Chapter 29
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 29
Chapter Title: Sister Raisa
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Back when I was little, I had just one older sister.
Raisa von Libelshtein.
The next head of the Libelshtein family, or so everyone believed.
And I thought it was only natural, too.
After all, my sister was truly remarkable.
When the adults gathered, poring over ledgers filled with numbers and racking their brains, she would quietly approach, glance at a few lines, and say,
"The calculation here is wrong."
And sure enough, it was.
Before she even turned twelve, she debated with imperial scholars sent from the palace, and when the knight commander brought up troop deployments, she offered her thoughts without so much as blinking.
I'd just stand quietly by her side, gazing around with a face that said, Isn't my sister amazing?
My sister really is the best!
My sister's hair was a deeper black than mine, her eyes a richer crimson.
Even when people called me pretty, I always thought my sister was far cooler.
And yet, she was always the first to take my hand.
"Luise, did you get scolded again for not doing your homework?"
I pouted.
"Yeah... But you've got my back, right, Sis?"
"You have to do your homework yourself."
Even as she said that, she stayed by my side until the very end.
Back then, I didn't even know the word "admiration," but when she smiled, I smiled too, and when she was praised, I puffed up with pride for no reason at all.
I never doubted that my sister was the coolest person in the world.
So naturally, I assumed I'd end up standing right beside her.
Or at the very least, helping her from the sidelines.
After all, I believed there wasn't a single thing I could do better than her.
That's why I always trailed after her.
It felt so natural that even that day, I stood there without a second thought.
It was one ordinary day.
Swish—
"I... I won..."
"!!"
An arrow split the bullseye dead center.
I stared back and forth between the target and my sister, barely able to breathe.
Nobles had many skills to master.
Swordsmanship, magic theory, diplomatic etiquette, ledger calculations.
Archery among them—was no longer an absolute necessity like it once was.
As gunpowder weapons spread and muskets took hold among the troops, the bow's dominance on the battlefield was steadily fading.
Still, for nobles, the bow remained a symbol.
A tradition, something every heir had to prove themselves in at least once.
Especially for a house like the Libelshteins, with their military influence.
And in that moment, for the first time, I had beaten my sister.
"Did I... win? Against Sis?"
The scorecard clearly showed my score higher.
My sister's arrow was inside the red circle.
Mine was right in the center, embedded precisely in the golden ring.
But strangely, fear came before joy.
Had I marred my sister's perfection?
Had a little sister like me poked my head out and left even a tiny blemish on her record?
My fingertips trembled for no reason.
But then.
"You did great, Luise!"
"Sis... sob...!"
Sister Raisa pulled me into a hug without the slightest hesitation.
Her face was genuinely happy.
"Haha, you idiot. Why are you crying after shooting that well?"
Only then did I burst into tears.
Not from joy, but because she was proud of me.
In that instant, I felt like I was standing not behind her, but beside her.
"Now I have something I'm better at than you, Sis! I'm so happy!"
That day, for the first time, I taught my sister something.
For once, I—the one who always just learned—stood in front.
I was so proud of that fact, my chest tickled with delight.
It meant that at least in one thing, I could be of help to her.
Maybe that's why.
After that day, I drew the bowstring even more.
Even when it snowed.
Even when it rained.
Even when I had a fever from a cold.
I hugged the recurve bow she'd gifted me to celebrate that first win, falling asleep with it clutched tight.
As I slept, breathing softly, she would quietly slip in and place a cool cloth on my forehead.
"You idiot... You have to take care of your body."
Her voice was so warm that I pretended to stay asleep.
That was our daily life.
A happy routine.
...Even though.
One by one, the other Libelshtein children vanished from the mansion's halls as time passed.
Still, I pushed it out of my mind.
I believed my sister and I were different.
Every week, when we descended underground to stand before the Golden Colossus, my heart pounded wildly.
The massive form covered in gold.
Its face gleaming under the light.
The moment we stood before it, my chest tightened like I couldn't breathe.
But with my sister beside me, it was okay.
Squeeze.
Just the slightest brush of our fingertips, and strangely, the fear ebbed away.
We survived.
And we'd keep surviving.
Back then, I never doubted it.
That's what I thought as I kept drawing the bow, until one day my fingers were thick with calluses.
"Luise. Why are you wasting your time on something as trivial as archery?"
A cold voice.
We had come to the underground vault, as always, to pay respects to the Golden Colossus as Libelshteins.
"Wh-what? Well... It's what I'm best at... and I even won a prize..."
"Even so, the bow is an outdated skill in this era."
The Golden Colossus tilted its head.
"I've heard gunpowder and firearms are all the rage among human nobles these days. Why cling to a technique that's useless on the battlefield?"
Irritation laced its tone.
I knew that expression.
The face it made when culling children it didn't like.
By then, the Libelshtein bloodline—once in the double digits—had dwindled to just my sister and me.
