Alright~ what will happen to Lily and Yugo’s relationship? Enjoy this chapter!
TL: clover
ED: clover
"……you still have that cat, huh. Lily, haven't you think of throwing it away?"
"No."
Since I started keeping Noel, Yugo-niisama always caught up with me and told me to throw Noel away every time.
As expected my older brother's attitude remained unchanged. Rather, I feel like he's becoming even more stubborn.
It seems a long time ago since my relationship with Yugo-niisama was not like this. It feels that way.
I returned to my room while sighing. Noel was staying obediently in my room, lying on the carpet.
"Noel. Let's go to the orphanage."
"Mrreow."
Noel got up quickly when I told him so. Then, he walked up to my feet with his tail straight up.
Since then, Noel is completely attached to me. He is surprisingly docile and is smarter than I thought, apart from Yugo-niisama, everyone accepted Noel in the blink of an eye.
They said something like: "It is ugly, but it is a smart child, well, I think it's fine."
Noel is a cat that does not bother anybody and usually stays in my room.
That being the case, it seems that they don't have any problem with me keeping him.
The one that surprised me the most was Victor-niisama.
When I reported to him that I had decided to keep noel, I was prepared to be told various things, but my eldest brother allowed me to keep it just by saying, "I see."
Not only that, but according to the reports from Luke, it seems that he gives treats to Noel occasionally.
I can tell that Victor-niisama is a really kind person, recently, I think this kind of thing is becoming more common.
Since Victor-niisama is at the castle during the day, there are very few people inside the mansion. My father and mother who had retired are in the mansion. And then, there is Yugo-niisama.
Even if my parents allowed me to keep the cat, Yugo-niisama has a problem with it.
Currently, I go to the orphanage almost every day. I don't want to think like this, but when I thought that Noel is going to be thrown away during that time, as expected I became worried, and in the end, I decided to bring Noel along to the orphanage with me.
When I first took Noel to the orphanage, although I thought about going home as soon as the others show signs of being troubled by Noel, the children quickly took a liking to Noel.
"What's with this ugly cat. Is this Onee-chan's cat?"
"Ahahaha! So ugly! It has short feet~! Flat nose~! How funny~! I’m going to play with it~!"
"That's unfair! It's going to play with me!"
"……it's fine if you want to play with him, but don't pick on him, okay?"
"Ye~s!"
Although I watched the children closely the first time they play with him, they didn't seem to abuse Noel, and it seemed they were getting along with each other. Also, I discovered that Chloe likes big cats. When she saw Noel, she raised a shrill voice, "Cute!!" and hugged Noel.
I felt extremely pleased for a moment that, for the first time ever, Noel was called cute and the one who said it was by my friend.
"What is this, this child, is so cute!"
"Right? But strangely, everyone says that he's ugly. He's just a little different from other cats."
"It is unusual for cats to have short legs, but that makes him even cuter! He has a long body~ so cute~ hey, can I brush him? I want to clean his white fur."
"That's fine. Since I brought the brush, use that one……but, I'm glad. That you accepted him, I mean. I was wondering if I shouldn't have brought him along. But, if I leave him in the mansion, I feel like my older brother is going to throw him away……"
When I told her the truth, Chloe's eyebrows furrowed in anger.
"Throw him away? This cute child? Absolutely not! This child is a really good child, so you can bring him here every day. Right, everyone?"
"Yup!"
"It's fine!"
"Noel is a good child!"
With that, Noel was accepted by everyone in the orphanage, so I brought Noel along without any worry from then on.
Noel is a really smart cat; he never approaches places that he shouldn't go and he will be quiet when there is a serious talk. Because he never acts violently or bites the children, although they ridicule him as ugly, he is very popular among the children.
I kept living like that, and then one night, when I was playing with Noel in my room, I heard a knock. Luke went to check it immediately. Luke who had confirmed the person outside came to me with a difficult expression.
"……Milady, it's Yugo-sama. What do you want me to do about him?"
"Ah, Nii-sama? ……please send him in."
"You don't mind it?"
"If he has something he wanted to talk about, I will listen to him. It's true that I think it will not be good if things continue as is."
Since there is an opportunity, I want to talk and improve my relationship with him. Even if we won't go back to how we used to, I would like for us to return to a relationship where we don't avoid each other at the very least.
"I understand."
Luke who heard my determination decided to open the door.
Yugo-niisama came into my room with a complicated expression. He has something like a package in his hand.
"Lily, it has been a while……ukh!"
