I became the Villainess's Brother

Chapter 6: Ariane"s Necklace

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Sorry for taking a little longer with this chapter, I was busy translating a different novel and had some issues in my private life. The chapter might still have a few mistakes, so I will try cleaning it up a little later.

Note: I"m not familiar with crafting jewelry, so I might have made some mistakes in the translation. If someone knows jewel crafting let me know if the translation is correct.

Chapter 6: Ariane"s Necklace

"Langlease-sama, we"ve received the ordered items."

A few days after the marathon of h.e.l.l with Riley. Eldor brought me a wooden box.

When opening the lid covering the wooden box, I"m greeted by a small colored stone and an a.s.sortment of brightly shining gla.s.s beads. It also contains a few crafting tools.

"Oh, Eldor, it"s perfect! I got everything I asked for, including so many decorative stones… Wasn"t it difficult to find so many different kinds?"

"As long as you are pleased."

His expressionless face displays a little smile. It was the right choice to leave this to Eldor after all.

That day after the tea party I wanted to apologize to Ariana, so I visited her office. But she was out for business with some people. When I tried visiting her again in the evening, she went home already. Surprisingly it looks like Ariane is a servant apprentice, it"s a little unexpected considering her age. The next day I tried to apologize to her again, but I wasn"t able to find her anywhere. I ended up spending the rest of the day with our family teacher, learning self-defense techniques and studying magic skills since this was long overdue. I even went to Fortuna hoping to meet her, but apparently, I just missed her.

… Am I being avoided?

……
Well, of course, I am!

I can"t really complain though, I wouldn"t want to meet me either after what I"ve done to her. Then it came to me.

Do we have any tools to fix accessories?

Since I broke the necklace, I should be the one to repair it, but I can"t start without any tools. That"s why Eldor went to the castle town of Windyria in the morning and bought me a set of tools on the market. I never thought that both needle neck pliers and a flat screw driver, which are both crucial for making accessories, would be that easy to find. Even the names are the same as in my previous life.

I was afraid that my fingers would be too thick to hold the tools, but the adult men"s size seems to work for me. So I luckily won"t need someone to custom make them for me.

So, what is my next step?

I pick up the needle neck pliers in my right hand and a 9 eye pin1 in my left. A needle neck plier is a tool that is thinner than a sharpened pencil at the tip, they make it easy to work on accessories or other detailed work. As the name implies, a 9 eye pin is named as thus since its shape resembles the figure "9". The tip of the "9" is about 1 mm in diameter and then slowly rounds out into that "9" shape. The rounded part of the wire is a little thicker at 3 mm in diameter. The total length of the pins varies between 2 cm and about 10 cm. Depending on the design, you need to use one of these sizes.

I thread a 9 eye pin of about 3 cm through two 5 mm gla.s.s beads. The two beads are transparent and orange. After threading the 9 eye pin through the 2 beads, I bend the tip of the 9 eye pin with the pliers and start rounding it.

Rounding… It"s not really working…

I can"t properly round the 9 eye pin while holding it down.

My fingers are not cooperating with me and are making it hard for me to hold down the 9 eye pin. In the end, I rounded the straight end, turning the "9" into an "o-o" shape but the left and right end are both facing a different direction. Making it look a little crooked. If I don"t align them properly, it will twist when connected with the others.

I wonder if I can do this after practicing a few times…

Unlike my previous life, I now have thick fingertips that are quite clumsy. Eventually, I was able to bend a couple of them properly. All that"s left to do is couple them together with small rings.

Haa, well it looks okay for the first time? It took me about an hour.

"That looks like a necklace. Where did you learn to make it?"

Eldor finished brewing cold tea at the same time that I finished the necklace.

"About that, I read the method to making it in the library."

"Is that so…?"

I can"t tell him that I learned it in a previous life. I"m still not completely familiar with using my fingers and the process is still a little awkward, but I somehow managed to finish it. All that"s left now is to practice more so I can fix Ariane"s necklace.

If that"s the case…

"… Is there something on my face?"

