LIGHTNOVELSTORY Chapter 18: Murmur Doesn't Want to Be Cute! (2)
Cosmos Academy was rooted in a vast and expansive estate, but it wasn’t entirely filled with buildings for education, dormitories, or clubhouses.
There were areas where nature still thrived, and there were also shopping streets like ‘Dragon Tail Street,’ where famous artisans and merchants from the empire or kingdom had set up shop, selling everything from weapons to armor, potions, and teaching materials needed for the Academy’s classes.
While there were shadowy streets like ‘New Pandemonium’ that ordinary students would never dare to venture into, ‘Starlight Alley’ was the opposite, a place where students from elementary to high school, as well as faculty members, strolled about, seeking ‘entertainment’ and ‘amusement.’
In that Starlight Alley, there wasn’t a student who didn’t know of ‘Milky Way’s’ cuteness, and there was a valid reason why Murmur absolutely hated going in there.
“Isn’t this… incredibly cute, Esme?”
“Oh my goodness!! Is this sort of cute and squishy thing in fashion in the capital these days?”
Nikea, who had a mature figure that could easily be mistaken for a middle school student, and Esme, with her brown hair adorably braided into pigtails, were window-shopping with sparkling eyes, befitting their age as fifth-graders in elementary school.
“Ugh…”
On the contrary, Murmur was miserable. In a place filled with items she had absolutely no interest in, the fact that she might even have to wear the items or clothes her two friends were picking out was terrifying!
“Princess Nikea! Look at this doll! Doesn’t it look exactly like the spirit Murmur summoned?”
“It… it does? How can something be so soft and squishy, like a piece of chocolate? The leaf on its head is the cute point.”
“That child’s name is Talorin. It’s not chocolate, it’s mud.”
Murmur tried desperately to speak, but her words didn’t reach her two friends.
“If Murmur wants it, we’ll buy you the doll too.”
“Murmur doesn’t need it.”
“But you said you’re using a room alone, right? Having lots of dolls will make it easier to sleep! Hehe!”
“Murmur sleeps well alone.”
“Don’t hesitate to accept~”
Nikea picked up another doll covered in white fluff, held it up to Murmur to assess it, and then put it down.
“This one seems too big…”
“That’s right. It seems like Murmur would be hugged by it, not be able to hug it.”
“Nikea? Esme? Didn’t we come here to buy pajamas?”
“Wait a minute. There are so many cute things in Milky Way… Ah! Ah! How about this?”
Excited, Nikea broke free from the doll graveyard and dashed to a space filled with adorable accessories.
Murmur covered her face with both hands.
“How do they make hairpins like this? They’ve attached the tiny jewels so beautifully.”
“Should I buy one too? Liora! Liora! Are there any hairpins that would be good to use when braiding my hair?”
It wasn’t just Nikea and Esme who were excited. The maids who had followed them also subtly broke away from their positions, touching cute items and wondering if they should spend their salaries.
“Yes, Princess… um, how about this butterfly?”
“It’s pink, so it’s quite… Ah, but isn’t it too cute?”
“In my opinion, it suits you very well? Or how about this blue butterfly? It has a bit of an atmosphere.”
Styling hair, putting on makeup, adding cute brooches to clothes…
All of these ‘girly stories’ were of no interest to Murmur. So Murmur kept her mouth shut and just wished this time would end quickly.
“Esme, if it’s okay, can you put this hairpin on my hair?”
“R-really? Can I really do that? I’m honored!”
Esme bounced with joy, taking various hairpins and ribbons that Nikea asked for, putting them on her hair one by one, and looking at herself in the mirror.
“Ugh…”
Murmur, on the other hand, glanced at them for a moment, but then just scanned the corners of Milky Way with eyes that showed no interest.
“Princess Nikea.”
Liora, who had been observing the situation with a keen eye, gently poked Nikea’s hip with her finger and then whispered in her ear.
“It seems Murmur is not interested in these things.”
“Huh? That can’t be. There are so many cute and pretty things here…”
Nikea was speaking but then looked down at Murmur.
