(…I was very happy with the flowers and his feelings.)The distance with Vlad is getting c

(…I was very happy with the flowers and his feelings.)The distance with Vlad is getting closer little by little.Meanwhile, she heard a certain story from Arthur.“Several corpses have been found in strange state, with every drop of their blood drained.”CHAPTER 05The winter sky is always beautiful, but the sky I looked up at after waking up today feels even prettier than usual.After preparing breakfast as always, I decorate the dining room with the clematis flowers I received from Vlad yesterday.Vlad “In the language of flowers…it means the joy of travelers.”MC “The joy of travelers…”Vlad “Right. Hey, Mimi. I want you to tell me your worries that you can’t say to your precious ones.”Vlad “If that could make you feel better, I wish for you to live your life to the fullest. Will you listen to my selfishness?”(…I was very happy with the flowers and Vlad’s feelings.)The fact that there is a person who accepts the emotion I locked up alone reassures me terribly.As my lips curled into a broad smile while remembering Vlad’s gentle smile…Arthur “Morning, Mimi. You’re still the cutest today.”MC “Haha, yeah yeah. Good morning, Arthur. For breakfast…say, what’s with that ‘I don’t need it’ face?Arthur “Hmm, *how very perceptive. I was writing until morning, but I can’t see the end of it…so can I just have coffee?”(*ご明察 - so insightful, as you indicated/presumed. MC “Yeah, please wait then. I’ll bring it after I brew one.”As I return to the dining room after pouring sugar free coffee into a cup…,Arthur was looking over the newspaper with a serious expression.MC “Here, thank you for waiting. What’s wrong, with that serious look. Was there any article that’s *bothering you?”(*気になる - curious, wonder, catch one’s eyesArthur “I wonder if everything is to be concerned about. All the articles are nothing but dangerous. Here, take a look.”On the spread front page, articles on theft and murder…those make me unconsciously looking away.From the start, this world is not really peaceful and calm, but I can tell it from the *surface that it has become more dangerous just of late.(*肌 - skin, body(…There is an intense wealth inequality in this era. Helping hands are not extended towards those seeking aid and labor.)Recently, there have been repeated cases of aristocrats are being targeted by dissatisfied citizens.(…The boy who came to Vlad to buy flowers was also wearing worn-out/tattered/battered clothes. Also.)The hands that grasp the coin tightly to buy the flowers was full of scratches and stained of pitch black, perhaps because he was working in a coal mine.Somehow I want to do something about it, but I feel frustrated with the reality that I can’t change it right away…Arthur “It seems that various incidents are happening every day, but this incident is just strange…”MC “…Strange incident?”Arthur “Several corpses have been found in strange state, with every drop of their blood drained.” Arthur “In addition, when they examine the body of the corpses, it seems that all of them are ‘having criminal records’ or ‘those who commits some kind of crimes’.”(…In other words.)MC “…Are people who have done bad/wrong things being punished?” Arthur “I’m not sure what it really means, but it seems that many people interpret it as you say.”Arthur “It seems that some people deify him and call him ‘The Flowers of Evil’, like a novel world. It’s just…”Arthur “In reality, it’s not allowed.”Arthur’s large glass bead eyes are dyed in desperate shades.Arthur “Different people have their own standards of what’s evil and what’s justice. If everyone judges by their own ethics, the world will go crazy.”Arthur “That’s why law exists and there’s police force.”Arthur unwraps his serious look, takes off his glasses, and then he surprisingly smiles.(…?)Arthur “So, you should be careful. You don’t want to be attacked in the middle of a secret date, right?”MC “Date…!?”(…This is surely about Vlad, right? I don’t mean to keep my meeting a secret, but it’s somewhat embarrassing.)(Here it is —)(…Arthur is uselessly sharp, so the more you say something, the more it backfires.)Arthur “Remaining silent, aren’t you? But unfortunately, if you shut your lips, all the more it gets me fired up.”Arthur “Well then, why did I think you were dating…let me tell you the reasoning now.”Arthur “First of all, the flowers decorated in the mansion have changing a lot these days. So I guess, the other party is a florist…?”(He’s sharp…!)Arthur “The second one, you went to meet the person every day. Recently, you often came back separately from Sebas.”（ううう…！）