TYHL SSS 04 🍷💫

~Special Side Story 4~

‘That Khalid bastard.’

Suddenly, I’m pissed off.

You made our fairy look so gloomy?

I should drag you here right now, tie you to a chair, and teach you the bitter taste of life—

“No, no.”

Liam shook his head.

‘If that idiot keeps digging his own grave and ends up getting dumped by our drinking fairy, wouldn’t that actually be a fine scenario?’

No matter how much he thought about it, Liam couldn’t understand the usefulness of marriage.

Marriage was nothing but a shackle. If you liked someone, dating was enough.

Building a new nest only meant more roles and responsibilities.

Well, he himself had the duty to produce an heir as the next head of the Zebert duchy, so someday he would probably enter a political marriage with a suitable noble lady.

But the youngest fairy didn’t have such obligations, did she?

‘It’d be nice if she could just stay somewhere familiar and comfortable… without any responsibility or pressure.’

From a very young age, she had solved far too many things on her own. Liam had always wanted his little sister to be as free as a bird.

“Hm. Still… maybe it wouldn’t be bad if that Kal guy did something big around now.”

“Pardon? What do you mean? Oh, right. By the way, Young Master—did Sir Khalid’s new monster trap show any results?”

‘But honestly…’

Liam clicked his tongue. The servant seemed to be saying something, but it didn’t reach him.

‘There’s a high chance they’ll make up on their own.’

Inductively speaking, that was likely.

No matter how he looked, Khalid never did anything that truly disappointed Rubian.

“The Imperial Research Institute has high expectations. A trap that reduces the attack power of mental-type monsters is unprecedented—Young Master? Young Mas—ah, he’s off in another world again.”

Sure enough, once Khalid saw Rubian completely wilted, he’d probably break down and spill his true feelings from top to bottom.

Then they’d reconcile.

‘I can already see it.’

Tch.

Still, some harsh mental training felt necessary, so he was halfway through picking out a chair suitable for tickle-torture—

When suddenly.

“Young Master Liam! This is bad! The monster trap Sir Khalid was carrying caused a serious incident—!”

“Huh?”

To think he’d actually end up messing with that guy’s mind……

He never imagined that.

I ran as fast as I could.

“Kal!”

Where did everything go wrong?

Was it when I foolishly drank with my brothers and caused trouble?

When I fell into the lake and caught a terrible cold?

Or when I slept like a sick chicken and neglected keeping in touch with Khalid?

‘All of it!’

If even one of those things hadn’t happened……

Kal wouldn’t have rushed back after hearing I was bedridden—

And gotten into an accident.

“Khalid!”

I threw the door open.

“Are you okay?!”

The man sitting on the bed receiving treatment turned his head.

His appearance was—

Fine!

A wave of relief crashed over me.

“Waaah, falling into your own monster trap… what kind of Void-brother nonsense is this—”

“Ruby, calm down. Kal is fine. His… body, at least.”

Mom patted me gently.

The entire family was gathered in the bedroom.

Dad let out a deep sigh. Void and Grandpa looked oddly spaced out.

Liam, though—

‘Why is he facing the wall?’

Anyway, I quickly checked Khalid’s complexion.

Actually, Khalid had been staring at me quietly since the moment I entered.

‘What’s with that expression? Is he angry at me?’

Still, just like Mom said, he didn’t seem physically injured. Thank goodness.

“I was really worried…”

Just as I reached my hand toward Khalid—

“Goodness! Our precious princess!”

“Allen… sir?”

Allen suddenly cut in.

“Young Lady, your face has shrunk in half! Are you feeling better now?”

“Yes, I’m fine. More importantly, I need to talk to Kal—”

“Oh! Don’t worry! This brat— I mean. Our Marquis is perfectly fine! Do you know how hard it is to injure that steel-like body? Hahahahaha!”

At that moment, I thought I heard Kal mutter, “…Marquis?” but I wasn’t sure.

“Ah, yes, yes. But could you step aside? I really need to talk to Kal—”

“But how is your cold?”

Allen, you’re annoying!

“I’m fine. I just took my medicine.”

