When exactly did my life start going off the rails?
The young man, Shirou Amamiya, had found himself tilting his head and wondering about that a lot lately.
"Hey, you already got your turn just now, didn't you!? You can take a break now, big sis!"
"Oh my, and what proof do you have of that? If you ask me, you're the one who should take a break, Aoko. After all, you'd already enjoyed yourself several times before I even got here."
"Shirou-kun, I love you…♡"
The Western-style mansion relocated to White Inuzuka, the Kuonji residence.
Every month, Shirou set aside one weekend to spend here, a routine he had kept up for several years with almost no interruptions.
Although Alice Kuonji was already nearing thirty, her appearance and bearing were still almost unchanged from when she had been seventeen.
Shirou felt that even if a hundred years passed, even if the world changed into something he no longer recognized, the girl living in this Western-style mansion would probably remain the same.
As one of the few friends of the Eternal Witch who lived in seclusion in the modern world, Aoko Aozaki had now risen to the very pinnacle of the Mage's Association. Even so, she still visited the mansion often.
Calling on an old friend was, of course, only an excuse. In truth, she was here to see her secret lover.
For Shirou, the weekends he spent at the Western-style mansion with Aoko and Alice were the best, most comfortable form of rest.
But good times never lasted. That fairy-tale-like leisure did not continue for long.
In the living room, the old leather sofa shook violently, letting out creaking protests.
…
As Aoko Aozaki grew older, her appearance and presence had been polished into something even more passionate and dazzling.
She was now a peerless beauty who could make passersby stop and stare on the street, and in the world of Magic, she had completely grasped the laws of the universe.
Yet this great Magician was currently writhing around, baring her teeth at her sister and arch-rival Touko Aozaki as they wrestled, each trying to shove the other off the sofa.
As Aoko's older sister, Touko Aozaki, Grand Magus of the Clock Tower, had also let her vivid, flame-like red hair fall loose, and was enjoying the struggle thoroughly.
The battle between the beautiful Aozaki sisters unfolded right there in the living room, yet somehow it did not feel vulgar at all. If anything, it was as beautiful as a painting…
Shirou admired the wonderful sight before him and, for a moment, actually forgot to stop them.
Just as he was about to speak up and mediate the war, unlike Aoko and Touko's mature feminine charm, a certain slender, delicate witch crawled over on all fours.
With her whisper sounding beside his ear, his plan to mediate fell apart.
"Shirou-kun… You've taken care of those two enough, haven't you? It's about time you shared some affection with Alice-nee-san too."
Her voice still had its usual icy tone, but there was a faint hint of sulking in it as Alice Kuonji, the First Magician, looked up at Shirou from below.
The witch who once gave off an air that kept others at arm's length, who had ignored Shirou and snapped harsh words at him, was now…
Alice's upward gaze, mixed with coaxing and spoiled sweetness, combined with her pure, ascetic beauty, kept stirring Shirou's pride as a man.
So… how exactly did things end up like this?
It all began on a certain afternoon half a year ago, with Touko Aozaki's second invasion operation against Misaki Town.
The orange-haired Magus, who had already formed a certain kind of relationship with Shirou, handed a videotape to the two people who were still barely clinging to the last line of purity with the boy.
When Aoko and Alice, both confused, put the tape into the player, the television immediately showed an image that made their eyes widen…
The male lead was Shirou Amamiya. The female lead was Touko Aozaki.
Even Shirou's true girlfriend, Aoko Aozaki, and his lover, Alice Kuonji, had never seen that expression on Shirou's face before…
"......"
It was as if Pandora's box had been opened. That was the beginning of their descent into darkness.
That evening, Shirou was kidnapped on his way home from school and locked in the basement of the Kuonji residence for an entire week.
Six days and seven nights. That was the total time the poor young man spent being endlessly "tormented" by the Magician and the Witch.
When he finally saw sunlight again, he had lost over six pounds.
Fortunately, thanks to Shirou's tireless efforts, Aoko and Alice eventually forgave him with great generosity.
Not only that, Touko Aozaki later even became a regular visitor to the Western-style mansion… but that was another story.
