I'm a Supporting Role in a Horror Game, Don't Kill Me

Sweet.

As soon as the restaurant door opened, the three people sitting at the long table turned to look at me at the same time. Luke, who often read the newspaper at the dinner table, was holding only the newspaper as if they had finished eating, and the two children were holding spoons with napkins tied around their necks.

“Miss Green?”

“Teacher! It’s okay now… ah?”

“Teacher Albi! I have a sketchbook!”

Shine’s hesitant voice was almost drowned out by Luna’s loud shout as she struggled with both her hands, but she could clearly hear it. I smiled softly and nodded at her. Thanks to her strict training in restaurant etiquette, Luna did not get down from her chair, even though she kept flailing her arms and legs as if she wanted to come to me. And I quickly noticed that the nanny was not in her dining room, in that there was no one to stop Luna.

‘I guess she took a break because Shine went out on her own.’

But I think it’s reasonable. Because she almost got Shine into trouble. As I approached my seat, Luke stood up as always. When she asked me if I was okay, I felt like I would say thank you without realizing it. I looked at him with very wary eyes, but he just politely held the chair for me as if nothing had happened.

‘Why on earth are you showing such kindness? Who leaves the user’s chair like this every time…’

“…ha.”

I sighed without realizing it. It would be better if he showed some condescension. I was grateful to the point where I felt annoyed as he went back to his place and picked up the newspaper without showing any signs of it.

“Teacher, Luna drew a picture.”

“Yes, I know. Let’s finish eating and go see it together.”

“Teacher, let’s go Luna.”

“Yes?”

“I drew a picture!”

“Yes, all right.”

“Sketchbook!”

Luna was upset that I didn’t look at the painting like I promised last night, but she was so excited to see what I would say when she saw the painting I drew that she couldn’t bear it. She ate one bite and murmured, then took another bite and murmured.

“If you keep saying that, your eating will become slower. Then I might not even have time to go look at my sketchbook. Are you okay, Luna?”

When I pointed out with a smile, Luna then calmly put both her arms down on the table and combatively resumed her meal. Luna’s determination to quickly show her family was evident in the way she put a boiled carrot in her mouth without hesitation. I glanced at Shine, who was nibbling on a spoon next to Luna. Her dead head was full of grass, and unlike usual, only the top of her head was visible. Moreover, perhaps because she was a boy, Shine couldn’t eat meat, so she usually always ate a plate of meat or fish at breakfast. But today, the soft smoked salmon placed separately in front of Shine was the same. She only nibbled on the cream sauce that came with Shine’s spoon. Although I taught her not to play with Luna or leave the table without permission while eating, I didn’t want to see her biting like that all through breakfast. While I was wondering what to do, I reached out my hand and tapped the back of Shine’s hand.

Shine cocked his head.

“…huh?”

When I saw their eyes hurriedly descend to the floor after looking at me, I gestured outside.

“Let’s talk for a moment, Shine.”

“…uh?”

“It’ll only take a moment.”

“…huh.”

When I got up first, Shine was so upset that she followed after me. I suddenly felt Luke’s eyes following me, but I didn’t explain anything and went out the door with Shine. It was morning time when the servants were busy working, so there was no one at the restaurant door. Mr. Blier, who always stays at the breakfast table, didn’t come out because I was in the mood to talk alone with Shine, so we were able to talk alone. I squatted down on the floor and brought Shine to eye level with him. And while his hand played with the suspenders of her trousers for a while, I looked quietly into the eyes of the child who was only looking down at the nose of his shoe. Although it was a completely different color than my uncle, Shine spoke first as we were looking into the same beautiful golden eye.

“…I heard roughly what happened. I was scared…? I am… I was scared.”

I gently stroked Shine’s head. It felt good to feel her soft, downy hair flowing in the palm of her hand.

“Shine.”

“That… There you are.”

“Shine.”

“I’m sorry, I… If only I had listened carefully.”

Initially, he was quick to judge others based on their social standing or nobility, but his narrow-mindedness must have caused him to worry a great deal about his instructor, a modest baron. And there will be a lot less dread. I think Shine struggled with sleep just as much as I did. Thinking about how much of a shock the events of yesterday must have been for her, Shine, who had been living safely inside the Duke’s house, pitied her. I took the child by both hands and said something firm.

