Cinderella's Brother

Chapter 8: The Name of the Survival Strategy Is… (2)

Of course, the world hadn’t actually ended. I had simply passed out from the pain.

It felt like I was drifting in and out of consciousness several times. To think that the once-proud child of the Aeternus Empire was in this state—it’s utterly humiliating, but what could I do when it hurts so much!

“The Miss is…”

“…Isn’t it too early?”

“Well, it varies from person to person…”

I could hear people murmuring around me, but I didn’t know what they were talking about. However, I definitely recognized my brother’s voice. How sad it was that I can’t call him ‘hyung (brother)¹Hyung – an older brother of a male.’ anymore.

“Brother, brother…²Oppa, oppa…”

“Ray?”

“Where are you, brother…?”

I must be pretty great to not slip up and call him the wrong thing even with this pain. Ahem. The cool hand touching my forehead felt nice. Phew, it’s good…

…Hm? Wait, don’t go! Don’t leave me, you cold-hearted bastard of a brother!

“Don’t go…! Don’t leave me!”

“Ray.”

“Don’t leave me behind…! Please don’t abandon me!”

I think the cold hand gripping mine flinched for a second. Was it just my imagination? Either way, I kept babbling something, though I don’t remember exactly what.

After a while, someone opened my mouth and poured something that tasted like a potion down my throat. The abdominal pain eased, and I was able to fall into a more peaceful sleep.

“Congratulations, Young Miss.”

…What was she talking about?

“It’s a bit early, but there are noble ladies who don’t get it until long past the appropriate age for marriage. So this is certainly something to be happy about.”

Emma, my personal maid, explained roughly: I had started something called a ‘period’.

Since I had no idea what a period was, the only explanation she gave me was that I was bleeding. Not from an injury or wound, but because of my body functions as a woman! 

But that wasn’t the worst part. Apparently, this would continue until I reached my 50s, happening once a month, lasting five days at a time! That’s why my stomach hurt so much?!

“C-Can’t we just cancel this whole thing? I don’t want to have children anyway.”

“Oh my, what are you saying? If you marry one day, you’ll certainly want children³Not true, but I don’t think you can get rid of your period unless you go on birth control.. And there’s no way to cancel nature’s course. You don’t want to stay a child forever, do you?”

What difference did it make whether I’m a child or an adult! I was still reeling from the shock of transforming from a proud son of the empire into a baby girl, and now this bombshell drops?! I couldn’t even get used to the fact that I have to sit to use the bathroom! Ugh, I can’t believe a woman’s body is so complicated. 

Emma must have expected a very different reaction from me. Seeing the look of utter despair on my face instead of joy, she quickly became downcast and began sorting through the hideous pile of cloth that looked like period underwear, folding and tucking them into a drawer. I’m sorry to disappoint you, but would you be happy if you were in my shoes? Huh?!

“You’ll get used to it after a few times. Fufu, the young master was so flustered…”

What does that mean? When I stared blankly at her, Emma stopped laughing and widened her eyes.

“Oh my, don’t you remember?”

“What?”

“I guess you really don’t remember. Hoho, last night, we all suddenly heard a loud scream and ran out in a panic. Then, oh gosh, we found the young miss collapsed in the middle of the stairs and desperately calling out for the young master. The young master ran out immediately, scooped up the young miss, and shouted for the doctor. It was absolute chaos! 

“Even His Grace came out in surprise, and the new young lady was so startled she cried. Who would have thought the normally composed young master would raise his voice like that? Well, the doctor arrived, but as soon as he explained what was wrong, their expressions… huhuhu.”

Was this funny to you?! …Well, it was a bit funny. I couldn’t help but wonder what kind of faces they made when the doctor said, ‘Your daughter and younger sister has started menstruating.’ Hahaha! I bet that was a sight to see. I kind of regret missing it.

Emma looked at my expression for a moment, then smiled again and added, “Honestly, the young miss was the most surprising.”

