Chapter 10: The Name of the Survival Strategy Is… (4)
My mind was blank. I couldn’t make sense of what I had just overheard.
If I were to roughly summarize it, it would seem that I had been suffering from some sort of aphasia for over a year now. Although I didn’t know why, it seemed to be related to my father. Also, ever since it happened, I hadn’t attended any official events and was left alone.
Emma did mention before that I never left my bed and hardly ever spoke. Was this what she meant? But why hadn’t anyone told me about this? If it was because they were worried I might shut down again if pushed too hard, then I could kind of understand.
But how on earth did this girl end up with aphasia in the first place? Hey, what happened to you? …is what I’d like to ask, but the soul in this body is currently mine. There was no way for me to know the answer. Judging from the clues, something must have happened with Father. I didn’t know what it was, but if it was the father I knew, there was no way he would let the fact that his child had aphasia be known past the walls of our house.
“Young Miss? Oh dear, why are you sitting there? Your dress will get wrinkled. Please get up, His Grace is asking for you.”
It was Emma who had come to find me. She stood me up, brushing off my skirt as she spoke.
The banquet was going to start soon, so why was Father looking for me? I was starting to get scared for no reason. Sighh. Anyways, there was no choice but to go, so I tried not to trip as I climbed the stairs towards my father’s study.
“Father?”
“Ah, Ray.”
Perhaps it was because of what I just overheard, but seeing Father pacing back and forth in his study in his rare formal uniform made my heart throb. And no, not in a pleasant way. I was talking about the kind of sinking feeling you get when your body tensed up and your heart raced from fear.
Come to think of it, something felt off from the start. Sure, it was natural for me to feel nervous in front of Father due to memories of my past life. However, even then, it felt over the top. It was as if this girl’s body was reacting before I could process my emotions? Like a dog trained to react in a certain way by some wizard’s experiment…
“Cough, I have a favor to ask of you.”
“A favor…?”
“Ahem, yes.”
It wasn’t a favor but an order. However, that wasn’t the point. What was more surprising was him speaking to me like this! In the past, this kind of tone would’ve been unimaginable. So why didn’t I feel good about it? Why did it feel like my stomach was twisting instead?
Father hesitated for a moment, looking at me with uncertain eyes, then handed me something that had been placed on the table. When I reflexively reached out and took it, I was immediately shocked.
It was a delicate platinum necklace with a small heart-shaped locket–something very familiar to me. That was because it was my mother’s keepsake that I had accidentally dropped into the pond when I was a child!
There was no way I could forget this. I remembered dropping this in a pond and then hiding in fear all day. I also remembered eventually mustering up the courage to confess to my brother. At the time, I thought he would be furious, but…
Anyway, how the heck was this here? Ah… right. This me was different from the me of the past, so the incident of losing it while playing never happened in this timeline. That must be why it was still here, perfectly intact.
As I stared blankly at the nostalgic object in my hand, Father spoke softly.
“What I want is… for you to give this to your younger sister.”
What? I couldn’t immediately process what he said and looked up at him in confusion.
“Later at the ball, I’d like you to give it to her as a gesture that you accept her as your sister. What do you think?”
It wasn’t not a particularly difficult request, was it? All I had to do was, in front of all the guests at the ball, present my new younger sister with this treasured keepsake of my mother’s, signifying that I genuinely welcomed her to the family. And yet…
What was this feeling? Why did it feel like I was selling my soul to the devil? Something was seriously wrong here, but I didn’t know what.
“Yes… I understand.”
“Hm, good. I’m glad the two of you seem to get along well. Thank you.”
Despite receiving praise from my father for the first time in my life, I didn’t feel good at all. In fact, I felt depressed. What was this? Why did it feel like something terribly unfair and unreasonable just happened, but I couldn’t tell what exactly was unjust?
After leaving my father’s study and thinking alone for a while, it finally hit me and I kicked myself.
