I Am the Hero's Immature Younger Brother

Lucia opened his eyes feeling refreshed. Thanks to having slept deeply, his body felt clear and fresh, without any stiffness anywhere, and his head was clear as well. Sunlight was shining in through the gap in the curtains. Lucia, who had been looking at the light wavering like waves near the window, gave a morning greeting to the maid who had come to attend to him.

At the affectionate greeting, the maid smiled brightly and attended to him.

The maid truly was kind and gentle.

Whenever Lucia asked something, she answered in great detail. At a glance, one might feel as though she was talkative and knew a great deal.

However, Lucia thought there was something unusual about her behavior.

The maid’s words, which pointed only to the essentials, were far from idle chatter. She was secretly teaching Lucia.

“Did I lose my memory or something?”

“Yes?”

“No, I mean you don’t have to tell me in such detail.”

Sorry if I startled you, Lucia added gently, taking the frozen maid’s hand. The maid quickly arranged her expression and continued moving her hands.

After the busy grooming, Lucia had become someone more mature than his age. At a glance, it was an outfit that could make him look like a woman. When he wore a long skirt that men and women could both wear, styled his bobbed hair, and put on a hat, a strange charm stood out.

“Let us go, Lord Lucia.”

Lucia smiled softly and nodded.

The carriage headed for the harbor. Lucia, who had dozed for a while leaning against the window, could feel that the carriage had reached the harbor. It was because the air coming through the slightly opened window tasted salty. The sweltering heat also seemed to grow stronger.

“You’re awake? Please drink some water.”

The maid riding with him held out a water flask. Lucia, still not fully awake, accepted the flask and wet his throat. The water that had been frozen was still cool. Once he drank the cold water, his sleep vanished all at once. As Lucia blinked and chased away sleep, the maid found the hat he had taken off.

“I will put it back on for you.”

“Thank you.”

Lucia unhesitatingly held out his head. The maid neatly arranged the disheveled blond hair and pressed the hat down deeply over it. His green eyes were hidden by the brim and became difficult to see. Beneath the hat, all that could be seen was his smooth bridge of the nose and lips painted red. The maid carefully arranged Lucia’s appearance. Then she repeated once more what she had said since they were at the mansion: that she would handle stepping forward, so he must not step out himself.

“There are many rough people at the harbor, so Lord Lucia must by all means not step forward.”

“I understand, so stop now. Your throat will go hoarse.”

Even the maid, who had grown immune to his consistently gentle attitude, could not help flinching at his voice, which held a deeper feeling.

The maid could see emotion slowly blooming from Lucia, who had given off the atmosphere of a doll.

“Let’s go.”

When he took the frozen maid’s hand, she came to herself and carefully pulled her hand free.

With the sound of horses crying, the carriage slowly came to a stop. The maid, who got out first through the opened door, lowered the steps, then held out her hand to Lucia. Lucia took her hand with a faint smile, as if he was glad for the outside air.

There was a strong fishy smell and the scent of salt.

Before they had walked far, the sight of the harbor filled his vision. The shop that sold ship tickets and the place where fish auctions were held were not very far apart. Children, tanned black as though they had been born and raised at the harbor, ran around, tangled with each other, and burst into laughter.

For the maid, who had to make her way through the crowd, it was not easy. She did not like the idea of sending the deliberately small number of guards ahead, nor of leaving Lucia behind and going alone. As the maid hesitated for a moment, Lucia called to her.

“There’s nothing dangerous, so I’ll stay here and look at the sea.”

“But leaving Lord Lucia alone is......”

“These people are here, aren’t they? Go. I also want to look at the sea quietly.”

Lucia smiled with his eyes folding. Though they were hidden by the brim of his hat and could not be seen, the maid could not erase the feeling that their eyes had somehow met. She had not seen them, but in her mind, his two eyes appeared clearly. Green eyes holding the fresh greenery of spring, tinged with a distant light, glittering with the shimmer of sunlight on water. It felt as though she had already seen those two eyes that would look as if the Milky Way flowed through them. As if possessed, the maid moved her steps alone, and Lucia stood nearby as he had said.

