Chapter 189
Chapter 189
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 189
Chapter Title: My Difficult Older Sister
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I find my older sister intimidating.
The ten-year age gap is one reason, but the biggest is that she's just so unapproachable as a person.
For starters, I've never been scolded or nagged by Mother or Father in my life.
They even openly said that if she hadn't been so devoted to theology, she would've been the next head of the family. She's been perfect since childhood.
And on top of that, her personality is selfless and full of the kind of compassion that religious folk adore.
Becoming a priestess at a young age and studying and serving at the heart of the continent's dominant religion? That alone proves just how outrageously talented she is.
She's like a monk cultivating enlightenment or a saintly sage.
In contrast, I'm worldly, hate work, and avoid mingling with others.
The kind of person religious types would despise.
So yeah, it's a bit tough dealing with her.
Not that it's because she teams up with Mother to nag and torment me or anything. Absolutely not.
But right now, the important thing isn't how I feel about her—it's how to calm down my furious older sister.
As you might've gathered from what I said earlier, she's the type who's exemplary in the best light or stuffy in the worst.
So if you get tangled up in anything involving conduct or propriety, you're as good as dead.
The silver lining is her mindset that both sides need to be heard, so she'll at least allow a final defense.
And if you handle that well, she'll give you some leeway to survive.
The problem is, if you botch the final defense, she'll summon Mother and tear me limb from limb.
"If you have any last words, speak them."
"Sister, hear me out..."
So the moment I was dragged into the Room of Truth, I started explaining how I'd treated Emily with utmost care and never laid a hand on her.
"...Therefore, it's absolutely not true that I tormented Emily. I really do treat her preciously."
"That's right. And would I stay silent to Mother if Young Master had tormented me?"
Emily, who'd been dragged in with me, backed me up, doing her best to save her master. That gave my explanation some real persuasive power.
Of course, the judge might think differently, but you can't just declare 'You're guilty!' when the supposed victim denies it.
"Does... that explanation help at all...?"
"......"
After finishing my explanation and waiting as deferentially as possible for her verdict, my sister stared at me with the same sharp, predatory eyes as Mother's, lightly touching the cross around her neck.
"William."
"Yes, Sister."
She called my name with a meaningful smile.
At the sound of her voice, I swallowed hard and sat up straight like a fresh recruit on his first day.
"I've known from the start that you didn't sleep with Emily."
"How did you know?"
"Because it's obvious."
She slid a low, round glass container forward across the table and tapped it with her finger, as if to say, 'Look at this.'
The dark red liquid inside, about the size of a coin, was swirling in place on its own, forming a vortex without any interference.
"Unicorn blood."
"Ah."
Unicorns.
Endangered, sure, but they exist.
They're so rare and sacred that the Holy Kingdom protects them zealously, so most commoners die without ever glimpsing so much as a hair.
No wonder even some think they're pure fantasy creatures.
"It draws near to the pure and repels the impure. And right now, it's spinning like mad, isn't it?"
"Yes."
"Because all three of us are pure, it doesn't know which way to go and just spins out."
"Oh..."
So unicorn blood can detect virgins...
Knowledge gained.
"Hm...?"
But if that's the case, why drag me to the Room of Truth?
I'm pure, Emily's pure—so I'm innocent.
"The big flaw is that as long as you keep your virginity, you can get away with anything."
"Ah."
What an idiotic loophole.
It was as absurd as learning there's no such crime as woman-on-woman rape.
"And I think you're misunderstanding something. I asked if you were tormenting Emily like some debauched playboy—not if you two were doing lewd things."
"What's the difference?"
"It means indulging in wine, women, and song, leading to unseemly conduct."
"...?"
No matter how I thought about it, it seemed the same, so I furrowed my brow and racked my brain. Then my sister slowly raised her right fist, fingers clenched, and narrowed her eyes.
"For example... gifting meticulously made clothes to multiple unmarried women."
"...Ah."
