ALL NOVEL Chapter 21: Just what is this family made out of!!!
After successfully escaping from the room unnoticed, I waited outside for a few more minutes and knocked on the door. Shortly after, he opened the door with a slightly panicked expression. After a few moments, his expression changed to that of his infamous god-killing death stare.
"Ahem, sorry for forgetting that you were coming here." (Lime)
"It's fine." (Mel)
"Uhm, I'm a bit late but I'll say it anyway. Welcome to my lab." (Lime)
And that was the start of my relationship with Lime Stein.
Two months had passed since then, and I have made some progress with Lime-san.
At first, I was a bit troubled about how I should address him. I called him Sensei, but he quickly rejected it. He never explained why, but I just let it go for now. It then became a debate as to how I should address him. As a joke, I proposed that I address him as Lime-kun and he calls me Mel-chan, and as expected, he quickly rejected it. In the end, we "compromised" with Lime-san and Melanie-san.
I then asked him about what he has been doing for the past few years. He said that he was preparing for his teaching license. He said that he had always wanted to become a teacher since he was a kid. I started to panic and told him that it'd be a waste if he stopped being a researcher but I then calmed down when he assured me that he would still be acting as a researcher while he would be working as a teacher. I then realized that his practice to make a friendly face was part of him preparing for his teaching license.
I then told him to practice on me instead so that when he eventually gets a student he doesn't mess up. He said yes and began teaching me some advanced topics in alchemy.
Four more months pass by and it has been six months since I officially became his assistant.
In these four months, I had learned a lot of new things. At this point, I was less of an assistant and more of a student. Since there weren't any real experiments being carried out, there was nothing to do except being taught by Lime-san. He taught me everything that he knows about alchemy and even led me through his entire process and how he ended up making his famous discovery. The fact that he still remembers everything he did a few years ago is astounding. This truly solidified the fact that he is an unprecedented genius.
Other than alchemy, I also learned more about Lime-san himself. First off was that Lime-san isn't talented in all aspects. This fact was proven in a lot of ways, especially when he tried cooking for the first time. At first, both of us expected that cooking wouldn't be that hard for us since cooking was similar to alchemy, but we were proven wrong. What resulted in his cooking attempt was a sight that was worse than hell. For my sanity's sake, I will not recall anything about that event. However, I will state one fact, that it completely overwrote my fear of my brother.
Another thing I found out about Lime-san was that he never had a scary face. This is a fact that only I know since I'm the only one who has seen his face making other expressions. At first, he always had a stiff expression around me, but over time he started lowering his guard around me and started acting normal around me. Because of that, I realized that the face he makes when get gets nervous is actually not that different from his expressionless face. The reason why people perceived his face as scary is because of the heavy atmosphere around him that appears whenever he feels nervous. The more nervous he feels, the heavier and darker that atmosphere becomes, resulting in people's instincts telling them to run away.
Another thing that I found out was that Lime-san is abnormally kind. Even though it was already selfish of me when I said that I would also be sleeping in the lab, he went out of his way to buy me my own bed and even gave me a room to sleep in. I quickly told him that he did something unnecessary and that I would pay him the cost for the bed, but he told me that it was fine and to consider the bed as a gift. But that wasn't all that he had done for me. Over and over again, he would always be considerate of me and would treat me very well. I began to realize that I was slowly falling in love with him.
It was then that my goal had changed. From helping Lime Stein with his social anxiety to making him fall in love with me.
About four months later, Lime-san told me about his brother's request.
When I heard about it, I was excited at the fact that Lime-san would finally achieve his dream of becoming a teacher. I had a feeling that it would work this time because the kid he would be teaching is Lyle-san's son after all. However, it seems like I was the only one to have thought of it as an opportunity. I can remember the moment I slapped Lime-san. I know it was wrong of me to do so, but at the time, he said something that shouldn't be said. How could he say something that was so wrong? Lime-san is the kindest person that I have known.
Anyways, he kept on being pessimistic about it, so I used my authority as a noble for the first time in my life to command him. I know it was kind of wrong, but I had no choice since he was actively rejecting it. In the end, we came to a compromise. If Lyle-san's son wouldn't be scared of Lime-san, then he would teach him and if ever Lyle-san's son was to show signs of fear, then Lime-san is allowed to reject the request and come back to the lab. With these conditions, Lime-san reluctantly accepted the request.
A few hours later, the three of us arrived at Lime-san and Lyle-san's hometown. After a short walk, we arrived at Lyle-san's house. It was then that I started to feel nervous. I know that I felt confident, but I still felt nervous because of the possibility that Lyle-san's son would be scared. I knew that if ever it were to happen, it would leave a deep scar on Lime-san's heart. However, I knew that I shouldn't show any signs of nervousness. I had to make sure that Lime-san wouldn't be affected by me.
After a moment, we entered the house. What greeted us was a twelve-year-old girl who I assume to be Lyle-san's daughter. The girl then approaches us. I'm starting to feel nervous. She then starts to talk to us. W-wait a minute, did she just casually speak to Lime-san without even flinching? I used my ability to make sure I wasn't hallucinating.
Thoughts: "Uncle Lime kind of looks like Papa, I guess I do have an uncle after all. I wonder how Riel would react?"
