--
"Anos-kun, will you never forget me or what we pledged?"
"This sentence must be for me to say to you, Charlot-chan. As for me, I will never forget..."
--
"And yet I'm the one who forgot first" I sighed, blaming myself, "I'm such a bad person!"
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"Why did I faint?"
I opened my eyes to see Charlotte sitting next to me, her face filled with worry. This was strange, strange to me, because she was not the same girl I had ever known - a girl who was always smiling.
"Charlot-san," I called out slowly, "where am I?"
"Anos-kun, you are awake ?" When Charlotte heard my voice, she was so happy that she shed tears "Baka, you suddenly fainted, that scared me very much, you know?"
"I..." My throat suddenly closed up, my heart tightening as I saw her tears.
Charlotte had always looked after me. She was so attentive that there was a time when my mother referred to her as my personal nanny.
"Charlot-san! I hadn't eaten anything at that time, so I was a bit tired..." I tried to reassure her, "But I'm fine now."
"Fine ?" Charlotte said angrily, turning away:
"You must eat well, don't skip meals... Don't you remember what I told you?" Charlotte pouted.
"Ah.. you didn't even remember who I was then!"
"I... I'm sorry" I folded my hands and pleaded, hoping she would forgive me, but she didn't bother to look back at me.
At some point a cold mist had formed around Charlotte.
The cold went through my skin and into my veins, making my hands stiff and my head spin. It was then that I remembered: Charlotte's emotions would directly affect her control and distribution of her vast amount of magic power.
Right, that was the most plausible explanation for my fainting at the time.
"Charlot-san, don't get too emotional." I tried to do something before my mind went completely blank.
Gritting my teeth and enduring the bone-chilling cold that was slowly entering my body, I spread my arms and hugged her, "I really apologise to you for what happened back then!"
"What are you doing, Anos-kun?" Charlotte lost her temper when I suddenly hugged her, her face flushed.
"How can I forget that sweet little girl that day!"
"Sweet little girl?"
Charlotte suddenly trembled and cried loudly, she turned to look into my eyes, "I thought you had really forgotten me !"
"I... I promised you" I was glassy-eyed. My body was slowly approaching the limit of its endurance.
"Please don't cry anymore... Charlot-san" I stammered.
Soon after, I had the feeling that my body had become a frozen piece of meat that could crumble at any moment.
◇
"Idiot Anos-kun"
"Why does your heart beat so slowly?" Charlotte asked.
Fortunately for me, Charlotte's mood gradually stabilised as she pressed her cheek against my chest, the same way she used to be comforted when we were both children.
I don't know if I'll be able to see the sun if it's a bit late!
I sigh in relief...
My body has stabilised a bit and my limbs are moving much more comfortably.
"Charlot-san, on your face..." I was in a hurry to wipe away the tears that had frozen to the corners of Charlotte's eyelashes when I saw them.
Looking at her angelic face, I couldn't help myself: "The truth is, you're prettier than when you were younger, so I didn't realise you !"
"Really?" Charlotte smiled when she heard my compliment. She started to wheedle me: "You should have been punished, idiot Anos-kun."
"pu..punished?" Before I could finish, Charlotte covered my mouth...
"But this time I'll spare you" she looked at me passionately, her body gradually pressing against mine. Suddenly she kissed me on the cheek.
"Charlot-san, you...?" the sight of what had just happened made my face blush. I was very confused, I clearly remembered that she had never acted 'intimate' like that before!
Or maybe she hadn't seen me for a long time, so...
"Ahem..."
We were both startled to see a man sitting in the corner of the room looking at us. I realised at once that it was Charlotte's father, Viscount Elmer, my father's old best friend.
"I don't know how long he's been sitting there" I thought as I looked at his unsightly expression, and a feeling of insecurity came over me.
"Elmer-sama" I opened my mouth, but then felt awkward, not knowing what to say next.
"Dad, Anos-kun hasn't eaten since this morning. Can you bring him some bread with butter which he likes to come here?" Charlotte calmly "ordered" her powerful father.
"Haven't you really eaten anything, Anos-kun?" Elmer-sama frowned slightly as he saw Charlotte clinging to me, and when I saw him get up and walk towards me, I was so scared that I trembled.
"Dad, hurry up !" Charlotte puffed out her cheeks in anger and squeezed my arm tightly, "he's so hungry he's shaking."
"Charlot-san, I wasn't shaking because of..."
I immediately wanted to find a chest to get into because her father, Viscount Elmer, was standing in front of me with red veins all over his face.
Charlotte poked me on the cheek with her hand, "You have to call me Charlot-chan, you idiot !"
"Charlot-chan, you have to let go of Anos-kun so that he can eat !" Elmer-sama frowned and was about to touch Charlotte when she hit him hard in the hand.
"Dad, my name is Charlotte, not Charlot-chan..." Charlotte took the plate of cake from his hand and made me open my mouth. She didn't care about the jealous clenched teeth of her father behind her. She calmly gave me every piece of cake.
I don't know if my life will be saved after today when I hear Elmer-sama's wish right afterwards: "Anos-kun, let's have a death match... oh no, a training match with you".
"Um... um" I panicked when I heard the words "Death Match" ringing in my ears, but I couldn't refuse because my mouth was full of Charlotte's cake.
I looked hopelessly at Elmer-sama's muscles and the white handkerchief he had just thrown on the table. Isn't this a challenge?
"Remember to be at the training ground on time" Mr Elmer smiled at me and walked out coldly without turning his head.
Mr Elmer had always beaten me badly in a normal fake battle, and now, even if I wanted to, there might not be that blessing...
I touched Charlotte, his 'treasure'...
I challenged his 'divine paternity' ...
"Charlot-chan, you just killed me!"
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