Aoko and Alice's current techniques for pleasing a man had been learned through their competition with Touko, and Shirou honestly did not know whether he should be happy about that or not.
Back to the original question.
The young man thought to himself: The reason my life went off the rails really is your fault, Touko!!
"Shirou-kun?"
"Sorry, Alice… Can you wait just a little?"
Although he wanted to respond immediately to Alice's cute, reserved invitation, after thinking it over for a moment, Shirou reached the conclusion that he had to stop the Aozaki sisters first, or this might somehow escalate into the Fifth Holy Grail War.
"Okay."
With a wry smile at Alice, whose puffed cheeks made her displeasure obvious, Shirou gently kissed her on the cheek to soothe her.
Then Shirou raised his hand high toward his lover, who was locked in a real hand-to-hand fight with her sister, and brought it down on Aoko Aozaki.
"Uu♡!?"
"Didn't we agree not to fight in the living room? Aoko-nee-san!"
Shirou's voice echoed through the mansion.
...
...
A night passed.
The moment sunlight slipped through the curtains and into the room, Shirou opened his eyes and quietly rose from the sofa.
Looking to the side, he saw three unparalleled beauties, each wearing a blissful expression.
Alice Kuonji was curled up on the sofa like a kitten, looking so adorable that Shirou felt an urge to secretly take a picture.
The Aozaki sisters, meanwhile, were sprawled all over the place, sleeping directly on the carpet.
Aoko lay spread-eagled in the shape of the character for "大 (big)," and even in her sleep, she was still jabbing her elbow into her older sister's face. Naturally, Touko did not take it lying down either and retaliated by yanking on her younger sister's hair.
Maybe they really were sisters after all. Even their terrible sleeping habits were exactly the same.
If their admirers at the Association saw this, they would probably have their dreams shattered… though Shirou had no intention of letting anyone else see his women's bodies anyway.
The young man shook his head with a wry smile, opened every window to replace the awful air in the room, then left the living room without making a sound.
He went to the bathroom, quickly rinsed himself off, then filled the tub with hot water in advance for the women who would soon wake up.
After that, Shirou went to the kitchen, put on an apron, and began preparing breakfast and black tea. While he was at it, he also took out some instant coffee.
Even after entering a den of monsters like the Kuonji household, Touko Aozaki remained unwaveringly loyal to coffee.
If it were him, he would never be able to endure the murderous look Alice would give him across the dining table… As expected of Touko. Truly admirable. Truly worthy of respect.
During the days Shirou spent away from them, Alice and Aoko might have been in Japan or traveling all over the world, but their breakfasts could only be described as tragic.
So even if it was only for this one weekend, Shirou wanted to let them eat the most lavish breakfast he could make.
Once all the breakfast preparations were done, Shirou returned to the room.
He picked up the underwear scattered across the floor, put everything into the laundry basket, and took it to the bathroom to wash and hang dry.
Before long, a commotion came from the direction of the bathroom.
Looks like the smell of breakfast lured Aoko and the others up, Shirou thought.
Just as he was considering going to the kitchen and setting breakfast on the table, the telephone by the entrance rang urgently.
"Shirou, there's a call for you!"
Generally speaking, Alice did not receive phone calls. As a Witch, she preferred communicating by letter.
Aoko and Touko were not regular residents here to begin with, and neither of them had the sort of personality that would leave the mansion's phone number with anyone.
So the call was for Shirou.
"Hello, this is the Kuonji residence."
"Shirou, this is bad!"
From the other end of the line came the voice of Shirou's former guardian, Taiga Fujimura.
The reason she was called his former guardian was because, after that Magecraft ritual several years ago, Irisviel had entered the Amamiya residence and successfully seized the role of guardian for herself.
In Shirou's heart, he had long since come to regard Irisviel as his true mother.
"What's wrong, Fuji-nee? Calling so early in the morning… Did something happen?"
After graduating from high school, Taiga Fujimura had gone to Tokyo for university and only returned to Fuyuki during holidays.
She often called Shirou to chat, but she always called the Amamiya residence… She should not have been calling here.
Unlike Shirou, who was still relaxed, Fuji-nee's voice was filled with panic.