This necklace was my mother’s keepsake. It belonged to the woman who gave birth to me and my brother. Yet, my father asked me to give it to Levina, my new half-sister, without even asking for my opinion. That was the problem!
Sure, it was absurd for my father to ask my opinion on anything, but this was still wrong.
Most importantly, why should I give this precious memento of my mother to someone like Levina? Why should my mother’s keepsake go to my half-sister, who also happened to be my archenemy? That made no sense!
I’ve made up my mind. I will never hand this over! No matter what my father says, I can’t do such an unfair and unreasonable thing! No, I just didn’t want to! This necklace was special to me in its own way… Even though I was the one who dropped it into the pond while playing with it, it still held sentimental value as a shared memory with my brother.
Ooh, of course, my father was more than just a little scary, but as someone who once served the Emperor as an unsuitable commander, I had a duty to protect my mother’s keepsake. Hopefully, my terrifying older brother wouldn’t turn his back on me this time.
Downstairs, the invited guests were already arriving one by one. Just as I remembered, the most prominent nobles of the Empire were gathering here. Their faces were filled with curiosity, no doubt eager to catch a glimpse of the new young lady who had joined the family.
“Happy birthday, young lord.”
“Thank you.”
My brother stood by my father’s side receiving greetings with his usual expressionless face. He was also dressed quite elaborately because of his birthday, adorned with chains and badges on his heavy-looking black uniform. As always, I couldn’t help but think that he was handsome. Tch. I clicked my tongue inwardly as I carefully approached him.
“Whew! And who might this lovely young lady be? Will you do me the honor of holding my hand and allowing me to whisk you away?”
…Sigh. As if I wasn’t already irritated enough, now I felt like I was going to throw up. I turned to see who would dare throw such a cheesy line at a thirteen-year-old girl, only to be met with the sight of a blond man in a flashy white suit, grinning down at me with a huge smile. His face practically screamed, ‘I’m a playboy!’
I had seen him a few times before. He was the eldest son of the Vineyard family, and was more like a frenemy than a close friend of my older brother. To this day, I still didn’t know what they saw in each other to form such a strange friendship.
As for me, I’d hung out with his younger brother, the second son of the Vineyard family, a few times. He was the one who had given me the puppy that Levina later snatched away. Sigh. He was a pretty good guy. Did he come to the banquet too?
“Hello.”
Regardless of what I thought inside, I greeted him with a practiced social smile. Then, he froze mid-grin and stared at me blankly. Hmph, it was cute, right? I know! This was a smile that was the product of hundreds of hours of practice.
“Hello!”
…At this point, I was seriously starting to wonder if you were secretly in love with me. Why else would you keep sticking out and interrupting me everywhere I go? You stuck out like a sore thumb.
Just as I expected, Levina appeared wearing the very dress she had stolen from me, her silver hair tied in lively pigtails. Objectively, she looked quite adorable, but to me, she was just a white-clad devil. Tch.
“Hi, I’m Levina! Nice to meet you!”
“Oh, so you’re the one…”
“Yes, that’s right. Hehe, thank you for coming.”
“Ian.”
Whoa, he startled me. When did this guy get here?
Without a sound, my brother had come over and stood between us and Ian. More precisely, he stood between me and Ian, staring directly at him.
Ian, who had been looking back and forth between me and Levina with a dazed expression, finally seemed to come to his senses. He began to slap my brother on the shoulder and burst out laughing.
“Man, I never thought the day would come where I’d be jealous of you! Having two such adorable younger sisters, how about giving me one?”
“Don’t say ridiculous things.”
“Ridiculous? I’m dead serious. You know our house is filled with nothing but boys.”
Did this loudmouth know about the time I had aphasia? I tried to see my brother’s expression, but since he had his back turned to me, I couldn’t tell what kind of face he was making.
“But objectively, the new sister looks more like you.”
Tsk, as if I didn’t already know that, you punk. Levina, who seemed ready to flash a bright smile and say “Thank you” at any moment, was starting to get on my nerves. Just as I was about to turn away, my brother’s cold voice cut through.
