The next morning, hell begins at dawn.
“Weiss, wake up. It’s already six.”
“…Wut, it’s not even dawn…”
“It is. Look between the curtains, the sun is already there.”
I rub my sleepy eyes as I check the time, and the needle really is pointing at six.
I wake up past seven on weekdays. During days off, I sleep until noon, and I don’t even get up unless Ririi shakes me, but…
That lazy life ends today.
I suddenly notice something in my hazy vision. Ririi is standing next to Sieglinde. She clearly hasn’t just gotten up, she’s like a soldier ready for training.
Sieglinde got her first.
“You can sleep more if you’re sleepy, Ririi. It’s your summer vacation.”
“Really!?”
“No. Weiss, if you have time to say nonsense, go wash your face.”
“Yes yes…”
I do as ordered, and go to the bathroom to wash my face. When I come back, Ririi has a small broom and she’s moving all over the place. She looks like she’s having fun, but that’s probably because she doesn’t understand.
Ririi… This is our life now.
“First, morning cleaning. Weiss, start by sorting out your room.”
“Cleaning? My room isn’t that messy.”
“On the desk, pile of clothes, dust under the bed… All of it is over my tolerance range.”
“Tolerance range… Don’t maids do everything in your house?”
“In my house, I do it in my workplace. And when I go on official trips as well.”
There’s no helping it then. I know very well from our school days that she’s a neatness demon. I know it, so I just have to bear it.
I go back to my room and clean. This doesn’t even count as dirty to me, but if I don’t clean, it won’t end. I gather my clothes and put them in the laundry basket quickly. Then I clean them all together with magic.
I go back to the living room, and Ririi is singing ‘pikapika♪’ as she sweeps dust off the floor.
“Ririi, can you do my room too when you’re done here?”
“Yes!”
“…Weiss.”
The demon instructor won’t allow for any slacking off.
“I was just thinking it might as well all be done in one go. No good?”
“…There is some logic to it. Let’s leave the sweeping to Ririi.”
She’s listening a little.
“Then I’ll tidy up in general. Your room too.”
“Wha, no, t-that’s fine.”
“Don’t be like that. You’re not done unpacking yet, right?”
I don’t hate cleaning, I’m just the type that does it all at once. Once I get started, it feels wrong to me to not do it properly.
And this momentum leads me to grab the door to Sieglinde’s roo…
“W-wait! Weiss, don’t go in my room!”
Sieglinde jumps forward.
She’s not usually this flustered. You’d think she’s keeping a monster in her room, which would be normal for Ririi, but not her. Judging by her face turning red…
“…Is there perhaps something you don’t want me to see?”
“…!”
Her shoulders jolt. Bullseye. That reaction is funny, so it makes me feel like teasing her.
“Well then, let’s have a look at your secret…”
“Don’t!!”
There’s a sound of wind ripping through. A chop grazed my face. That speed carried killing intent.
“Y-you… I’m technically your husband…”
“Shut up! It can’t be helped, I’m in the middle of unpacking!”
I’ve never seen her so threatening, so even I get scared.
“…W-well, then I’ll leave it untouched today.”
“Do it from the start!”
The door is shut, and I hear her putting something away in there.
“That was close… If he knew I read romance light novels…”
I can hear mumbling. I press my ear to the door, but the noise is drowning it out. I’ll let her off the hook today.
“Daddy, lots of dust came off!”
Her bright voice echoes in the living room. She’s happy with her small hands full of dust.
“Ririi, don’t touch the dust, it’s dirty.”
I might not know too much about Sieglinde.
It’s been about ten years since we were in school, so like how I’m obviously not the same, Sieglinde isn’t either. It might look like she hasn’t changed, but she grew ten years. I’m noticing that now that we’re living together.
I look forward to seeing new facets of her. Even before, I never got tired of seeing her.
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