Masters, Are You Going To Imprison My Sister?

“Get your dirty hands away from me.”

Wow.

With a loud slap of his hand, my hand that was outstretched towards him – extended half out of manner and half out of asking for forgiveness – bounced to the side.

Jerk. Asshole… But since I’m the one in the wrong today, I’ll let it slide.

“Young Master, are you okay…? I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to – I lost my balance… Is your head okay?”

It shouldn’t be bad to search him for injuries just in case.

He held his head in one hand and looked uncomfortable. My hand that was reaching out to Arthur bounced off as if blocked by a shield. Of course, this guy doesn’t really have a shield realistically speaking, and it’s just that his way of hitting my hand away is that of a shield.

“Some strange headband fell off…”

Seeing Arthur’s grim expression on his face, my heart raced like crazy. Are you truly offended this time? A cold sweat began to trickle down my back. My chest, which had been relaxed not even a minute ago, tightened again.

This world is not Korea. It is not a democratic society. This is a country where there is a class system and noble authority. What would happen if the commoners at the bottom of the hierarchical pyramid laid their hand on the nobles even in the slightest, who were basically at the top of the food chain? I felt my throat tighten. My neck might end up like the carrots cut into small pieces on a chopping board to be used as ingredients for fried rice.

Badum-Badum-Badum.

Voila, beautiful Yuria, look at this. Your little sister has become a fried rice ingredient! The belligerent man smiled broadly as he displayed the fried rice me.

…Layla, what a terrible imagination! That dog-like bastard is annoying even in my imagination. Cough-cough, calm down, Layla. Let’s think positively~ Arthur isn’t very good at swordsmanship since he’s trash… Well, anyways!

But instead of cutting my throat, Arthur gave me a cold stroke.

“Get off immediately!”

“Ye-yes, I will get off now.”

Thank you, you bastard. 

I was about to get up, but this time Orange came forward to us, came up to my leg, and rubbed his face.

He was really cute, but he was rather annoying in the current situation. You- you used to avoid me, but why are you doing this now?

“O-Orange, let’s go with Sister…”

Thinking of using him to escape, I reached out to Orange. After some time, I quietly caught Orange.

Maybe it’s because Orange saw my headband and recognized me as a mouse? Wait, were you coming close to eat me?

“Stop for a moment.”

“Ye-Yes? Why?”

“What is that?”

“Ah, this…?”

It’s a cat. Are you angry that a cat entered the mansion? From my vague memory, I think he liked cats… didn’t he? Probably not! There’s no way someone who likes cats could have such a cold face!

“Come here with the cat.”

“Yes!”

…Do you like cats?

Arthur sat with his back against the tree.

I also took the cat and approached him.

“Will he scratch me if I touch him?”

“He doesn’t do it if he likes that person…”

Orange is a little scratchy. I gave him chicken meat one time, but he scratched me before taking it… Arthur stretched out his hand to the cat with a frown on his face.

Orange seemed to have read the atmosphere this time, as he calmly accepted the touch. If he had scratched him, wouldn’t my neck actually be blown away this time?

It felt like Orange liked Arthur. Not only is he accepting his hand, but he is rubbing his cute and lovely head on Arthur’s palm!

Oh, this is discrimination. Did Orange only like bad people? But I’m also a bad person too. 

Huh… or am I looking at it wrong?

“His name is Orange… Did you name him?”

Arthur was smiling. He was a bachelor who only showed a cold expression or a frown his whole life. As he smiled again, I saw he had a pretty face. His hair was also white, so he looked like an angel. Although his eyes were red, it’s a bit of a miss.

“…I didn’t name him, it was the chef.”

Layla, are you crazy? This angel-like person is actually the devil. I need to keep my sister in custody. Arthur quickly returned to his original cold expression.

“Seeing how he has a name, it doesn’t seem like this cat has been here for a short amount of time. Were you hiding the fact that you were keeping this cat from us?”

“……”

“Are you looking down on the duke?”

“No!”

“If my brother found out, the cat and everyone that hid the cat would be kicked out.”

What should I say? Should I sell the chef who found Orange first? Yes, if it comes down to it, let’s do it.

Actually, it wasn’t me, but the chef asked me to raise him. Chase out the chef. Smash his ass!

If the chef had heard my thoughts, he might have been shouting loudly that I was a sissy for doing this to someone who had fed them. But before I could open my mouth, Arthur’s voice stopped me.

“I’ll keep it secret.”

” Yes?”

“Hah… Do I have to say it twice?”

“Oh, no. Thank you for keeping it secret.”

“Instead, bring him whenever I call you.”

Bring? Literally, it’s an embarrassing situation. If I were a cartoon character, my eyeballs would have shot out like bullets.

What kind of bullshit is this? Contrary to my failing heart, I smiled softly and nodded my head.

“…Yes, I will.”

Arthur gave strength to his hand stroking the cat. He handled it so harshly that the cat made a noise of pain.

Is this the second sign of a crazy psychopath?

“Master, I know it’s rude of me, but why don’t you stroke him a little gently…?”

Annoyed eyes scanned my face.