The Golden Colossus always spoke of the "family's future" and demanded "usefulness."
And those deemed useless were devoured underground, never to return.
That day.
A strange glint passed through the Colossus's eyes.
That was when I first realized.
Being good with a bow might impress my sister, but it wasn't the talent the Colossus wanted.
"Luise."
The underground chamber echoed.
The massive golden form tilted its head lower.
"Tell me why I should let you live."
"...What?"
My voice wouldn't come out properly.
"Compared to Raisa, your intellect is lacking, your calculations sloppy, your strategies inadequate, your insight shallow."
The golden face descended slowly.
A wrinkled, grotesque infant shape.
Resembling a human, yet not.
"At best, you handle a bow well—but it's a relic of a bygone age. In this era of gunpowder and steel, give me one reason to spare a child clutching arrows."
I had to speak.
Speak to survive.
If I couldn't prove my worth right here, I'd vanish.
Just like the others.
Like all those names that went down to the depths and never came back.
I opened my mouth to speak.
But.
The golden maw slowly parted. Teeth gleamed inside.
Fangs crusted with dried blood, like a beast coated in gold.
A fishy stench stabbed my nose. My heart leaped into my throat.
My body wouldn't obey.
"I... I'm...!"
My voice shattered.
My legs shook.
And then—
Drip, drip.
Warmth soaked my skirt.
True to form as the inferior little sister, even to the end.
"The Libelshteins have no need for the deficient. Nor the useless. One child is enough to lead this house."
Slowly, the massive jaws drew closer.
"Humans grow foolish when their numbers swell. That's the nature of your lowly race."
I'm going to die.
This is the end.
I turned my head.
Just to see my sister one last time.
In that moment.
Pfft.
A short sound.
I couldn't comprehend it.
I just saw it.
The dagger in Sister Raisa's hand.
And her final moments, plunging it into her own stomach.
"Sis...?"
The Colossus roared.
"No!"
My sister collapsed.
Red blood spread across the golden floor.
I crawled to her.
Grabbed her hand.
It was still warm.
For now.
My lips trembled.
"Lu... ise..."
Her breath came in ragged gasps, on the verge of stopping.
"Live."
That one word.
That was all.
After that day, I didn't die.
The Golden Colossus raged.
An unexpected loss.
The death of the direct heir it had deemed perfect.
It screamed loud enough to shake the underground chamber, but in the end, it didn't devour me.
Because I was the last direct Libelshtein.
If I vanished, so would the house.
Branches and the golden blessing aside, there was only one drop of direct blood left.
Knowing that, my sister had driven the blade into herself.
In exchange for my life.
From that moment, this life wasn't mine.
It was borrowed.
Time my sister had forcibly stitched together for me.
"It's been... almost fifteen years since then, Sis."
Late at night.
A deserted field.
A bonfire crackled.
In my hands was what had once been a bow.
The training recurve adorned with ebony and brass that she'd gifted me the day I first beat her—it was already snapped in two.
The day she died, I'd smashed it.
Rage at the "what if."
Regret for ever winning.
Yet I couldn't bring myself to discard it.
I carried the broken pieces for fifteen years.
And today, I slowly tossed them into the flames.
The bow burned.
Her smile, my childhood self—they seemed to burn alongside it.
"The Colossus made a promise."
The flames flickered.
"Punch a hole in the heavens... and it'll let me see you again."
Last month.
When it summoned me underground, the Golden Colossus spoke.
It was time to return to the heavens.
And it handed me blueprints.
The Celestial Piercer.
When it explained, my legs nearly gave out at first.
Aiming for the realm of the gods.
Something no human should do.
But.
"The heavens hold a place where departed souls linger."
Those words nearly stopped my heart.
"When I return, I'll bring back your sister's soul."
I knew.
Whether those words were true or not.
The Colossus was always calculating, never giving without a price.
Still, just once.
If I could see my sister again, just once.
"I... want to see you, Sis."
My throat choked up.
The flames wavered.
Tears fell.
"So... can I die now? Please, give me permission...!"
Fifteen years.
I never cried once.
Out of fear I'd crumble.
Fear that her sacrifice would be in vain.
But now, there was no one around.
Back when I was little, the one who always came when I cried was my sister.
Just like how, back at the academy, whenever Elysia cried, Jinwoo would quietly appear to wipe her tears.
Maybe that's why I picked fights with Elysia for no reason.
I envied her that scene.
She had what I'd lost right there in her grasp.
And yet, oblivious as ever, she let Jinwoo slip away, wasting time with those weird noble brats.
If I'd been Jinwoo's owner instead, maybe my life would've turned out differently.
If I'd just had one more person treating me like family, like a protector by my side.
I shook my head.
"No. That's all in the past now."
The flames consumed the last piece.
It turned to ash and scattered.
And I wiped my tears.
To complete the Celestial Piercer, no matter what.