Straf is only mildly surprised, while Cycelia is almost panicking. Millie begins to cough, agitated by the sudden request. She shakes her head, waves her hand and covers her mouth while coughing without a sign of relief, tears appear in the corners of her eyes due to discomfort.

「Kowtow, huh… And what would I get out of that?」

「You're actually considering it!?」

Cycelia's head snaps towards Straf with huge eyes. Louche lifts his head up to look at Straf.

「If you would take her hand, you'd get claims on a rich region of this kingdom.」

「Louche! Stop it!」

Millie manages to stop her coughing fit and take a breath. She immediately uses it on a simple command, before coughing again.

「Millie! I can't think of a better way! If a kind and strong man like Straf would marry you, he could keep you safe and provide for you! I can't be the only one there for you!」

「Louche… Stop causing… Trouble for others…」

She says with a strained voice, pausing between words to catch her breath. Cycelia's eyes jump between everyone in the room at random, her lips pressed tightly together resulting in a very unnerved expression.

「Buddy, I can get the whole kingdom without sweating much. How old is your sister, anyway? You barely look like an adult yourself.」

Straf asks, glancing at Millie and Louche intermittently.

「She's 16, but-」

「Woaaaaaah!」

Straf exclaims, interrupting Louche by holding his palm up.

「As a disclaimer, I asked the question as a hypothetical, and before I knew how old she is. So, if that land is so rich, why don't you get it with your sister? Wouldn't that solve your issue of living in a moldy ruin?」

Straf indemnifies himself with an extended index finger, then squints and rubs his chin in suspicion.

「I'm too weak… It's a lot of risk. It would put Millie in danger, and I'm not certain I would be able to protect her. But someone as strong as you could do it! There's gold mines there, you could profit from them! And isn't Millie a pretty girl!?」

Straf glances at the girl's porcelain-like face, trying to calm her breath.

「Maybe. Way below my strike zone. Riiiight. So you're nobles who got shafted-」

「Millie is. I'm not.」

Louche interrupts Straf. Straf raises his eyebrow.

「Huh? How does that work? Did you get stripped of titles for taking 「love your family」 as a dating advice?」

「I call Millie my sister, but-」

「Louche…」

Millie calls out and looks at Louche from her bed with a sullen frown, gently shaking her head. Her breathing is shaky, and fatigued. They lock eyes for a second. Louche stands back up and looks at Straf with a pained face.

「…We're not actually siblings. Her parents adopted me-」

「Woaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!」

Straf interrupts Louche again, holding his palm up.

「Huh?」

He blinks in confusion, and tilts his head. Cycelia seems more confused than nervous at this point as well.

「Woaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!」

「What? What happened?」

「Sickly little sister with no blood relation? Oh boy I can already see where this is going!」

Straf smirks, with a mixture of disdain and amusement on his face.

「…What do you mean?」

Louche asks, and looks at his not-quite-sister. She's equally puzzled and of no help with his own confusion. Straf scoffs.

「What else? Suppose we go along with this whole marriage thing…」

Cycelia gasps, and almost chokes as Straf presents a hypothetical.

「…It's basically inevitable you'll get your own little character arc. You'll think about another man carting her off on her wheelchair, and your non-blood related heart will ache!」

Straf chuckles, spreading his hands and shaking his head.

「Just because you can doesn't mean you should, Habsburg.」

He sighs, then points at Louche with a scowl.

「Please forgive my brother, I don't know what he was thinking. I didn't know he was planning something like this.」

Millie says, after finally steadying her breathing. Cycelia peeks out from behind Straf, looking at the young girl in her bed.

「Um, your brother mentioned you're a noble, and said something about gold mines… Could it be that you're from House Ostris?」

Cycelia asks with visible pity in eyes.

「I… Yes.」

Millie hesitates, but then nods.

「Why did your brother use a false name in the arena, then?」

「I'd put her in danger otherwise. It's not a false name… At least not as far as I can tell. It's what I've been told my name is by the people who were taking care of me, until I was adopted by Millie's family.」

Louche chimes in, and Millie nods.

「Our parents died from… The results of the plague, you could say… Since our father was a baron, as soon as news spread that they died, nefarious forces were quick to make their move. We slipped away, but our parents' land was dismembered and distributed among those reprobates.」

She takes over explaining the situation from Louche, but pauses to take a few breaths.

「Ever since, we are in hiding. Those people would not think twice to murder me, and even Louche, who has nothing to do with it.」

「I'm sorry… It must have been tough.」

Cycelia frowns heavily. Millie shakes her head.

「No… It wasn't so bad, since Louche was with me.」

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

She says weakly, and smiles a little looking at her brother. Cycelia digs around her pocket and pulls something out.

Clink.

「Here. Take this.」

Cycelia drops a handful of gold coins into Louche's hands.

「Lia… Don't feed the animals…」

Straf sighs. Louche's eyes widen as he looks at the pile of coins in his hands. Millie starts coughing again when she catches a glimpse of them as they change hands.

「No! We can't! That's way too much!」

Louche protests, trying to hand the coins back to Cycelia, but she refuses.

