Currently, I'm in a carriage heading to my hometown. My brother had apparently paid for a carriage to my hometown. In the carriage, I am sitting with 2 other people, Nii-san and Melanie-san. It was supposed to be just me and Nii-san but Melanie-san had insisted on tagging along.

2 days ago

"Also make sure to tell your superiors about you leaving. We're leaving at noon 2 days from now." (Lyle)

"Can I come with you guys?" (Mel)

"Hey, you shouldn't bother Nii-san, you aren't invo-" (Lime)

"It's fine~" (Lyle)

"Yay~"(Mel)

"You've gotta be kidding me." (Lime)

I then heard a voice calling me.

"Yo Lime, we're here~" (Lyle)

I then hurriedly exited the carriage as I realized that I was the only person left in there.  After I got out, we started conversing as we started walking to our destination which is Nii-san's house.

"Hee~, so this is where Lyle-san and Lime-san grew up." (Mel)

"Actually, this is where I grew up, and where Lime lived for about 5 years." (Lyle)

"I barely remember my living here. Most of what I remember is me visiting my parents once in a while." (Lime)

"It was until you were 8 right?" (Lyle)

"Yeah, now that I think about it, I should have visited more. I kind of miss them now." (Lime)

"Same." (Lyle)

"You out of all people shouldn't say that. I at least had an excuse, but what about you?"  (Lime)

"I was busy~" (Lyle)

"Busy playing around!" (Lime)

"My bad~" (Lyle)

"Geez Nii-san!" (Lime)

"I'm sorry but, can't you visit them now?" (Mel)

"Uhm well, I guess I could technically visit them but, it's a bit complicated." (Lime)

"You see Mel-chan, the thing is, they died about 14 years ago." (Lyle)

"Oh, umm, I'm sorry." (Mel)

"No worries, both of us have come to terms with it and have accepted it long ago, right Lime?" (Lyle)

"Yeah, I mean like, it's been 14 years ago, so don't worry about it." (Lime)

After that, we had arrived right in front of the door to Nii-san's house. 

"Anyways, let's go inside and meet my wonderful family." (Lyle)

"Yes~" (Mel)

"S-sure." (Lime)

I start to feel anxious about what would happen once I enter the door. If I recall, Nii-san has two children, a twelve-year-old girl and a seven-year-old boy. Judging from their ages and the fact that Nii-san had called them "extremely cute" and "my little angels", I can already imagine them screaming in terror once those "angels" happen to see my demonic face. I can only hope that they would be indifferent, but even that would be asking for too much. But, as impossible it might be, I will still hold on to that one strand of hope.

"I'm home!" (Lyle)

"Welcome back Papa! Eh, Papa, who are those two?" (Layla)

Ah, this is bad. I can already feel my face tense up. I can already feel my anxiety levels rising. Forgive me, young lass, you're about to witness my infamous demonic face.

"Ah, well Layla, let me introduce you to these two. The man over there is your Uncle Lime, the one supposed to teach Riel. The woman over there is Melanie Byron, Uncle Lime's lab assistant." (Lyle)

"Hey there Layla-chan, you can call me Mel-nee!" (Mel)

"Ok Mel-nee!" (Layla)

"Now now Layla, go say hi to your Uncle Lime." (Lyle)

Shitshitshit, my face should look very scary right now. I'm pretty sure she's gonna run out of the house crying.

"Uhm, hi Uncle Lime!" (Layla)

Wait. What is happening? She, she's not crying! In fact, she's even saying it with a smile!

"H-hello. N-nice to meet yah." (Lime)

Shit, I messed up. I bit my tongue a bit at the end. This is embarrassing. I can already feel my face tensing up even more. Maybe she'll start crying now.

"Pfft, hahaha, Uncle is very funny!" (Layla)

She's laughing? She isn't getting scared?

"A-are you n-not s-scared of me?" (Lime)

"Huh? Why should I be scared of Uncle? Uncle is Papa's brother so Uncle can't be a bad person. And Uncle isn't a bad person so why should I be scared of Uncle?" (Layla)

Pfft, for such a reason? 

