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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 89
Chapter Title: A First for Sisters
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Winter ran a hand over her strained face.
“Judging by the Saintess’s prophecy and what Kivrin said, it seems there’s something about Cheria. She even said herself that she might be the second snake.”
“Our daughter’s expressions are so varied, it’s fun to tease her.”
Menelik said nonchalantly.
Winter glared at him coldly.
“Make Cheria cry one more time, and you’ll have to answer to me.”
He chuckled.
“Are you sure it’s okay to keep her here?”
“You say that, yet you treat her like your own daughter.”
It wasn't the first or second time she'd seen him act so despicably, pretending to run into Cheria by chance when he had been deliberately tracking her.
Winter threw the box of remaining cigarettes into the fireplace.
And she spoke to Menelik, and also to herself.
“If the prophecy is real, then we have all the more reason to keep her with us.”
In fact, she welcomed it.
If she was going to be extraordinary anyway, Winter hoped she would be so magnificently great and terrible that no one could ever trample on her.
Like the supreme moon floating in the sky, at times inspiring awe, at others, madness.
Since she had chosen them of all people to be her parents, they ought to grant at least this much of a wish.
From the moment she called her ‘Mother’ and escaped the Snake Pit so quickly, Cheria was already far from being an ordinary child.
The anticipation forming on Winter’s lips bloomed into a smile.
An ordinary child certainly wouldn't suit this ducal house.
* * *
The next day, my sister was the last to wake up.
She came downstairs looking disheveled, and the words that came out of her mouth were a real spectacle.
“What’s on the menu for breakfast today? I don’t consider it a meal unless there are at least twenty side dishes.”
“……”
She was an embarrassing sister, no matter the occasion.
My face burning hot, I wished for a hole to crawl into, while Mera tilted her head in confusion.
“A meal?”
*Well, my sister is a reincarnator, you see.*
The female lead of was set up to have some memories of her past life.
I let out a deep sigh and sat down.
My sister naturally took the seat next to me.
At that, Winter, who had been the master of the seat beside me ever since we arrived at the villa, twitched an eyebrow.
“……”
For some reason, the atmosphere rapidly grew chilly, but my sister welcomed the food nonchalantly.
My sister even let out a cheer.
“Wow! I knew a ducal family wouldn’t eat just anything, even at their villa. This veal steak—you’d have to wait two days to eat this at the Temple!”
“Sister, please, just shut your mouth…”
I’m so embarrassed I can’t even lift my head!
I would have felt less uncomfortable if my parents-in-law had just grimaced and kicked her out.
But I could feel it in my bones that they were tolerating her because she was my sister.
Before dessert was served, I asked my sister point-blank.
“Sister, when are you leaving?”
“Why? Sad to see me go so soon?”
My sister grinned slyly.
I was dumbfounded.
“It’s the exact opposite! I can’t wait for you to leave!”
Of course, my words alone weren’t enough to make my sister budge.
She even had tea time with Winter, saying things like how she must have misunderstood the ducal family all this time.
Just as I was trying to manage my mood by squeezing an innocent cat doll, Elbert came to visit, bringing Yujeni with him.
Yujeni looked so cheerful it was hard to believe she had been in critical condition just yesterday.
“Thank you, Young Madam. If it weren’t for you, I would have had trouble even walking like this. And greetings to you too, Saintess! I heard you didn’t even accept payment for the treatment. I’ll be sure to donate generously to the Temple for the rest of my life.”
Seeing Yujeni chattering away, my sister scoffed.
“No need. That money won’t end up in my coffers.”
“Hahaha, it makes me think even more highly of the Young Madam for persuading a Saintess like this.”
But there was something strange.
Yujeni didn't know exactly what illness she had suffered from.
Elbert had no idea either, and neither did their personal physician.
“I’ve always been healthy and never get sick. How could I have caught an illness like that? My physician could only diagnose that my life force seemed to have been drained all at once, but he said he didn’t know anything else. Well, anyway, I plan to go out and have fun to my heart’s content again!”
Elbert took her hand, looking worried.
“Promise me you won’t go anywhere alone.”
