"Ari, you know why I brought you here, right?"
"...Yes, Father."
Rubbing his wrinkled forehead, "At least you know." The handsome middle-aged man with a head of luscious blonde hair passed a plate of cookies over the table to his daughter.
He was dressed in a casual white shirt and black trousers; while they looked simple, each piece cost hundreds of gold coins.
Munching on the cookie, she looked up at her good-looking father.
"I have something to tell you, Ari."
"What, Father?" Cutely tilting her head, she tried to appease his frustration slightly.
"I'm bringing over a friend for you."
"...Huh?"
A small smile came onto his face seeing his cute daughter's amused face.
"She's your age, I paid her father well so get along with her, got it?"
Aranea held back the urge to scream at the top of her lungs, this was the worst timing possible, "What's her name?"
Crossing his arms, her father gloatingly said with a cheeky grin:
"You'll see."
---
It's been 2 days since her flare-up in the library, her Level had gone up by 1 and her Agility caught up to her Mana now.
She was just days away from figuring it out.
But now an obstacle had appeared.
A 'friend'.
Seriously?
Aranea having a friend?
That would have been a miracle in the original game.
As loving as her family was; as good as her upbringing was-
The Curses were vile.
Too vile.
And the truth.
The truth was...
...terrifying; even to the current Aranea who knew it all.
'She gets here tomorrow, let's use today to study up as much as possible.'
Making her way to the library, Aranea prepared herself for a long night.
A miserable one.
---
'...Misery bears misery.'
Aranea's chest burnt; her throat was clenched up.
She couldn't speak a word now even if she tried.
'Why.'
She saw the girl.
'Why.'
Her glistening, soft, light-golden hair draped over her shoulders; her ocean-blue eyes...
'Why.'
The small, furry, wheat-blonde wolf ears drooping atop her head...
'Why.'
And the gentle smile on her face that radiated endless warmth...
'...why-!'
She knew who this girl was.
Everyone who played the game knew who she was.
Luliya Moon.
One of the main Heroines of [Throes of Fortune].
And also the person Aranea wanted to interact with the least.
She couldn't.
Never her.
If she did... If she built any sort of relationship with her...
Aranea was scared.
Not of her.
But what she might do to her.
'-No, it's fine, she's still young; it might be different.'
The lump in her throat faded away.
Luliya Moon walked up to Aranea and her father with a maid alongside her.
She was slightly nervous, it was obvious from her twitching wolf ears.
"H-hello!"
Bowing her head, her maid also followed suit but with a more appropriate greeting.
"Haha. You may raise your head, Luliya Moon. Your father is a good friend of mine from my military days."
Lifting her head, Luliya nodded at him shyly then turned her gaze to the one beside him.
Black and white hair reaching below her waist; the swirling, whirlpool-like pitch-black iris'.
The one from the rumours; the one her mother gave her scary bedtime stories about.
Her heart skipped a beat when the girl looked at her with those eyes.
But when she spoke...
"Hello, I'm Aranea Von Lethraxus, you can just call me Ari."
...her voice was so soft, so smooth; it was nothing like what her mom said.
Even her eyes, they didn't suck her in and eat her.
'Mommy is a liar.'
Duke Lethraxus looked at the maid accompanying Luliya, "Settle in for now, my daughter will be waiting for little Luliya in our garden."
"Thank you, Duke Lethraxus."
Just like that, the first short meaning between Luliya and Aranea ended.
-
After the pair entered the estate with the aid of his butler, Duke Lethraxus looked to his daughter, "What do you think?"
Aranea, still shaken up, "I don't know."
"Does she look like a good girl to you? Because she does to Daddy." He was certainly proud of his choice.
If only he knew how much his daughter was cussing him out inwardly.
"She looks nice."
"Heh. I know, I picked her."
"..."
---
Waiting in the garden's small, white pavilion, Aranea sighed as she saw Luke's head poking out of a window high in the estate.
Her father had to force him away from the pair to give them room, otherwise he would have been sitting here with her.
Luliya was going to arrive soon to play.
And Aranea was strategizing everything she could do to stop that from happening.
Even with her ridiculously high Agility, walking and doing small dodges was the best she could muster.
Truthfully whenever she took a step, she was only inching herself forward very lightly; just like a feather.
If she tried walking properly without the aid of her Agility, she'd drop.
If she tried running without the aid of her Agility, she'd die.
And if she tried running WITH the aid of her Agility, she'd also die.
It was a dead end on both sides.
Walking with the aid of Agility was her absolute limit.
Patter-
Soft footsteps arrived from her left.
Luliya was dressed in a cute, golden-white dress with frills; the light blue ribbon in her hair allowed her adorableness to flourish.
Her maid accompanied her.
Unlike Aranea; Aranea had no maids.
No, more accurately, the maids purposefully ignored her; even her father couldn't find a maid willing to help her, no matter how much he offered.
It was ludicrous.
The only people in the world who believed in her were her mother, father, and two older brothers.
Even the Emperor himself-
'Shit.'
-it pissed her off remembering the order he gave.
