Chapter 293: Additional Stationery

“I see. So it was Daniela who suggested it.”

“That’s right. So don’t be mad at Julius-chan. It’s originally Alex’s fault for refusing to take a bath together.”

It seems Daniela, my sister-in-law, is holding a grudge against Alex-niisan for refusing her. Apparently, she has a deep-seated complex about not being able to bathe together. She must have hated being alone in such a large bath.

“No, I’m not mad. But, you know, Julius is a boy.”

My brother glanced at me. What is he talking about? There’s no way I would make a move on my sister-in-law, especially a royal family member. If anything happened, my head would roll immediately.

“Alex-niisan, don’t you think your imagination is a bit too wild? I wouldn’t do anything like that. Besides, I’m only ten years old.”

“Y-yeah, you’re right, hahaha…”

Alex-niisan laughed awkwardly, his mouth twitching. Daniela, my sister-in-law, was glaring at him with half-closed eyes. She looked displeased. Scary. This is definitely going to end with Alex-niisan getting scolded by sister-in-law Daniela later.

That’s what you get for setting a trap for me. Serves you right!

After saying goodnight to Alex-niisan and sister-in-law Daniela, I returned to my room. For some reason, the three who had been kicked out earlier were still there.

“Why are you still here?”

“We thought you might make something else, so we waited.”

How did they know? What kind of expression should I have in this situation? For now, I forced a smile but needed to get them out somehow.

“We’re done for today. After all, we just took a bath, and it would be a shame to get dirty again. By the way, Rosalia, your hands are pitch black.”

“I was making pencils with erasers.”

“Stop it right now.”

I completely forgot that Rosalia had just gotten out of the bath. Because of the strange things I taught her, I ended up dirtying Rosalia’s body. Not in a weird way, of course.

I quickly had Nero bring a cloth. This should clean her hands… but it didn’t seem to be enough.

“Rosalia, your clothes are dirty. Make sure to change when you get back.”

“Huh? Oh no, what should I do!”

It seemed she hadn’t noticed her clothes were dirty until I pointed it out. Rosalia, now on the verge of tears, just realized it. I figured she could have them washed by tomorrow, and besides, she was wearing common loungewear. There should be plenty of replacements.

“If Mother sees, she’ll be mad.”

“Then go get scolded.”

“Ugh…”

Rosalia was now half-crying. Apparently, she was scared of our mother. If that’s the case, she should be more careful. Not that I mind—I’m not scared, so I won’t be careful.

“Oh, come on. Let this be a lesson: only do crafts in clothes that can get dirty. Clean!”

A soft light enveloped Rosalia, and in an instant, her dirty clothes looked as if they had just been washed.

Rosalia stood there in a daze, inspecting her clothes as if unable to understand what had happened.

This magic was great for cleaning dirty equipment. The game’s graphics were highly detailed, and dirt would accumulate over time. This magic restored items to their original clean state.

“Now, go back to your room. If your clothes get dirty again, I’ll pretend not to notice.”

“Amazing. Niisan, what was that magic!?”

Oh no, she’s interested in the magic now. Alright, to avoid more trouble, I’ll keep this quiet.

“Listen, Rosalia. That magic was just to keep you from getting scolded by Mother. So, keep this a secret, okay? The rest of you, too, understand?”

I put some pressure into my words. The four of them, now pale-faced, nodded silently. Good. You didn’t see anything, and I didn’t do anything. Got it?

After managing to get Rosalia out of the room, I could finally take a breather.

“Alright then…”

Saying this, I took out some wood, cloth, iron, and brass from my desk. Nero watched me, looking like he wanted to say something but ultimately remained silent. He probably thought, “It’s useless to say anything.” He’s right. But I’m not doing anything bad.

First, let’s make a pencil case. To prevent it from breaking if dropped, I’ll make it from cloth. I’ll use a zipper for the opening and closing, hence the brass. While I’m at it, I’ll also make metal pencil caps.

I crafted the zipper by imitating one I’d seen before. Even if there were parts I didn’t fully understand, I could use the ‘Craft’ skill to force my way through.

“It’s done. Look, Nero. This is a pencil case to hold the pencils. And here’s a pencil cap to keep the lead from breaking.”

When I handed them over, Nero showed the same adorable look of surprise as always. I’ve confirmed he’s not a girl, but he sure looks like one. Since he seems self-conscious about it, I try not to mention it much.

“Is this alright? I’ll gladly accept it. As expected of you, Julius-sama. It fits perfectly, as if measured. How do you open it?”

“Oh, right. You open it like this.”

I grabbed the metal part that served as the handle and demonstrated opening it with a zip sound. Nero’s eyes widened in surprise, then I zipped it closed again. I handed it over silently.

Nero took the pencil case and started zipping it up and down repeatedly.

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