The Eldest Sister Is Strangely Cold (1)
The Eldest Sister Is Strangely Cold (1)
Ever since the day I went with Nibuer to see the slaves, she had been coming to the estate nearly every day. She even covered the teleportation costs between the imperial capital and here each time.
I wondered if it was really proper for the head of a merchant company to deliver goods in person, but she insisted, so I couldn't stop her.
Then one day.
"Young Master, how do you like it?"
"Ish sho good~."
"Hehe. I'm glad it suits your taste."
I was chewing a mouthful of cookies from a famous bakery that Nibuer had brought as a gift, savoring the sweetness of life. What else could heaven be? Sweet cookies and rich milk—that's heaven, pure bliss.
I grinned and munched on the cookies.
Nibuer, who had been watching me with a satisfied smile, looked at me as if she'd just remembered something and spoke.
"Young Master, now that I think of it, doesn't the Nordkirchen Grand Ducal House have an eldest daughter?"
"Yeah. Big Sister Charl. Why do you ask all of a sudden?"
"I have met the second daughter, Lady Margarete, and the third daughter, Lady Albert, on a few occasions. But I don't think I've ever met the eldest daughter, Lady Charlotte, who is famous as the Grand Duchess's official heir. Is she away somewhere?"
Nibuer was suddenly asking about Big Sister Charl.
I started explaining without much thought.
"She's traveling the world right now. She left the spring before last and hasn't come back yet."
"Traveling the world—so she must be enjoying a journey."
"It's a journey, but I doubt she's enjoying it. She went past the mountains, over the range. Alone."
Nibuer looked horrified at my explanation.
"...The heir of the Grand Ducal House crossed the mountains alone? The ones crawling with danger?"
"Yeah. They sent her to prove the strength befitting someone who'll inherit the family, or something like that. It's our family tradition, apparently."
"Good heavens. What if something happened to the heir on the way? That's insane... Ahem. I spoke out of turn."
I added that it was practically a compulsory rite of passage for any successor of our house.
Nibuer shook her head as if it were preposterous.
"Unlike other noble houses, I heard the Nordkirchen Grand Ducal House never has succession disputes. I never imagined this was the reason."
"I guess so. Even Big Sister Mar said she was glad to be the second. She said something about how she would've suffered if she were the first."
"Elves could never imagine such a thing. Sending one's own child alone into a place that is practically certain death...."
"Anyway, why the sudden interest in Big Sister Charl?"
Nibuer looked genuinely dumbfounded—her expression rarely crumbled like that. She only snapped out of it when I asked.
"I overheard the servants talking. They say Lady Charlotte will be returning home soon."
"...What!?"
* * * * * *
A few days after hearing that news.
I was practicing magic in the back garden when Chloe approached me silently. She was covered in dirt from just sparring with my mother.
"Young Master, they say Lady Charlotte has arrived."
"Huh? Really?"
"Yes. I was being thrashed by the Grand Duchess until a moment ago, but a servant came and told me. That Lady Charlotte had come."
Chloe remembered my request to tell me if Big Sister Charl arrived, and she'd come running without even washing up.
I hugged her tightly in thanks.
"Thank you for telling me, Chloe!"
"...!? If you hug me, you'll get dirty too, Young Master. And I've told you many times, a man shouldn't go around throwing himself into women's arms so easily...."
"Mark of a Manly Man: He just brushes off a bit of dirt and keeps going!"
Chloe gave me an incredulous look, but I paid no mind and dashed toward the Head of House's Office.
Oddly, just the thought of seeing Big Sister Charl made my heart pound hard.
* * * * * *
The door to the Head of House's Office was slightly ajar.
Voices leaked from within. Of the two very similar voices, one was my mother's familiar tone. The other, from the context, had to be Big Sister Charl.
Hearing my sister's voice after so long... I'd call it a slightly younger version of my mother's. If my mother's pitch were raised a little, it might sound like this.
"The office has changed a lot, my lady. The rug on the floor, for one...."
"I was worried Yune might trip."
"The youngest? Why in the world would Yune be in the office...."
They were talking about me just then.
I didn't bother waiting and barged right in.
"Big Sister Charl is here?!"
"Yune."
"That is Yune? Good heavens. He hasn't grown much... but he really has become healthy."
Once inside, I saw my sister and mother sitting at the reception table in the office. The daughter and mother looked so alike, from their hair length and height to their faces.
Of course, they weren't so alike you'd mistake them. Unlike my always-serious mother, Big Sister Charl had an atmosphere that put people at ease. Like a fluffy soufflé, I'd say.
But since that matched the vague impression of Charl that remained in my memory, I raised my voice in delight.
"Big Sister Charl! It's really, really been so long! Almost four years, right?"
"Yune. I am in a private audience with my lady right now. We'll talk later. She'll be displeased."
