My uncle and I choose the life that will not be ruined

Chapter 03: A deal with uncle Leon.

"A deal?"

Miriella sits on the sofa in front of Leon, with an expression on her face that can scare anyone, however her uncle isn't afraid of it, he knows it isn't anger exactly.

Her uncle, who had never been interested leaving his room before, suddenly appeared at the dinner table, even though he was screaming through the windows in the morning.

Miriella is really curious about the reason behind this unusual situation, but on the surface, she looks calm.

(Nobody can find out that my uncle's actions surprised me, nor that I'm impatient to discover the true behind it!)

But Leon, his maidservant, and Melisa, Miriella's maidservant, all knew that Miriella was curious, including the fact that she was trying to hide it.

(She is a seven-year-old girl, after all)

She may think she's already acting like a respectable lady, but she can't hide the childishness that occasionally peeks through her little eyes.

Leon's maidservant prepared two cups of tea, sweet fragrant chamomile tea.

"Would you like a cup of tea?"
"Yes."

Leon looked straight at Miriella and smiled.

She wasn't so familiar with her uncle, but he was nicer than she thought, Miriella admitted secretly.

The more nicer-looking Leon sipped his cup of chamomile tea and then opened his mouth, his blue eyes meeting Miriella's.

"I don't know if you would believe me, but there's something I want you to hear."

What he told her, serious as he was, was a ridiculous story that left Miriella perplexed.

"I'm a person who lived for eighteen years in a different world. After I died in that world, I was reborn as a man named Leon in this world. Today I remembered my previous life. I remember that I'm the younger brother of the House of Fowlders, Leon. But now I'm more conscious of my old self."

Miriella's eyes widened, ("What is this guy talking about?"), it was painted on her face.

She then looked at the maids trying to confirm that what she heard was strange, but no, what she heard was right, since Leon's maidservant and Melisa, couldn't hide their confusion.
At the same time, Leon was so embarrassed that was thinking on saying that it was all a joke, ("I shouldn't have said it, now I'll have to hide my face for the rest of my life.")

"Does that mean you aren't my uncle? Are you an impostor?!!"

"No, no! It's not like an impostor, it's like..."

"I don't understand. Is it the reason? My uncle is a different person? That's why after screaming through the windows in the morning, later you went to the dinner table as if nothing happened?"

"No, it's... Ashhh, how can I explain this to a child?"

"Maybe I'm a child, but you! The adult! Are the one talking nonsense!"

The prideful Miriella started to get angry, feeling that she was being ridiculed.
On the other hand, Leon impatiently turned his attention to the maidservants, but they averted their gaze as if saying "Don't look at us!".

Leon scratched his head in a gesture that was not like a nobleman, and then huffed as if he had given up.

Suddenly an idea come up!
He holds up three fingers towards Miriella, who has been glaring at Leon since a while ago.

"Three days, give me three days."

"What?"

"Give me three days and I'll explain it to you in a way you'll understand. Until then, I please don't say any of this to anyone, ok?"

"In three days, everybody will find out that you're acting strange without my help."

"Yeah, I can see that coming. But! Please promise me that and I'll tell you about that 'deal', that I mentioned earlier, then ... So please come back here in three days."

Suddenly Miriella saw that her uncle started worshiping her, with his palms together in front of his face.
("I've never seen it before, but I wonder if it's a pose for begging.")

Miriella's pride couldn't stand it, when she saw it, she put her small hand on her chin, in a thinking pose.
("It doesn't make sense, and he's acting weird, but it also bothers me that I don't know why my uncle suddenly changed. Three days... I think I can wait three days")

"Fine. I'll wait for your explanation."

"Thank you..." Leon sighed relieved.

"However! If I don't understand it after three days, then I'll tell your father, 'Uncle Leon has gone crazy! He's saying weird things'"

Miriella closed her scarlet eyes and snorted with a prideful huff.

She stood up, saying, "Excuse me," as she turned around, she walked out of the room without even looking back at him.

"Ohhh... Did you see that? That's a really cute face... She looked so mean! Hahaha"
Laughing forcefully, Leon spoke to the maidservants, but Miriella didn't hear because she slammed the door soundly.

3 days after.

It had been three days since her uncle Leon had gone crazy, he hadn't come out to dinner again after talking to her, and Miriella is inwardly frustrated.

She knew she should wait three days quietly, as she promised it to him, but she disliked the act of waiting, specially when she was interested in something, so her frustration was more and more with each second that passed.

"Melisa! Didn't my uncle call for me yet?!"

"No... Would you like me to go and ask him?"

Melisa, a maidservant who had just turned fifteen, replied fearfully, as if waiting for her to thrown something to her head.

She was a maid hired at the mansion on the spring that same year, has been working there for just two months.
A week after she entered, Miriella's former maidservant said, "I can't take it anymore!"
She begged to the maid in chief to do something.
And that's the reason why Melisa, was chosen to be the personal maid of Miriella.

She understood in less than three days why the previous maidservant was begging to be replaced.
Miriella is a prideful and selfish young lady.

The other servants are reprimanded when do something wrong, but Melisa instead, hears complaints and critics every day.
Moreover, Miriella has an intimidating look, perhaps because of her family's status, but it's hard to believe she is just a seven years old girl.

