On a sun-drenched afternoon, warm light gently bathed the black-haired girl.
Her head was bowed, intently focused on the book resting on her lap.
A silver-haired doll sat primly on the chair beside her, as if participating in a tea party.
This storybook scene stopped Charlotte in her tracks the moment she entered the sunroom.
"So beautiful…" Charlotte murmured under her breath.
But the response didn't come from the fairytale-like girl in her vision. Instead, a sharp cry came from right behind her head.
"Hey kid, what are you doing blocking the doorway?" The chattering Robin flew right over Charlotte's head, easily shattering the fairytale atmosphere.
If not for that big mouth of his, Robin's blue robin form might have harmoniously blended into the painting.
"...It's nothing!" Charlotte snapped back to reality, a hint of embarrassment coloring her features.
To get so captivated by looking at another girl… what's been going on with me lately?
She shook her head, as if trying to physically dislodge these strange thoughts.
Meanwhile, the main subject of her gaze looked up, her eyes shifting to the textbooks in Charlotte's hands.
"Almost all the textbooks available outside are here." Charlotte stepped forward, heaving a large box of textbooks onto the table. Sigmund lay sprawled, exhausted, on top of the girl's head.
Not being able to use his larger form to carry things really took a lot out of him. Charlotte, feeling sorry, patted Sigmund's head, then took a seat beside Alice.
Seeing Charlotte arrive, Alice closed the manual she had been carefully reading.
"'How to Make Your Very Own Rozen Maiden.'" Reading the title on the cover, Charlotte tilted her head. "Is this some kind of special automaton?"
Alice nodded, offering the manual to Charlotte. "Would you like to see it?"
"Oh, no, I couldn't. If it's your family's unique automaton manufacturing technique, that would be inappropriate," Charlotte hurriedly waved her hands in refusal.
"It's not that sort of thing. Feel free to look."
"Well then…" In the end, Charlotte couldn't resist the temptation of curiosity and took the manual into her hands.
She was immediately met with that distinct, historical scent unique to books that had been stored away for a long time.
The exquisite red cover suggested the manual was priceless.
It was very thick; a hefty book like this surely contained immensely rich content.
This must be incredibly precious automaton manufacturing techniques.
Charlotte was sure her feeling wasn't wrong.
"Huu—" She took a deep breath, her fingers trembling slightly as they reached for the edge of the cover.
Clearly, the girl was quite nervous in the face of such valuable knowledge.
Sigmund, infected by the tense atmosphere, hopped into Charlotte's lap, ready to face this boon together with her.
Strange texture.
Just as Charlotte was about to open it, she suddenly realized this manual felt different from any textbook she'd ever handled.
The first page wouldn't open. It was more like she could only open it right down the middle. The rest of the pages seemed glued together, completely unopenable.
Feeling a sense of foreboding for some reason, Charlotte abruptly flipped open the manual.
There, written prominently in the center of the page, were two large words:
['With Love.']
Charlotte's eyes widened in stunned disbelief. She frantically checked the manual top to bottom, left and right, confirming that only this single page could be opened; the other pages were all just decoration.
"So… this is the method for creating a Rozen Maiden?" She set the manual down in disappointment, convinced she'd been tricked.
Sigmund similarly lay down in disappointment.
"That is the correct method," Alice said lightly, not looking up from the textbook Charlotte had brought.
"Creating an automaton with love? That's completely unscientific," Charlotte retorted unconvinced, crossing her arms. "Alice, you must have been tricked."
The silver-haired doll, which clearly had no magic infused into it at all, trembled ever so slightly.
Alice keenly noticed this detail. Her dark eyes moved from the textbook to glance at the silver-haired doll.
So it seems this really is Suigintou.
While this world was unfamiliar, Alice still knew about the Rozen Maiden.
So worlds could intertwine like this.
After finding the manual in that room, Alice had compared it a little. The dolls on the table and in the box did indeed closely resemble the Rozen Maiden from her memories.
The one on the table was Suigintou, and the one in the box was Shinku.
They both possessed magic circuits, but simply infusing them with mana yielded no reaction. So, Alice had decided to learn Machine Doll magic and try again.
If there are only these two, where are the others?
"...Are you listening?"
Snapping back to reality, Charlotte was looking at her with a dissatisfied expression.
"Zoning out while someone is talking to you? Did you hear anything I just said?"
Alice tilted her head and blinked.
"Sigh." Seeing this reaction, Charlotte understood she had completely missed the lecture.
"I. Am. Saying." Charlotte stood up, leaning forward. Her golden hair swayed with the movement, and a faint, fragrant scent was precisely caught by Alice. "You have to believe in science. You can't create an automaton with just love and no magic circuits." Her blue eyes stared intensely at Alice. "For example, this book you're holding, [The Physics of Machinematics], you must study it properly."
Alice nodded obediently.
Seemingly quite satisfied with this response, Charlotte gave a slight smile and sat back down.
Sigmund, who had nearly been knocked off the table by Charlotte's movement, fluttered back onto her head.
"Where did you find this manual?" Charlotte asked, picking it up again.
"Right here in this mansion."
"Ohh~" Charlotte nodded in sudden understanding.
It must have been left here by Alice's family or friends.
"Is this doll from here too?" Shifting her attention to the doll beside Alice, Charlotte let out an admiring gasp. "What a beautiful doll."
Even Charlotte rarely saw dolls of such exquisite craftsmanship.
"Can I hold her?"
Alice nodded silently, continuing to read her book.
Charlotte happily walked over to Suigintou and carefully prepared to pick her up.
But the moment she lifted her, Charlotte noticed something wrong.
"Is this doll… broken?" Charlotte asked with concern, looking at the missing section of Suigintou's abdomen.
"She's not broken. I will complete her next," Alice stated decisively.
Charlotte nodded in understanding, gently placed Suigintou back, and returned to her seat, opening the textbooks she had brought.
Robin was unusually quiet. The girls gathered in the sunroom, heads bent over their books.
For a while, the only sound in the room was the steady tick-tock of the clock.
The two girls quietly went about their own business. Though they hadn't known each other long, the atmosphere wasn't awkward.
On the contrary, the girls seemed to be enjoying the tranquility.
However, the very next moment, a most un-harmonious sound shattered the peaceful silence.
"Grrrrrrrrrl—"
Charlotte's stomach, which had forgone lunch, raised the banner of revolt and sounded the charge.
Her face instantly flushed scarlet.
She raised her slender arms, trying to block Alice's line of sight.
"Pfft— HAHAHA!" Robin's sharp laughter became the final straw that broke the camel's back.
"Don't you laugh! Sigmund, bite him!"
It was rare for Charlotte to be this playful.
Sigmund gave a couple of indulgent chuckles and dutifully, though leisurely, flew after Robin.
Robin, equally leisurely, fluttered his wings to evade.
Seeing right through Sigmund's child-indulging attitude, Charlotte shouted in mortified anger, "Sigmund, no chicken for you tomorrow!"
"I'm not a bird, you know. I can't sustain myself on just beans."
"Birds don't just eat beans either," Robin still refused to clamp his little beak shut.
A bit too noisy.
Witnessing the scene, Alice shook her head helplessly and stood up, interrupting the scuffling pair.
"Let's go out to eat."
Might as well use the chance to familiarize ourselves with the surroundings.
It would be best if we could find a place that offers delivery service.
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.