“Huh..?”

“In the middle of all that, weren’t you trying to crawl up the stairs to find the young master? Well, the fact the young master stayed by your side all night was also quite surprising.”

…What? This woman kept dropping bombshells. Hey, hey, did that make any sense? Even when I was in deathly pain, my brother never once… He was a very cold person who would never do something like that!

“He probably didn’t sleep a wink. Come on, Miss, you should get up too. On a day like today, you should have breakfast with your family.”

A day like today? What kind of day was it?! Ugh.

I had no desire to get up, but Emma was very stubborn. It was as if her entire existence depended on getting me downstairs for breakfast. She insisted on helping me wash up, brush my hair, and change my clothes, no matter how much I begged to do it myself. What an old maid with a strong professional spirit. 

“Oh, how lovely you look. Just between the two of us, but our young miss is much more beautiful than the new one. Don’t let her get you down.”

…Thank you very much for that, Emma. You’ll be blessed for sure. Hahaha! Not sure if my father or brother would think the same though.

Anyway, this flowery dress was really annoying. I could deal with the scratchy lace, but why was the waist so tight?! Moreover, it was uncomfortable to walk in a skirt. I want to wear pants, ugh. 

No, get it together. From today on, I would start the mission to seduce… Ahem, to win over my brother. I’m pretty embarrassed with this whole period thing, but it’s not like I can do anything about it as a woman.

I gathered my resolve and headed towards the dining room… Though, walking down the stairs in this dress was seriously tough. I was already not used to the balance of my new body, and the clothes weren’t helping either.

I somehow managed to get down by clinging to the railing. Hm, breakfast with the family. It was something rare now, but even more so back then. Before Levina arrived… Ah, now I’m feeling sad again!

“Hello sister?!”

…Well, speak of the devil. Oh wait, I was the one who arrived.

When I walked into the dining room, everyone except my brother and I was already there… Not that it meant much since it was just two people anyways. In any case, as soon as Levina–who was sitting at the middle of the table swinging her legs and chattering away–saw me, she shouted excitedly, her eyes sparkling. And I froze in place.

I really didn’t feel like smiling, but I couldn’t…! 

“Mm, hello.”

Still, I managed to smile brightly. Tch. And Father, could you please not look at me with that unfitting, happy expression? Does my smile seem genuine to you? You’re really living up to the role of an empty-headed duke. I wouldn’t even blame you if you called me unfilial.

“Ahem, how are you feeling?”

…What? Excuse me, Father? What did you just say to me?

Father’s tone wasn’t particularly kind or gentle. In fact, it was just as blunt and curt as I was used to. The reason I was so surprised was because he spoke to me first. And asked about my well-being, no less!

Father rarely ever spoke to me first. He usually didn’t even glance in my direction, except when I did something wrong or made Levina cry… Ah, damn it. Now I feel sad again.

“I’m… fine. Thank you.”

It’s a good thing my voice sounds like this. Right? So sincere and sweet. Hahaha, I guess there are some perks to being a girl after all. Now, where should I sit at this long table? Preferably not between those two.

“Dear Brother Eugene!”

Geez, she startled me. Does she always have to announce her presence like that? Well, I suppose I’ve known that for a long time.

Anyways, thanks to Levina’s loud exclamation, I turned around and saw my brother coming down the stairs.

It felt strange. Looks like what Emma said was true after all. My brother, who was dressed neatly in his formal uniform for work at court, looked strangely exhausted and tired.

He was walking slowly toward the dining room when he saw me and paused. Ugh, he really does look like he didn’t get any sleep. He didn’t appear disheveled, but there was definitely an air of fatigue hanging over him.

What? That made me feel guilty… I can’t believe my brother would actually take care of me.

This was foul, dammit! Foul! Ugh… Now I feel like crying again. No, I can’t do that. Starting today, I have to win over that scary brother of mine. Let’s smile, smile! Smile brightly…! 