The deep blue sea was endlessly heaving. At times, an almost nauseatingly strong fishy smell stimulated his nose, but the sharp sunlight and laughter seemed to sweep that smell away. Loud shouts, laughter, and bargaining voices were all mixed together, noisy. Sweat broke out from the heat, but Lucia did not dislike even that very much.

I want to look at the sea more closely.

His heart was pounding. What was this feeling? It seemed like longing, and also like something he had been waiting for. What had I been waiting for?

When Lucia touched his hat to look more closely at the sea, he was immediately stopped. The mercenary who had been standing close beside him silently shook his head. A taciturn impression, a straight, high nose, and thick lips.

Lucia lowered the hand holding his hat and stared straight at the mercenary who had stopped him.

Several minutes passed like that. The mercenary, who had silently endured Lucia’s gaze, finally moved his lips.

“What are you looking at so much?”

It was a voice that had shown as much courtesy as possible, but could not completely erase its rough, insolent feeling.

His eyes seemed as if, should Lucia answer incorrectly, he might hit even his employer once. Rough and stern......

“What are you look-!”

“Stop it, are you crazy?”

His huffing breath threatened Lucia harshly.

However, Lucia stared at the mercenary for a long time without even blinking. Another mercenary took him away and apologized to Lucia, but it did not really reach Lucia’s ears. Should I ask his name? Lucia looked at him blankly, then belatedly realized that he had made a mistake.

To stare silently at another person like that—what kind of rudeness was that?

His cheeks burned.

Lucia, who had been fanning himself with his hand, thought that he must make sure to apologize later. And if it was all right, he decided to ask whether he could look into his eyes a little longer.

The mercenary’s eyes were rough and stern, yet for some reason they felt familiar to Lucia. When he saw that gaze, Lucia felt warmth. His gaze made him think of a bonfire. The light of some scene where he had not wanted to miss even a single burning spark.

Had he seen such a scene? Or was it a dream from last night?

Naturally, the thought scattered like dust, and Lucia turned his body as if someone had ordered him to, and looked at the sea.

Even when Lucia was not looking at it, and even when he gave it his gaze again.

The sea was still moving. The seawater that had heaved and pushed in from far away surged in waves and shattered into tiny pieces. White foam broke endlessly and sank, and another wave covered over it. The endlessly swaying seawater made the ships sway as well.

On the seawater reflecting the sunlight, light like droplets of dew was gathered and flowing. As he kept looking, it also seemed like the night sky had been moved there. What flowed over the sea seemed not like sunlight, but like starlight or the Milky Way flowing. The deep blue, when his gaze occasionally grew dazed, also seemed for an instant like black.

“-ord Lucia. Lord Lucia!”

“You’re back.”

Lucia, who slowly blinked, recognized the maid and smiled.

“I called you for quite a while, but you did not answer.”

At the maid’s startled words, Lucia gestured with his chin toward the sea. The sea stretching vast beneath the birds flying in the distance, the horizon beyond it. The sun beating down like a harpoon, making it impossible to stare at it properly. In Lucia’s eyes, which did not narrow despite the glare, the sea was reflected exactly as it was.

“I was looking at the sea. Even after looking for a long time, I don’t get bored of it at all.”

“Is the sea that fascinating?”

Since she had bought the tickets, they had to board quickly. There was not a single good thing about Lucia being exposed for long.

However, the maid could not bring herself to do that. Even though she knew that if she said they should go, Lucia would immediately follow her will. Because she knew that.

It might have been because the eyes reflecting the sea were even more beautiful than what she had imagined earlier.

“The sea is just like soft jelly.”

Is that so?

The maid’s gaze also turned toward the sea.

Soft jelly.

The maid, who had been quietly looking at the sea, suddenly felt fear. To her eyes, it looked like a swamp with severe viscosity. It looked like a swamp from which one could never escape once one fell in.

The maid stepped backward without realizing it. Her eyes turned not to the sea, but to Lucia.

The sea contained in those clear eyes, the shimmer of sunlight on water reflected in them, was truly beautiful, but......

She, who knew the rough sea, would not be able to agree with Lucia’s impression. After waiting for about five minutes, she led Lucia onto the ship.

It was clearly the maid’s mistake that she did not notice Lucia gently pushing back his hat and lifting his head at the noisy voice that seemed to be calling someone’s name.

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