章節 202: She Finds out that Keith is...
"Yesterday, that Demon Lord Trader spoke about your parents." Keith stated.
Robin tilted her head. It was already the next day, huh.
"Oh. That's right, you probably knew my father fifteen years ago. Is this about that?" She asked.
"Well...you could say it's involved." Keith surmised, an odd expression on his face. "But... it's not so much about your father, so much as your mother."
"My mother?" Robin asked, surprised.
"Mmn." Keith nodded. "The person known as Bluebell of the Raven-haired folk could only be one person."
"Who?" Robin asked.
Keith looked at Robin, amused. "My aunt's daughter. In other words, she's my cousin."
"...What!?" Robin asked, feeling completely blindsided. "So that means that you..."
"Mmn. You could consider me your relative." Keith smiled.
Robin stared at Keith, searching for some form of resemblance. His hair was dark brown and his eyes were green, but his smile did to a certain extent resemble her mother's smile.
"So, you are my grand-aunt's son...what sort of relationship is that?" Robin asked, somewhat confused.
"Putting it simply, you can call me uncle." Keith said. "On the family tree, however, I'm your first cousin, once removed."
"...Is that so?" Robin mused, coming to a decision. "Then, I have something I think you should know, but..." She glanced at the door.
"Oh? Is it a secret? If so, don't worry, the room is magically soundproofed." Keith reassured.
"In that case, you ought to know...I'm actually a girl." Robin said, quietly.
"Ah." Keith nodded.
"You aren't surprised?" Robin asked.
"Well, I had suspected, but I only knew for sure about a week ago, when I went through the garden's magic surveillance." Keith said.
"Ah..." Robin realized. "Then...Christian?"
"Doesn't know." Keith shook his head. "The magic surveillance didn't capture sound, and I read lips, which is how I could tell. I figured if you wanted him to know, then you'd have told him already."
'Also, I figured, you'd still be a bit spooked on account of what happened with that potion thing that happened back at the Capitol.' Kenmei thought, but kept it to himself. Robin had reacted violently to his recording at the time, and made it clear to him that such an incident was not to be recalled.
"Ahem! Well, since you're ranked higher than I am, your information is considered a confidential matter, not to be disclosed without your permission. But...if you don't mind, ...may I...?" Keith asked.
Robin emphatically shook her head.
"I'd be extremely relieved and grateful if you did no such thing!" She exclaimed.
"Ah. I had thought as much." Keith sighed. It was a pity. He could tell that Christian cherished Robin very much. He had never done so for any other girl.She also must like him to a certain extent, considering she had blocked that blow for him. They would have made a great couple.
"B-besides, doesn't he already have a fiancee? Noble families, especially royalty, don't they tend to marry only within nobility?" Robin stuttered.
Keith mused. "Well, technically speaking, the hero is considered above the king, in terms of noble rank. And, yes, generally, Royals tend to marry other royals to strengthen alliances. But, there's no rule or tradition like that in Ekkinshire."
"I-is that so..." Robin said, feeling highly awkward.
"Mmn. Marrying out of mutual love is encouraged. Though Queen Emmeline does tend to scheme a bit, she doesn't disregard the feelings of those she tries to match. Though...I agree, she can go a bit overboard." Keith chuckled.
"Then, as I thought, Christian has someone he already likes?" Robin's gaze lowered to her hand that was resting atop the covers.
Keith raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Have you perhaps fallen for his rogue-ish charms?"
Robin snorted. "As if!" She rolled her eyes. "Since he's my younger brother, I was curious about who he's set his sights on."
'There's no way he'll set his eyes on me. He thinks I'm a man after all.' She thought to herself. But, instead of feeling relieved, she felt conflicted. Her heart suddenly felt as if it had been pricked again.
Keith, seeing her change expressions realized something. 'Perhaps...' He thought to himself as a sharp light briefly shone in his eyes.
"Actually..."Keith said, casually observing Robin's expression. "He does have someone he set his eyes on."
"Wha-Really!?" Robin exclaimed. "I hadn't confirmed, but I really thought that might be the case."
"Mhmm! He met her in Kinsward Town: the same place where you pulled the hero's blade out of the stone." He nodded, clearly hinting at Robin. But, the hint went right over Robin's head. Robin's expression fell.
