Chapter 22 - 'Innocent' Tracey
...
Tracey smiled mysteriously, her charm threatening to crumble my defenses.
No good, I must keep on being a good friend to Tracey. I must not let these emotions get the better of me.
It may be obvious by now, but Tracey has had a small crush on me since we were kids. It's not easy to tell, but if you focus enough, the clues are all there. So far, only Sarah and I have noticed it. Yet, I assumed that it may be temporary, as Tracey didn't have an older sibling figure around her, other than me.
So, she may have just become attached to me and might grow out of it in the future. I didn't want to make a move on her unless Tracey was certain about her feelings.
Then again, it may all just be my assumptions, as Tracey has never said anything regarding that before.
Tracey and I got along great. Even if... Tracey's gaze lingered on my naked figure for too long when bathing together, with a noticeable blush on her face along with a dazed look in her eyes. It would be ridiculously dense of me not to notice things even then, right?!
Also, yeah... Tracey knows what I got down there. Maybe that was the reason behind her strange behaviour in the bath? Perhaps she was just curious about the difference between our bodies? An academic level curiosity?
Yeah, I thought of all that... until I found her secretly sniffing my private clothes. What other explanations could there be? Was she impressed by the perfume that I wore and tried to identify the constituent ingredients? Like hell that explanation makes any sense!
Being a grown-up mentally, I treated her with care and didn't let her notice my discovery of her strange habits. Not wanting to be hated by the cute girl, I never did anything progressive with her, hoping that she would make the first move instead.
Being hated by Tracey... that would be like a death sentence for me!
Coming out of my thoughts, I tried changing the topic and spoke to Tracey,
"Oh, I see... And how have your studies been going? You wished to quickly become the official heir to the family, right?"
Tracey smiled heavily as she spoke with excitement,
"Yes! It's going well, Elder Sister. Hmph... and I was wondering when you would visit my place. Just so that... I could show you our future home..."
"Hmm? Show me what??"
Tracey shook her head and spoke hurriedly,
"T-The garden! The garden at our place has been redesigned under my supervision, so I was hoping to show it to you... along with some other stuff..."
Tracey's only bad habit of mumbling the end of her sentences hadn't yet gone away. It made me fill in the holes with my imagination as to what the pure-hearted Tracey may have intended to say.
Well, since she wishes for me to go over to her place... Yeah, I don't have any objections to that, actually. And I can help with her studies there, too.
Until my brothers were born, I was rigidly trained to become the next successor to the household, just as in the case of Tracey. Thankfully, heaven graced me with the opportunity of getting away from all that mess. Unfortunately, Tracey wasn't as lucky as me.
The courageous little girl took on the responsibilities with gusto, putting in lots of effort in her learning, especially after learning that I wasn't the future heir anymore. Tracey had recently amped up her efforts, hoping to become the best heir possible.
Tracey had felt bad for my sake, thinking that my birthright as the eldest was being taken away, but when I told her about my true desire for a carefree life, away from the burden of responsibilities and the management of the territory, Tracey finally relented, going back to her studies once more.
Still, we kept in touch, even via letters. She often discussed subject topics with me and engaged in discussions over the letters. Thankfully, her parents didn't object to our sisterly talks and deemed us too innocent to be worried over. Only if they knew...
"Hmm, hmm. I know that my little Tracey would never slack off in her studies. So, any discoveries? Or any questions for me?"
Tracey jumped in her seat with happiness as she exclaimed,
"Yes! I found a lot of interesting things to share. And some things to consult with as well. Well, is it possible for us to study till late into the night like before, Elder Sister?"
Uh oh. Trouble is here at last. What I used to love, and now I dread, are the night studies with Tracey. A concept pitched by me when we were younger, studying together till late in the night, and... doing some embarrassing things...
Well, nothing too exciting, but... yeah, essentially a sleepover. A normal sleepover between friends of the same gender. No one from our families minded a sleepover of two little girls, especially when they considered the future relations between the two future heirs of their respective houses.
It's just that... the 'study' portion of things recently had been... you know what I mean.
Can see, yet can't touch—an eternal torture and poison to my mind. Not to mention that I had planned to continue 'studying' under the tutelage of Professor Sarah on the subject of... life sciences?
"Oh, about that... tonight may not be a good idea, little Tracey..."
Tracey's smile stiffened as her eyes sharpened suddenly, making her lean forward as she asked seriously,
"Hmm? Is Elder Sister busy at night? With what? You don't study by yourself anymore so late, right? I... ah, no. I can't trouble Elder Sister if she is too busy..."
Ohh! My thoughtful little Tracey. Always so easy to coax. Let's give her some expensive candies later.
All of a sudden, a mischievous smile came upon Tracey's face as she spoke to me,
"But the Count has already made arrangements for me to stay over tonight, Elder Sister. And, I will feel scared all by myself. I don't know anyone else all that well either. Elder Sister won't let me suffer by myself, right~?"
D-Dad?! What the hell did you do?? Why are you tempting my wolfish self into committing an error? Do you not believe that I may 'accidentally' end up giving Tracey the future heir of her family in one night?! I am not so saintly as to ignore the meal sent to my lips!!
...