(Uuu…!)Arthur “And the third, you’ve become more and more cute lately. No more excuses with this.”Arthur “I’m worried~ Can he protect Mimi from this dangerous world?”All of the sudden, Arthur *squints and as he reaches out to me…(*目を細め - to close one’s eyes partly, to smile with one’s whole face, to look fondly at Arthur “…Hey, Mimi. After all, you should choose the strong and gentle mystery writer right in front of you…OUCH!”Theo “You think?”Vincent “Hehe, you won’t consider it, would you? ‘Coz Arthur is the most dangerous one.”MC “Theo, Vincent…!”Arthur “Hey…Theo. Don’t you have anything to do with your fist? What would you do if I get dumb?”Theo “Maybe your cunning will stop working and you’ll become a little bit of a decent person.”Vincent “Hehe, they are really close friends today too, right, Mimi?”With a question mark floating in his mind, Theo shrugs his shoulders.Theo “And there’s no need to be worried. Mimi will be with us for a while.”Arthur “Oh, did you hold an exhibition for paintings of the artists that Theo take care of?”Theo “Yeah, Nii-san’s paintings are included too, of course.”MC “I’m going to help out for a few days before the exhibition opens.”(…I’m a little lonely that I can’t go to see Vlad, but.)(I want to do my best to help those two who always help me.)Vincent “Thank you for your help, Mimi. It would be a little busy, but please take care of us.”MC “Thank you for letting me help, Vincent, Theo.”From that day, preparations for the exhibition began immediately…Theo “Mimi, I told you to display the painting there at the top of the stairs, didn’t I?”MC “Sorry! I’ll fix it right away!”Theo “Mimi, the artist Francis will bring his painting any time now. Please get it.”MC “Okay…!”As I move around in commotion, the outside dyed with night just like that.(…Wow, I’m so unsteady. I already thought this would be difficult, but it easily surpasses my imagination.)(But, Theo worked many times than this. This is not the time for complaints, I need to work harder.)As I walk with enthusiasm, I find Theo looks over the painting at the wall in the art gallery, where everyone heads for home while being all listless.Theo “…”(His eyes seems like looking at treasures…)As he shoots through it with pure and beautiful look, like a young boy aware of his first love, Theo’s gaze turns towards me.Theo “Ah, thanks for your hard work. Did Nii-san go back already…?”MC “Yeah, he said he would like to help and didn’t give it up, but he went back to mansion to continue with his paintings.”Theo “Is that so?”MC “Whose painting you were looking at…?”Theo “New painting drawn by Nii-san.”When I line up next to Theo and turns my sight towards the painting he looks at…(Wow…!)The scenery of rye field, where its golden heads shine in the sunlight, fills my field of vision.At a distance, people doing farm work are vividly drawn, There’s also a downpour of dazzling light on it.Just looking at the painting makes me feel calm and full of hopes, as if I’m amidst an early afternoon.MC “…It’s a wonderful painting that it such a *waste to put it into words.”(*もったいない - too good, more than one deserves, unworthy ofMC “It looks like a sort of painting that makes you stronger and kinder just by looking at it.”Theo “…Yeah, I think so too.”Theo “Nii-san used to draw a rye field, but this time it’s a little different.”Theo “Since he put special feeling into it.”Theo “Nii-san told me, he drew this painting in the hope it could help and become a salvation for the people who live in this brutal era.”(People’s salvation…)(Really, that’s why it’s shaking my heart so strongly and intense…)Theo “But the world will say this, you know? Paintings do not save people, since they does not satisfy necessities of life.”Theo “When the world falls into turmoil, arts are discarded as unnecessary before anything else.”Theo “But that’s…I don’t think it that way.”When I ask him with just my gaze, Theo’s sea-colored eyes harbor a powerful heat as if wishing for a bright tomorrow.Theo “This painting, Mozart’s music, and novel written by Arthur and Dazai…”Theo “Arts sometimes save people’s heart with its absurd strength from unthinkable angles. …Just like a miracle.”MC “…”Theo “Because I’m in such an era, those who want to give hope to people, the talents of those guys in the mansion —“Theo “I want to cherish it…”In a dark and hopeless world, people’s hearts are easily worn away.And with worn down hearts, people wounds many things.At times they hurt the person closest to them, and they even hurt themselves. However — Vlad “Go before the flowers wither. In flower language, gerbera means hope and progress.”Vlad “May you move forward with hope.”I think people are also the ones who heal and protect.(People hurt others, but they also save other people. If so, then I…) -- source link

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