"Master… Master, she… Irisviel collapsed!"
...
...
Although the thought crossed his mind that Irisviel might be using this to trick him into coming home, Shirou still could not shake his unease. He skipped breakfast, said a quick word to Alice, and hurried back to Fuyuki.
Waiting for him at the entrance were the anxious Homunculus maids, Leysritt and Sella.
"Shirou… the Lady, she…!"
"Calm down, Sella. Let's go."
"Yes."
Shirou rushed to the room next to his own.
In the spacious tatami room, Irisviel lay in her pajamas, her silver hair making her look like Sleeping Beauty from a fairy tale.
If only she were not frowning deeply and gasping in pain.
"She looks like she's suffering…"
"She's been like this for the past few days," Leysritt said.
Shirou gripped Irisviel's hand and constructed a healing Magecraft formula.
A pale blue glow rose from the tatami, wrapping itself around the silver-haired Homunculus's body.
"The Lady's expression has softened," Leysritt said.
Shirou let out a breath of relief and set up a Magecraft array for continuous healing.
"This should be all right… Let's step out for now and let Iri rest properly."
Shirou rose from the tatami.
He was not some elite student from the Clock Tower. Although he could heal her, he could not tell exactly what was wrong with Irisviel.
"Could it be something she ate?"
Sella did not answer the boy's attempt at a joke. Her face remained grim.
Shirou decided to take them to the living room first and ask them for the details there. Just as he was about to leave,
"Mm…"
A pained female voice came from the bed.
Shirou looked at Irisviel in disbelief. Her breathing, which had only just calmed down, had become ragged again.
"No way…"
Sella bit her lip and said, "Before Shirou returned, I already tried treating her, but it had no effect…"
She had always possessed greater Magecraft aptitude than an ordinary Magus, and she had already carried out emergency treatment before Shirou came back.
"Ah… Shirou, you're back…"
As if sensing the boy's presence, Irisviel slowly opened her eyes with great effort, a gentle expression on her face.
Her outstretched hand was so weak it seemed to be reaching for something far away, and her trembling fingertips lightly touched the boy's cheek.
"I'm sorry… I made you worry."
Shirou stroked the back of her hand. "What happened, Irisviel… Did someone curse you?"
Irisviel's current condition, this weakness that could not be healed through Magecraft, made Shirou immediately think she might have been afflicted by some kind of Curse.
Had she offended someone?
Irisviel was only a housewife now. Surely no one would hate her enough to do this.
Then it came to him at once.
Of course there were people who hated Irisviel. Her creators, the Einzbern main family.
Irisviel had betrayed the Einzbern during the last Holy Grail War.
All these years, the main family had never taken revenge, and Shirou had almost forgotten about it.
But thinking about it carefully, they were madmen who could obsess over a single wish for two thousand years, weren't they?
It would not be impossible for them to finally remember their revenge now.
"Sella, I'm leaving the Lady in your care."
Shirou stood up in a fury. "Leysritt, we're going."
He decided to pay a visit to Irisviel's family home.
He had never had the chance to deal with the old man over there all these years, but it seemed he needed to have a proper talk with him now.
He had heard that the place was protected by a massive Barrier no outsider could ever enter, but Shirou did not mind turning the entire valley where the Castle of Snow stood into a plain.
"…Calm down."
Irisviel held Shirou's hand and smiled. "Hehe. Seeing Shirou lose his cool makes me feel like I've gotten something wonderful♡"
"This isn't the time for jokes, is it?"
"Sorry, don't be angry. But it isn't what Shirou is imagining. It has nothing to do with everyone at Einzbern…"
Shirou frowned.
From Irisviel's tone, it seemed she knew what was wrong with her.
"What happened, Irisviel… Is there anything I can do for you?"
Irisviel shook her head regretfully. "Shirou, calm down and listen to me… It seems my life has reached its end."
"Don't joke around!" Shirou shouted angrily.
"Listen to me, Shirou…"
Irisviel tightened her grip on Shirou's hand.
"My designed lifespan was only nine years to begin with, but through your efforts, it was forcibly doubled…"
"Now, it can't be extended any further."