Life Before the Academy
“How did you spend your days before coming to the academy?”
Aria's eyes sparkled with pure curiosity.
Life before the academy, huh.
I thought for a moment.
Elise de Bellaph's pre-academy days weren't covered in the game at all.
Her backstory never went beyond a few lines of text. No detailed growth or anything.
I hadn't been particularly curious about it anyway.
Which meant whatever I said now wouldn't be far off the mark.
“Why are you curious about that? Nothing special happened.”
I shot back indifferently, and Aria paused, her fingers still fidgeting with the cards.
She tilted her head slightly, gazing at me.
“Just... I don't know much about you, sis.”
Same here, kid. I shot back inwardly and averted my eyes.
What I knew about Elise de Bellaph was just fragments from the game's lore.
Eldest daughter of the Bellaph Ducal House.
Engaged to Adrian for political reasons.
Extremely high aptitude for black magic. And a total bitch personality.
That was it.
I didn't know what kind of childhood she'd had, what expressions she made when alone, or even what foods she liked.
From a player's perspective, Elise de Bellaph was just an early-game obstacle to bulldoze.
“Just lived ordinarily.”
In the end, that was the safest dodge.
But Aria pouted, clearly unsatisfied.
She patted the bedsheet with her palm.
“At the ducal house?”
“Yeah.”
“How is that ordinary?”
“...Just ordinary.”
Aria stuck her lips out even further.
A clear sign of displeasure.
Her eyes drooped like a sulky puppy unable to hide its hurt.
“That's mean. I want to know more about you, but you keep hiding everything.”
Aria mumbled, hanging her head.
Watching her, I felt like I'd committed some grave sin for no reason.
Haa. What a pain. No helping it.
I racked my brain.
I didn't know the real Elise's past, so I could just mix in some adapted stories from my actual life.
Blend my shut-in otaku days from my previous life with the recent house arrest in the ducal territory with Charlotte. That should make a believable tale.
“Fine, fine. I'll tell you.”
At my words, Aria's head snapped up.
Her eyes sparkled again.
“Really?”
“No lies. I'll really tell you, so don't look at me like that.”
I dodged her intense gaze with a fake cough.
Then slowly pieced together the fragments of memory.
“Like I said, nothing much. I just holed up in my room all day.”
“In your room?”
Aria's eyes widened.
“Yeah. Didn't like going out much. Crowded places are noisy and exhausting. Staying quietly in my room, playing games, reading books... or just lying there was best.”
A straight transplant of my previous life's routine.
Days spent in a sunless room, lit only by the computer monitor, pulling all-nighters.
Eat when hungry, sleep when tired.
A peaceful, comfy life as a total NEET.
But Aria's face turned grave at my words.
“All day... in your room?”
“Yeah. Sometimes too lazy to eat, so I'd skip meals. Sleep in till lunch.”
“Ah...”
A faint sigh escaped Aria.
Her gaze drifted past my face, lingering in the air.
She was clearly misunderstanding something big.
The kind of look I'd seen on Charlotte's face—exactly like that.
Oh no.
I could guess what melodrama was playing in Aria's head.
The ducal house's eldest daughter, shunned even by family, abandoned alone in a cold corner room of the mansion.
Wasting away in a dark space untouched by warmth, barely eating, enduring day after day in gloom.
Yeah, some tragic sob story like that.
“Um, sis...”
“I don't know what you're thinking, but it's probably not that.”
My excuses fell on deaf ears.
She grabbed my hand.
Her warm, soft palm enveloped the back of mine.
“Couldn't even eat properly... You must've been so lonely.”
“No, I just skipped because I was lazy...”
“You don't have to make excuses, sis.”
“I'm telling you, it was fun.”
“It's okay. You don't need to force a smile for me.”
Our conversation was running parallel lines.
Whatever I said got filtered through her lens into "poor abused ducal lady gone astray."
At this rate, I'd end up as some pitiful orphan.
I hurriedly pulled out recent memories to change the subject.
“Things changed recently, though. Right before the academy, when I stayed home for about a month.”
“Oh. That house arrest?”
Aria's voice grew cautious, as if afraid to touch a wound.
“Yeah. Wasn't holing up by choice—I couldn't leave. Locked in the annex.”
“The annex...”
I recalled the confinement days with Charlotte.
“She stuck to me like glue. Thought I'd die of annoyance.”
My words said one thing, but a faint smile tugged at my lips anyway.
“Played piano together, strolled the garden behind the annex. Made flower crowns too.”
“Flower crowns?”
“Yeah. Sat on the grass weaving clover. Later got into mud play and ruined our clothes—maid chewed us out bad.”
I skipped the black history of wriggling through a narrow dog hole with my chest stuck.
Just picked the prettily wrapped memories.
Nights she'd crawl into my bed, hating to sleep alone.
Burying her face in my chest after lullabies, dozing off with soft breaths.
As I spoke, the room's air felt warmer bit by bit.
“Wasn't bad, though. Playing with a kid was sneakily fun.”
I finished and looked at Aria. That should lighten the mood, right?
Expecting the pitying gaze to fade.
But.
“...”
This level of gloom was unexpected.
Aria fiddled with the corner of a card on her lap, silent for a long while.
What the hell.
Did I say something wrong?
I tilted my head, checking her face.
“Hey, Aria.”
“...”
“Aria? You listening?”
She finally flinched and looked up.
Forcing a smile that didn't reach her eyes. “Ah, y-yeah. I see. Your little sister must be thrilled. With how much you adore her.”
Her words were kind.
Her voice wasn't.
A tone that smiled without smiling.
No more questions followed.
The girl who'd been prying into my past moments ago went mute as a clam, making the room awkward.
“Anyway, that's my story. Pretty boring, huh?”
I tried to liven things up lightly, but she just nodded faintly.
Silence.
Her gaze dropped back to her lap.
Her fingers pressed hard into the edge of the worn paper card.
-Crumple.
Unconsciously tensed, her fingers bent and creased the thick playing card's corner hideously.
“Hey, the card's getting wrecked.”
At my point-out, Aria startled and loosened her grip.
“Ah... S-sorry. I was lost in thought...”
She frantically rubbed the crease with her nail, trying to flatten it.
But once-folded paper doesn't smooth easily.
The fold remained, scarred and stark.
“It's fine. Old cards anyway.”
I brushed it off, taking the crumpled card from her hand and tossing it onto the central pile.
“Don't sweat it. I'll buy new ones later.”
“Ahaha. Yeah. Thanks.”
Aria smiled awkwardly with her eyes.
“Um, sis.”
She called out abruptly.
“Yeah. What?”
“Your little sister... is she cute?”
Out-of-nowhere question.
“Well, tiny thing—super cute.”
“Cuter than me?”
“Huh?”
Caught off-guard by the comparison, I blurted back.
Aria bit her lower lip, staring straight at me.
“Cuter than... me?”