“Oh… you’re right?”
Esme finally seemed to have noticed as well.
“Murmur hasn’t decorated herself at all?”
It was a natural observation. Murmur had no intention of braiding or tying her long, beautiful straight hair to change her hairstyle, nor did she have any interest in hairpins or ribbons.
So, she always wore only the Academy uniform and never decorated herself beyond that.
“Goodness, is she really not interested at all?”
“Hmm, maybe it’s because she hasn’t been in an environment where she could feel interested?”
“Ah! That’s right! Murmur lives in the dormitory alone, doesn’t she?”
“R-really? Alone without a maid? I’ve heard that there are cases among commoners who live like that, but…”
“In such cases, the dormitory usually assigns a maid to provide some level of care.”
Hearing Liora’s words, Esme and Nikea’s eyes lit up.
“Come to think of it, she said that she only sleeps, rests, and studies even on weekends…”
“And she said she couldn’t play in Starlight Alley because she didn’t have any money, right? She actually wanted to play, but she just couldn’t because of her circumstances!”
“Oh my goodness! Then we were shamelessly saying, ‘This is pretty,’ ‘That is cute,’ without even knowing…”
“I feel a little embarrassed. Everything must be new for Murmur! She must have felt so pressured when we told her to tell us what she wanted!”
It was an absurd misunderstanding, but there was a basis for it.
“Ahem! Murmur, come over here. We were lacking in consideration, weren’t we?”
“No, you’ve seen everything, right? Hurry up and buy pajamas and get out of here…”
Contrary to Murmur’s expectations, Nikea and Esme grabbed her small shoulders, placed her between them, and made her sit in front of the mirror.
“I don’t want to.”
“It’s okay. Don’t feel pressured, Murmur! Hehe! We can afford to buy you accessories like this!”
“Murmur doesn’t need to do this. It’s okay.”
“Don’t say that. We’re friends, right? If you refuse too much, we’ll be embarrassed too.”
Nikea smiled brightly and held up a pink ribbon.
“I’ve been thinking about it for a while… how about decorating your horns a little?”
“Ah! That’s a good idea! We’re going to wear cute sheep pajamas in a bit anyway.”
“Is that a done deal?”
“But… what kind of animal’s horns are Murmur’s?”
Nikea mumbled, genuinely putting a cute ribbon on her red horns.
“Maybe a mountain goat?”
“How about a unicorn?”
“Isn’t that a more upright, conical shape? They also look like deer horns.”
“Either way, they have a slightly cool vibe.”
Like decorating a Christmas tree, Nikea and Esme diligently adorned Murmur’s horns with various accessories.
In the end, in less than 10 minutes, Murmur’s horns were covered with pink butterflies, sparkles, star-shaped stickers, and large jewels.
“Murmur doesn’t like this.”
Murmur fidgeted with her fingers and spoke, and ‘Liora Ashborn’, seeing her, covered her mouth with her hand and coughed.
“Princess? Miss Esme? Playing around with the horns of a demon race like this… is a very rude act. At least you should get Murmur’s permission before doing so.”
“That’s right. Murmur doesn’t like this. It’s a bad thing to do.”
Murmur, finally meeting her savior, grabbed Liora’s skirt hem and shouted.
“However… that’s right. You would look very good in these at the pajama party at Miss Esme’s mansion.”
“Huh?”
“Because you’re going to be wearing soft and pretty pajamas.”
Realizing that she had grabbed a rotten rope, Murmur hastily let go of the skirt hem.
* * *
“Maybe try wearing a hairpin sometime, Murmur.”
“Okay, I’ll think about it.”
Murmur’s face was filled with shadows as she finally escaped the accessory hell on the first floor.
On the other hand, the maids standing behind her held paper bags filled with cute accessories that Esme and Nikea had purchased. Even the bags themselves had Milky Way’s cute mascot on them, making Murmur’s heart ache just by looking at them.
“It looks like we can look slowly from here.”
“Let’s buy this one. Murmur likes this one.”
