A Ripple of Heart after a Smugface Appreciation Party
The videos of countless smug faces were being played repeatedly and endlessly.
I continued watching all the time without getting tired of this endlessness.
I have even started thinking that it may be good to stay in this mysterious space until Kuti returns.
The videos of smug faces seem to have started surrounding me in a dome shape.
It became semicircle as I’m watching while laying down on the floor.
I wonder if it will make a full 360-degree sphere if I stood up?
Without any intention to stand up, I continued watching smug faces while thinking such.
Just how much time has passed while looking at smug faces?
My consciousness began to gradually fade away, and when I tsukkomi’d the slightly annoying smug face in a happy mood, my consciousness was swallowed by darkness.
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When I woke up, it was noisy for some reason.
“Is Randolph-sama still not here!?”
“Elliana-sama, please calm down! Randolph-sama will arrive very soon.”
“Ah…… quickly…… quickly…… Lily is…… Lily is……!”
Ena has unusually lost her composure.
Her first voice I heard was close to a yell and what I heard after that was obviously crying.
Just what is happening…… it’s my first time seeing Ena like that……
I slightly stick my head out from above the baby crib’s fence and timidly look at the shaken up Ena.
At that moment, I matched my eyes with a fascinating person with wonderful equipment.
The moment our eyes met.
“Elliana-sama! Ojousama has-!”
The person pointed at me and shouted.
I was more surprised by Ena’s instant hug rather than being pointed a finger at or the person’s shout.
It should be about 3 meters from the door to the baby crib, yet she was hugging me in a blink of an eye.
“Ah…… I’m glad…… sniff…… I’m glad……”
“I’m really glad…… Ojousama.”
Because I was embraced with moderate strength, I wasn’t in any pain, but Ena was crying.
The person with wonderful equipment (bunny ears) at the door also wiped the corners of her eyes.
I don’t really understand what has happened, but I decided not to do anything and wait until Ena stopped crying.
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Ena was still holding me and crying when doctor Randolph arrived.
The old man was quite out of breath, he was wildly gasping for breath.
It feels like he has run over here with all his might…… what a lively old man……
While thinking such, the old man entered the room.
“Haa, haa…… Elliana…… haa…… I heard that…… haa…… Lilianne girl’s consciousness has returned, but……”
“…… Sniff…… uu…… I, I’m sorry, Randolph-sama……”
When the old man asked a question to Ena who was still crying――rather, Ena’s face is now full of embarrassment because of all the sniffling.
The old man continues the talk without minding Ena’s embarrassment.
“Haa, haa…… no, it’s fine…… anyway, her consciousness returned?”
“Yes……”
“I see…… Haa, I’m tired as expected.”
It looks like I was in a coma?
From their conversation, it looks like my consciousness has not returned for a while, so they quickly called for the old man.
But, when the old man rushed over, my consciousness has returned, and Ena was crying from happiness.
After confirming from Ena that my consciousness has returned, the old man sat down on the soft carpet with a thud.
Even though his back muscles may be strong, running must have been difficult for the old man.
I have to show my gratitude towards the old man who literally came running over…… much thanks, much thanks.
It took quite a while until the two returned to normal, but the tense mood around the room disappeared, and a comfortable mood started flowing instead.
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“Fumu…… She doesn’t show any symptoms of illness……”
“D, does that mean that you don’t know why she lost her consciousness!?”
After being variously examined, the old man gave his results.
Ena who couldn’t accept that became slightly hysteric.
She drew closer to the old man with an unusually raised voice.
“Please calm down, Elliana-dono. I won’t understand the cause even if you get noisy, you know?”
“…… I’m sorry……”
“It’s fine, it’s fine, I understand that you are considerate of Lilianne girl. Besides…… Right now, you look more haggard than a sick person.”
Pacified by the composed old man, Ena bows her head apologetically.
The old man calmly and gently speaks to Ena.
Ena who stopped crying looks thinner than yesterday.
As the old man said, the sick one here is obviously Ena.
But, it seems that she was worried about me rather than about her own health, I heard the old man tell her to sit and rest.
It appears that I have lost my consciousness for more than a half day.
Ena who brought me breakfast thought that I went back to sleep so she put the food aside, not wanting to forcibly wake me up and she let me sleep like that.
She thought that it’s strange that I have not woken up for lunch, but the same thing happened when I had a fever, I apparently woke up after 1, 2 halls that time.
Speaking frankly, I don’t remember that.
