Happy Life: 10 Years Old: Chapter 40 – My Younger Brother is a Cute Kid

Happy Chinese New Year, everyone!

This is one of the rare few days in the lunar calendar where it falls on my birthday! Woots~ 29th of January! Banzai! Also, Hyde’s birthday from L’Arc En Ciel~

I’m now in the middle of a short holiday, reuniting with close loved ones in Melbourne and totally enjoying the heat wave. A lot has changed in the past two years. Definitely more eateries have sprouted out. Lots of dessert and brunch places. I’m definitely trying my best to hold back a bit… I mean, my waistline– er, weight and BMI. Haha.

To celebrate, here’s the start of Volume 2~ Do enjoy the cute beginning. 😀

 

P.S. Changed Monk Georg to Abbott Georg (since he’s technically the presiding monk). It’s not set in Asia so I kept thinking of the Buddhist monks quite a bit and kept the term monk. Sorry about that, folks. Please ignore my Twitter in which I wrote the wrong word in the midst of a delirious moment. Orz.

 

10 Years Old: Chapter 40 – My Younger Brother is a Cute Kid

TL: Krrizis

Editor: Nahct & Wafflez

 

「Wait, One-cha*」

「Yes, I’m waiting for you」

 

Several months ago, my age reached double digits.  

 

I surprisingly shot up from the age of seven, and my height is gradually drawing closer to that of a matured adult. Though my figure still isn’t quite womanly, it has become a bit rounder. That’s fine, I still have prospects.

 

A child was running, chasing after my footsteps which have now grown larger. With a diligent expression that accentuated his innocence, he did his best to catch up to me.  

 

….. The child was Ruby, my younger brother who was five years younger than me. This year, he’ll be five.

 

His hair was red, just like Father’s, and his big round eyes* were of the same color. As Ruby was my younger brother, he strongly inherited Father’s blood. He was soo cute with his childish features.  

 

「One-cha, One-cha」

 

Setting out for the garden, I waited for Ruby in the foyer as he did his best to run to me. I watched him attentively and felt lukewarm every time his soft, unruly hair swung while he was running.   

 

 

*******

 

 

Ruby didn’t have a healthy body, so I barely saw him three years ago. Since Ruby was always in his room, there was no chance of us meeting as I was either usually in the garden, the magic institution, or in my room.

 

By the time his condition had stabilized to the point where he was finally allowed to freely go outside of his room, he was just past the age of three. Since then, his inherent curiosity led to him going around to various places and doing all sorts of things, destroying his physical condition ….. It looks like Mother had a hard time as well.     

 

It appears that after he came into contact with me, Ruby quickly recognized me as his older sister and — once again — used his sweet voice to call out「One~e~cha」. Why was this child so cute! This was a natural weapon against airheads ….. Like, how adorable was this child when he’s calling out to me with his lisp …..

 

 

「Caught you, One-cha!」

 

Ruby rushed up and hugged me with a bright smile. For enduring his arduous endeavor, I stroked his head gently, saying “there, there” as I smiled. No, he’s seriously too cute. As my brother, he’s seriously too cute. He was cute for being truly innocent unlike his hopeless older sister.   

 

After I smoothed his unruly hair by stroking it, Ruby looked drowsy. With his eyes narrowed, he shyly giggled ….. He’s hopelessly cute. Even though I’ve been thinking of nothing except his cuteness, he’s just too cute.      

 

「Looks like I’ve been caught. Now then, shall we head off to the garden?」

「Yeth!*」

 

I cheerfully surrendered myself to Ruby. I thought of tightly hugging him, but I endured it. He’s cute ….. Urk! Because I’ve been taught that having a brocon* wasn’t good, I held myself back despite me wanting to touch him.

 

I slapped my loosened cheeks. While leading the curious little Ruby by the hand, we headed out to the garden.

 

 

*******

 

 

Waiting in the garden was Gilles, watering the plants with sorcery.

 

This year, Gilles turned eighteen. Gilles was secretly worrying about something. Since then, he hadn’t gained much height.. It didn’t feel like there was a difference in him being a head and a half taller than me. It’s also probably because I grew a bit taller, so it made the fact that he was a head taller than me less noticeable.   

 

In exchange, he became extremely good-looking and instead of being stylish, his clean look suited him. Of course, there was no mistaking that he was attractive. This was the kind of beauty that other ojou-samas would be charmed by ….. Yup.      

 

「Liz-sama, Ruby-sama, will you be going over to have a look at the garden?」

「Yes. Ruby wants to see it. We won’t be going out so please be at ease」

 

If we went out, we would certainly be scolded by Mother. Even if he threw a tantrum, I absolutely couldn’t bring him outside. It was because there was the possibility of being kidnapped or injured. Right now, he’s very frail. Having experienced it myself in the past, I understood that it was dangerous outside.

 

Furthermore, compared to me, Ruby had never practiced sorcery. Getting his body into shape was the priority. If he was kidnapped, he wouldn’t be able to oppose them. Compared to him, I would be considered abnormal since I was able to use magic leisurely when I was about his age.  

 

「One-cha」

「What is it?」

「Why does it only rain over here?」

 

Seeing how it was only lightly raining over the private vegetable corner, Ruby tilted his head in confusion. Because it usually rained everywhere, this, I think, was an unusual sight for Ruby. I mean, the rain was falling on a precise location.