W-what? That's it? I expected something else. Is something wrong with me? Wait no, I should be happy for Lime-san! But this isn't the final boss. We still have Lyle-san's son who I assume is named Riel. The one who Lime-san is supposed to teach. That same Riel is just inside this room.
As we opened the door to the said room, we were greeted by curious stares. Curious stares? Am, am I dreaming? I mean I had a feeling that everything would turn out just fine, but isn't this just something else? No flinching? No cowering? No trembling? I expected an entire "It's fine. He may seem scary, but he's a real softie on the inside" scene where I assure a slightly scared boy and girl and then I score some points with Lime-san with that interaction and then slowly but carefully, he falls in love with me, calls me by my first name without honorifics and the I call him his first name without honorifics and then we kiss. My entire plan, failed? Wait a minute, maybe both Lyle-sans's wife and son are actually scared and are actually just forcing themselves to restrain their emotions.
Reina Lostbelt
Age: 32
Titles: Demonic Instructor, Swordmaster, etc.
Demonic Instructor: Will use every possible training method, no matter how harsh for the betterment of the student.
Thoughts: Hmm? That atmosphere? Eh, my mom's is worse.
S-swordmaster? J-just what kind of person is this? What is she doing in this village? Why have I never heard of her before? And her mother? Just who is she to be worse than Lime-san? Wait, let me check on Riel's.
Riel Lostbelt
Age: 7
Titles: Heavenly Genius, Youngest Swordmaster, O!@e*o%^$er, Capture Target, Conditional Genius, Defier of Fate, etc.
Heavenly Genius: A once in a millennium, never seen before genius. Has close to infinite potential.
Youngest Swordmaster: Youngest person to ever become an awakened swordmaster at the age of 7
O!@e*wo%^$er: ???????????????????
Capture Target: One of the potential suitors for the current heir of the Harmonia Family
Defier of Fate: An existence that will defy every unwanted destiny. A sword that cuts even the threads of fate.
Thoughts: Hmm? That atmosphere? Eh, my mom's is worse.
W-what? What are those titles? Conditional Genius? Heavenly Genius? Does the trait of genius just run in this family? Even Lyle-san has it. What is this? And what's with that messed up title? Is it something that even the world won't let me know? And a swordmaster at the age of 7? What is this family, and what is that boy? Defier of Fate? What does that even mean? And what is that about the Harmonia Family? This entire family is absurd!!!!!! Ahhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!
After that entire exchange happened between Lime-san and Riel, Lyle-san finally touched on the subject of where we were supposed to sleep in. It was then that I had seen an opportunity. Of course I told them that it would be fine for me and Lime-san to sleep in the same room. Lime-san obviously rejected it but my helpful wingman Lyle-san easily dealt with it. After that, both me and Lime-san went in and checked out the room both of us were going to stay in.
Shortly after we closed the door, he suddenly fell to the floor. I knew why that happened, he was feeling a sense of relief and all the tension in his body had disappeared. He then started crying and spoke
"Can you believe it? She said that I wasn't scary cause I was a good person." (Lime)
"Well, that's children for you." (Mel)
"You mean Nii-san's children, normal children piss their pants whenever they see my face." (Lime)
"You do have a point. So, how does it feel? Being accepted that is." (Mel)
"It feels pretty damn good. If only I could feel that way every time." (Lime)
Well isn't that nice. I'm so happy for you.
"Hey! That's mean! Are you saying I don't count?" (Mel)
"Sorry, sorry. Thanks for everything." (Lime)
"Yeah that's ri— er, w-what?" (Mel)
What? T-that was supposed to be a joke, is he taking it seriously?
"Melanie-san, thanks for everything. For being my lab assisant, for our everyday conversations, for all your horrid cooking attempts, for all your meddling, and for just staying by my side when others were running away from me out of fear, thank you." (Lime)
"Y-y-yeah, th-that's right! You should be thankful for a lot of things! It's all thanks to me you're even here in the first place! Now you owe me big time!" (Mel)
W-wow, this is embarrassing. I know I said that, but being thanked like that is kind of embarrassing.
"Yeah. Thanks a lot, M-m-" (Lime)
"Huh? I didn't catch that last part." (Mel)
"Th-thanks a lot, M-m-mel." (Lime)
W-whaaaaaaat?
"W-w-what, eh, er, umm, o-o-ok, umm, I'm just gonna go out for some fresh air so I'll be back!" (Mel)
H-je just called me Mel! Uhh, er, w-what do I do? I mean, I know I want this, but isn't this too much of a leap? This all so sudden. But, it isn't that bad. 'Mel' Kyaaaaah! This is the best! Kyaaaaah! I can feel my face glow red but it doesn't matter! Kyaaaaah! I want him to say it again with his dreamy voice! 'Oh Mel, I love you', 'Mel, will you go out with me?', 'Will you marry me Mel?' oooooohhhhhh, I want him to say those! What do I call him? Do I call him Lime-kun? Or how about Lime? What about honey? Kyaaaaah!
And thus the maiden kept on fantasizing while running around the village. She went on and fantasized about what to name their 5 non-existent children, their dream home, their imaginary wedding and honeymoon. It reached the point where she fantasized about meeting their non-existent grandchildren. If not for the fact that she started feeling hungry, she would've even fantasized about being buried right next to each other after they died.