0 – Prologue
[Lady, please forgive this ugly old butler for leaving you. […]
“It’s on the verge of dying here…”
While lying on the bed and reading a web novel, I mumbled unintentionally to an unexpected development.
The web novel 「The Stars Surrounding Me」 Is an appropriately readable fantasy academy harem that is popular with the appearance of various heroines, sincere serialization, and the only son of an imperial viscount named 「Las Pios」 Who attends the imperial academy. It was a novel with many parts.
Among them, Europa Taurus, the second heroine, is the eldest daughter of Count Taurus, one of the 12 pillars of the empire.
William, the old butler who is always by her side, is the head butler who serves the Taurus family. He appears in every episode related to Europa and accepts her complaints whenever she calls. He miraculously appeared in a crisis situation and showed a wonderful image of saving the two.
She doesn’t seem that important as a character with a powerful butler cliché that often appears in the subculture, but watching the conversation between Europa and William in the novel, she formed such a high-handed and self-indulgent personality because of William.
William, who comforted Europa when she cried from exhaustion, grew up under the strict education of her cold father, Count Aldebaran, who fulfills her duties as a pillar of the empire.
Her father, who is disqualified as her father, and her selfish behavior, and the old butler, who said there was nothing he could do about it, caused her to eat a few sweet potatoes.
And the role of Cider is, of course, the role of the main character, Lars. When William notices that Lars likes Europa, he tells the story.
Hearing the circumstances, William helped Lars when he said he couldn’t do it, and Europa and Count Aldebaran made a deal with her father and daughter, and her father and daughter reconciled.
That was just the beginning, and with the number now increased to eight including her, she, as her second heroine, fell into the normal role of tackling her when the other heroines were about to leave.
When physical tackle was needed, William appeared and organized it, giving a little fun, but the story was different in the latest episode that came out today.
William, who tried to save the main character and his group in danger from the upper-level demons, who appeared for the first time in the novel, is killed by the demons. That death served as an opportunity for Lars and Europa to awaken the magic of the constellation.
The demons, feeling the danger of the constellation’s magic, ran away, and William closed his eyes, leaving behind regret for not being able to find a successor to succeed him before he died.
Europe, crying like a child while holding on to the fallen William, ended today’s episode by saying that the only person she could trust before Lars is gone today.
It was a pity. It seemed that there would be a butler at the end of the story who was happy to see Europa reconciling with her father, Count Aldebaran, and staying with the main character.
Since the content was uploaded at midnight on Sunday, many people like me who tried to read it before going to bed for work posted comments.
Looking at the comment window, people who are excited about the development due to the awakening of the magical power of the constellations, the controversy over the upper level demons and other heroines protesting that they are at the level of trophies. There was a crying emoticon with Europa saying ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it’. About William has been posted often, but not that many, so I wrote one down.
[It’s a little pity for William and Europa… After suffering so much, they could have reconciled with the Count, teach a butler to succeed them, and retire while watching Europe grow for the rest of their lives…]
After writing that, I closed my eyes from the drowsiness that came over me. For a supporting character, it was a character that I liked and had a lot of weight, so I wrote it casually because there was no place to complain.
And among the heroines, I liked Europa. Because she showed a cute side with a girl-like sensibility behind her high-handed appearance in the only normal position.
So, as she recalled the comments she wrote with even more regret, her consciousness sank beyond the dream.
How long did you fall asleep? Feeling the cold, I heard a voice calling me while I was sleeping shivering.
“Hey, wake up.”
Hey? How old are you, do you call me that? Someone shook me to wake me up, and I opened my eyes rubbing my eyes.
A girl of about eight years old, with long, dazzling blonde hair tied in two pigtails, and a thick white coat over a dress that would have worn by an aristocratic young lady from a fantasy manga, was staring at me with sapphire blue eyes.
Behind her stood an old man with neatly trimmed gray hair, wearing a jet-black tailcoat and holding an umbrella.
I looked around in a cartoonish situation. Heavy snow was falling on a street that seemed like something out of a medieval or modern era or a fantasy novel, and I was sitting on that street. The bewildered mind was also momentary.
“William. Can I take him? Can I make him my servant?”
“My lady, there are many servants at home, so why are you taking such a bum like this from the street?”
“It’s unusual, it has black hair that’s hard to see, yellow eyes the same color as mine, and it looks smart.”
“Haa…Lady…”
“I’ll take it anyway! I’ll take it with William if he doesn’t!”
The girl in front of me stamped her feet and protested to the old man called William.
By the way…William? Did I hear it wrong now?
“Now, stand up. I, the eldest daughter of the Taurus family, the pillars of the Empire, congratulate me on becoming a servant to Europa Taurus.”
…I was dumbfounded when I heard the name of the little girl standing in front of me. I pinched my cheek to see if I was dreaming, but I felt the pain. My body was shaking in the cold snowy weather. Realizing that it was real, her head was dizzy.
She stood up as she said and felt that she was a little shorter than she was in my height. Her limbs were covered with scars and were bony, as if they were covered with skin over bones. I was starving so much that I had no strength in my arms and legs, and there was a growling sound.
“…Go, thank you…”
For now, I want to live. She thanked her for her kindness. Then she tilted her head and looked at William.
“William, did you hear what he said? I have no idea.”
“I’m not sure if it’s a foreign language.”
Ah, damn I can’t just listen to the words. The little energy she had just got up and said had drained her.
“What? Come to your senses!”
Without time to think about what was going to happen, she lost consciousness and collapsed in the midst of her cry.