Notes -
() - Heroine's thoughts, Blue Text - Flashbacks
Almali - Prince of Malineglace - Main Story
Chapter 1 - The Blue-Eyed Prince
Kingdom of Jewels, Malineglace, April...
(So bright...!)
When a strong light emitted from the ring, a blue-eyed boy appeared before me.
(Such beautiful blue eyes...)
Almali: ...
The boy in front of me stayed silent as he only stared at me.
MC: Uh...
Almali: ...Almali.
MC: Eh...?
Almali: ...I'm Almali.
MC: Almali-san...
When I said that softly, Almali-san's face got closer at a touching distance.
(S-So close...!)
Almali: Just Almali is fine.
MC: T-Then... Almali...?
As Almali's beautiful blue eyes were at a close distance, my cheeks became warm.
Almali: Are you tired? You don't look so good...
(R-Really...?)
After saying that, Almali went to a nearby bush and searched for something through the leaves.
Almali: Ah, here it is.
Almali came back with a pink flower that had a leaf attached to it.
Almali: This leaf is effective against fatigue...
I accepted the leaf from Almali...
MC: What should I do with this leaf...?
Confused, I asked Almali that... He tilted his head to the side and became silent.
Almali: ...Sorry. I don't know how to use it either. Tormali told me that this leaf is effective on fatigue since he always collecting them...
(Tormali?)
Almali looked down guiltily.
MC: No, it's okay! Thank you.
When I said that frantically, Almali looked at me with relief.
Almali: ...That's good. Sorry.
His blue eyes shined like jewels in the sunlight...
Chapter 2 - His Brother
Once Almali returned to the castle, the butler and maids came running over all at once.
Butler: Almali-sama, we're so happy that you're all right!
Maid: Are you hurt?
Almali moved his gaze around anxiously.
(...Is he looking for someone?)
Almali: Is... Tormali here?
(Tormali... The person that he mentioned earlier?)
MC: Hey, Almali. By Tormali...
As Almali furrowed his brow, he lightly sighed.
Almali: My older twin brother. I'm a little worried about him. When I fell into a slumber... There must have been an uproar.
Almali said that bluntly.
(Is he not on good terms with him...?)
Almali: ...He might be in his room.
Along with Almali, we headed to Tormali-san's room...
When we arrived at Tormali-san's room...
(Huh...?)
Inside the room, there were cute clothes of various colors with laces and ribbons on them lying around.
Almali: Ah, geez, Brother... You shouldn't be leaving your clothes around.
(Tormali-san's clothes? Isn't he his brother...)
After sighing, Almali started putting the clothes away.
MC: Almali... These... are your brother's clothes?
Almali: ...Yeah, sorry. Brother is a little different.
As Almali said that, he neatly folded Tormali-san's clothes.
Almali: ...He cares about me a little too much though.
Almali made a soft expression as he said that...
(Almali when he's talking about Tormali-san... He looks kind of happy. I thought that they were on bad terms, but... He must really love him.)
Almali: There we go. Ah...
Just as Almali finished folding up Tormali-san's clothes, he suddenly approached me.
(Eh...?)
Almali: MC...
Suddenly, Almali placed his hand on my skirt...
///Choices///
- Brush his hand off (☽)
I pushed his hand away by reflex.
Almali: Eh...?
(I might've used a little too much force...)
- Be surprised (☼)
MC: ...! U-U-U-Um... Almali...!
When Almali grabbed the hem of my skirt, I backed away from him.
Almali: MC?
///Choices///
Almali widened his eyes as he looked at my face.
Almali: What's wrong?
MC: What's wrong, you say...!
(He suddenly touched my skirt...)
As I was confused, Almali smiled at me innocently.
Almali: The hem of your skirt is a little crooked...
(Ah... He's right...)
When he crouched down, he fixed my skirt without any hesitation.
Almali: Your hair too... It's disheveled.
MC: Ah...
His long fingers scooped up some of my hair.
(His face... is close...!)
I felt my cheeks becoming warm.
Almali: Tormali would always do this with me.
MC: Y-You must really get along with Tormali.
Almali: ...
(Huh...?)
Almali's expression suddenly darkened.
(Despite that he looked so happy talking about Tormali-san earlier. What kind of relationship does Almali have with Tormali-san...?)
Even so, I was unable to bring myself to ask Almali about it for some reason...
Chapter 3 - Completely Dark Blue
To report Almali's return to the castle and to do some greetings, Almali and I headed to where the king was.
King: MC-sama, you have my deepest gratitude for waking up Almali.
MC: No... It was nothing...
