Free Web NovelChapter 478: Chapter 479: I Am a Decent Person Who Would Never Lay a Hand on a Little Girl!
Amber light filtered through half-drawn curtains, casting long shadows across the tatami. The scent of green tea and old wood hung in the air as Hozuki Nozomi carried Kanaria back into the room, her small form light against his chest.
Kanaria’s cheeks flushed a delicate rose. Her fingers twisted in the fabric of her elaborate dress—yellow silk trimmed with lace, now rumpled from her earlier defeat. She didn’t know what treatment awaited her next. Her artificial heart, that impossible mechanism Father had crafted, beat rabbit-quick beneath her porcelain ribs.
"Hey, you pervert. How long are you going to hold her?"
Suigintou stood near the window, arms crossed tight beneath her chest, violet eyes narrowed to slits. Late afternoon light caught the silver of her hair, turning it luminous. Her black dress rustled with barely contained agitation.
Kanaria shot her a strange look.
Was she... jealous?
The thought seemed absurd. Suigintou—cold, proud, vicious Suigintou—caring about someone that much? About her?
Hozuki Nozomi’s fingers moved through Kanaria’s golden-green hair, the strands catching light like spun honey. He smiled, unbothered by Suigintou’s glare.
"I’m just afraid she’ll run away."
His voice carried that infuriating warmth, the kind that made it impossible to tell if he was teasing or sincere. Kanaria’s small hands curled into fists against his shirt.
"Don’t mind such trivial matters, Suigintou." He tilted his head, regarding the first doll with genuine curiosity. "Are you really not going to take Kanaria’s Rosa Mystica?"
The room seemed to hold its breath.
Suigintou’s wings twitched—just once, a flutter of dark feathers that sent shadows dancing across the walls. Then she snorted, lifting her chin with imperious grace.
"Hmph. Without the Rosa Mysticae of others, I can still become the true Alice. Didn’t you say that yourself?" Her voice carried something new beneath its usual haughtiness. Something almost like conviction. "Besides, if I gained Kanaria’s memories, would I still be Suigintou?"
She puffed out her chest, pride radiating from every inch of her small frame.
"I will defeat all the other Rozen Maidens and prove that I am the most excellent First Doll—on my own merits!"
Hozuki Nozomi’s expression softened. Relief flickered through his dark eyes like candlelight.
It seemed that under his frequent affection—all those embraces, those gentle words she pretended to despise—Suigintou had changed. The wounded, desperate doll who once would have torn apart her own sisters for validation had found something else to believe in.
"In that case," he said, "you don’t mind if I also make a contract with Kanaria, do you?"
"Huh? What foolishness are you talking about?" Suigintou rolled her eyes with theatrical exasperation. "After a Rozen Maiden loses the Alice Game, they cannot be contracted again. Didn’t you see? Her ring is gone."
She gestured dismissively at Kanaria’s bare finger.
The Second Doll’s shoulders slumped. The momentary hope that had flickered in her chest guttered and died. Without a contract, without a medium, she would slowly wind down—a music box without anyone to turn its key.
Living under someone else’s roof, she thought miserably. Dependent on Suigintou’s mercy for every scrap of power. How pathetic.
But Hozuki Nozomi’s voice cut through her despair, firm as steel wrapped in silk.
"How will we know if we don’t try?" His grip on her tightened—not painful, but certain. "Suigintou, I also want to contract all the Rozen Maidens. To prove that I am the most suitable existence to be their master."
Kanaria’s mouth twitched.
As expected of a philandering scumbag.
Even toward dolls, he was this greedy, this possessive, this—
So should I be happy about that?
The thought ambushed her. Where had that come from? Why did her artificial heart skip a beat when he spoke of wanting all of them?
She was still wrestling with that uncomfortable flutter when Hozuki Nozomi lowered his head.
"Mmph—!"
His lips pressed against hers.