"Would you like something Eldor, with these materials I can easily make necklaces, bracelets, ear rings, and so on."

"… I"m a man."

"It"s normal for men."

"Please don"t."

I was turned down with a serious expression.

After practicing a long time I was able to properly bent the 9 eye pins, so when I finally regained feeling in my hands, I started looking for Ariane.

The Duke"s house is enormous.

While heading to Fortuna"s room with Eldor, I saw Ariane in the kitchen after peering in. She was stretching her body to reach the cupboard while standing on a stool. She was busy cleaning up the pottery in it.

"Ariane, do you have a minute?"

"What?!"

[email protected]#$%%^&

Ariane who had cleaned the tableware dropped a plate she was holding. All the people in the kitchen turned their gaze towards her.

"Sorry, I"m sorry, I will clean it up."

"I"m sorry for surprising you."

That really surprised me. I only talked to her…

Ariane stepped off the stool in a panic and started picking up the broken shards off the floor.

"Wait, don"t touch the shards with your bare hands, you will get hurt.

Ah, too late…"

"Ouch…"

Ariane"s fingertip was cut and blood started flowing out. Now I"ve done it.

"Ariane, calm down, show me your hands."

"But I"ve got to clean up the mess…"

"It"s okay."

I crouch down next to Ariane and hold her hand. If she keeps moving like this she will surely injure herself further.

"W-What are you…?"

"Stay still."

I concentrate on Ariane"s white fingertips. My hand clenched around hers started to shine.

"Deliver my prayers to the healing G.o.d Langbehand… recovery!"

The red lights around my hand turn into small spheres at the fingertip of Ariane, slowly healing her wound. Eventually, Ariane"s little hand was healed leaving no scar behind.

Yes, it"s a huge success. It was worth it to study magic after all.

"It should be fine now, it"s dangerous to grab broken shards with your bare hands, you should sweep them with a broom."

"Y-Yes…"

"After sweeping it up, you can wrap it up in a ragged cloth that you no longer need and throw it in the garbage."

Newspaper would actually be better, but they probably don"t have those here. I could do it myself, but the employees would give me weird looks again.

An older servant walks toward us with a broom and bin and after saying "pardon me" starts to clean it up.

"Ah, wait… I should…"

"Looks like you finished your business here, so come with me Ariane. I would like to have a little talk with you."

"I-I still need to deliver some tableware to miss Fortuna…"

"Tableware…?"

"I-I broke the tea set…"

She even broke Fortuna"s tea set? I wonder if this child has a misfortune attribute.

"Okay, which one would you like? I prefer the top one with the small floral patterns, so perhaps we should take that one."

"Y-Yes…"

"It"s better if you don"t break it again, so let Eldor grab it."

"I understand."

Eldor quickly picks up a tray and takes out the tea set from the shelf.

Once we arrived at Fortuna"s room, I quickly decided to cut to the chase.

"Ariane first of all, I want to apologize for breaking your necklace."

Ariane is stunned that I lowered my head towards her. After being petrified by the situation for a few seconds, her face turned pale blue and she started shaking her head sideways.

"T-That was my bad, I shouldn"t have been wearing a necklace during work."

"Nevertheless, I should not have taken and broken it."

"H-Haa…"

Ariane looks completely lost by the current situation. I feel sorry for confusing her like this and I"m about to bother her even more…

"I have a request, could you hear me out?"

"S-Sure, what is it…?"

"Can you let me fix the broken necklace?"

"Eh?"

"Unless it"s fixed already?"

"N-No…"

"If that"s the case, leave it to me. I will properly repair Ariane"s necklace."

"T-that’s impossible."

"Why? Don"t you trust me?"

"T-that’s not it, but my necklace has a magic jewel in it."

"Magic jewel? Is it a special gem or something?"

"Yes, it is a jewel filled with magical power and it can"t be handled by ordinary smiths…"

Looks like she didn"t doubt me after all. She then took out a small pouch out of one of her pockets of her maid clothes.

When she started taking out the contents, a broken chain, and a small gem come out. The gem is red and looks like a ruby.