"Hahahaha!!! Yes, you are right, Uncle isn't a bad person, right Layla-chan?" (Lime)

"Nope! Uncle is a good person!" (Layla)

"Ok, before you guys start talking even more, we should visit my wife and son. They're currently in another room so I'll lead the way." (Lyle)

Ah, how could I forget about that. I was too astonished about Layla-chan not being scared of me that I forgot about the other two. As Nii-san is leading the way to the room where both of them are in, I start to feel more anxious. But after looking at Layla-chan, I start to feel more relaxed. Maybe, just maybe, they'll accept me too.

"Hello! I'm back!" (Lyle)

"Ah, welcome back Papa." (Reina)

"Welcome home Papa!" (Riel)

"Ah wait, I'll introduce you two to these two people, this man over here is my brother Lime, and this young lady is Lime's lab assistant, Melanie Byron." (Lyle)

"Ah, you can call me Mel, Mel-chan, or Mel-nee!" (Mel)

"Ok then. My name is Reina Lostbelt, you can call me Reina. Nice to meet you Mel-chan." (Reina)

"My name is Riel. Nice to meet you Mel-nee." (Riel)

"Likewise!" (Mel)

"Ah, nice to meet you Lime-san." (Reina)

"Nice to meet you Uncle Lime!" (Riel)

Do these people not care about my face? I'm so happy! Nii-san's family is filled with such wonderful people! I, I am glad to have accepted Nii-san's request.

"N-nice to meet you too!" (Lime)

"Anyways, Lime over here will be staying here for an unknown period of time to teach Riel. Lime, you will be staying in the guest room. As for Mel-chan, I guess you could stay in Riel and Kayla's room for the meantime. Riel, Layla, you two will be sleeping in Mom and Papa's room." (Lyle)

"Ah, you don't need to do that! I'll just sleep in the guest room with Lime-san!" (Mel)

"Hey, you can't just do that-" (Lime)

"Deal!" (Lyle)

It was decided that Melanie-san and I would be sleeping in the same room. After introductions were done, Melanie-san and I went into the guest room. After both of us entered the room, I closed the door and suddenly, all the tension from my body disappeared and my body fell to the floor, and tears were slowly rolling down my cheeks.

"Can you believe it? She said that I wasn't scary cause I was a good person." (Lime)

"Well, that's children for you." (Mel)

"You mean Nii-san's children, normal children piss their pants whenever they see my face." (Lime)

"You do have a point. So, how does it feel? Being accepted that is." (Mel)

"It feels pretty damn good. If only I could feel that way every time." (Lime)

"Hey! That's mean! Are you saying I don't count?" (Mel)

"Sorry, sorry. Thanks for everything." (Lime)

"Yeah that's ri— er, w-what?" (Mel)

"Melanie-san, thanks for everything. For being my lab assisant, for our everyday conversations, for all your horrid cooking attempts, for all your meddling, and for just staying by my side when others were running away from me out of fear, thank you." (Lime)

"Y-y-yeah, th-that's right! You should be thankful for a lot of things! It's all thanks to me you're even here in the first place! Now you owe me big time!" (Mel)

"Yeah. Thanks a lot, M-m-" (Lime)

"Huh? I didn't catch that last part." (Mel)

"Th-thanks a lot, M-m-mel." (Lime)

"W-w-what, eh, er, umm, o-o-ok, umm, I'm just gonna go out for some fresh air so I'll be back!" (Mel)

As soon as she finished her sentence, she quickly stormed out of the room slamming the door shut. I'm confused as to why, but I quickly dismiss that thought as I remembered what I said back there. That was so embarrassing. I want to just disappear from the face of the earth. I even stuttered, I'm so pathetic!!!

Mel POV

W-w-what was that! That was so embarrassing! D-d-did he just call me Mel? So embarrassing! B-b-but it's still a step forward! Wait, yes! This is a huge step forward! Wait, did I check his affection level for me? If I remember, it finally turned 80! That means he's slowly starting to fall for me! All my hard work has paid off! It's been stuck at 79 for so long! He finally sees me as a woman! Hehehe, time to take my plan into the next phase. Mark my words Lime-san, I'll make you fall for me!