She has measured my heat by matching her forehead on my forehead to see if I caught a fever, but there was no abnormality.
It seems she has requested the old man’s examination just in case, but he could come only in the evening because he was busier than usual.
When it became evening and I still have not awakened, Ena became panicked from waiting so few servants hurried and dragged the old man here.
I think it’s only natural that he can’t find the cause, but Ena can’t seem to accept that.
She lowered her head and asked him to examine me once more.
The old man accepted Ena’s plea and started examining me again.
But, the result was the same.
Because the cause was left unidentified, he has decided to come again to examine me tomorrow in the morning.
Theo and Ellie who returned from the school heard the situation from the exhausted Ena in the room.
The person with the wonderful equipment (bunny ears) stood by at the door until Theo and Ellie came, but she has closed the door shut when the two entered.
I was slightly disappointed, but I’m worried about the exhausted Ena so it’s not the time for the wonderful world.
The exhausted Ena is sitting now on the bed, but she’s obviously worn out.
Because Ena wasn’t like this yesterday, she became like that just in one day.
It looks I made her extremely worried……
But, it’s also a fact that I did not expect to be comatose for half a day.
The cause is…… The mysterious space and the Smugface appreciation party.
It looks like I can’t be woken up when in that mysterious space just like in a comatose state.
I thought it would be a dream-like state, but it appears to be different.
I did remember it too clearly for it to be a dream, but I did not care too much about it before because I thought I was lucid dreaming for the first time.
In fact, I immediately stopped worrying about it last time as I was convinced it was just a dream.
But this time, I clearly remember wanting to see Kuti’s smug face.
It’s too strange of a dream for it to be a dream.
And the time I spend in that mysterious space and the coma should be relatively the same.
I didn’t measure it precisely, but it feels that way.
I believed these intuitions a lot, there were times when it was actually useful in my previous life.
Therefore, it can be said that the cause of the coma is linked to the mysterious space.
Because it’s very likely, it’s necessary to devise measures, so something like this does not happen again.
But, I can think only of relatively simple measures.
The first one, shorten the time of stay in the mysterious space.
The second one, don’t go to the mysterious space.
That’s all.
The former, it’s unknown how to shorten the time of stay.
The latter, it goes without saying that I don’t know how to enter the mysterious space in the first place.
In the end, my measures can’t be said to be measures.
While racking my brains about what to do, Ena gently stroked my head.
“I’m so sorry, Lily, Theo, Ellie…… and thank you.”
Ena says something strange with a gentle smile.
What does she mean?
As if speaking my mind out, Ellie asks.
“Ena…… why are you apologizing? Why are you thanking us?”
“…… That is you see, right now, Lily is very worried about me.”
“Yeah…… Lily is very worried…… of course, we are worried as well!”
Theo undauntedly replies to Ena who is overflowing with affection.
Ena continues with a smile that slightly blurred.
“My role is as Lily’s nanny and your Oneesan…… I shouldn’t be making you guys worry…… therefore, I’m sorry. And, for properly regaining your consciousness and returning to us…… thank you……. Because that person and that child have not returned……”
That person…… that child……?
Ena’s vanishing voice that had to be squeezed faded and another voice followed after.
“That’s…… Ena’s…… baby’s……”
Ellie squeezed out words with a vanishing voice, but she couldn’t finish her last words.
Ena’s…… baby……
Indeed, Ena’s a nanny, her job was to give me mother’s milk in Claire’s stead.
But, thinking about it, it’s easy to understand.
The fact that breast milk comes out means that there’s a high possibility of a child that it was intended for.
And yet, Ena was by my side.
If there’s a child, a marriage would also be normal.
But, she has constantly been by my side for a year and a half.
Normally, we should be brought up as foster siblings.
But, such existence has not been brought along even once.
In other words……
“…… I have told you about that person, the 2nd Knight Order took on many dangerous missions…… It was inevitable.”
Quietly closing her eyes as if recalling something, she squeezes her voice out, as if already accepted of what has occurred.
2nd Knight Order…… Claire has said something about Knights before, but the person considered as Ena’s husband or something belonged to them……
From her story, it seems that they had undergone many dangerous missions, and she was most likely prepared for it……
“…… My child…… so you guys knew…… yes…… my baby couldn’t be born. But, I was able to meet Lily instead. And…… Lily has properly returned back to us. Therefore, I’m all right.”
The story quietly told with a gentle and unchanging voice spread a quiet ripples to the depths of my heart.