When the king thanked me politely, I shrunk down without realizing it.
Almali: Father, Tormali...?
King: Tormali rushed out of the castle looking for you. I told him to wait at the castle, but... Honestly, he's way beyond my control.
Almali: ...I see.
King: But, it's good that you've returned. I'm entrusting the ceremony to you entirely.
Almali: ...Yes.
(Ceremony...?)
After we left the king...
MC: Almali, what did the king meant by ceremony...?
Almali: ...Pretty soon there's going to be a ceremony to honor this kingdom's guardian deity, "the Diamon Maiden". The ceremony is that time of year when the jewels that the townspeople have mined shine. I do it with Tormali.
MC: You make them shine together?
Almali: Yes.
When Almali placed his hand over the blue jewel around his collar...
(Wow...)
The jewel started to shine blue faintly...
MC: Pretty...! That's amazing, is this magic?
Almali: Magic... Sort of. Everyone in the royal family has this power. Tormali and I usually take this role together. It's an important ceremony that celebrates all the townspeople's hard work for the year... Or something like that.
Just as Almali's voice became soft, he stopped.
(Almali...?)
Almali: I wonder if I can do it by myself...
Almali sounded really uneasy...
MC: I'm sure that you'll be okay!
I said that enthusiastically without thinking.
Almali: ...MC.
MC: You can do it at the ceremony! I'm looking forward to it!
Almali: ...Your eyes are sparkling like jewels.
As I became drawn towards his blue eyes that were looking at me, I became unable to move. Then, Almali closed the distance by taking a step towards me again...
(S-So close...!)
Almali: Tormali sparkles brightly too. But, the way you sparkle... It's a little different than Tormali.
(It feels like he's looking into my heart...)
///Choices///
- Look back at him (☼)
(Almali's eyes are really pretty...)
I looked back at Almali's eyes.
- Look away (☽)
MC: ...R-Really?
Unable to bear Almali's gaze, I looked away.
///Choices///
Almali: Sorry, I'm feeling uneasy because of various reasons... I know... Won't you come with me for a bit?
(...What is it?)
I followed Almali from behind as he walked...
The place that Almali took me to was a beautiful flower field behind the castle.
(Wow...!)
Various colorful flowers were in full bloom throughout the entire area.
MC: Pretty...
Almali: I like taking naps here. It smells really nice.
MC: I see...
When I tried lying down, the scent of the flowers enveloped my entire body.
MC: What a nice scent...
Almali: Right?
Then... Almali suddenly lied down next to me.
(S-So close...!)
As Almali's shoulder was touching mine, our faces were at a touching distance when he rolled over that it made me uneasy.
///Choices///
- Point out how close he is (☼)
MC: Almali... You're a little too close...
Almali: ...Really?
- Stay like that (☽)
(He's close, but...)
When I took a glance at Almali, he was making a calm expression.
(Am I overthinking things...?)
///Choices///
Almali narrowed his eyes as he looked at the distant sky.
Almali: Tormali would take me here whenever I'm feeling down.
MC: Tormali-san must be a good brother.
When I said that, Almali made a gloomy look again.
Almali: Yeah...
MC: Almali...?
(Again... Just what's wrong...?)
Almali's blue eyes darkened a little. His eyelids hid that blue color...
Chapter 4 - The Distance to You
When I brought up Tormali-san, Almali-san made a dark expression.
(Almali... Is something wrong?)
Curious about his sudden gloomy expression, I turned towards Almali. Then...
MC: ...!
Almali's face instantly became close that our heads ended up hitting each other.
(Ow...)
Almali: ...Are you okay?
///Choices///
- Say you're okay (☽)
MC: I-I'm okay.
(It really hurts though...)
Almali: MC, are you pushing yourself?
- Apologize (☼)
MC: S-Sorry...
Almali: No... I'm okay.
///Choices///
Almali: Tormali and I would hit our heads together too when we fall asleep like this.
MC: With Tormali-san...?
Almali: When I'm sleeping in my bed, he would be sleeping right next to me before I knew it.
(I see... I thought that the distance between us was close. But, Almali's sense of space is like Tormali-san's...)
The distance between me and Almali's faces was close and bigger than the palm of a hand.
(I... Being at this distance is really embarrassing.)
When I distanced myself just a little, Almali stared at my eyes.
Almali: ...
(Uu... Such a sad looking face.)
Almali: Did I do something?
MC: I-It's not like that, but.
Almali: Being close to me must make you really nervous.
MC: That's because you're too close to me, Almali... It's making my heart race.