“Brother.”

…Looks like I’m quick to adapt. The word ‘oppa’ already rolled off my tongue naturally. I purposely didn’t call him ‘dear brother’ like Levina because I wanted to set myself apart.

But why was he suddenly staring at me with such an unreadable expression? Was he mad? Well, of course, I know you’ve had a hard time because of me… 

“Sister, it’s rude to call him ‘brother’ instead of ‘dear brother.’”

This b*tch? I’m not your sister! And if we’re talking about the rules of the ducal family, I know them way better than you! Who are you to speak about manners when you just interrupted me?! You sly little fox!”

Levina threw out those words with a sweet, innocent smile that said ‘I don’t know anything’. I glanced at Father, who was staring at us with his usual expressionless face. He must be waiting to see how I would respond. Damn it, I’ve felt this for a long time but Father, how could you be so indifferent? Ah, I’m so sad…

“…It doesn’t matter.”

Huh? Who just said that? It wasn’t me.

It was my brother who spoke. As I stared at him with wide, rabbit eyes, he calmly repeated once again.

“I don’t mind you calling me that.”

W-W-What? Brother⁴Hyung – a guy would call their older brother ‘hyung’, so Ray slipped back to his male identity.? What’s with that look? Can you explain what’s going on here? Did you just defend me?

But my brother sat down across from father without saying anything more. After hesitating for a moment, I quickly sat beside him. Phew, I didn’t know what was going on, but since this terrifying brother of mine just defended me, I doubt Father would say much. Heh.

“We’ll need to host a banquet soon.”

“Is that so?”

“Your eighteenth birthday is coming up. We should also take the opportunity to introduce Levina to the public as well.”

My Father and Brother continued their conversation while I had no idea whether the soup I was drinking was going up my nose or in my mouth. Hm, a banquet? I remembered that banquet very well.

Tch. As if it was really for my brother’s birthday. It was just an event to officially announce Levina’s entry into our family. You never even celebrated my birthday once, sniffle. 

Just then, Levina who had been eating quietly suddenly opened her mouth, seemingly struck by some new thought.

“Oh, sister, I heard you started your period! Congratulations!”

“…Cough!”

Aigoo, tsk tsk. Thanks to Levina, I had the rare chance to witness my father and brother both choke at the same time.

Levina’s ocean-blue eyes sparkled brightly once again as I barely managed to raise the corners of my mouth as a sign of gratitude.

“That’s great! I heard that’s when you become a woman. Is there anyone you want to marry? I don’t really know much about that… how do people usually get married here?”

Her question sounded innocent enough. But I knew where the pitfalls were. Having been tormented by that fox for over three years, I could see through her trap right away.

The answer I had to give here, especially in front of Father, was a carefully crafted explanation of the proper values of marriage and virtue that a daughter of the ducal family should hold. Explaining in a kind and detailed manner for the poor younger sister who grew up amongst ordinary people. Doesn’t sound too hard, right? Yeah, right!

Talking about marriage when she’s only a year younger than me… Ugh, although I knew she was sharp enough to read the tense atmosphere between me and the other family members in a day, what a scary little fox. 

With three pairs of ocean-blue eyes staring at me, I put down my fork and took a deep breath. I couldn’t go down like this. Dammit, why did I have to seduce that terrifying brother of mine? 

When I suddenly flashed a bright smile, Levina’s sparkling eyes faltered as if taken aback. Hah, a fool for a fool. If you’re going to act all innocent, then I’ll do it too.

Father might be a bit scary, but I had to endure if I wanted to win over my brother.

“Well, I’m not really sure either but…”

Drawling, I slowly turned my head to look at my brother’s tired face. Then, smiling even brighter, I threw out a bombshell that could probably destroy the empire, if not the world.

“I want to marry Brother!”

Mother, please forgive this shameless second son.