‘Huh?’

Now that I think about it—

The medicine I took earlier tasted a little different than usual.

Allen scratched the back of his head with an awkward look.

“Well… if that foolish guy knew, he would’ve danced with joy.”

“…That foolish guy?”

Then what about this guy here?

The nuance felt strange.

‘Come to think of it, didn’t Mom say Khalid’s body “was” fine earlier…?’

No way—

A strong premonition hit me.

Khalid, physically fine.

Liam sitting in the thinking chair.

Ahem! Cough! Hack!
The family staring off into distant mountains while coughing nonstop……

I slowly pushed past Allen and walked toward Khalid.

His sunken gray-blue eyes followed me relentlessly.

“Ka—Kal? Why are you looking at me like that?”

As if possessed, I grabbed his arm.

Smack!

My hand was roughly knocked away.

“……!”

“Oh dear.”

“Oh no.”

“Haa……”

“Well done.”

Various reactions erupted.

And Khalid spoke to me in a cold voice I had never heard before.

“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t touch someone else’s body so casually.”

Wow.

This is—

“You.”

“……”

“Do you know who I am?”

So it really came to this?!

“Of course you know me! Would I come running in screaming your name if I didn’t?! Damn it, Brother Liam!”

“I’m already being punished, fairy.”

“You gave Khalid something weird to eat?!”

“No. He was the one who asked for every monster trap available. Said once he’s married, he wants to completely wipe out monster-hunting opportunities……”

Ha! So sweet!

But—

The result is not sweet!

Khalid’s pretty eyes were tightly furrowed as he looked at me. The face of someone deeply uncomfortable.

“Ruby, what are you looking for?”

“A squeaky hammer!”

Classic amnesia rules!

If I bonk his head, won’t he recover?

Khalid couldn’t understand the current situation.

‘I was clearly… on my way to chop firewood.’

So why did he wake up in such a grand noble residence?

On top of that, someone had called him a “Marquis.” He assumed it was a mistake.

‘I don’t understand anything.’

And that wasn’t all.

His body was bigger and sturdier than he remembered.

The constant aches from being beaten by mercenaries every day were gone. Instead, energy surged through him, his blood burning hot.

“Wow… this situation is seriously hopeless.”

“……”

Especially when he saw that silver-haired woman.

“So Khalid went to pick Flamegrass as soon as he heard I fell into the Ice Lake?”

“Well, yeah.”

The man called Allen casually chewed ice as he answered.

“But… isn’t that insanely hard to get?”

“They say you can find it near Ahela? He happened to read about it somewhere.”

“That’s a volcanic zone full of monsters! And it’s ridiculously far—don’t tell me he went again?”

“Well, he’s got nothing but mana to spare. So yeah.”

The silver-haired woman groaned and buried her face into the cushion she’d been tearing apart.

Her small face disappeared completely.

“Is he stupid? Over a simple cold…”

Was she crying?

For some reason, Khalid felt his heart drop heavily. He couldn’t look away.

“So that’s when he misused the monster trap.”

“Ah. More precisely, the trap he was carrying exploded.”

“…?”

“New model, apparently? Hahahaha!”

At Allen’s words, the bespectacled man sitting far away flinched and muttered gloomily.

“Thanks to that, we learned the new trap is weak against extreme heat.”

“Liam~?”

Khalid was startled.

The moment the pink-haired woman said that name, everyone in the room tensed up.

She had been smiling gently the whole time, so he hadn’t noticed.

“Mom told you again and again not to give untested toys to others, right?”

“But Khalid took it first, and he added lava topping to my monster trap without consulting me—”

“Liam Zebert~?”

Cold.

Isn’t it summer?

Why is it cold?

‘…Is she the strongest here?’

Seems like it.

“So what’s the treatment?”

At that moment, the black-haired man who had stayed silent crossed his legs and asked. Despite being the strongest’s husband, his posture was awfully relaxed.

“That’s actually complicated.”

Liam adjusted his glasses.

“Originally, this trap was meant to dominate a monster’s mind, scramble its memories, and reduce its attack power. During direct testing, there was only one monster species that resisted it—”