My older brother who looked at my face, after seeing Noel who was playing with the cat toy, stiffened his expression.
"……it seems this is not a situation where you can talk freely."
"N-no, wait. I……I can't leave like this."
"Nii-sama?"
While tilting my head to his voice that was different from usual, I gestured to the sofa in my main room to my older brother.
As my brother sat on the sofa while maintaining vigilance toward Noel, he handed over the package in his hand to me.
"? What's this?"
"It's fine, I want you to open it."
"……okay."
While I was wondering what it was, I opened the package. Inside, there was something that seemed to be a snack for cats.
"……Nii-sama?"
"……I ordered the chef to make it, so I think that there is nothing dangerous in it."
Well, I certainly care about that, but that's not what I meant.
"Why would Nii-sama bring a snack for Noel?"
"……why don't you give it to that cat?"
"……Noel."
I thought that he wouldn't talk if we keep going like this, so I called Noel. Perhaps Noel recognizes his name properly, but he always comes up to me precisely when I call him.
Even now, he was in a place that was a bit far away, but when I called him, he came to me obediently.
"……this is from Yugo-niisama. You can eat it."
For a moment, I suspected that Yugo-niisama added strange things inside it. However, I felt like I had to believe him somehow.
So, I decided to believe in my older brother.
—It's alright. I'm sure my older brother will not do sneaky things.
Noel started to eat the snacks he got deliciously. As far as I can see, there are no strange things in it. If it is Noel, I think that he will spit it out as soon as he tastes something strange.
"……that's good."
"……even if I look at it again like this, as expected, this guy is still ugly."
"……did you come here to pick a fight with me?"
Hearing his muttered remark, I retorted in reflex. Sensing my biting words, my older brother gave me a bitter smile.
"Ah, sorry. No. That's not it……how should I say this. Ever since you told me that you hated me, I thought about various things. And then, I observed the cat from a distance away."
"You were doing such a thing? ……Noel is ugly, right? I think it's no use even if Onii-sama observed him, because you are not interested in things that are not beautiful."
I thought that I hadn't seen my older brother's figure for quite some time, but it seems that he was actually observing us from a hidden place. While I was amazed, my older brother said with a bewildered expression.
"It's strange. As you may have thought, I don't think things that are not beautiful have any worth. That still hasn't changed. But, and this is strange even if I say so myself, I realized that there are times when it looks cute even when it should be ugly."
"……Nii-sama?"
"When it's trying hard to keep up with your stride. And then, when it is eating deliciously just like right now. Although it is true that I think it is ugly, though it doesn't change that feeling, sometimes there are times when it looks strangely cute. What's wrong with me? Damnit, I wonder if my aesthetic sense is getting weird……"
My older brother lamented with a crying voice. I stared at him who was like that.
—My brother who never accepts anything but beautiful things, has acknowledged Noel?
That's impossible—that's what I wanted to think, but since I heard what my brother said directly, I can only believe it.
"……Nii-sama, do you think that Noel is cute?"
"I don't think so, okay!?"
"……right."
"It's true! Because, it is ugly no matter how you see it! You also think so, right? This guy is ugly, see?"
"……I think Noel is very cute."
Even if it can be said that it's just my desire as his owner, I asserted that Noel is cute.
When I said it clearly, my older brother scrunched up his face.
"You……have your taste gotten worse?"
"Shut up, what's wrong with saying that my own pet is cute?"
When I flatly denied it, my brother looked at Noel with a complicated expression. Noel continued eating with all his might without minding my older brother.
While watching Noel who was like that, my brother said.
"I don't want to recognize anything other than beautiful things. That's what I said earlier. But, I will stop rejecting this guy just because of my own selfish feelings. It's frustrating, but it is true that there are occasions when it looks cute and I feel like I knew my aesthetic sense is not the same with other people's."
"Nii-sama……"
I stared at my older brother in amazement. It was awkward, but my brother was undoubtedly smiling.
"……even if something is ugly, there are occasions when it can be cute. I thought that if something is ugly, then that's that. From now on, I will not keep things away just based on my own taste, I will draw my own conclusion after observing things properly……Lily, I'm sorry for telling you to throw away something that you think is cute. I apologize……um, is it okay for me to come once in a while to feed this guy?"
"Yes, Yugo-nii-sama. Of course."
I was pleased that my older brother has accepted Noel and made a compromise.
We conversed idly while watching Noel finishes eating his meal.
Next chapter will be in Yugo’s POV!