I Became the Villainess's Younger Brother

There's a yuri otome game called The Blue Rose Garden.

It’s the usual reverse harem romance-fantasy setting, all set against the imaginary backdrop of Arcadia Academy in the empire. Since I’m one of those guys who loves seeing the female lead and her girls, it should’ve been normal for me to have never even heard of the game. But my parents’ efforts at raising ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠children had failed, and my only sister was just as much of a nerd as I was. We’d run into it a lot during everyday life.

Honestly, it wasn’t all that pleasant to have someone shove information I didn’t want into my head. When they offered to draw pictures if I paid, I figured they were idiots. But now that I think back on it, I’m glad I listened. Someone who’s as indifferent as me would’ve probably just tuned out the yuri game info, but I caught every word because of my professional spirit.

So why was it lucky I paid attention to the info from a game I’d never actually play? Well, that’s simple.

It was the same old story, like always. Because I’d been reincarnated into the world of The Blue Rose Garden.

Specifically, into the body of Scarlet Tepes, the villain who stands in the way of the heroine in every route—the younger brother of Leticia Tepes.

*

It had been about a month since the reincarnation. I wasn’t used to the name Scarlet Tepes yet, but I’d adapted enough to answer when someone called for me.

Every morning I woke up to a pale-faced maid attending to me. She was as lifeless as a machine—pale skin, no trace of vitality left. Just like ghouls. And since both the ghouls and I were vampires, when I finished washing up and looked in the mirror, my crimson eyes sparkled like gems.

Because I was a vampire, my beauty was enough to make anyone’s mouth hang open. I smiled faintly and lifted the corners of my lips in satisfaction. At least I could be proud of this face, even if nothing else fit me.

According to the livestock back home before reincarnation, the Tepes family—one of the oldest vampire houses—was so named because they’d taken the imperial throne as a symbol of the union between humans and a near-human race.

They openly claimed blood and even paid for it. Because the game focused more on characters than detailed world-building, the vampires in the story weren’t weak to silver, crosses, or even running water.

The only weakness was sunlight, though. Even that was manageable for high-ranking vampires.

I’d heard that from my sister, but I’d confirmed it myself. Walking through the garden in broad daylight didn’t bother me at all—just a faint tingle on the skin.

Things would’ve been easy if the fixed future hadn’t involved total ruin. But knowing every ending of the game ended with the Tepes family destroyed or extinct, I couldn’t quite feel good about it.

I didn’t want to go back to my old world, but I had to live first.

Plus.

I muttered the status window to myself. A translucent panel appeared right in front of my eyes with a soft ping. The same status window I remembered from my past life. I scrolled through the stats and reached the quest window.

The main quest was what caught my eye. The reward changing with my created ending meant it depended on how much effort I put in.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

I might not be able to return to my old world, but this was the only option that seemed even slightly possible.

I had no other choices.

First priority was stopping my sister from falling for the prince.

In the original story, that happened when she was in third year, but according to what I remembered, the prince’s feelings toward her started mid-first semester of second year. I could still stop it.

Two months from now I’d enroll at the academy, and she’d move up to second year. There were other routes—rejecting the archmage or the northern duke—but the branching points for those were in the second semester of second year. For now, it was fine.

I should just focus on blocking the prince.

That thought made the tutorial text in the quest window change.

I let out a hollow laugh at the quest window. Since it was a yuri game, of course the quests were like this. There was no time to refuse, and I could only nod and close it.

The ghoul maid waiting silently handed me the clothes I changed into.

I was fine with moving like a machine that didn’t need to worry about appearances, but the slightly erotic romance of having a proper maid still tugged at me. It was a shame.

If only my sister was fine, maybe I’d hire a real human maid later.

I headed toward the dining hall while mulling over pointless thoughts.

When I reached the door, the maid bowed slightly as I approached. Inside, my sister Leticia was already there, pouting with a sulky expression. She’d been waiting for me.

She tapped the table lightly with the palm of her hand in an elegant gesture. I wasn’t sure whether tapping the table was truly elegant.

“You’re late.”

“Sorry. I had some things to think about.”

“Liar. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠You’re still half-asleep from breakfast, aren’t you? I told you—humans need to get used to waking up in the morning if you want to fit in with them.”

That was right. Even high-ranking vampires had sunlight resistance, but they still strengthened under moonlight and lived as night nobles in the shadows.

Only the Tepes family woke and moved first thing in the morning for meals.

Of the three great bloodlines—Tepes, Dracul, and Nosferatu—the Tepes had been the one to step forward as the representative for dealings with humans. That’s why they had to adjust to human habits.

My sister was also a student at the academy, and I was about to enroll soon too. She’d been nagging me to get used to morning activity.

I had to admit the morning weakness was real, so I nodded along to her complaint.

Seeing me obey so readily, she relaxed her stern expression and let out a sigh, as if she had no choice.

“Fine. I’ll stop lecturing. How’s your pain?”

“Almost gone. No need to worry.”

The day I reincarnated.

It was said that the body of Scarlet Tepes had suffered a major anomaly.

A vampire body that didn’t even run a fever had been boiling with blood. Whether it was the reincarnation’s side effect or because the body was already in such poor condition that allowed the reincarnation, I wasn’t sure.

Anyway, since the original Scarlet Tepes and I were clearly different people, I preemptively claimed memory loss before anyone could suspect me right after the reincarnation.

I wasn’t a complete amnesiac. I could remember necessary daily life, who I was, and who my sister was, but the rest was hazy.

Plus, staying locked in the mansion for a month to organize my thoughts meant I hadn’t gone out much. From my sister’s perspective, that was enough reason to worry.

Even on days when I didn’t have to eat, she’d come to my room every single day without missing one, worried that I might not recover my memories.

Now that I thought about it, my favorability was already over sixty.

According to game settings, favorability over fifty meant she had some feelings for me. Even if the family threshold was a bit higher, it was still surprisingly high.

I glanced sideways at my sister. Her eyes were filled with concern and affection as she watched me.

Hidden from my sister’s view, I swept my gaze over her body as well.

Even if it wasn’t my real sister, from Scarlet Tepes’s perspective she was his real sister Leticia. Raising her favorability was the quest, but could I really do that?

Conversely, if I didn’t want to, but the quest required it, I had no choice. Even if my sister who’d been so kind despite my memory loss didn’t appeal to me, I had to do this.

I decided that was the way it was.

To be completely honest, I’d held back my urges until now, but under the pretext of the quest I decided to stop holding back.