Ingenuus
Yuushin stirred beneath the velvet sheets, the morning sun slanted through the high-arched window. He blinked slowly, groggily, as the unfamiliar scent of lavender oil and parchment filled his nose.
For a moment, he thought nothing of it.
Still half-asleep, he sat up and stretched. The bed beneath him was far too large, the canopy draped of banners of silver and blue. Everything was too quiet. Too clean.
"Ah... premium room service," he muttered to himself, stifling a yawn as he swung his legs over the side of the bed. His voice echoed oddly in the bed chamber.
He stripped off his school shirt with little ceremony, tossing it lazily over a nearby suit of ornamental Armor that bore the crest of the High Seat.
Bare-chested, he padded across the cold marble floor toward the wardrobe, only to stop when he saw sunlight pouring through an open window beside it. Drawn by the pull of fresh air, he leaned in curious, unbothered and, with his usual lack of caution, let his torso dangle out over the stone balustrade, nearly falling in the process.
He didn't care.
From this high vantage point. he could see the great snow-covered southern wall of the castle stretching out beneath him, the one he was now clearly inside of. The architecture was old, gothic, with a regal, crowned of towers. A city sprawled covered with snow and terracotta roofs, gleaming spires, market domes and narrow streets. Beels chimed faintly in distance, banners flapped and smoke curled from the chimneys in spirals.
Yuushin whistled, impressed.
"Huh. Not my room."
Yuushin remained half-folded over the window ledge, arms dangling loosely, shirtless, utterly unbothered by the sheer drop yawning beneath him. The morning breeze tousled his already-messy hair, cool against his bare torso. He stared out at the vast medieval city, blinking once, twice and then let out a long, slow exhale.
"…Isekai."
The word left his lips with quiet awe, followed immediately by a grin so wide it nearly split his face. He snorted to himself, eyes lighting up with delighted disbelief. "This has to be an Isekai. Right? Big-ass castle room, mystery wardrobe, view like a JRPG cover... Damn, I must've died stylish."
Still hanging over the ledge, he tilted his head toward the sky as if waiting for some floating text box to appear. None did.
Then he chuckled.
"If Koemi finds out, she's goanna kill me for dying without permission, also what about my council?"
His voice turned theatrical. "'You absolute moron, you died in a traffic accident and left your presidentship in my boots!'" He laughed again.
The wind picked up. Yuushin leaned further out, breathing in the scent of chimney smoke and dew-damp stone, elbows resting lightly on the sill.
Then his foot slipped.
His body pitched forward. "W–whoa—!"
At the last second, Yuushin twisted midair and hooked his ankle over the thick stone ledge. He dangled upside down, shirtless and swinging slightly in the morning light, the wind pressing his hair to his face. "…Well," he muttered, blinking at the upside-down city. "That escalated."
The heavy oaken door creaked open behind him, just as Yuushin dangled lazily by one ankle over a hundred-foot drop. Two voices mid-conversation floated into view.
"…the capital castle reopened overnight. Without warning. It's already gone up the Prime Tower; the wards are resetting—"
This followed, silence.
Then two overlapping screams,
"LORD ARIS?!"
Yuushin, still hanging upside down, craned his head back. His vision tilted until he saw them clearly: a young butler with wolf-like ears shooting from his black hair, and a nurse maid who looked seconds away from fainting, tiny wings fluttering nervously at her waist.
The maid screamed again, dropping a folded robe and sprinting toward the window. "Milord! What in the Grail's mercy are you doing?!"
"Ah," Yuushin said, blinking calmly as he dangled. "That's helpful. People are helping me now. Thanks a bunch."
The butler had already lunged forward, surprisingly fast. "Catch his leg! Pull gently, gently!"
With a clumsy flurry of arms and panicked muttering, the two managed to grab hold of him and yank him back over the ledge. Yuushin tumbled to the floor in a heap, shirtless, laughing as he sprawled onto the polished marble.
"That was kind of fun," he said, breathless.
The maid, now red-faced, stared down at him eyes fixed, despite her best efforts, on his bare torso. Her face burned pink, hands flailing as she tried to both scold him and look away. "You can't just—what if you'd fallen?! Lord Aris, you're still recovering! You were half-dead two days ago, and now you're nearly—fully—completely—and you're naked!"
"I'm not naked," Yuushin said, sitting up.
The butler, shoved a crisp shirt into his arms. "Please clothe yourself, milord. Now."
Yuushin slipped it on with a sigh, still chuckling, though he noticed the odd things about them now, the ears, the wings but said nothing. Probably rude to comment on that kind of thing, he thought. Fantasy-racism, right? Avoid it.
The butler guided him back to the bed with one hand on his shoulder. "You shouldn't be moving around so freely. Especially not with stunts like that. You're still under recovery protocol."
"Recovery?" Yuushin repeated, "I feel fine. Just a bit upside-down."
"Please don't make the maid cry again."
"She's not crying."
