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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: My Arch-Nemesis Sister Cherishes Me
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The Luperne Ducal Family was exceedingly wealthy. No family in the empire could rival the Lupernes in riches. Not even the Imperial Family.
Thus, the banquets were extravagant. Whether it was a grand event like the Duke's birthday party, or a smaller gathering of vassals and collateral branches like Callista's graduation celebration, it was always the same.
First, they splurged on luxury. That was the family's principle. And the guests, faithfully adhering to this principle, spared no expense on their attire.
In the golden-painted banquet hall, beneath chandeliers adorned with countless diamonds, amidst the finest food and musicians, young ladies from various vassal families stood together, dressed in their most exquisite gowns.
“The main house is simply on another level. Look how sophisticated the men are; it’s incomparable to our own estate.”
When one young lady spoke, the girls around her nodded.
“It goes without saying. Did you see the 1st Knight Order pass by earlier? Each and every one of them is so valiant.”
“Oh, Lady Selina, so that’s your type. I prefer intelligent handsome men. Like Lord Theon Arpen.”
A young lady from a collateral family, wearing a crimson dress, cut off the person beside her and spoke dreamily.
“That’s right, Lord Theon is so handsome. Did you see him in that pale blue tailcoat today?”
“His manners and intellect are impeccable. A scholar who graduated top of his class from the Imperial Academy. And he’s only twenty, isn’t he?”
No sooner had she finished speaking than the surrounding young ladies nodded enthusiastically, each interjecting a remark.
“Well, Lady Rosa. A man, above all, must know how to wield a sword to protect a woman. Isn’t the most handsome man here Lord Aramis Mueller?”
However, the girl called Selina seemed annoyed by the crimson-dressed young lady’s words and sniffed dismissively.
“Exactly. That height! Those shoulders! Hair as red as blood!”
“When he wields his sword, it’s like a painting. A painting that would tear through the canvas and leap out to perform a sword dance, perhaps?”
Several other young ladies agreed with Selina, nodding vigorously. Rosa, in her crimson dress, frowned.
“A man, above all, must be beautiful! A handsome man I’d want to protect from even getting a drop of water on his hands, taking on all the rough work myself! A handsome man whose mere sight makes my heart ache!”
Selina retorted, refusing to back down.
“No! A man needs a strong back! The kind of spirit that would hunt down a hundred monsters for the woman he loves!”
“Intellectual beauty and a delicate constitution!”
“Abs, biceps, and triceps!”
They argued back and forth without pause. The minor dispute escalated, to the point that had they been armed, Selina might have challenged Rosa to a duel.
A little distance away from them, Aramis and Theon stood leaning against a wall, arms crossed, deep in conversation.
“I won, Theon.”
Aramis, his expression stern, gazing into the distance, spoke.
“What?”
“Four young ladies said they liked me, and three said they liked you.”
He smiled with satisfaction, as if he had won the most important match of his life.
“...I’d appreciate it if you didn’t bother me with trivial talk.”
“What?”
“Because I don’t have time for petty competitions with children.”
“You—!”
Theon ignored the growling Aramis and refocused on the person he had been watching. His gray eyes, behind his glasses, gleamed sharply.
Ordinarily, he might have continued their pointless conversation with Aramis, but not today.
‘Please keep watching.’
She had said only that, without explanation. On such a busy day, it was a request he would have immediately dismissed had it come from anyone else.
But she was no ordinary person. Theon followed her request without a moment’s hesitation.
Harper Luperne. Her requests always had a reason.
***
The musicians finished another piece.
The music was so fast and intricate, a dance tune bordering on a feat of skill. Thanks to it, people were twirling around so much that my eyes were starting to hurt.
‘I’m hungry.’
Perhaps it was because I was wearing a yellow-gold dress and blending in with the golden walls, but I wasn't very noticeable. The downside was that no one brought me any food, and my stomach was grumbling loudly.
Recently, after I’d fainted once, Theon and Jena had been restricting my sugar intake, making me stick to a diet. My tongue, accustomed to only green leafy things and meat since my visit to Vittori’s lab, craved sugar.
I cautiously headed towards the kitchen. Vittori was being watched by Theon, so I only intended to be gone for a moment.
Mr. Chris, who’d been promoted to Head Chef thanks to me, had promised to always stash my snacks in the cake storage room in a corner of the kitchen, I remembered.
Creak—
I carefully opened the back door of the kitchen, leaving behind the loud sounds of chopping and clattering dishes, and headed towards the cake storage room on the opposite side.
Click—
“Sweets, please be there.”
Stepping into the storage room, I firmly closed the door and muttered to myself. My stomach churned wildly at the sweet aroma already wafting towards me.
Typical Chris. Just the smell told me it was a chocolate cake perfectly suited to my taste. And this sweet-tart scent could only mean strawberries on top, couldn’t it?
I was humming a hymn of praise for Chris in my mind when I turned around.
