The Appearance of a Demon [Part 4]

Its booklice.

Completely oblivious to Joshuas internal conflict, Emma stared fixedly at his freckles.

She finally connected the memory to when she first met Joshua, in which she said, Your freckles look like a lot of booklice. How lovely, and Minatos memory of reading a story written by a specter researcher in the Edo period, which stated that Azuki Arais true form was a booklouse.

Booklice?

Whats that? Oliver furrowed his brows.

N-Nee-sama! Please let go of your hand. Joshua is

Hes probably not breathing! William shouted.

Huh? Ah, Im sorry! Joshua are you alright?

Williams shout made Emma finally notice that Joshuas face was a bright red.

It probably hurts because I grabbed his face forcefully. Emma apologized as she released her hold.

Haaa Im alright. Im alright

Joshua took a deep breath while collecting his shaky and crumbling reason.

Emma-sama, as Ive said before, you should never do this to His Highness or other friends in the academy, okay? Lse-majest is no joking matter after all. Please only do this kind of thing with me. Only me, okay?

Ah, uhh Im sorry? Joshua.

Lse-majest has scary consequences, alright? For example, some even say that its ten times more terrifying than Hilda-samas lecture

Eep! Joshua, I Ill be careful, okay?

Yes. I think it is advisable not to touch other men than me

Even to that extent The aristocratic world is harsh, indeed.

It is alright to touch me as much as Emma-sama likes, you know? Only me.

He came up with such a brilliant comeback that it was hard to believe his reason had been on the verge of collapse until just a few seconds ago.

Ah, that guy hes already hopeless.

Nii-sama So you havent let go of the hope that Joshua can still be saved, huh?

George and William gazed at the two with eyes full of melancholy when their surroundings suddenly turned dark.

Hm? Huh?

Kuh!

Thinking, Weird, why is it so dark? The brothers turned around, only to find a furious Leonard right behind them.

Joshua-kun? I wonder if you can lend me those cheeks for a little?

With veins popping, he forcibly raised the corners of his mouth and smiled.

F-Father! Calm down!

Joshua! Hurry up and apologize! Youll be flung away again, yknow!

George and William shouted at Joshua in a panic.

No, let me make it clear right here, right now. I love Em

HuUhHh? I cant seem to hear yOuUU?

Leonard went gangsta on Joshua.

Wahhh! Come on, Nee-sama too, stop Father Eh, HUH?!

Joshuas in trouble! As William thought so, he turned to the main culprit, Emma, for help, but she had already moved on to explain booklice to Oliver happily.

And so, the booklice will settle on the sliding door and make a shoki shoki sound

Huh? Insects? But there were no such things there, though?

Booklice are tiny insects, thats why Ah, how about I go to the mansion right now to check

Wait, Nee-sama!

How can you talk about insects in this situation muttered William, but this was just Emmas usual operation.

Oh? It seems like I have come at a bad time?

Fukushima appeared right at the moment when Joshua was grabbed by Leonard by the neck. Fukushima went to Edo earlier for a meeting in Edo Castle and had just returned.

Ah, Fukushima-sama. Youre back early I thought you were going to take your time in Edo. Did anything happen at the meeting?

Leonard noticed Fukushimas arrival and gave him a welcoming smile, still with that demon-like face.

Your face is scary!!! I-It was nothing. At the meeting, the discussion led to the rewarding of House Stuart The Emperor and Shogun have also expressed that giving a reward is an absolute must, so I would like to invite everyone to Edo to Eh?

Leonards demon face turned pale when he heard Fukushimas words.

Emma, who was going on and on about booklice to Oliver, George and William, who were trying to rescue Joshua from Leonards clutches, and Melsa, who was commenting, Oh, dear, oh, goodness, with a mood like that of a spectator, all shouted at Fukushima in sync,

We dont need any rewards!

Authors words: It was supposed to be a chapter on whether to return to the Kingdom or not, though