“Shut up.”
“Hey, why? I’m just stating facts, you know? And can you move your massive body? I’d like to see more of your lovely little sister’s face rather than your fierce one.”
“Get lost.”
“Ah, come on! You said you’d show me today!”
“You already saw.”
Don’t ask me what kind of friendly conversation that was. As far as I knew, they had always been that way.
Finally, when my brother turned toward me, I was smiling brightly like the happiest girl in the world. Ahem, I felt pretty embarrassed since I’d said that ridiculous thing about marrying him, but I didn’t lose my nerve. I put on the sweet smile I’d practiced hundreds of times in front of the mirror, and in my most doting voice, I called out.
“Brother!”
…And then I wrapped my arms around his waist and hugged him. I could feel countless eyes on us. Tsk, let them stare all they want. This was a matter of survival for me, ughh.
“Ray…”
My brother was clearly flustered, not just a little but a lot, yet he didn’t push me away. Though his hesitant hand reached for my head, fortunately, he didn’t push me away.
When I looked up, I could see Ian’s face brimming with disbelief. Ugh, man, you’re making this even more awkward! I’m in a do-or-die situation here!
“I can’t accept this, you lucky bastard.”
“…Ian. Please shut up.”
“What are you going to do about it if I don’t?! Why is such a blessing given to a vicious bast*rd like you..?”
At that moment, there was the sound of a sudden sniffle. I turned my head, and sure enough, Levina–who had been watching us with a strange expression–was now sniffling sadly.
“Levina? What’s wrong?”
“Hic… It’s nothing, sorry. I just suddenly felt jealous. You know, I never had any siblings…”
This b*tch? So that’s how you’re going to play?
I quickly turned towards Levina, flashing her the brightest smile I could muster. As bright and as warm as possible!
“What do you mean no siblings? We’re sisters now! Our cute little sister!”
Then I spread my arms wide and pulled Levina into a tight hug. Wasn’t this a prime example of self-sacrifice? I was hugging someone I’d rather throttle with all my might.
“Wow, the kids are hugging…”
“S-So cute.”
The chatter from the onlookers was pleasant to my ears. It probably didn’t go the way Levina hoped for at all, but either way, I squeezed my half-sister with all the strength I could, as if to crush her. Levina, stiff as a board, reluctantly accepted the hug until she finally couldn’t stand it anymore and twisted out of my grasp. The force caused me to stumble.You think it was intentional? Of course, hahaha!
Just as I was about to crash into the ground, my brother’s arm swiftly caught me around the waist. Phew, that was close. Ohh, but Brother, your hand is in a rather dangerous place right now! It’s dangerous! We’re not supposed to be like this!
“Levina, be careful.”
T-This has to be a historic moment, right? My terrifying brother actually scolded Levina! Although his tone was gentle, it was a great start! Mwahahaha! No matter what, I had to get this monster of a brother on my side… damn.
Levina glared at me for a moment, but then quickly corrected her expression into her usual innocent, teary-eyed look.
“S-Sorry, Sister. I didn’t mean to…”
“Ah, it’s okay, it’s okay. I was the one being thoughtless.”
I gave a lighthearted laugh, then nuzzled into my brother’s shoulder as he held me. To others, I just seemed like a playful and affectionate little sister. The way Ian was watching me intensely with those overly eager eyes was proof.
“Friend, can you lend me that girl for a moment?”
“Get lost.”
“Please reconsider, my dear friend… ahaha–ahem ahem. Your Grace, how have you been?”
Aigoo. Why did everyone in my family sneak up so silently?
I glanced over and saw my father approaching us. Once again, that familiar nervous pounding of my heart returned. I mean, he had always been scary, but wasn’t this physical reaction a bit excessive?
My father gave a nod toward the cheerfully greeting Ian, then looked at Levina, who had a sad expression on her face. Finally, he turned towards me, who was hanging onto Brother. To be more precise, he looked at both me and my brother.
W-What was with that expression? I should probably make a run for it.