“...Huh?”
The smile that had spread across my face vanished without a trace, and my body instantly stiffened.
On the storage room table, someone had already arrived before me and was sitting there.
“...You’ve come too.”
The person who looked at me with a familiar face and asked was Callista Luperne, the guest of honor at this banquet. Her icy gaze pierced through me.
“Would you like some?”
She asked in a calm voice.
With a fork in one hand, she cut a piece of chocolate cake and a strawberry from the plate in her other hand.
Dressed in a vivid blue gown, the symbolic color of the Lupernes, she sat with her skirt spread wide, like a deity of the sea.
The small necklace she always wore shimmered elegantly below her fair neck. Her upright posture and haughty expression were the epitome of nobility.
...But why was such a person sitting on a table, not a chair, and what was with that thick, dense cake that looked like she had already eaten nearly a whole slice?
“...Won’t you eat?”
Callista put the cut cake and strawberry on her fork and brought it to her mouth, asking again.
“Uh...”
“If you don’t want it, I’ll eat it all.”
She said, popping the last piece into her mouth.
What? You only waited a second?
I stared at her, brimming with indignation, but Callista’s plate was already sparkling clean.
“Your attire is unique. A color I haven’t seen before.”
Callista looked me up and down, then spoke. Only then did I look down and remember the dress that contrasted sharply with the pristine white kitchen walls.
“Th-This is golden silk...”
“It’s an ugly dress. Don’t wear it again.”
Callista said, placing the empty plate down, utterly merciless. Perhaps it was because of our past life as commander and subject, but her tone subtly resembled Theon’s.
Grrr...
My stomach, utterly oblivious, rumbled again.
Callista stared at me for a moment, then pulled out a large, round plate from under the table. On it was the entire rich chocolate cake I had seen earlier.
“I only ate one slice; the rest is here.”
She placed the plate on the table where she was sitting, then poked the chocolate, which flowed like lava, with the fork she held, and looked at me again.
“If you won’t eat it...”
*Chomp.*
My mind, disoriented by hunger, rushed forward without a moment’s hesitation and bit the fork Callista offered.
Oh, it’s sweet, so sweet.
Smoother and richer than what I usually ate, it was so delicious it made my head spin.
“Chris said it was a failed attempt, that he accidentally spilled too much sugar into it, and no one could eat it because it was too sweet.”
Callista said, looking down at me as I chewed the cake with full cheeks.
A failure? It’s perfect for my taste!
“However, it suits my taste very well.”
Isn’t cake supposed to be sweet?
“A cake, by its very nature, *should* be sweet.”
I’ll have to beg him to make it often in the future. And keep it a secret from Theon.
“I plan to order him to continue making it in the future. Though I won’t tell anyone else.”
I swallowed the food and looked up at Callista. Was it my imagination, or had she been saying exactly what I was thinking, just phrased in a more aristocratic manner?
“Your cheeks have gotten even plumper.”
Before I could even protest, her fingers pinched and pulled at my cheek again.
“Vittori and Theon both find you cute, don’t they? Is it because of this?”
“Ah...?”
Seeing me lick the chocolate from my lips while my cheek was still being pulled, she scooped up another piece of cake with her fork and put it into my mouth.
*Chomp.*
My mind was telling me to refuse, but my mouth, a slave to sugar, wouldn’t obey.
“From now on, do not wander around carelessly during banquets.”
She watched me swallow the food, then said.
“...Why?”
“You are an easy target for manipulation, no matter who you encounter.”
“...”
“A life spent being used by old people is quite miserable.”
She rested her chin on one hand and gazed at me as she spoke.
“And when you are used, there will be no one to help you. Including me and Father.”
Her direct gaze surprised me once again. There was an innate chill to it, but no killing intent. This was new.
In my past life, we never once truly looked at each other for long.
Until I was ten, we lived in the same house but barely saw each other, and after that, Callista had been trying to kill me.
The only time our eyes met for a considerable period was right before she beheaded me.
Suddenly, the fork Callista still held caught my eye. A jumble of thoughts raced through my mind.
Hadn’t Callista always hated me?
What was this, feeding cake to an enemy? Was it a new game, or...?
She was still cold and sharp, yet perhaps because of the sweetness in my mouth, instead of the fear her gaze usually brought, I felt a subtle warmth.
“Um...”
I was about to say something.
Bang!
“My Lady.”
The storage room door suddenly burst open, and a pale-faced Theon rushed in. Seeing me and Callista together, he hesitated for about a second before continuing.
“Vittori has disappeared.”
“Disappeared?”
“She disappeared?”
Callista and I spoke simultaneously.
“...Didn’t she just go to the Academy?”
She asked, but Theon shook his head.
“She vanished without a trace in the middle of the ongoing dance.”
Callista’s pupils dilated instantly.
“Along with the second son of the Naitra family, who was her last partner.”
“With Ivan Naitra?”
Her complexion paled.