Let"s see…

It looks like an ordinary gem. However, when you make a shadow fall on it with your hand, similar red colored lights leak out of the gem. It"s a feeling close to luminescence2. Because I crushed it, the surface appears to be partially clouded. Sadly you can"t just wipe the surface with a cloth to return the shine to it. The repair cost of such a gem is likely to be enormous. That must be why Ariane kept the broken necklace in the pouch. Even though I consider it as ordinary, I think repairing such a decorative item is expensive. Not to mention the special magic jewel. I doubt she could pay the repair fee with an apprentice servant"s income.

Are magical jewels that different from ordinary gems?

If it was an ordinary accessory, I would be confident in fixing it. I practiced seriously for the last few days after all.

I remembered that Ariane"s necklace consisted of a gold chain with a T-pin system and since I crushed it, it would probably no longer work. So I prepared a new gold chain. I was confident that if I could borrow Ariane"s necklace for half an hour I would be able to repair it.

But a magic jewel…

Ariane keeps looking up at me with a troubled face. Now that I look at her, I feel that she is quite small, which is weird since we only have 1 year between us. In the future, it"s obvious that I would become bigger both vertically and horizontally, but in comparison, isn"t this child too small? Rather than calling her hands and feet slim, they look skinny. I wonder if she"s eating properly…

Wait, it can"t be…

"Ariane."

"Yes?"

"I want you to answer truthfully."

"Yes."

"Are you eating every meal properly?"

"Eh?"

"Are you properly eating your rice in the morning and late in the night? You"re not fasting, are you? Just so you can cut down on your food expenses to save for the repair costs?!"

"Well, uh… um… uh…"

"You are avoiding my eyes Ariane, is it that hard to answer my question?"

I wrap her small face with both hands so she can"t avert her eyes. After our eyes finally meet she raises a small groan and it looks like her eyes are becoming moist. Well, I guess that confirms my suspicions. I let out a deep sigh.

"Looks like I was right? You have to properly eat your three meals. I"ll definitely fix the necklace. It was my fault that it broke in the first place."

"B-But, this is really a demonic jewel and a memento of my mother…"

"I understand that it"s a magic jewel and that it is a precious memento. I can"t fix it right now, so I"ll make a promise to you that I will learn about magic jewelry and repair it once I learned how to do it. So believe in me Ariane and start eating properly again."

"B-but…"

"No buts. Actually, I know something better Ariane. Eat with me from today on out."

"Eh?!"

"You"re not going to eat properly if I don"t keep an eye on you."

"Awawa.. wow… praise!"

Ariane, I have no clue what you"re trying to say.

"Nii-sama, if you keep holding Ariane"s face like that, she won"t be able to talk properly."

Fortuna lends out a helping hand. I can"t help but let go of her face.

I reluctantly let go of Ariane. The freed Ariane quickly hides behind Fortuna.

Am I that scary? I guess there"s only one option left now.

"Fortuna, can I borrow Ariane during our meals?"

Ariane shakes her head desperately and tries to appeal to Fortuna with her eyes. Fortuna returns a smile at her.

"That sounds alright."

"Fortuna-sama?!"

"Ariane, I"m a little upset, why did you not consult me about the repair costs?"

"W-Well, that"s…"

"And about the meals, it"s also my fault that I didn"t notice, so I want Ariane to properly eat her meals together with my brother."

"B-but, the servants eat their meals together…"

"How about this then, I will watch over Ariane to make sure she eats properly."

Great save Eldor! I don"t think I would be able to properly eat a meal with a teary eyed Ariane and tension lingering in the air. I probably couldn"t even taste the dishes under those kind of circ.u.mstances.

"Let"s compromise with Eldor"s suggestion, Ariane you should eat properly from today on out."

I can"t bear the fact that a small girl is hungry because of me. Children are like puppies, they should be cherished. We forced her to agree with it and I kept Ariane"s necklace with me.I think the 9 eye pin looks like this.Luminescence is the emission of light by a substance not resulting from heat.Share it with your friends

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