Fantasy Novel [Chiaroscuro of Dawn] ep.6 "Chapter 1: The Lonely Artificial God"

Approaching Hearts ①

What does it actually mean to be selfish?
If it means becoming overbearing, I don't think that's a very good thing, but for now, Chiaro's immediate goal is to get along with Scuro.

So, for the past few days, I've been enthusiastically trying to talk to Scuro, but he hasn't been paying me any attention at all.
Of course, my request for him to show me around the mansion was refused, and he won't take me up on my invitations to play cards either.

When I said, "Michele is such a nice person," he once let his eyes sparkle and said, "Right!?" but immediately after, he threatened me, saying, "Nii-ni is mine."
I'm completely at a loss, but when I see the innocent expression he wears when he adores Michele, I just can't bring myself to hate him. He must be the kind of child who treats the people he loves with sincerity.

At night, while wiping the orange hair of Gigi and Toto after their bath, Chiaro grumbled, "What should I do?"
Both of them tilted their green eyes and asked, "What's wrong?"

“Scuro-kun won't get along with me. Big brother is a little tired.”

Chiaro generally has a likable personality and is the type who can get along even with slightly twisted people, so this was the first time he had struggled so much with interpersonal relationships.

“Gigi and Toto, what makes you happy? What kind of person would you want to be friends with?”

He wasn't expecting an answer, but the two of them thought about it seriously, and then Toto exclaimed, "Ah!"

“Someone who praises us! We did some drawing today, right? Michele told us we were good at it.”

“Did Michele come by today too? He's such an important person, yet he's so attentive.”

Michele is a rising star in the eighty-member College of Cardinals and the Pope's right-hand man, so he is always busy.
However, he always finds time between his busy duties to come and show his face to everyone.
The servants here, and of course Gigi and Toto, hold Michele in extremely high regard, which makes Chiaro's pride as a big brother waver a little.

“You two, don't forget about your big brother,” he said, nuzzling them, but he also thought, that's true.
No one dislikes being praised, and besides, there's no reason not to follow the example of Michele, whom Scuro loves so much. Alright, I'll try it first thing tomorrow.

Enduring the sadness of being told, "Big brother, you haven't bathed yet, your cheeks are gross~," Chiaro burned with fighting spirit.

The next morning, as soon as Chiaro headed to the dining room, he put on a beaming smile.

“Good morning, Scuro-kun! Uh, your beautiful hair is shining brightly in the sun!”

The breakfast bread fell from Scuro's hand. He stared blankly for a moment, then shuddered as if he had caught a chill.

Gigi and Toto, who had arrived at the table first, whispered to each other, "Big brother is weird," but he didn't care. He would praise him a lot and put him in a good mood.

“Wow, a little bird flew to the window. Maybe it was attracted by Scuro-kun's beauty? They say there are no bad people who are liked by animals. Your... kindness? It's coming through too!”

Scuro stood frozen, unable to move. The twins opened their mouths.

“Gigi, Scuro is scary~”

“Toto too~”

It was just a remark from young children, but perhaps the lack of malice made it even more painful for Scuro.
He turned bright red and ran away at the speed of light.

It was a failure. And I had hurt him.
I went to apologize, but he wouldn't come out of his room.

In the afternoon, the two of them were spending time in the study, where the walls were covered in books.
Scuro was reading a book with a sullen face, trying not to let Chiaro into his field of vision.

I had gone too far earlier. When I thought about it, Chiaro didn't know him well enough to be praising him about this and that.
Wondering what to do, he happened to glance at the book Scuro was reading. The pages were filled with dense text, and he let out a "Wow" naturally.

“Scuro-kun, you're really amazing. You're reading such a difficult-looking book.”

At that moment, Scuro glared sharply at Chiaro.
He stood up, spread his arms, and said in a theatrical tone.

“Rejoice, Chiaro! Your wings of flattery are so great that they cover the land and sea, and their momentum reaching the heavens knows no bounds! Therefore, your fame has even reached the depths of hell!”

This time it was Chiaro's turn to be blank.
He didn't know what Scuro was talking about. But words like "great" and "fame" sounded like he was praising him.

“Eh, eh... hehe, thank you. Did I really do something that amazing?”

When Chiaro said this while scratching his head, Scuro clicked his tongue violently.

