you meet him once a week?”

“…….”

“No matter how much you may hate him, he’s your brother.”

“How can you be sure?”

“Huh?”

“… It feels like you know everything.”

My heart ached at the sharp question.

I tried to smile and shrug my shoulders.

“Because he looks like you…?”

“Are all family members alike?”

“And the fire….”

“Fire….”

Oops! Another forbidden word!

I smacked my mouth and approached Rachel. Rachel clung to my side as if she had been waiting for me to approach her. Her cheeks rubbed against my body as if she didn’t want to fall off.

“Me too!”

Then Zion, who was on the other side of me, clung to that side.

Why did you stick together, Zion….

… I looked at my brother with vain eyes, but the eyes looking at me looked so pure and innocent.

“… Okay.”

Then, Rachel’s voice was heard from the left side. I lowered my head and looked at her.

Rachel, who seemed anxious,  bit her lips and nodded reluctantly.

“Okay, Brother… no, I think we can meet that man about three times a week.”

“Three times….”

Obviously my suggestion was once a week, but Rachel increased the date by two more days.

Rachel said, looking at me in bewilderment. “And please stay with me, Sister.”

“Me, too?”

“I’m scared of going alone….”

Rachel drooped her eyes, saying so. My heart began to ache when I saw her face.

I understood why Rachel was like that. Who wouldn’t be scared if a man with a burning fire came to claim that he was my brother when I don’t even remember him.

I nodded my head and said, “Of course. I’ll stay with you.”

“Really?”

“Sure.”

“You’re the only one I have.”

I like you so much, Sister. Rachel smiled brightly and clung to me.

***

I managed to pull the clinging children off and get out of the house.

When I opened the door, I saw Noelier looking at the snow-filled forest. A cold wind scattered his dark hair.

The contrasting color made his beauty even more brilliant.

It’s a magnificent view.

As I was looking at him with admiration, Noelier looked back at me as if he could feel my gaze.

After I quickly organized my expression, I approached him.

“She said it’s okay. Of course, it’s difficult to stay together, and I think it would be good to do it three times a week.”

“… That’s a relief.”

His face was colored with relief. Whenever he smiled like that, I felt like the sun was shining.

“But how are you doing here? In this unfamiliar and shabby place?”

I told him with a worried look.

“I don’t have a good place to sleep… because, as you can see, my house is very small. You can’t sleep here.”

“… I didn’t intend to go to sleep here.”

“… I see. I asked just in case.”

Pretending nothing was wrong, I added that hurriedly, but the result was pathetic.

Damn my wolf instinct!

All the books I read were like that, so I can only put those into practice.

For the first time, I was eagerly hoping for an explicit ending.[1]

‘That’s why background knowledge is so important.’

When I realized another truth, I covered my cheeks to cool off the heat. As my head became dark, I seemed to get a little bit of my mind.

Noelier, who was staring at me, opened his mouth carefully.

“… It’s too late, but I apologize again. What I have done to you is entirely my fault.”

Noelier bowed politely and apologized.

How many times will he bow down? I looked at his figure with a slightly curious look and shook my head.

“That’s all right. I think I would have done that, too.”

And I have some lies to tell you.

Now, as I was about to lay down the truth about my existence, Noelier opened his mouth.

“… Excuse me, may I hold your hand?”

“My hand?”

I looked up at him with a slight look of surprise. Noelier nodded with a serious look.

Why all of a sudden? I’m nervous because it’s my first time in contact with such a handsome person.

I put my hand on his bigger hand.

The heat reached the palm of my hand. But that was also for a while. Before long his hands were warm with a gentle fire. It seemed to be because of the coldness of my body.

After a while, he was lost in thought and opened his mouth.

“… Can I ask you a question?”

Noelier’s voice sank low. The red eyes were flashing like predators.

Unbelievable. Have you already noticed?

It’s a death flag! [2]

In a hurry, I cried out in a loud voice, forgetting the lies I had practiced countless times.

“I-I’m a human!”

“What?”

Noelier blinked a couple of times in surprise at my sudden yell.

“Why is that all of a sudden…,” He blurted the end of his words and asked with a curious look. “… Why are humans in such a tough place?”

“Well, that’s a long story. I was born here.”

I couldn’t help but be nervous about telling lies that could change my life. I tried to look fine and waited for his pursuit to follow.

His face grew strange.

Did I get caught? My heart started beating like crazy.

I closed my eyes tightly imagining the fire that would be pouring out.

“I see.”

“… Huh?”

But what came back to me was a sweet and soft voice. I opened my quietly closed eyes.

Noelier was looking at me with a gentle smile.

“You must have suffered a lot because you survived the fierce wolves.”

“Hardship ….”

“All—”

“—Yeah! I had a hard time! Uh, don’t even mention it. How hard it was.”

I trembled and smiled. He smiled after me. As if he understood everything.

Seeing that laugh, I was convinced of my safety. What I thought was over myself, turned out it worked well.

‘No matter how much you’re the chief, aren’t you being too naive?’

It was so embarrassing to come up with a plausible scenario.

I was smiling face to face like that, and suddenly I felt the heat. Only then did I realize that we were still holding hands.

If you had held on to this much, you would have checked. It was when I tried to pull my hand out.

“Sister?”

Rachel peeked out over the door and called out to me with her big eyes.

Translator note:

[1] (T/n: seems like she was thinking about inappropriate things from the book? Like, if they sleep together)

[2] (PR/n – Death flags are used to signal that a character will die soon, this can be literal or through signs. One of the more notorious signs is the red camellia, in hanakotoba (the mostly lost Japanese floral language) red camellias were used in the Edo Period to show a noble death)