"What's the matter, Robin?" He asked. "Aren't you happy?"
Robin was startled from her thoughts. "Ah, no, that's not-I was just wondering who it might be is all." She denied. "I don't recall seeing any girl specifically that he paid much attention to."
Keith had all it took to keep from laughing. "Well, I'm pretty sure that you already know her." Keith said.
"Hmmm....Oh! Was it perhaps Yvonne?" Robin asked, suddenly recalling.
"Who?" Keith's mind went blank.
"You know, the elf who was the receptionist at the Adventurers Guild at the time." Robin said, but then realized. "Oh, that's right! You were out grabbing the horses, so you didn't meet her."
"..." Keith stared at Robin, flabbergasted.
"She's amazing, right? I've got a gold star on my adventurer's card because I'm the Hero, but Yvonne became an S-rank all on her own hard work!" Robin smiled.
"W-well, the girl he likes does indeed have a gold star on her card." Keith said, his voice shuddering both in suppressed laughter, and in baffled amazement at how dense Robin could get.
"But, she's not an elf." He placed his book down on the nearby nightstand.
"Not an elf? Hmm...Was it perhaps the girl we rescued from the shadow monkey demon? Gerard's older sister? Ah, no, those two lived in the town I saved from the orcs, not Kinsward. Hmm...but, other than them, I really haven't a clue." Robin sighed, and shook her head.
"What makes you think it's not you?" Keith asked.
Robin tilted her head to look up at Keith, with an expression of 'What do you mean why? it's just common sense'.
"Let me ask you something." She said as she began to lay out her reasons.
"Christian likes girls, right?"
"Right." Keith agreed.
"And he's not bi, or gay, so he wouldn't like guys, right?"She asked.
"R-right." Keith replied, beginning to see where this was going.
"And he doesn't know that i'm a girl, right? He thinks I'm a guy, right?" Robin pursued.
"Rriight." Keith, felt his mouth beginning to cramp up.
"Therefore, I, who am -in his views- a guy, would never even enter into the sights of him, who only likes girls!" Robin pointed at herself and declared with utmost confidence.
'No, Robin. Even if you are a guy to him, he likes you so much that he thinks you turned him gay!' Keith was absolutely certain of it. He covered the top part of his face with his hand to hide his expression while he tried to regain his calm expression.
"And, how do you feel about him?" Keith asked. "Do you like him?"
"Of course I like him!" Robin asserted.
"What?" Keith was surprised at how Robin was so frank about it.
"Of course I like him..." Robin repeated, somewhat crestfallen. "But...I'm leaving, after all. And he already likes someone, so..."
She shut her eyes. "He likes someone already. I don't...I'm not..." She struggled with her words, before summarizing her feelings.
"It's best to remain as friends, if I'm just gonna leave."
"I see..." Keith sighed. "You've never considered staying, have you?"
"Yeah...Oh, it's not that I hate it here, though. Here, I have you, Uncle Keith, but back on Earth..."Robin said, realizing it might have sounded like she was ungrateful or dissatisfied with something. She smiled, ruefully.
"Back on earth, I'm all my older brother's got, that he knows of. If I leave him be, he's definitely going to flip the entire world on its head looking for me. I really can't leave him alone like that. That's why...I've got to go back."
"You really do love that older brother of yours, don't you?" Keith noted.
"I guess it runs in the blood," Robin joked. "But he is my hero, so I can't keep worrying him like this. That's why. So, don't tell Christian anything, okay?" She pleaded.
"You're sure you don't want him to know?" Keith asked.
"Would he let me leave if he knew?" Robin asked in return.
'Ah. He most likely.....wouldn't.' Keith sighed. "All right. I give you my word."
"Thank you." Robin smiled, relieved.
創作者的想法 
BriarRose
BriarRose I just realized: I can add pictures now.
*scrambles to add in all her Robin illustrations*
As such, I have taken upon myself the task of illustrating every chapter so far. It'll take me a while, but I want to get it done before the chapters grow much farther. If you'd like, you can go back and look over the illustrations that I have already updated, to see how far I've gotten.
I apologize for halting my book during this time. If all goes well, it should be completely finished within 2 months.
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