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I felt worried about my little brother's mental wellbeing, so while he stuck to me in his bed wanting to be cuddled and spoiled, I asked some help from Alice to scan his mind and soul a little bit, and to soothe it using magic.
"Hmmm, he seems to be healthy." Said Alice. "Though… further scanning has shown that his soul presents tremendously high quantities of Mana sealed within."
"Sealed?" I asked through telepathy.
"It does seems that your brother's primary elements, Darkness, Shadow, Poison, and Blood are amassed into a gigantic cloud of Mana, perhaps worth several billions of units. However, they're tightly sealed… It seems this might be the reason he has nightmares." Alice inspected.
"So the reason why he wasn't able to awaken a power with that Elixir…?" I wondered.
"It could very well be because of that Dark-Aligned Elemental Mana inside his soul. Though his soul doesn't seem in danger. It is as if his own body and soul have compacted his immense power naturally. I assume he will slowly release it until fully mastering in the next years as he grows up." Said Alice. "Though, he could perhaps get sick, so improving his physique is vital, thankfully he had been improving at a steady pace with your help."
"Yeah, I guess." I felt relieved at that. "I'll give him an Elixir just in case."
I quickly took out an Elixir to soothe minds and heal wounds and sicknesses, and gave it to my little brother while he cuddled over my belly.
"Zephy, we can't sleep much longer, we've gotta wake up, okay?" I asked.
"Muhh…" He sighed, rubbing his face on my chest. "I wanna stay with big sis…"
"Awww… but we can't just sit down all day. Here, I've got you an elixir so you'll feel much better and healthier." I said, giving it to him. "It tastes like strawberry so go ahead!"
"Oh…" Zephy looked at the elixir and then slowly drank it. "Hmmm! Sweet!"
He quickly ended drinking it all, his aura stabilized and he seemed much healthier and awake now. It seems the mental and physical exhaustion he felt due to his nightmare and lack of sleep because of that has been finally healed.
"How do you feel now?"
"Much better! Thank you big sis! I love you!"
Zephy gave me a kiss in my cheek.
"I love you too, Zephy! I'll always be there for you, okay?" I gave him one last hug and a kiss on his forehead. "You're my precious little brother. If you ever feel sad about a nightmare or something, just tell me, alright? You can trust me."
"You won't tell mommy and daddy? I don't want to make them worried… They're so busy all the time…" He said.
"W-Well… If it is not too bad, I won't. Alright?" I asked with a smile.
"Oway!" Zephy nodded adorably, as I gave him a head pat.
"Alright, now how about we go take a bath together to get out faster?" I asked.
"Okay! I'll wash your back big sis!" Zephy said.
Like that, we walked into the bathroom and had a relaxing warm bath, where Zephy finally felt much more at ease. A warm bath always soothes the mind and the body, and while we took a bath, I asked him about Celica a little bit.
"So what do you think of Celica? Are you two good friends?" I wondered.I think you should take a look at
"E-Eh? C-Celica? Yeah… She sometimes invites me to her room and we play with plushies… S-She likes to play pretend a lot." Zephy said while blushing a bit.
"Ooh? What type of pretend play?" I asked while giggling.
"L-Like… I am her… husband and she the wife, a-and the plushies are… our kids." He said. "I-Is it weird? She likes it a lot, but the other kids in the orphanage near her house doesn't like her that much, they call her weird… it makes me angry whenever I see them calling her like that."
"Huh? They call her weird?" I asked. "Do Mary and the other nun don't do anything about it?"
"They try but they say they're just kids… B-But I am their same age and I find it wrong…" Said Zephy.
"I-Is that so?" I sighed. "Well, it seems she doesn't really get affected by that at all, she's always happy and cheerful. And she's our friend so she sticks with us all the time, the orphanage kids are a bit different, that's all."
"Yeah!" Zephy said. "But one day I remember she was crying…"
"C-Celica was crying?!" I asked.????????????????????????????????.????????????
"But she's fine now!" Zephy said. "She was sad because the other demon kids called her weird for… liking her plushies and golems a lot. But I told her it was fine to like them and that there wasn't anything wrong, a-and that she was a very pretty and nice girl!"
"Oh my!" I giggled a bit. "I never thought of you of such a gallant!"
Zephy blushed a bit while covered in soap bubbles.
"And what did she said after that?" I asked.
"S-She was very happy…" Zephy sighed. "And she stopped crying… and hugged me."
"She hugged you!?" I gasped.
It seems my little brother has a whole story with Celica I was not aware of! Well, he goes to play to her house quite commonly. Usually a maidservant or manservant accompany him.
"I guess you really like her, huh?" I sighed.
"L-Like?!" Zephy got all embarrassed, but it was very obvious as I saw his embarrassed face.
"Hehehe, I bet you want to kiss her or something, don't you?" I teased him.
"T-That's…" Zephy got embarrassed. "S-Shut up! I don't want to do gross things…"
"So cute!" I laughed, giving him a head pat. "Okay, just keep being nice with her, I'm sure she'll fancy you once you two grow up a little more, you're still too young after all."
"Ugh, shut up! Y-You're saying embarrassing things, big sis!" Zephy got angrier, splashing water at me.
SPLASH!
"Hahaha! Don't get so mad! You're so grumpy." I giggled. "Just like mom!"
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