Almali: That's normal for me though... I see, I shouldn't do this sort of thing with other people besides Tormali... Being this close isn't normal... Sorry.
When Almali's eyelashes went down, his cheeks turned red.
(Ah... Did he realize it?)
MC: I-It'd be nice if Tormali-san comes back soon.
I said that to change the topic, but...
Almali: Yeah...
When I mentioned Tormali-san, Almali became silent.
(Did they... have some kind of fight?)
Almali: ...Tormali cares about me too much. Since we're brothers, I can understand why he worries about me like that. But...
Almali slowly began to talk about Tormali-san.
Almali: Whenever I'm going somewhere or doing something. Tormali would always interfere. Lately, it's been making me feel a little... troubled. For a prince of this kingdom, it's improper. If this keeps up, a prince that can't do his duties by himself forever will make everyone worry. So, I want to stay away from Tormali... But, I can't say something like that. It'll hurt Tormali.
(Almali... He's feeling troubled...)
MC: Do you want to try telling that to Tormali-san until he comes back? I can understand just how much Tormali-san cares about you.
(Brothers... They shouldn't be like this.)
When I said that, Almali looked at me with a smile.
Almali: MC, thank you. I'll do my best at the ceremony... I need to prove that I'll be fine without Tormali.
MC: Okay, good luck.
I held Almali's hand to encourage him. Then, Almali hugged me tightly.
MC: ...
(My heart is racing... But, this is Almali's sense of space...)
But, the next moment...
MC: Eh...!
Almali's hand touched my chest.
MC: ...
My heart pounded loudly. Although, Almali was more surprised than me...
Almali: ...!
He became silent after he widened his eyes and removed his hand soon after.
(Is something wrong...?)
Almali: You're different than Tormali...
He looked at the palm of his hand as he murmured that.
MC: O-Of course I am.
(Tormali-san is a boy after all...)
Almali: ...Sorry.
As it seemed like Almali had realized that fact for the first time, he blushed. The flowers swayed from the refreshing breeze. When he looked at me, his eyes were trembling a little...
Chapter 5 - Asking for Light
That night...
(It's about time for me to go to sleep...)
MC: ...?
I heard something outside of the door.
(What is it...?)
When I hesitantly opened the door...
Almali was looking outside the window in a daze.
MC: Almali...?
Almali: MC...!
When Almali noticed me, he suddenly became stiff and spoke shakily.
MC: ...Is something wrong?
Almali: Y-Yeah, a little...
Just as Almali took a glance at me, he immediately turned away and looked at the night sky again.
(I need to talk about something... I know!)
MC: It's almost time for the ceremony.
Almali: Y-Yeah...
(The jewel... It was shining beautifully...)
When I looked at the jewel around Almali's collar, I remembered how it shined.
Almali: Do you want to see it?
///Choices///
- I'm looking forward to it at the ceremony (☼)
MC: There's no need, I'm looking forward to it at the ceremony.
Almali: ...You look like you want to see it.
(He saw through me...)
- I do (☽)
MC: Yes, I do.
Almali: ...Okay.
///Choices///
Without looking at me at the moment, Almali softly touched the jewel around his collar.
Almali: Eh...!
He touched the jewel many times. But...
(The jewel... isn't shining...?)
Almali: Why...
as Almali messily ruffled his hair, he became flustered.
MC: Almali...?
When Almali's own body was trembling for the first time, I softly placed my hand on his shoulder.
MC: Calm down, Almali.
When I held his hand, I looked at his face...
Almali: ...!
Almali immediately distanced himself from me.
(Why...? Despite that he's been so close with me up till now...)
Almali: Why... I...
Almali's voice became scattered.
Almali: I really... can't do it without Tormali...
After Almali said that, he ran off.
MC: Almali...!
As Almali was running, he became out of breathe. He nervously touched the jewel on his chest again... And then, it shined faintly.
Almali: ...Why couldn't I do it in front of MC...?
As Almali was confused, he continued to desperately think of a reason in his head...
The day of the ceremony...
(I haven't been able to talk to Almali since that day...)
On top of the grand stage that was established in the middle of town, a lot of jewels were assembled.
(Will Almali be able to make those jewels shine...? I wonder if Almali will be all right...)
King: Now then, let's begin the ceremony.
Once the king ended his overly dignified speech, Almali walked towards the jewels.
(Almali...)
When I remembered Almali from last night, I couldn't help, but worry as I could only watch from the visitors' seats.
(Almali, you can do it...)
Almali: ...
When I said that internally, my eyes met with Almali's for a moment.
Almali: ...
Almali became petrified in front of the jewels... Then, he readied himself and touched the jewels...
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