The gentleman in front of me is wearing a gorgeous white suit with Loera family emblem—both his face and his smile is so familiar to me, as it never changed within years. Those amber eyes—that familiar light blonde hair.
C-L-Y-D-E.
My (previous self's) half-brother is back. Obviously, he would.
"I remember, you're Clyde-san from Loera family, right?"
I tried to keep my usual smile on—even if I can feel my heart is beating faster compared to when I spoke with the other nobles.
"Correct! Wow, you have a good memory! Congratulations on turning six years old!" He slightly crouched down to pat my head lightly.
…it's a strange feeling.
Back then, even when we were family, he never did something like this to me. Well, I could understand why. We spent our childhood on rivalry—and we never really got close to each other until the end of my life.
But now, Clyde is way taller and bigger than me, acts more mature than me, and is patting my head like how one would pat a child's.
I never knew Clyde could be this gentle.
Wait, no… I think I danced with him once, and the way he led me was gentle.
His swordsmanship was fierce and intense, though.
"Ah, so this is the child you told me about!"
That voice broke my nostalgia.
From right behind Clyde, a familiar-yet-unfamiliar woman appeared and presented herself in front of me, with her hand clinging to Clyde's. Her blonde hair—no, come to think about it, it was blonde but was dyed orange a little bit… I guess I should correct myself and say that it's marigold-colored? Alright, her marigold hair is the same as ever, she kept it at shoulder length.
What's more, she used to braid her hair in any style she liked. Now? It didn't change. She still kept the habit of braiding her hair. I can see that a small portion of her front right hair is braided. It exposed her ear that was wearing a gold-chained earring with cherry decoration.
Cherry…
Cheryll Nicole Loera.
My only friend—if I can really call her one.
Her light blue eyes shone as she examined me.
I can see the little mole just right below her right eye's corner.
It felt as if she didn't change—but I can feel how she became more mature than when I last saw her.
"Uh, Clyde-san told you… huh?"
I spontaneously asked something that popped out to my mind as I felt quite awkward with her staring at me.
"Oh, yeah. It's nice to meet you. I'm Cherryl Nicole Loera. Clyde is my husband—oh, you already know that. Anyway, he told me about how he discovered you in your brother's sixth birthday and how you were smart even when you were just a small kid. …Also…"
She somehow stopped and her cheerful smile gradually disappeared—as her gaze turned far away, as if she was having a nostalgia. Her arms which were circling Clyde's also started to loosen as she approached me.
"Also about the rumors on your noble lady conduct—about you potentially becoming the strongest queen candidate of this period… that reminded us of…"
The corner of her mouth was slightly raised.
"…Of someone that we used to care about—but she is now in a place far, far away."
She has a melancholic expression as she patted my head—that's not like the usually cheerful and upbeat Nicole I knew.
…Is she talking about me—I mean, Reinst?
"Nicole," Clyde softly called out to her as he put his hand on Nicole's waist.
"Ah, sorry for that. I was dozing off a bit. Congratulations on your sixth birthday, cute little Lyra."
To admit that she was dozing off during when she was supposed to greet me on my birthday…
Heh, she is still the same Nicole I know. The fearless Nicole who's always straight-forward. If I'm not wrong, she did grumble to me once about how her parents and Loera clan's elders always lectured her so she would be able to keep her pretense even in front of those she disliked.
I wonder if she has mastered it yet…?
Come to think of it…
"Thank you. By the way… isn't the heir of Loera clan supposed to be Nicole-san? But I heard before that Clyde-san was the heir?"
"Oh, you still remember that?" Clyde asked as if amused.
"Ehehe, we shared the responsibility of an heir, as Clyde would cover the things I couldn't do really well!"
…Did she refer to how she was unable to pretend to be friendly in front of those she disliked?!
"Ah, it was quite terrible at that time when we asked for the elders' approval…," Clyde's gaze started to trail off, reminiscing those days.
"And who was it that made everything possible?" Nicole teasingly asked.
"Yes, yes, milady, I owe it all to you."
Clyde sighed and caressed Nicole's head.
…Honestly, I would like to ask a lot of questions. Like, how the hell was it possible, what kind of sharing did you do, what kind of agreement did you make… and especially… how did your relationship turn to this… from a mere friendship?!
Is this what they call a generation gap?
"Oh, yeah. Did you get along with your brother?" Clyde suddenly asked, perhaps since he remembered that he had come here to talk to me to establish connection, not to flirt around with Nicole.
"Eh? Huh? Yes, why?" I was dumbfounded at his random questioning.
"That's good. You two should cherish each other when you can," he gently smiled.
"…? Is something the matter?" I couldn't hold off my curiosity. Gah, child hormones, child brain process.
More or less, I know what's on his mind, but… there's no way, right?
"Ah well, no, it's just…"
Now it's Clyde's turn to be speechless. Why did you bring up something you couldn't explain well, then? Or was my question too unexpected?
"Well, he just regretted that he wasn't able to get along with his late sister, that's all," Nicole explained on his behalf.
Get along… with his late sister? Regret not being able to…?
Did Clyde want to get along with me…?
As far as I can remember, we have always ignored each other—I mean, even when Nicole and I talked, he would be silent… hmm…
Did I remember things wrong…?
I can't really remember it well.