Wizard World Irregular

When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was Joanne’s cute sleeping face.

Even as a girl, I couldn’t help but feel attracted to her. Maybe it's because she reminds me of Ethan, who was currently living in my residence.

I never had the opportunity to spend time with girls my age because I was forbidden from leaving the palace and interacting with anyone.

However, I believed that all those years of loneliness happened so that I could spend today and tomorrow with a smile on my face.

As I looked at Joanne’s sleeping face, I confirmed that she was indeed Ethan’s sister.

Her smooth, silky, long blue hair reminded me of the Tidebringer’s hair, which charmingly fluttered in the breeze whenever he wasn’t wearing a hairpin.

Joanne’s face was delicate and made her look like a beautiful doll, but she still shared similar features with Ethan, whom she tried so hard to deny during our talks last night.

However, after careful prodding, I realized that Joanne didn’t really know much about her brother.

It was as if she had only spent a very short time with him. When I asked her about Ethan’s favorite food, the answer she gave me was “I don’t know, and I don’t care.”

As someone who had lived her life reading the moods of people, it saddened me that she didn’t seem to get along with her brother.

If Ethan were my brother, I would definitely do my best to get close to him and act like a spoiled child.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t my brother, and the ones I had wanted nothing more than to send me into exile or eliminate me completely.

At times like this, I wished my mother was still alive.

If she were here, maybe I wouldn't have to suffer as much as I do now.

Yesterday, I saw something that I’d never seen before.

Joanne was hugging something, and it looked really cute and fluffy.

‘What is this thing?’ I thought as I poked its head.

Suddenly, the thing moved and raised its head to look at me.

I almost jumped back out of fright, but fortunately, I didn’t feel any malice or hostility coming from it.

It just looked at me and remained in Joanne’s embrace.

Patting my chest in order to regain my calm, I decided to observe this thing, which seemed to be moving because of magic.

“Hello, are you Joanne’s Familiar?” I asked.

The thing, which I would later know as a Doll, shook its head as if to answer my question.

“Then, are you her friend?” I inquired.

This time, the Doll nodded as if confirming my guess.

“Do you have a name?”

“Do you eat?”

“Do you take a bath?”

I asked many questions, and the Doll would either shake or nod its head to answer my questions.

I didn’t know how long I talked to the doll, but it was cut when Joanne opened her eyes and looked at me with a confused look on her face.

Even her confused face looked cute. If not for the fact that I was scared that she might get angry at me, I might have pinched her cheek to feel just how soft it was.

“Ah… that’s right, I was sent to the past with that fool,” Joanne muttered.

While Joanne was still in a daze, I decided to greet her good morning, which I hadn’t said for a long time.

“Good morning, Joanne,” I said with a smile.

“Mmm, good morning,” Joanne replied. “Prepare my bath, and make sure to heat up the water a bit. Also, I like to eat fruit for breakfast. If you don’t have fruit, porridge and milk will do. Make sure that the milk comes from the finest cows. That’s all, you may now go to work.”

‘… Did she just order me as if I was her maid?’ I thought as I gazed at the girl who was rubbing her eye with her hand.

But after thinking about it, I think it would be fun to have a change of pace!

Getting out of the bed, I headed to the bathroom and drained the water from the small pool that served as my bathtub.

After that, I refilled it with water and dropped a fireball in it in order to warm it up.

My specialty was Ice Magic, but I didn’t have any problem using other elements. The only downside was that it took me more effort to use them compared to using Ice Magic.

Perhaps sensing that the bath was ready, Joanne entered the bathroom and raised her hand.

“Okay. Undress me and make sure to wash my clothes later.”

‘…This girl.’

However, being the timid person that I was, I felt a little intimidated, so I decided to do as she said.

After removing her clothes, I couldn’t help but gaze at her pale white skin. It was a stark contrast to my sun-kissed skin, which Ethan said made me look healthy and energetic.

Joanne then dipped her small foot in the pool as if testing if the temperature was right.

A look of satisfaction appeared on her face before she entered it to soak her body.

A sigh escaped her lips, which made me wonder if it really felt that good.

I didn’t usually use magic to heat the water because it didn’t matter to me that the water was cold.

As someone who specialized in Ice Magic, I had very high resistance to coldness. Even if I jumped into freezing waters, I would be just fine.

“Hey, what are you waiting for?” Joanne asked after a minute had passed. “Aren’t you going to join me? The pool is big enough for the two of us.”

“C-Can I join you as well?” I asked half in doubt and half hoping that she wasn’t just teasing me.

“Why not?” Joanne asked. “Ah, but make sure to wash yourself first with water before you join me. It is common etiquette to do that.”

‘Is it really common etiquette?’ I mused because that was the first time I was hearing such a thing. But, since she sounded confident with her words, I decided to just trust her.

I carefully removed my clothes and folded them neatly before placing them in the basket where I usually put my clothes.

After that, I used water magic just like Joanne did to wash my body before entering the pool with her.

This was the first time I experienced bathing with someone else, and for some reason, I felt quite happy about it.

“Hey, do you really like that guy?” Joanne asked.

“That guy?” I asked back while tilting my head to the side. “Who are you referring to?”

“Ethan.”

“W-Why are you suddenly asking me something like this?!”

“It’s because you’re like an open book,” Joanne replied. “I don’t really understand what is so good about him, so why don’t you tell me what you like about him? Who knows? If you cooperate with me, I might just help you, you know?”

Joanne’s words were like the sweet whisper of a devil, promising to give me what I wanted in exchange for entertainment.

Yes.

Entertainment.

I could tell with a glance that she was just teasing me, but talking to her made me wish that I was as confident and as bold as her.

Joanne was a girl who had a very strong presence. She always seemed to look down on everyone and didn’t treat anyone as her equal.

A part of me wished to gain a fraction of her boldness and courage, so I decided to take that step and answer her question even though I knew that she was just using my embarrassment for the purpose of her own entertainment.

“I guess I fell in love with Ethan after he saved me from the Sorcerers who were sent to kill me,” I replied. “He was brave, powerful, and kind enough to help a complete stranger. I think those qualities of him make him very charming in my eyes.”

“Heh, so he looked like a prince charming in your eyes, right?” Joanne inquired. “Like those heroes written in Fairy Tales when they came to rescue the princess from the Evil Wizard or Dragon.”

“Fairy Tales?” I pondered. “Are you referring to Folk Tales?”

“Something like that.” Joanne nodded. “So, you and your people call him Tidebringer, right? How about you tell me what this Tidebringer can do and why he is considered a Deity in the Lands of Alastor.”

“Very well, I will tell you everything I know about the Tidebringer,” I said with confidence.

Ever since I met Ethan, I had searched the library for any information about the Tidebringer.

I was confident that I had memorized everything that was written there, and so, I began to tell her the story about the benevolent Deity who had come from the sea and treated the Lands of Alastor as his home for a few hundred years.

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A/N: Third Bonus Chapter will be posted tomorrow. I got carried away binge watching an anime series.