 

「This is rain brought about by sorcery」

「Can One-cha do it too?」

「I can do it, more or less」

 

Giving too much water wouldn’t be good so I didn’t evoke anything. However, in the first place, watering the garden was my job. I took turns with Gilles to manage it, but the matter of selectively breeding them was wilfully done by me.

 

Right now, I used a simple sorcery in an empty spot to produce water for Ruby to see. Ruby’s large pupils that resembled rubies glistened and lit up. If you didn’t know how it worked and were shown this, you would have thought that it was a miracle. It was simple because magic exists. Most human beings could perform this sorcery.

 

「Amazing, One-cha! I want to do it too!」

「Ruby too? ….. We haven’t obtained permission from Father and Mother, but if we don’t say anything …..」

「You can’t, Ruby-sama」

 

As expected, before I was able to give my consent based off of my own discretion, a clear voice shot down the possibility on the spot. Although the owner of the voice still sounded childish, Maria had appeared in the garden before I was aware of it.    

 

With the usual charm of her bushy cat ears and tail, she had similarly short hair like Ruby. Maria, who should be the same age as me, had a somewhat dangerous appeal. The cause was mainly her ears and her tail.  

 

Three years had passed and having become accustomed to her maid duties, Maria was now no longer mine and instead was Ruby’s servant. She was also the maid of the estate.  

 

Well, the reason she was attending to Ruby was because he was taken in by her ears and tail. I laughed a bit that, as siblings, we had similar preferences. That sleek fur just feels so ….. fluffy that you want to fluff it.  

 

「Madam and Master has instructed that Ruby-sama is not to be allowed to use sorcery」

「….. There you have it. Ruby, let’s give up on sorcery, okay? When you’re a bit older—」

「Yaa~!* I want to do it too!」

 

Shaking his head, Ruby clung onto me ….. Crap, with his upward glance and teary eyes, my determination faltered. However, no means no. If I was able to, I would have allowed it.   

 

Ruby’s body was weak and the magic power in his body seemed to be a little unstable. If he overexerted himself right now, it would harm his health ….. I had a hunch that because I was very healthy and possessed an abundance of magical power, conversely, Ruby became a weak existence. When I consider that I had probably taken a portion of Ruby’s health away from him, I felt guilty.     

 

「I’m sorry, Ruby. I can’t go against the orders of Father and Mother. When you’re just a bit older and they’ve given their permission, let’s do it together, okay?」

「….. Will you really teach me?」

「When Ruby’s older, we’ll do it together. Until then, can you be patient for a little while more?」

 

I peered into his large eyes that were swollen with tears while smiling sweetly and laughed. Using my thumb, I wiped the tears that were about to spill at any moment against my stomach and, after that, I pressed my lips against his soft cheeks.

 

Upon kissing Ruby’s plump, springy, smooth cheeks, Ruby also laughed weakly before returning a kiss with his lips against my own cheeks. I’m glad he raised his voice but didn’t cry. Or rather, Ruby’s so cute, what am I supposed to do? Onee-chan wants to love you forever, Ruby.

 

「….. If, One-cha says so, I’ll be patient」

「That’s good, Ruby. In exchange, look ….. here’s a present from Onee-chan」

 

From my pocket, I took out a small flower seed that we were going to plant later and placed it on his tiny palm.

 

「Plant this in the garden and let’s raise it together, kay? Even if we don’t use magic, as long as it’s this, it’ll grow」

「Really?」

「Yup. We’ll grow it together and then, let’s show it to Mother」

 

I slyly used sorcery to quickly grow it although, normally, it was something I would patiently wait for. I wouldn’t have been able to actually pull it off if I didn’t have the aptitude for『Green Thumb』, so I’m relieved that I was able to use it ….. It would truly be a relief if I was able to use it like that previous time.  

 

I took Ruby to a vacant space in the garden. Then, I took the scoop that I left nearby to create a hole and planted the seed. Ruby must also be bored with being cooped up, so being able to go out and play in the garden would be a good experience for him.

 

「Ruby, we’ll have to water it every day. If we do, then the flower will bloom」

「Yes!」

 

At Ruby’s cherubic smile and nod, I comfortably smiled as well and used my soil-free hand to stroke his head.  

 

Maria and Gilles smiled warmly as they were observing us. Somehow every day was very peaceful and happy, and I felt it.

 

Translator’s Note:

 

1. どんぐり眼 – Donguri Manako – Big, round eyes
2. 「おねーちゃ、まってぇ」 – Ruby says One-cha. ARGH SO CUTE! Lisp. His lisp!!! Sorry, folks! I deliberately did not translate this because it was hard to use thith (actual lisp word for sis) or thither without it detracting from the cuteness. Cuteness over practicality. 🙁
3. 「あい！」 – Another cute Ruby moment. It’s just kid speak for HAI which means yes in Japanese. Stop being this adorable, Ruby! ┻━┻ミ＼（≧ロ≦＼）
4. ブラコンは教育的に駄目だから、適度にしっかり接しなきゃなのに。- Burakon. Brother complex.
5. 「やぁー！ ぼくもするの！」 – *coughs* Yaa~! Is actually Iya which means no. Again, how cute is this? (>/////////////<)