“Th-that’s it because he is still a baby, so he’s very weak. If you stroke him so hard, you might hurt…!”

“I get it, so shut your mouth.”

Surprisingly, his touch has become softer than before. The devilish Arthur and the angel-like cat are a completely incompatible combination.

So, I may have laughed without realizing it. Arthur lifted his head and saw me smiling, then looked back at the cat.

“Are you the younger sister of the maid named Yuria?”

“Huh… Th-that’s right…why…?”

Why would you ask that? What are you trying to do? Seriously! While Arthur was focusing on the cat, I horrendously glared at him.

However, there was no further talk, and time passed quietly. A warm spring breeze gently brushed the flowers in the garden.

Just then, a voice came from behind.

“Arthur, what are you doing here?”

“Brother.”

“Ack…”

The second uninvited guest, Osses, appeared. It was good since it meant he wasn’t attached to my sister, but it was also not good that he appeared here of all places. Startled, I fell forward. I almost would’ve had to rebuild my nose.

“Are you okay, Layla?”

Osses widened his eyes and looked down at me. I replied that I was okay and got up from the position.

“I came to read a book in the garden.”

Now that I look, there is a difficult book that he supposedly brought with him.

Perhaps Arthur was really thinking about keeping Orange secret, as he quickly hid him behind his back.

Surprisingly, Orange kept his mouth shut.

I didn’t think he would do that.

Again, Osses is allergic to cats.

Even that man, who acted like a creepy gentleman, would change his face terribly when he saw a cat.

I’ve never seen it myself, but the chef said so. This was why he was desperately trying to hide Orange. Then what could we do? Orange was roaming the mansion garden at will.

Osses looked at the two of us in turn and made a puzzled expression. It wasn’t a normal combination to be seen together.

Although he may have thought, “I guess it is possible for the sun to rise in the west.” 

“It’s the first time I’ve seen the two of you together. Did you ever become friends without me knowing?”

“Brother, I’m not friends with something like that. Seriously.”

Man~ I don’t want to be treated as friends with you either. If I’m going to be your friend, I’d rather kiss Isley.

Wow. My stomach churns just thinking about it.

As soon as I smiled silently, Osses made an apologetic expression.

He stared at my face, then shifted his gaze upward a little.

“Layla, that headband is so cute.”

“…Thank you…”

“I heard it was a gift from Isley. It suits you perfectly.”

“Yes, the master gave it to me…”

Suits? Suits who? Are you saying I’m a rat? He says things with a nice smile that makes peoples’ hearts flutter, but I know that there is no sincerity in those words.

It’s a lifelong wish, but I want to run away from this place. Because of the appearance of two crazy people, my mental health was being reduced by -1 from before. Did you guys poison me? The mentality that used to be 100 is now 50.

“Achoo!”

Suddenly Osses started sneezing. He hurriedly took his handkerchief from his pocket and covered his mouth and nose. A look of perplexity was evident.

“Sorry, that was rude of me.”

I heard him say, “Why am I like this when there isn’t even a cat around?” I wiped off my cold sweat and jumped up from my seat.

“I think I have work to do! I guess I’ll just have to go. Goodbye both of you and have a nice day…”

“Yes? Already? The two of you seemed to be having a great time talking to…”

Great time talking? It’s not that. Arthur tugged at the hem of my skirt. And with the shape of his mouth, he asks if he should take the cat with him. Well, Orange is okay because he usually goes around well. There’s a reason why he ended up on the garden tree anyway.

Still, I had no choice but to sit back. I couldn’t shake off Arthur’s hand.

I sat there and repeated a sentence in my head, exclaiming, “Mountains are mountains, and water is water.” The two of them talked with me.

I heard roughly that the duchess’ birthday party was just around the corner. Wow, it’s her birthday party soon. There’s nothing quite like a noble’s birthday party. On that day, even the employees can eat as much delicious food as they want.

Instead, as it is a party to celebrate the duchess, many nobles will come. What if I make a mistake? Yep, all kinds of arrogant–

It was then that the word “Yuria” came through my ears. I lifted my head and looked at Osses.

He made eye contact with me, as if a little startled, and then smiled broadly.

“Yes? What did you say?”

“Come to think of it, I was wondering when Yuria’s birthday was.”

“Brother… I don’t think you need to remember that maid’s birthday.”

“It’s the person who cleans my room, and I shouldn’t be ignorant of this.”

I am dissatisfied with the attitude of him saying that which went along with the phrase “a precious maid who cleans my room.”

Are you planning on gifting her a present? I smiled brightly and spit out a lie.

“Ah… My sister’s birthday has already passed. It’s probably April 1st.”

It’s already October. Too much time has passed for him to do anything.

“Then what about Layla?”

“…Me…?”

I don’t know why you asked about my birthday, but I roughly told the truth.

When Osses heard that my birthday was November 7th, he nodded his head, greeted us, and left. Arthur and I sighed in relief as we looked at his back.

“Take it away now.”

Arthur threw the cat at me. He really doesn’t know how to respect animals. For a long time, I stared at the back of his head as he walked away.

-To be continued