As one finger extended and the words flowed out, I let out a short sigh amid a dizzy spell like I'd been hammered in the head.
Excluding Caterina, whom I make clothes for work, that left Emily and Elizabeth.
And multiple times, at that.
If it'd been just one, I could've explained it away, but two? No excuse makes sense.
"Th-that... Sister..."
"I'm not done talking. Be quiet and listen."
I trembled, desperately trying to open my mouth for a quick defense, but she glared and extended another finger.
"Or gifting necklaces to multiple unmarried women and attending banquets with those women'—an utterly outrageous act."
"Uh..."
That'd happened two or three times.
Every time I gifted Emily clothes, she attended the banquet...
"Or bringing women from the banquet home while everyone else was away."
"Uh..."
That happened too.
"Or a maid sneaking into her master's room late at night and emerging with a flushed face."
"Ugh..."
That too, a few times.
"Or showing bare legs to the opposite sex in a private space while exchanging heated glances—like that?"
This one even got caught by Hayes...
"......"
This is bad.
Each one a fatal blow, and no clue how to explain any of them.
-Wham-!
"That's the kind of explanation I wanted. Got anything to say?"
Without giving me, groggy from the five-hit combo, a moment's respite, she slammed the desk, shattering my stray thoughts and demanding a response.
Gulp...
Alright.
Silence means death. Botching my words means death.
Might as well go down swinging.
Brain's blank, but I'll spit out whatever comes to mind.
"First, for Emily's honor, let me address the last two. Those were work-related. I've been making clothes lately, right? I pull so many all-nighters that Emily scolds me often—and that's why her face was red."
"Mother knows this issue well; she even asked you to stop me by force if needed."
"Hmmm... Suspicious, but you wouldn't drag Mother into this just to dodge the moment. I'll accept there was a reason."
"Yes..."
My habit of skipping sleep and getting roasted by Mother proved a big help.
"And the bare legs? Why show them to the opposite sex when making clothes?"
But four lethal reasons remained, enough to kill me—so no time to relax.
"That was when I was making Hayes some unique stockings. No way to check if the shape came out right, so I asked Emily's permission and had her model them."
"Insufficient explanation."
"The stockings were so intricate, hard to put on alone. I was helping her, and... well..."
"Yes, it was too tricky for me alone..."
"Hmmm..."
My sister's face was still full of discomfort.
Even I knew it sounded forced.
They might be tricky, but why me helping?
"And nothing like that happened after. It was urgent, so unavoidable."
So I mixed in a little lie.
I was crazy about Hayes and rushed it—that much was true.
"Fine, you say nothing else happened, so I'll let this slide generously."
"Yes..."
"But the rest? You need to explain the most important ones."
"......"
Why are three left?
And why the hardest ones to explain?
Clothes gifts!
Gave some for banquet attendance.
One to Elizabeth, two to Emily.
Three times excluding maid outfits.
Necklaces? Gave both, and Mother sourced them—cross-verifiable fact.
Banquets? What even to say?
Dressing up Emily and parading her around, with Elizabeth diagonally behind? Even His Majesty knows.
"......"
In a brief moment, I analyzed the remaining three.
Can't explain.
What I needed now was how to die honorably and coolly.
"The other three..."
"Yes."
I flashed a grin at my sister.
"Yeah, I'm a total scumbag on those."
"You... are?"
Her head, about to nod instinctively, froze as she gave me a baffled look.
Like she was thinking, 'Why's this guy so brazen?'
"No matter how I wracked my brain, every excuse led to me being in the wrong."
"No unavoidable reasons?"
"None really."
"......"
She closed her eyes, gently massaging her temples, and groped the table.
Grabbing the neatly placed Bible to her right with the spine outward, she stood up.
"You debauched fiend!"
Her face turned demonic and ferocious.
The Bible crashing down on my head.
"Gahk...!"
Pain like my skull splitting, then my vision flashed white before going black.
-Thud-thud-thud!
"Y-Young Master!"
Amid the racket and Emily's scream, my consciousness faded.