Chapter 23 (1/2)

Translator: Jawbrie

I thought long and hard in the carriage on the way back.

The reason for this was Surfania, who I had just been playing with.

As far as the board game went, I was completely victorious. Surfania was a little sullen by this result, but she was unfortunately still no match for a genius like me. It’s a little boorish to not be able to enjoy a game regardless if one wins or loses. And I was not like Surfania, I didn’t put much stock into something as small as the results of a game. It was only natural for me to win any way.

And so the issue was not so much the results of the board game, but the many verbal attacks she had launched while we were playing.

With every word she said, I became more and more unsettled, and my mind grew disheveled. Thanks to this, I ended up putting a little too much effort into the game and beat Surfania black and blue. It was such a humiliating and crushing defeat for her that she sulked and drove me straight out of her room. But then again, this was not too much of an issue. I had meant to go home soon; now it would just be a little earlier.

I thought back on the contents of the many, endless things she said to me.

She did not get along with her older sisters… Well, Surfania had a rather one-sided dislike of them, and she was glad to give me numerous examples of what about them she disliked as we played together.

And well, they fit quite well with my own actions.

I thought deep and hard on this. I had to look back on my past actions towards Mishuli and our sense of distance to each other.

And I think.

Maybe I was paying too much attention to Mishuli.

“…no, no. That could not be true.”

I tried to erase this theory from my mind as I mumbled to myself, but it was to no avail.

I am a genius. No mere baseless threats saying that Mishuli would hate me could bend my will so easily. No, but… Surfania’s words came from her own experience as a younger sister. She had something in common with Mishuli that I did not. She had a certain authority with her words then, and while just a little, I was starting to feel worried.

I and Mishuli were very close sisters. Sisters who both loved each other dearly. There was nothing hidden behind the smile that Mishuli offered me, her brilliance was pure.

However, even if she was my sister, she would surely enter adolescence or a rebellious phase eventually.

Especially the rebellious phase. The phase that Surfania was clearly in right now. It’s a period when one interacts with those close to them in a sharp manner for no reason whatsoever. When I consider that Surfania was much more honest when I first met her, it left little doubt in my mind that her current way of attacking with unnecessarily harsh words and actions meant she was right in the middle of her rebellious phase. It had very little to do with me, as someone with a mature mind who would put any grownup to shame, but otherwise, this phase was supposed to be a necessary part of growing up. That was why I could look at Surfania’s actions as something almost adorable.

But, if the time came for Mishuli to act like Surfania towards me, I think I might want to die.

I was overwhelmed with worry over this.

This was bad. My life was in danger. This was a much bigger threat than all that nonsense about fate. In the present, I felt very much like I could understand the emotions of Christina when she commits suicide by poison in the Charles route.

If Mishuli entered her rebellious phase, I would probably die. I would take such a psychological blow and wish for death.

“What, what should I do…!”

I tore at my hair over this sudden dilemma.

This rebellious phase, when did it even begin? Surfania was right in the middle of hers, but she must be on the faster end of the spectrum. As a genius, it would probably never come for me. Because I am a genius. But if I was asked about Mishuli, well, I could not answer. Wide-spread and completely useless knowledge says that it starts at ten years of age, but then it also suggests that there are differences based on the individual.

Would it be necessary for me to give Mishuli more space?

Perhaps I should wait for the moment and then consider how I should interact with her. Maybe I shouldn’t embrace her or put her on my lap and express my affection over every little thing. If I minimized our contact, she shouldn’t think of me as lame. No, it would be too sad for me to have to stop doing that…

We quickly arrived back at the mansion as I was thinking about these things.

“Ugh…”

Ultimately I had not been able to gather my thoughts before stepping out of the carriage and entering the house. I couldn’t see any carriages from the royal palace yet, so it seemed that Charles had not arrived.

Well, I supposed that I should get ready to receive him in the meantime. As I thought this, I heard the sound of footstep approaching me.

“Sister! Welcome back!”

Of course, the person who had come down to greet me was none other than my beloved sister Mishuli. My sister was attached to me as ever, even though she was now seven years old. And she exuded an adorableness that had not changed since the day that we first met.

I made my best attempt to meet her with the biggest smile; I failed a little.

“…ah. Yes, I am back!”

I was able to recover with the last words, but I had stumbled over the first few.

Mishuli had been rushing towards me with loud footsteps, but she suddenly slowed down with a mystified expression on her face.

“…What happened?”

My sister was quite perceptive. She had immediately recognized that there was a shadow over my heart as soon as she heard my voice. She came over to me and her blue eyes looked into mine in order to see the colors.

“Worry… But why?”

Mishuli was my superior in terms of seeing the emotions of others. Once she learns to also discern the reasons behind them, she would surely become a fine lady.

Well, setting that aside, it would be ill-advised to try to hide it once she had already seen through me. If I tried to hide it now, it would only cause her to worry as well. I must share with her my anxieties for the future and strive to solve this problem.

“Hey, Mishuli… What do you think of me?”

“I think you’re really cool!”

Yes. I knew that these were the words that Mishuli would surely say to me. But, this was not about that.

“Mishuli.”

My heart hurt just thinking about the words I was about to say. I bit my lip hard. I feel like I have to ready myself for this, but nothing could make this any easier for me.

But even so, I force myself to say them.

“If, this is an if, okay? If you ever start to think of me as lame or bothersome, or that you hhate me, or anything, just tell me.”

It was an example of a worst case scenario, and yet my voice was shaking. And for some reason, I felt my vision start to distort. I thought that maybe the stress was affecting my perspective, but then I realized that it was my tears.

“I, I, I really like you, Mishuli, but if you tell me, I will respect your feelings…and so…!”

“…Did Miss Surfania say something to you?”

“Huh?”