“It's a parody of a line written by an ancient poet! Look, it's creepy to have someone I don't even know praise my hair or my face!
It makes my skin crawl when people act like they've exhausted every flowery phrase they know, even if they don't mean it. Even though you're an idiot who doesn't even understand sarcasm!”

A heavy silence fell. Chiaro managed to squeeze out a voice, "Ah..."

“Uh, yeah, you're right. I'm sorry for being an idiot.”

Scuro twisted his mouth and said, "Huh?"

“I've only ever worked, so I've never studied. I can't read, and I've never seen a book. Is that a poem everyone knows? How embarrassing, I don't know anything.”

Chiaro laughed openly, but Scuro crumpled his face and looked down.

“You're right, Scuro-kun. I tried my best because I wanted you to like me even a little, but it wasn't like me at all. I'm sorry for making you feel uncomfortable all day.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he felt a sensation like his horns being flicked. At the same time, Scuro's eyes widened as he looked toward the window, and he rushed out of the room in a panic.

“Scuro-kun!? What's wrong?”

Running through the dark corridor, he followed Scuro out to the rooftop. Against the backdrop of the dense forest, Chiaro was witnessing an astonishing sight once again.

Wings of deep blue and gold shimmered in the sunlight every time they beat the air. To think he would be facing a divine beast, a Hippogriff, from such close range.

“Pee-chan, you can't come here! I've told you so many times, if you get found, you'll be captured.”

Pee-chan seems to be its name, but it doesn't suit the bird-of-prey-like face and the overly sturdy body.

“Is this the one that came before? Is it Scuro-kun's friend? Is it?”

“Friend... no. Because humans and divine beasts shouldn't be together.”

He said this with a very pained expression. Chiaro stared intently at the Hippogriff.

“This child is sad. I can feel an image of its heart... breaking. Also, confusion.”

Scuro looked surprised, then began to speak as if he had made up his mind.

“After the storm a year ago, I found a Hippogriff chick lying limp here. I think it got separated from its family and crashed. That was Pee-chan.
It was still small and so weak that I couldn't just leave it... I knew it was wrong, but I helped it.”

Chiaro had heard of this too.
Once a young divine beast smells of humans, it can never return to its flock. It will be completely abandoned by its parents.

“I was scared that Pee-chan would die right in front of me, so I treated it desperately. Even without Nii-ni knowing.”

Since then, Scuro had apparently been secretly giving his own food to the Hippogriff, but it was soon discovered by Michele.

“It was the first time I'd seen Nii-ni so angry. It was really scary. If the people from the Papal States found out, I'd be sent to the Divine Beast Knights and live a life of confinement forever. He asked me if it was okay to make someone I care about live like that...”

That's a cruel thing to say to Scuro, who has lived a life of confinement ever since he was born as a child of God.
But Michele must be well aware of that too.
It seemed as though Michele's own deep sense of guilt was seeping through those words.

The Hippogriff let out a high-pitched cry.

“How did you say goodbye after that?”

“I just chased it away, saying, 'Go, don't come back.' In the end, I even threw stones at it. But Pee-chan keeps coming back right away. It brings me lemons and oranges as gifts, but I throw those away too...”

Scuro said this while looking away, but by the end, his voice was tearful.

“Pee-chan doesn't understand your kindness and is confused. It's very lonely.”

“You... can you understand what Pee-chan is thinking with your power of reception? Tell me! What should I do?”

Chiaro had never been able to read anyone's thoughts before.
But perhaps because Ogres and Hippogriffs are creatures that flourished in the age of mythology, he seemed to be able to receive rough images of their emotions if he concentrated.
However.

“...No, I can't tell any more details than this. But I know it's wondering why, why.”

Why, Scuro stammered.

“Because Pee-chan is important to you! Go home!”

At that moment, he saw the backs of the guards in the garden. If they turned around, they would see Pee-chan.

Scuro took a step forward. At his feet, five or six small apples, which seemed to be today's gift, were rolling around.
He picked one up, shouted "Go!" and swung his arm. Pee-chan let out a short cry and disappeared into the mountains in an instant.

Scuro hung his head and didn't move for a while. When Chiaro urged him, "Let's go, it's going to rain," a faint voice replied.

“Pee-chan and I are the same. Nii-ni wants me to leave the nest. But I don't want to. I don't want to be separated from Nii-ni. I have no one but Nii-ni.”

Chiaro didn't know what to say to the loneliness overflowing from his thin back, and just listened to the distant thunder.