"Hello!" Luliya clasped the ends of her dress and lifted it, so as to not dirty the cloth while stepping up to the pavilion.
"Hello."
"What bugs do you like!"
"...bugs?"
'That's random, is that how kids start a conversation? Doubt it...'
"Yeah! Bugs! Hehe!" Spreading out her infectious smile, the lass pulled out a ladybug from her pocket and showed it off to Aranea.
"I caught it just now!"
"...you like bugs?"
Luliya paused her smile and saw the blank look on Aranea's face.
"...you don't like bugs...?"
Aranea waved her hands, "Oh no, it's not that. It's just the first time I know someone who likes bugs."
"Phew!"
Then, Luliya pulled out a butterfly from her other pocket.
"This one is rare, it's blue!"
Aranea decided to play along with her, "Do you know what type of butterfly that is?"
Luliya tilted her head with a question mark blinking atop her head, "Type?"
"Yeah, that one is called an Adonis Blue; and the ladybug is a seven-spotted one."
Luliya's mouth opened up wide enough to fit an egg.
"You're smart!"
'Ah, well, I'm not a kid after all...'
Luliya, who was suddenly excited, jumped off the pavilion with a small hop.
She began her bug-catching adventures.
Every time she caught one, she'd adorably return to Aranea and ask her what it was. And every time Aranea answered, her admiration for Aranea rose.
At one point, while Luliya was off catching bugs...
"I'm sorry for my Missus' behaviour. She has odd tastes..."
The maid apologised on behalf of Luliya, but Aranea didn't mind in the slightest, no, Aranea was actually beyond ecstatic.
"It's fine, this is fun."
"Are you sure...?"
"Yes, watching her have fun is a form of fun too."
"...I see."
The maid's opinion of Aranea changed slightly.
It went from 'extremely wary' at the start.
To 'suspicious girl who likes bugs'.
And now 'Intelligent, suspicious girl who likes bugs.'
---
"That was fun! See you tomorrow!"
Waving off the energetic Luliya, Aranea lowered her hand and glanced at the sky; it was getting dark.
She still needed to study.
'No time for Dungeons today.'
-----
A day later.
"You can read these complicated books?"
"Yep."
"What does this say?"
"Luxim Capacitor Theorem and Research."
"Lulim Capashitor Thom?"
"...close enough."
The words were a bit too complicated for Luliya; all Luliya understood was:
Aranea smart.
Wagging her ears, Luliya rolled from side to side; sometimes snuggling up to Aranea's side and stuffing Aranea's soft hair into her face.
Other times hugging Aranea to sleep.
It was comfortable.
In a way, this was also a way for Luliya to get rid of her loneliness.
It was inevitable that she missed her family; she was far away and the only person she knew was her maid.
But now there was Aranea.
And Aranea liked bugs too.
Aranea was smart.
Aranea didn't mind her.
So it was comfortable.
Aranea spared a glance at Luliya, she was mainly focused on her ears. Her two pairs of ears; the Human ones and the Wolf ones.
Was the hearing linked?
She was kind of curious as to how they felt too.
It was every otaku's dream to touch some real, fluffy wolf-girl ears.
Unfortunately, Luliya didn't have a wolf tail, her Human blood was more dominant.
"Luliya, can I touch your ears?"
Aranea couldn't resist.
Their relationship had already progressed to this point; she wasn't evil enough to coldly turn down an innocent kid, so might as well indulge a little.
As long as Aranea's Curses remained hidden, then the future wouldn't twist too much.
So long as she did not know of the truth.
"Eh?! You want to?" Luliya pushed herself off of Aranea, who lay on the ground to read, with a pomf, and excitedly wagged her imaginary tail.
That was the first time Aranea asked her to do something.
"...can I?"
Luliya didn't answer with words, she answered with action.
Dropping down to all fours, Luliya placed her head in front of Aranea's face and wiggled her ears, as though inviting her.
Reaching out...
'Woah.'
...her hands were sucked in by the softness of her ears. It was warm and cosy between her furs.
"Hehe~"
Enjoying it for a bit, Aranea regretfully retracted her hand after a bit.
Raising her head, Luliya asked Aranea with her face slightly flushed, "Like it?"
"It's soft and nice."
Proud of her 'achievement', Luliya puffed out her chest, "Ask me anytime."
-----
The Sildoret Empire.
An Empire whose grubby palms reached far and wide; from the ebbing waves of the endless Eastern Oceans to the Abyss at the centre of the Continent.
Its power grew year by year; political intrigue and plays for power and control grew wilder with every new generation.
This generation was especially dangerous.
Because in the Lethraxus Duchy, a certain existence was born.
A filthy existence.
But this existence was protected by the Lethraxus Duchy; in a way, reaching that existence was the same as reaching the core of the Lethraxus Duchy.
That was why Aranea had no maids.
Not because her father couldn't get her maids.
But because he wasn't willing to get her maids.
It was too big of a risk.
He already had hidden Mages and Knights overseeing his daughter's safety at all times; the food from the chefs was checked regularly, and her room was cleansed every day for any dangers.
Aranea's safety was all but guaranteed.
That is.
Until now.