"She almost did."
Yuushin shrugged and folded his arms behind his head. "Fine,"
The butler gave him a hard look, then softened slightly. "Is there anything I can bring, milord?"
Yuushin blinked. His brain stalled for a moment. Then he replied instinctively, without thought: "Tea." He frowned slightly. Wait. I hate tea.
But the butler was already bowing politely. "As you wish, Lord Aris."
Yuushin watched him turn away, one brow raised, his grin returning like a slowly forming storm cloud as the butler retreated.
For a moment, Yuushin lay sprawled atop the bed, arms crossed behind his head, staring up at the elaborate carved ceiling. He was just beginning to hum to himself some half-forgotten anime opening when the mattress shifted.
The nurse maid had sat beside him.
He glanced over. She wrung her hands tightly in her lap, eyes downcast, her wings twitching anxiously at her waist. "When the Cardinal Knight of Fire sent word, you'd been gravely injured… I thought…" Her breath caught. "I thought we'd lost you."
Yuushin blinked, turning towards her. "…Huh?"
"I stayed awake three days. The High Healers said you wouldn't wake. I…I waited, and prayed, and when the Queen declared the throne sealed, I thought it was to prepare for your funeral, and then…" Her hands clenched harder. The wings at her waist fluttered erratically.
Yuushin sat up slowly, brows furrowing. "Okay, uh. First off what happened? And second… why are you calling me 'milord'? Or Lord Aris? You've been doing that since you saw me upside-down."
She turned, wide-eyed, panic rising in her face. "Y-you don't know who you are?" Her wings began to twitch violently again.
Yuushin raised both hands defensively. "I mean I do. I'm Yuushin, from Iwate prefecture, and I think I just got isekai'd"
"What's an Isekai?!" she nearly shrieked.
Before he could answer, she leaned forward and pressed her forehead against his, urgently checking for fever, her hands fumbling along his cheeks, the small wings behind her quivering in distress.
"No… No, no, no, your body temperature is stable, no dark mana presence… but—" She gripped his face tighter. "You don't remember anything, do you?! You're Aris, the Cardinal Knight of Ice! The supreme commander of the Cardinal Forces, the! The Cardinal representative of the Knights of the Round!"
Yuushin's mouth hung open.
"Holy crap," he whispered. "これが完全な異世界体験だ."
"What language is that?!" she whimpered, clearly about to cry again. Her wings jittered wildly, nearly smacking the headboard.
"Okay, okay, whoa, deep breath," Yuushin scrambled upright, flustered by how fast she was spiralling into a full-blown meltdown. "Hold on a sec"
She blinked,
Then, just as he was about to pull back, something slipped out of his mouth something that hadn't passed through his thoughts, but landed with uncanny certainty. "Anya."
She gasped.
Yuushin's eyes widened too, "I don't remember anything about this world. I don't know why I'm here. But I'm not crazy. I'm not sick. I feel fine. You're Anya, I'm apparently Aris… and we're both goanna figure this out. Okay?"
She just stared at him, tears welling, breath shaken. Her wings quivered softly.
"…Nah, just kidding. I remember everything."
Her wings flared in alarm.
"W-what?!"
He gave a theatrical shrug, smug as sin. "Yep. Full memory,"
Anya blinked. "That's not funny!!"
She slapped his shoulder. "You made me think you lost everything! I almost ran to call the Queen Squire!"
He winced dramatically, rubbing the spot. "Oww. Cruel maid."
"You're cruel!" she huffed, wings flicking furiously.
Yuushin just laughed, loud and carefree, falling back onto the bed with a grin that refused to fade. "Well," he said with a smirk, folding his hands behind his head,
"If I am Aris… I guess I'm even cooler than I thought."
Anya glared. But her lips twitched, ever so slightly. Before she could launch into another flustered tirade, the door creaked open.
The young butler stepped in, his black hair neatly combed between his tall lupine ears, his tail twitching behind him. In his hands, he carried a silver tray bearing a porcelain cup and saucer, steam curling gently from the tea. "I've returned with your tea, milord," he said with quiet formality. "Chamomile and crest root blend, as per the physician's instruction."
Yuushin blinked at the cup, then muttered under his breath, "Didn't even like tea before…" But he accepted the cup all the same with a small nod of thanks.
The butler inclined his head slightly deeper. "Additionally, I have informed Her Majesty of your recovery. The Queen and His Grace, High King Knight Rozenhal, will be arriving shortly to greet you."
Yuushin froze halfway through raising the cup, eyes flicking up. "Wait—the Queen? And the King?"
"Yes, milord," the butler confirmed, his ears giving the faintest twitch. "She commanded immediate audience the moment your vitals stabilized. I was instructed to inform you as soon as you were lucid."
Yuushin glanced toward Anya, who suddenly looked like she was trying not to panic again. He just gave a slow nod, casually sipping the tea.
"Cool," he said. "No pressure or anything."