"I don't mind as long as you're fine with it. I'd actually like him to stay."
"...If my lady permits. It's been a long time, Yune."
My sister smiled at me from the sofa. I rushed over and threw my arms around her.
-Grab.
"Big Sisterrr!"
'Wow, I'm way happier than I expected. Maybe it can't be helped after four years? Still, this is a little weird... but whatever.'
I was inwardly puzzled by a joy I couldn't even understand myself, but soon I stopped caring and hugged my sister tightly like a sloth.
My sister looked flustered, as if she hadn't expected me to welcome her so intensely, and began hesitantly to pat my head, as though handling a delicate glass ornament.
"Yune. Were you that happy to see me?"
"Yeah!!"
"That's strange. Unlike Margarete or Albert, you and I have spent little time together... No, maybe it's precisely because of that that you've grown closer to me?"
"Yune is unusually affectionate. He'll cling to Margarete, Albert, even me. Honestly."
"...Hmm. Still, ten isn't such a young age. I'm a little worried he clings so much."
"Yune spent all that time bedridden. It's inevitable that he acts a bit young for his age."
My mother and sister talked to each other, but I paid no mind and stayed cuddled in Big Sister Charl's arms, rubbing my face against her.
Staying like that, something tickled inside my heart. A feeling that a forgotten memory might resurface.
And so I continued being spoiled in my sister's arms.
"Mom, do you have more to talk about with Sister?"
"No. I've received her report on her activities."
"Then Big Sister Charl, tell me everything that happened while you were away."
* * * * * *
Charlotte. Eldest daughter and heir of the Nordkirchen Grand Ducal House.
Two years at the academy, and one year and nine months fulfilling the objective Erengard set for her.
Having spent nearly four years total away, she found the changed atmosphere of the mansion peculiar.
For example, the head butler who guided her straight to the Head of House's Office. Years ago, the butler would look terrified just approaching the office, but now she showed no trace of nervousness as she knocked.
It wasn't just the servants who had changed.
-Knock, knock.
"Your Grace, Lady Charlotte has arrived."
"Enter."
As the head butler opened the door, Charlotte began to quickly scan her surroundings out of habit formed over the past four years.
'...The office has changed a lot too. What in the world happened?'
The office Charlotte remembered was a bleak and intimidating space. A place that felt oppressive just by entering.
But during the four years she'd been away, the office's atmosphere had completely transformed.
A soft rug on the floor, as if someone worried about tripping. A plate of cookies on the reception table, and so on.
The desolate office that had existed solely for the Northern Grand Duchess had become a cozy space.
And then.
"Charlotte von Nordkirchen, I return having completed my lady's command."
"You've worked hard. I'm proud of you."
'...My lady is smiling!?'
The occupant of the office, Erengard, had also changed.
When she'd left for the academy. And when she'd returned after graduating in two years and immediately been told to head beyond the mountains—
Erengard had never said things like "farewell" or "well done" to her. She had simply looked at her coldly, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
But Charlotte had liked that side of the Grand Duchess.
She admired the way she was cold even to her children, thinking it mature and admirable, and she had mimicked her hairstyle, attire, and manner of speaking, hoping to become the same.
So she was not at all pleased by the Grand Duchess's change.
But she couldn't show it outwardly.
She was sitting on the sofa, talking with a slightly regretful heart, when Yune burst into the office.
"Big Sisterrr!!"
-Grab.
"!?"
Yune hugged her in an instant, and her forced neutral expression cracked. No matter that they were family, having a boy's breath tickle her chest was embarrassing.
But she didn't want to say something crude to that innocent face, so she carefully stroked his head instead.
'...But he's already ten, can he really be clinging to a woman like this? And his clothing is barely more than underwear.'
She soon began to worry whether, even if they were family, a noble young master should be doing this with a woman.
She glanced at Erengard just in case, but far from scolding, the Grand Duchess was looking at the beaming Yune with an openly pleased smile. Four years ago, she would have immediately barked a reprimand if a child showed such behavior.
Only then did she realize. Why Erengard—and the entire Nordkirchen Grand Ducal House—had changed while she was gone.
'It was because of Yune.'
The little cotton puff squirming in her arms. Yune was undeniably the cause.
But she didn't particularly like that change. So she thought to herself—
'...I, at least, will never change. I'll become a cold and admirable Grand Duchess, just like my lady was four years ago.'
She resolved never to change.
But contrary to that thought, her fingers were happily stroking Yune's silky hair, savoring the sensation.
For her, who had endured all manner of hardships far from home for the past two years, that sensation was like irresistible magic. No matter what she resolved, her subconscious was already being eroded by the sheer cuteness of the being called Yune.
Seeing that, Erengard thought—
'Truly, Yune must have a talent for charming women. For Charlotte to open her heart so quickly.'
It was still a misunderstanding, but soon it would no longer be one.