“Shine.”

“…huh.”

“I know I did something wrong.”

Shine must have thought I would comfort her, so she was a little embarrassed and her face blushed. Unlike Shine’s usual face, he looked as if he was about to cry. He seemed to already know his mistakes very well without me having to scold him, but I also knew that I had no one to blame but me.

I steeled myself and spoke firmly.

“Next time, don’t act so dangerously. You know one thing Shine does can get his nanny fired.”

“…huh.”

I stroked Shine’s head.

“Now stop apologizing. He received an apology, and Shine also reflected on his actions. And since I returned safely, this incident is now over.”

“…Give me a whistle… Hey, you know… what happened… It didn’t happen, did it?”

Shine seemed worried that something had happened to me with her childish imagination. Of course, it was really hard, but I didn’t want to instill more fear in a child who was often scared, so I shook my head gently.

“Thank god…”

“Yes?”

When I asked again because I couldn’t hear my voice properly, Shine rubbed her eyes with both hands and spoke as if mumbling.

“…Good thing you came back safely. Nothing happened… Hey… I was worried. I was so worried… I felt like I was going to die.”

He didn’t even grunt like he usually did, and Shine’s lips were pouting as he honestly confessed that he was worried. But I wanted to lower my head further and look up at Shine’s face. As soon as our eyes met, Shine opened his arms and he slowly approached me and hugged me. This was the first time since I met Shine. I quickly pulled Shine’s body closer and hugged him tighter. Shine put his head on my shoulder and cried.

“…Whipping, whimpering. Sobbing.”

He was only nine years old, and it was even cuter and easier for him to try to swallow his cries instead of just crying, probably because he was the older brother. For no reason, I burst into tears, so I hugged Shine and gently stroked her back. Just like Luke did to me yesterday.

[Shine’s favorability has increased.

Lv.3(1/297)

Affinity Quest – Graveyard]

When I looked at the favorability notification window, I felt the same sense of pride I always felt when I achieved game achievements. But this time, a thought occurred to me. The relationship between Shine and me is not something that can be defined by these numbers. I don’t think it’s a good idea to have your favorability rating displayed in the notification window like this anymore. As the game characters are no longer just characters to me, I feel that the system of this world is also not very pleasant. Shine and I returned to our seats and sat back down in our respective chairs. Luna was startled and widened her eyes when she saw Shine’s eyes turning bright red as she ate her food in a combative manner. Holding a fork and a spoon in each hand, Luna stomped her feet and looked at me and her Shine alternately, barely swallowing what was in her mouth before quickly opening her mouth.

“Brother? Brother? Did the teacher scold you?”

“It’s not like that, so let’s eat.”

“Brother? Brother?”

When Shine didn’t answer and quietly wrapped a napkin around her red eyes, Luna seemed to get even more anxious. It was so cute to see her butt shaking and tilting her head as if she was ready to get up from her seat at any moment. I suppressed my laughter and pointed to the plate still left in front of Luna.

“If you eat the rest of the pancake and the boiled green beans, you can get up.”

“Yes!”

Luna responded quickly and stuck her nose into her plate again. The silver-and-gold head looked happily at the two of them engrossed in their meal, when Luke folded the newspaper and turned her head towards me. It was the first time since I came here that I realized how burdensome it was to just stare quietly and not say anything.

‘…Ugh, if you have something to say, say it. Why do you look at people like that?’

I was conscious of every single movement of unfolding the napkin and putting it on my lap, so my movements were as stiff as a poorly oiled machine. As I continued to straighten my wrinkled napkin, Luke tapped his finger on the back of my hand and spoke.

“Then you won’t be able to eat today. You will be very hungry. Let’s eat.”

I lowered my gaze to the plate in front of me and bit the inside of my lip again. It was a habit that suddenly developed recently. I do it when I want to stop thinking.

‘…And again, pretending to be a good person. Pretend to be considerate.’

I thought so, but the problem now was that I felt like he was really a good person and really considerate. It’s so hard not to be able to control even my own thoughts. I had no idea what the kidnapping was all about and how that one incident had caused the relationship to become so strangely distorted.

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