Just as Melisa was about to leave the room, as ordered by an irritated Miriella, she heard a discreet knock at the door.
So she opened the door to find Leon's maidservant waiting there.

"Miss Miriella. May I have the pleasure of guide you to Master Leon's room?"

"Hmmp! You've kept me waiting for a long time, haven't you?"

Miriella glared up at her with her scarlet eyes.
A strong gaze that send chills through the maids' backs, not only the maids but everybody working at the mansion.
Even the aristocrats that didn't know of her status as a duchess, when met that gaze froze in fear.

However, when she entered to Leon's room, he didn't care about her scary gaze, he took some papers and a book over his desk.
And placed them on the tea table in front of Miriella.

"It's been seriously hard accomplishing it just in three days... but let's just put that aside. Miriella, I want you to read this. If you read it, you'll understand."

Miriella put her hand on the book placed in front of her.
When she gently opened it, and found a drawing of a cute little boy inside.
"ok, you should read it from left to right, and these circles are what each person is saying. This sign mean..."

Leon showed her how to read the comic he just drew, and felt impressed for Miriella's speed on learning something completely new for her.

** Takeshi, a boy from Japan, a far away country in another planet, very different from where we are now, has a dream of becoming a book's painter.

But before Takeshi could realize his dream, he was hit by a magic carriage, that moves using fire, and died.

Meanwhile, Leon, who lives in the duke's mansion in the Kingdom of Rendalhas, is weak and fights for his life due to a high fever.

When he opened his eyes again, he felt that something was strange, so he looked for a mirror, and when he found it!
... He got very surprised.
In Leon's body dwells the soul of Takeshi, who had dreamed of becoming a painter!!
Travel across time and space!!!

Thanks to that, Leon's life was saved.
Thus, the souls, of Leon and Takeshi, coexist now in Leon's body. THE END **

The story is spun through the chatter and movement of the cute characters.
Miriella was immediately trapped in the picture-filled story and quickly finished it.

"Uncle! Could this be about you --??!"

"Yes, Miriella. It happened to me."

Miriella's scarlet eyes widened to their fullest, and she shivered with a wince.

"Ta, then!! What happened to Takeshi?"

"Miriella, I'm also Takeshi. There is a Takeshi inside me."

Miriella patted her chest in relief.

"It's just that I have to live in this world as the brother of the head of the duke's family, Leon. I'm afraid that if people find out that I have a foreign Takeshi in my heart, someone will do something bad to me.... So can you keep the fact that I have Takeshi living inside me a secret between us?"

"I'm sure my father and mother won't believe this strange story. But someone might believe it and catch you! Or lock you up somewhere! Yes, Uncle Leon is right, it would be best to keep it a secret!
Don't worry, I understand, what happened to Takeshi is a secret between me and uncle Leon!"

With big, sparkling eyes, Miriella declared excitedly.
Then she came trotting over to Leon, who was sitting across from her with the book she had just been reading, holding it to her chest.

"Uncle, uncle! It was you, wasn't it? The one who drew this picture book?"

"Yeah, that's right. Takeshi did! He wanted to be a painter, so he did it."

Miriella cheeks were red and nodded her head.
Melisa looked at her young master acting like that cute and thought (Am I seeing things? It's really unusual).
Miriella, who approached Leon timidly, placed her hand on the sofa where Leon was sitting and looked at him with begging puppy eyes.

"Uncle... I've never seen a picture book like this before! It's easy to read, and very interesting! Are these the picture books that are popular in Takeshi's country?"

"Hmm. Yes, this is what we call 'manga' in my world. Err, I mean in Takeshi's world."

Leon smiled at her, and Miriella was caught up by the fantasy story completely, making her smile so bright, that resembled to a blooming pink flower wrapped in sunlight.

(She is so cute!!)
Everybody in the room couldn't help but to think that.

She sat down next to her uncle with sparkling eyes.
Leon accepted it without complaining, and sipped at his cup of chamomile tea.
Then he cleared his throat and turned to look at Miriella.

"So, Miriella. It's a deal."

"Ha, that was it! I've never read such an interesting book before! Don't worry, I'll keep my uncle's secret! I promise!"

"Yeah, well, there's something more I want you to do for me. Takeshi's spirit is too strong, thus my mind cannot remember much about this country and this house, Leon body's memory is fuzzy. "

"Well..."

("Takeshi's spirit is strong, It was an inappropriate but exciting line of dialogue. But.. ")
It made him realize that this strange story is really like the mangas he used to read.

"I don't think there's anything wrong with speaking and writing, the basics things of everyday life. But, I've forgotten a lot of things about etiquette, geography, history all of that. So can you help me behave properly as Leon?"

("Sure, no matter how much he lived in seclusion, there will still be inconveniences later on, if I don't behave like a proper Duke's relative.")

"Everything that happened, was heartbreaking for Takeshi, but... It's reassuring for him to have someone in this world that is willing to help him."

When Miriella was about to respond to him, Leon continued.

"In return, I'll help you to prevent your own destruction."

"... What?!! My destruction?"

The words were too disturbing, and Miriella, who was happily imagining about Takeshi, froze.

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