Kanaria’s eyes flew wide. Her small hands pushed uselessly against his chest. She could only make muffled sounds of protest, her cheeks blazing crimson to the tips of her ears.
This—this is what Suigintou experiences?
How shameless! How embarrassing! How—
A warmth spread through her. Not unpleasant. Not entirely unwelcome.
And on her finger, a rose ring bloomed into existence—delicate gold filigree cradling a tiny emerald.
Suigintou’s gasp was audible. Her wings flared wide, feathers trembling.
"Impossible..."
The word fell from her lips like a stone. Because this was impossible. Father’s rules were absolute. A defeated Maiden could not contract again. That was simply how the Alice Game worked—had always worked, since the beginning.
Yet there it was. Proof glittering on Kanaria’s finger.
This man, Suigintou thought, something cold and hot tangling in her chest. He can even break Father’s rules.
[Ding! Successfully contracted the Second Rozen Maiden Doll, Kanaria. Reward: One skill entry or item draw opportunity. Fixed reward: 100,000 yen.]
[Ding! Congratulations, Player. You have received a special item reward: Book of Life (Special Version).]
Hozuki Nozomi pulled back, a satisfied glint in his eyes. Book of Life? The name tugged at something in his memory—familiar, significant. He’d have to examine it later.
"Ugh..." Kanaria touched her lips with trembling fingers, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. "I... I’m not pure anymore..."
After so many years of existence, this was the first time a human male had treated her so... so casually! Like she was just another girl to be kissed! Her first kiss, stolen without so much as a by-your-leave!
Suigintou’s expression curdled into something between jealousy and annoyance. She stalked forward, arms still crossed, and fixed Kanaria with a withering stare.
"Although you’re also contracted now," she said, each word clipped and precise, "I need to emphasize something, Kanaria. As the loser, first priority for using the medium belongs to me. Did you hear?"
"Uh... I heard you."
Kanaria’s voice came out small and watery. She still hadn’t recovered—her heart pounding, her thoughts scattered like autumn leaves.
Hozuki Nozomi observed the exchange. Noted the subtle tension in Suigintou’s shoulders, the way her gaze kept flickering toward him even as she addressed Kanaria.
Ah.
Understanding dawned.
He set Kanaria aside on a nearby cushion, crossed to Suigintou in two strides, and swept her up before she could react.
Then he kissed her.
"Mmm—?!"
Suigintou’s eyes went round as coins. Her wings spasmed, feathers bristling in every direction. She made a sound of pure indignation against his mouth—half shriek, half something else entirely.
When he released her, her face was the color of sunset.
"You—you—" She sputtered, fists clenched at her sides. "Are you trying to die?! Why would you suddenly—"
"Didn’t Suigintou herself say she wanted to use me first?"
He met her fury with absolute calm, expression utterly righteous.
Something in Suigintou’s mind snapped.
"THAT’S NOT WHAT I MEANT!"
Black feathers erupted from her wings like a storm of razor-edged night. They tore through the air, embedding themselves in walls, furniture, and one extremely unfortunate Hozuki Nozomi, who suddenly looked like a human pincushion.
"I’m not talking to you anymore!"
Suigintou’s box sat in the corner—polished rosewood, velvet-lined, sized perfectly for a single doll. She dove into it headfirst and slammed the lid behind her.
Silence.
Then a muffled, petulant: "Pervert."
Kanaria, who had somehow also been caught in the barrage, plucked feathers from her hair with an aggrieved expression.
Hit him. Why hit ME?
Are we not still sisters?
A pause.
Well. Rozen Maiden sisters are supposed to fight each other. So I suppose that tracks...
Before she could finish that thought, warm hands lifted her again. Hozuki Nozomi smiled down at her, seemingly unbothered by the dozen feathers still protruding from his shoulders.
"Then, Kanaria. From now on, please take care of me."
She sighed—a long-suffering, theatrical exhale that ruffled her bangs.
