At the mansion of Duke Felix on the outskirts of the royal capital.
The balcony on the north side of the mansion—this spot overlooking the garden is the very place where Duke Felix and I practice our skills.
"Nnnnghhh..."
I was giving it my all.
I was supposed to possess an otherworlder's unique skill called 〈Mind Control〉. To make it my own, I was training hard again today.
The grunting was just me putting in effort. I hadn't been told to do so, but in my desperate hope that it might help, I kept at it.
"Fly."
All I got out of it was weird sweat—nothing worked. The rabbit in front of me remained completely unaffected, not reacting in the slightest.
"Since Nao is here today, why not try ordering it to obey her?"
"Yeah, that might work."
That's right—Nao was here today. She hadn't been specifically invited, but I figured staying cooped up in her room all the time wasn't good for her, so I brought her along.
"You... called me?"
Peeking out from behind a pillar, Nao showed only half her face. She'd met Duke Felix a few times before, but she still kept her distance like this.
Of course, she wasn't just wearing my dress shirt with only underwear on the bottom—that was strictly an in-room thing. Right now, she was dressed in a frilly camisole-like top and a skirt I'd bought for her.
Well, it's usually just me and Duke Felix here. Maybe if I tried using my skill with Nao involved… it could work.
"Nao, come here for a sec."
Nao walked over and gripped my arm, positioning herself so that Duke Felix was hidden from her view.
Was she really that uncomfortable around the Duke? Was his stiff, well-groomed beard scary to her?
Actually, now that I thought about it, Nao had always been like that with everyone. Even in class, I'd never seen her talking to anyone.
"Nao, you know about my skill, right?"
"Uh-huh, the one where you control people, right?"
"Yeah. I'm gonna order this rabbit to 'obey Nao,' so afterward, can you try giving it a command?"
"Okay."
After watching Nao nod, I focused on the rabbit in front of me.
"Obey Nao."
Honestly, I didn't feel anything special, but apparently, this was how it was supposed to work.
"Mr. Bunny, go 'hop.'"
Hop? That's kind of a cute way to say it. And would a rabbit even understand what "hop" meant?
But just as I was thinking that, the rabbit in question did hop—straight onto Nao's face.
"Eek! Sh-Shimojou! I can't see!"
The rabbit clung to Nao's head.
"Nao, it's a rabbit! Get it off!"
"Mr. Bunny, get off..."
She was telling it to leave, but the rabbit wasn't listening at all.
It obeyed earlier, though…? Wait—
"This is..."
"A coincidence, it seems."
My Takumilders slumped. Just when I thought it had worked, it turned out the rabbit hopping earlier must've been random.
Flustered, Nao staggered out of the room. She couldn't see in front of her because of the rabbit, but forcing it off felt too cruel… Her conflicted hesitation made her steps unsteady.
Takumild I help her? But this is kind of funny… Maybe I'll watch a little longer—
"...Takumi."
Duke Felix glanced around, confirmed no one was nearby, then whispered to me.
"I heard the hero's mansion was burned down."
"Ah, that incident. Yeah, it was set on fire..."
"Wasn't Nao living there?"
The Duke's gaze sharpened. Did he think Tsugumi had tried to burn Nao alive?
"We didn't go that far. But Nao did put up quite a fight."
"Can you blame her? For someone with no place to belong, that mansion was her lifeline. To burn it down without permission, then suppress her when she resisted… Is this what the new regime stands for? Sacrificing the hearts of comrades to push forward with politics? If so, then I—"
The Duke clenched his fist, trembling.
Was this anger?
"Duke, you're awfully sympathetic toward Nao. No offense, but I'm surprised. You two never seemed that close."
"Takumi, I know full well how corrupt the nobles and royals of this country were. Their exile was their own doing, and I have no complaints about that. And as for me, who couldn't stand against them—I, too, share the blame. I won't raise my voice about my current treatment."
Duke Felix was no longer a duke. Stripped of his privileges and barred from political influence, his position was a far cry from what it once was.
It must've been painful for him. But his guilt was what kept him enduring.
"I never married, but if I had a daughter, she'd likely be around Nao's age. That's why… seeing her suffer is unbearable for me."
Pretty sure Nao's older than you think, but I won't bring that up.
"Thank you, Duke. I'll take care of Nao from now on, so don't worry."
"Hmm. Then I can rest easy, knowing she's in your hands."
The Duke smiled.
"Duke Felix."
A young female soldier approached.
The Duke was an important figure—the de facto leader of the remaining moderate nobles. Soldiers like her, ostensibly his "guards," were actually Tsugumi's watchers, keeping him under constant surveillance.
"Ah, it's you. What became of that stray cat?"
"Thanks to you, we found its owner."
"Hahaha, splendid! It feels good to do a good deed."
"I misjudged you, Duke. I never expected you to go out of your way to help a dirty little cat like that..."
Huh?
These two were… talking normally? I'd assumed the relationship between the Duke and Tsugumi's faction would be way more tense.
Guess Duke Felix's charisma won even one of Tsugumi's people over.
…Or maybe that's too cynical. Maybe she just needed someone to talk to.
Either way, this was a good sign.
Maybe someday, even Tsugumi and I could reach an understanding through dialogue.
With that thought in mind, I headed toward Nao, who was flusteredly playing with the rabbit in the grass.
=====================
🚀 Want Early Access to More Chapters?
Enjoying the story so far? You can read 50+ chapters ahead by joining our membership!
✨ Exclusive access to 50 upcoming chapters
✨ Read ahead without waiting for daily updates
✨ Support the author to keep creating amazing content
Hurry, join now and enjoy unlimited reading!
🔗 patreon.com/ShirooYuki
Free readers—don't worry! Daily updates will still be posted. But members get the ultimate VIP experience! 😉