「Take them, it's my bet profits. Times are tough for the nobles, and I'm sure I can win more still.」

「But…」

He hesitates, but isn't entirely willing to deprive his sister of the money either. Eventually, he clutches them into a fist, and nods.

「Thank you. I will not forget your magnanimity until I die.」

「Tsk. Fine. If you're getting handouts… I have slim chances of getting shit for these, so I guess you can have them too…」

Straf opens his [Portable Storage], to Millie and Louche's amazement. He shoves his arm in, digs around for a second, and pulls out a comb and a teapot.

「Thank you, but… What are these?」

Louche asks as he looks at the teapot and comb that Straf shoved in his arms.

「Oh, yeah. The comb will keep your hair exactly as you style it for 24 hours, or until you go to sleep. Might as well get your sister's massive bedhead under control. And the teapot…」

Straf holds his elbow, and rubs his chin as he thinks.

「Well, on the surface it sounds great… But it's actually trash. If you drink stuff brewed from it, it'll slowly heal you of everything, even incurable disease. Well, not really…」

「What!? That sounds like it could-!」

「Now hold the fuck up, I said on the surface. Problem is, you'd have to drink tea or whatever from it for a year straight, every day.」

「That's…. That's still amazing! It could help Millie so much!」

「Thing is, it doesn't actually cure you. It just removes symptoms. So… If you're blind, you'll be able to fully see in a year. If you can't move your legs, you'll be able to move them in a year. If you catch the sick little sister disease, it'll slowly get better over the year.」

「I don't understand, this sounds like a miracle cure! I can't possibly take this- But it could help Millie so much…」

Louche hesitates a little, as he stares at the teapot with a giant smile on his face.

「Nope, the way it is now, it just sucks. Oh, and it's one cup per day. Any more won't work better, so don't try some weird fetish stuff by force-feeding your sister tea. And if you miss a cup a day, it'll worsen until you're blind, bedridden, and incestuous again.」

Straf shrugs his shoulders, adding a little tilt of his head.

「I don't know how to thank you… I don't believe I caught your name, miss?」

Millie asks Cycelia.

「I…」

Cycelia hesitates, and looks towards Straf. He shrugs, unbothered.

「…I'm Cycelia Redwing. The rightful heir to the throne.」

「…What? The queen? But weren't you accused of murder of your family-」

Louche's eyebrows rise, he asks with distinct disbelief in his voice.

「That's false! It's a lie! I have been framed by the true murderer and usurper on the throne!」

Cycelia raises her voice, gripping onto her medallion. Louche nods.

「Yes, of course… There's no way someone as kind and generous as you would to that. Mr. Straf wouldn't associate himself with someone like that, either.」

He smiles, nodding with understanding.

「I see why Mr. Straf refused now. He has someone important to protect as well. But…」

Louche sets away everything he received on a small nightstand beside Millie's bed. He kneels in front of Cycelia with his head lowered, much to her surprise.

「…You can be assured of my loyalty, your highness. I am neither skilled at anything or powerful, but if Millie is taken care of, my life is at your disposal.」

He genuflects with his palm on his opposite shoulder. Cycelia is a little disconcerted by his sudden oath, but her demeanor quickly shifts.

「Rise. If it is in my power, I will see that House Ostris reclaims their rightful land from the despicable illegitimate robber barons as well.」

Cycelia proclaims with a serious tone and eyes, emanating a dignified noble aura. Millie smiles with closed eyes. Louche stands up and nods. Straf rolls his eyes.

「Okay, alright. Since we're done with that, and your sick sister has the means to live, why don't you get her a wheelchair?」

「But what is a wheelchair?」

Louche asks with a raised brow.

「Philosophically, like what makes a sandwich? Or do you really not know what a wheelchair is?」

「Yes, I have never heard of a wheelchair before.」

「It's a…」

Straf looks up, rubbing his chin again as he thinks.

「Well, it's literally a chair, with wheels. You put a bedridden person like your sister on it, and you push her around on the wheelchair, so she can generate some pity from the audience. Or you can take her places. Imagine a wagon with no horse, basically.」

He shrugs with his fists on his hips.

「I see… I understand! So if I get this wheelchair, I could take Millie for a walk out of this rotten place! Or even to the capital!」

「That took you long enough. In return for all that stuff, give your sister a nice wheelchair and make her a full trope. Wheel her around a flower garden, or something.」

Straf shrugs with his hands, and Louche enthusiastically nods.

「I'll talk to the wagon wright! Today, even! I'll be cheering on in the tournament, too! Thank you, Mr Straf. Thank you, your highness!」

Cycelia smiles, bowing ever-so-slightly. Straf turns to the exit.

「Yeah, alright. If I'm late because you could barely keep your familial love under control, I'm taking my stuff back.」

Straf reaches for the door handle, and pulls.

Crrrack!

The door falls off the hinges, Straf looks at Cycelia and Louche with an awkward expression on his face in silence.

「Don't worry about the door, it was like that already! I'll hammer the hinges back in later!」

「Wait, really?」

Straf's brow rises, as Louche smiles and waves his hand dismissively with an upbeat tone.