"There’s nothing I can do. You’re already my master, after all." She crossed her tiny arms, mimicking Suigintou’s posture without realizing it. "From now on, please take care of me, Mr. Pervert."
He ignored the address entirely.
"Where’s your suitcase? Should I help you retrieve it?" Genuine concern softened his voice. "Who was your previous master?"
Kanaria’s gaze drifted to the window. The sky outside had deepened to gold and amber, the first stars beginning to prick through the darkening blue.
"Just an ordinary little girl," she said quietly. "One who likes to pretend she’s mature."
Memories surfaced—a child’s laughter, clumsy fingers attempting to style her hair, earnest promises to win the Alice Game together.
"Pizzicato chose her as a medium. And then I woke up."
Her voice dropped to almost nothing.
"I wonder if she’ll cry after I leave."
Hozuki Nozomi’s hand came to rest on her head. His touch was gentle, his fingers warm against her artificial hair.
"For an ordinary girl, breaking the contract is probably for the best." His tone held no judgment—only understanding. "The Rozen Maidens’ actions consume human stamina. Sometimes even life force. She’s safer without you."
Safer without me.
The words should have stung. Instead, they settled around Kanaria like a blanket—a hard truth she’d been too afraid to voice herself.
She looked up at him with liquid eyes.
"Mr. Hozuki Nozomi... can I go say goodbye? One last time?" Her lower lip trembled. "And retrieve my suitcase?"
"Of course you can." He nodded without hesitation. "Do you want me to come with you?"
"No."
The refusal came quick. Too quick.
She fidgeted under his questioning gaze.
"It’s better if you don’t. I’m afraid you’ll take a liking to her and make her cry."
Black lines appeared across Hozuki Nozomi’s forehead.
"What kind of image do you have of me? She’s a little girl. I would never—I’m a decent person, okay?!"
Kanaria stared at him.
Then at Suigintou’s box.
Then back at him.
Her expression conveyed eloquent disbelief without a single word.
Do you even believe what you’re saying?
---
The evening air was cool against Kanaria’s porcelain skin as she flew.
Below, city lights flickered to life—a constellation of human activity, families gathering for dinner, children being called inside. She followed streets she’d memorized weeks ago, guided by a pull in her chest that had nothing to do with rose rings or contracts.
The Tsurumi villa rose before her—Western architecture softened by Japanese gardens, old money speaking in every precisely placed stone. Light glowed warm from a second-floor window, and Kanaria’s heart clenched.
She slipped through the gap where she’d left the window cracked.
"KANARIA!"
The impact nearly knocked her from the air. Small arms wrapped around her with desperate strength, a face pressing against her dress.
"You’re finally back!"
Rumi’s voice cracked. Tears had left tracks on her cheeks—dried now, but the evidence remained.
"The ring suddenly disappeared, and I thought—I thought something terrible had—"
Kanaria’s arms came up slowly. She returned the embrace, holding this fragile human child who had trusted her completely, who had fed her power without complaint, who had believed in her.
"I’m sorry, Rumi-chan." The words caught in her throat. "I made you worry."
The room smelled of chamomile tea and the lavender sachets Rumi kept in her drawers. Soft lamplight painted everything in shades of honey. On the desk sat sketches Rumi had drawn—crude but earnest portraits of a certain yellow-dressed doll, surrounded by hearts and stars.
Kanaria’s chest ached.
But she’d made her choice. Or rather, the choice had been made for her—in a brief kiss, in a rose ring that shouldn’t exist, in a master whose impossibility seemed to extend to everything he touched.
"Rumi-chan," she began, voice gentle. "There’s something I need to tell you..."
---
When Kanaria finally left, her suitcase clutched tight in her small hands, she didn’t look back.
If she had, she would have seen Rumi standing at the window—a girl pretending to be mature finally allowing herself to cry.
On the villa’s entrance sign, the name [Tsurumi] gleamed in the moonlight.