“Alright, alright.”
She gave Elbert a smile and continued speaking.
“Of all things, the last place I explored was just a tiny cave, so I felt so wronged… While I was lying there unable to move, it kept coming to mind, you know? I kept wondering if it would have hurt a little less if I hadn’t fallen and hit my head back then.”
“You fell?”
My eyes went wide.
Regardless of how I felt, it was a huge relief that she had received my sister’s treatment.
“I clumsily missed my step, you see. I even fainted for a moment. Um, well, some kids said it looked like something was shining inside the cave, so I went to check it out secretly by myself. I wanted to be the first to tell everyone. But I never even found out what it was.”
Come to think of it, my friends from the sea had also told Kivrin about a cave.
“It probably wasn’t anything special anyway. Kids’ words go in one ear and out the other.”
My sister, who had suddenly disappeared, advised as she returned holding a hat.
My sister placed the hat on my head.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been to the sea, you know? Let’s go have some fun.”
I immediately wrinkled my nose.
“Why would I go with you?”
My sister grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet. Then she whispered softly.
“I know where the Duke’s arm is, you know?”
“S-So! What about it!”
When I tried to resist, my sister grinned.
“Do you know how disgustingly that old man stares at it? It’s so creepy, you know? It’ll make you want to steal it back even a day sooner.”
“……”
I don’t know what kind of disgusting expression the Pope made, but my sister’s expression right now was just as bad.
“I’m telling you I’ll act as a spy for you. You know, a mole. It’s a give-and-take, right?”
Agh, the nerve!
It was as unconventional an offer as her proposal to become Winter’s personal healer, so I had no choice but to be dragged along.
The streets were quiet.
It seemed we were the only ones out for fun.
“I guess the food at the villa was too delicious. The food they sell here doesn’t even catch my eye.”
My sister muttered as she passed through the shopping district.
Just as I was thinking of Kivrin upon seeing a wicked-looking dragon doll, some rough-looking men called out to us.
“Hey you two, come over here.”
My sister responded by ignoring them.
So the men followed us and blocked our path.
“Are you two out by yourselves? Where are your parents?”
My sister raised her eyebrows.
“What’s it to you? You picked the wrong people to pick a fight with…”
“You look like tourists, but that area over there is blocked off, so don’t go. Tell your parents, too.”
Haha. They may have looked a bit rough, but they were just ordinary adults worried about us.
They even gave me a strawberry-flavored hard candy.
My sister tilted her head.
“Why is it blocked off?”
At my sister’s question, the men answered all at once.
“Because it’s dangerous. Lady Yujeni got hurt there, too.”
“Ah, you probably don’t know who Lady Yujeni is. She’s a wonderful person who even hangs out with people like us.”
“She especially loves children…”
As the men all vied to tell their stories, my sister waved her hands dismissively.
“Alright, we won’t go, okay? This is my first time out with my little sister, so I don’t plan on wandering around just anywhere.”
However, my sister’s words caused a strange ripple.
The men exchanged dumbfounded glances.
“First time out with her sister?”
“Did I hear that right?”
“I heard it too.”
“Shouldn’t we report these kids to the city guard?”
The idea of two teenage sisters going out together for the first time was enough to make people worry.
My sister belatedly winced.
“H-Hey, don’t meddle in other people’s family affairs, okay? If you follow us again, I won’t let you off easy!”
My sister grabbed my arm and quickened her pace.
She didn’t slow down even after we were out of the men’s sight, so I spoke up.
“Sister, my arm hurts.”
“……”
“Sister.”
I called out to her again.
She only let go of me once we were in an alleyway.
“I’m going back now.”
My sister said in a low, subdued voice.
“Already? We just got here.”
“……”
“Is it because of what those men said?”
My sister asked, flaring up.
“Doesn’t it bother you at all, little sister?”
“It’s the truth, though.”
I rolled my eyes.
Even searching through my past memories, there wasn’t a single time we had gone out together.
This was the first time we’d ever talked for more than thirty minutes, the first time we’d ever shared a bedroom.
To me, the fact that my sister was only realizing this now was even more astounding.