Murmur quickly grabbed a pajama set that was in front of her. Having carefully observed Nikea’s and Esme’s behavior patterns, Murmur made a quick decision.
If she left the pajama buying to these two, they would be shopping forever. If she didn’t pick something quickly and escape, she would be subjected to cute torture forever!
“As expected, Murmur! You were looking forward to buying pajamas, weren’t you?”
“Aha, so that’s why you weren’t interested in hairpins and accessories earlier?”
“Come to think of it, you were talking about pajamas first even when we were fighting the Nightmare, right?”
“N-no… Murmur wants to buy pajamas quickly and get out of Milky Way—”
“Don’t worry, Murmur! We’re going to eat delicious food today too!”
Murmur’s fingers trembled, but Nikea easily lifted Murmur with her left hand, and with her right hand, she picked up the pajamas that Murmur had chosen.
“This isn’t sheep wool, but since Murmur chose it, let’s try it on. All of us.”
“You don’t even have to try it on, it’s… cute and it will look good on you.”
“Don’t be shy, Murmur. There are so many dressing rooms? That’s why the second floor is so wide.”
“No, Murmur really likes this pajama set.”
“Should we help you change?”
Esme also joined in, so Murmur quickly shook her head.
“Murmur will change by herself.”
“Should we help you?”
“Murmur will change by herself!”
Murmur quickly escaped from Nikea’s grasp and dashed into the dressing room.
Five minutes later. Murmur, cursing the pajamas she had chosen, hesitantly opened the door and came out.
“Wow… I thought the design was ordinary, but it looks cute because Murmur is wearing it.”
“There are drawings of the dolls we saw on the first floor. Murmur really seems to like the spirits, doesn’t she?”
The pink pajamas had a drawing of cute and squishy earth, fire, water, and wind spirits tangled together on the chest.
Even the pants had them cutely drawn on the thighs, giving it a strong ‘children’s pajamas’ vibe.
“Let’s go with this…”
Murmur gave up. She had already put them on, so let’s just go with this. And she would never take them out of the closet again.
“It’s a shame to be satisfied with just one, right?”
“We’ve picked out some others too. Please try these on too, Murmur!”
Nikea now held up a green ‘dinosaur’ pajama set.
“Why are these things even here, Murmur can’t understand.”
“They’re cute!”
“We’ll help you put it on! Murmur-nim!”
“No, Murmur will put it on herself.”
When the maids approached, Murmur quickly went back into the dressing room. And then, she came out wearing the dinosaur pajamas, and Nikea’s eyes sparkled.
“Ah… it’s cute. So… so cute that my heart is pounding.”
“Murmur, you have to put on the hood behind your neck too, right?”
“No, I will absolutely not put it on.”
Murmur grabbed her horns with both hands and trembled. Seeing Murmur like that, Esme finally held out the soft, fluffy, white sheep pajamas that she had been holding.
“Ugh…”
“Please put them on, Murmur! I’ll wear them too, and Princess Nikea will wear them too!”
“Ah, I see… okay.”
If she wore these sheep pajamas, it would be over, right? Murmur went into the dressing room and then slowly walked out.
“Woooow…”
“As expected, Murmur’s horns were sheep horns!”
“So cute! So cute! Oh my goodness~!”
Murmur made a face that had given up on everything at the outpouring of cheers.
“They… look so good on you. How can they look so good?”
“Murmur’s Horns and the outfit match so well!!!”
Esme slightly bent her knees and rubbed her cheek against Murmur’s cheek.
“If we wear these together on the weekend, it will be really, really pretty and cute! We’ll take pictures too!”
“I… is it over now?”
“I was going to buy the sheep pajamas anyway… Murmur! Do you want to try on the black one over here?”
“There’s also a pink one? Ah! There’s also a rainbow one, do you want to try it on? I’m going to wear the brown one!”
Nikea and Esme held up sheep pajamas that had slightly different designs and colors, showing them to Murmur.
“Murmur… doesn’t like… cute things!”
To avoid the approaching wave of cuteness, Murmur cried out pitifully, squatting down and clutching her horns!