Chapter 292: Lainella's Fate is Decided by Lainella (85)
Chapter 292: Lainella's Fate is Decided by Lainella (85)
My "real" younger sister.
Until just a moment ago, when I was comforting Ria, the thought of her hadn't stirred a single emotion in me.
To me, the only person I had ever considered my sister was the Ria back at the mansion.
And yet, the bond of blood was a terrifying thing.
She was a sister I had never once met in my life, yet my heart was already thumping, racing against my ribs.
I felt an impulse to tear open the documents right this second and face her whereabouts.
No, not yet.
I licked my parched lips, trying to find some moisture.
"Is she... in a painful situation?"
It was a simple, blunt question.
At that inquiry, which carried so much weight, the Sword Duke slightly averted his gaze.
He, too, was human; he couldn't help but feel a sense of pity.
"……I cannot say for certain, but not particularly."
I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding at the Sword Duke’s answer.
Even if she was a sister whose face I didn't know, if she were living in agony even now, it would have broken my family's hearts.
Even if I felt it less, my parents and my brother still held memories of her.
My next question was just as plain.
"Do my parents know?"
"I told them… but the Percus couple left the choice entirely to you. I suspect the wounds from the past run deeper than I know."
That made sense.
My parents had paid a heavy price for losing their daughter.
Moreover, they likely carried a crushing sense of guilt for failing to protect her.
In the end, the choice was mine.
The clue to finding a sister whose name I didn't even know sat right before my eyes.
I agonized over it.
Suddenly, the face of Ria, whom I had comforted not long ago, flashed through my mind.
Searching for my sister was not a simple decision.
It was a choice that could potentially destroy every relationship I had built until now.
If I found my sister, how would Ria feel?
And how would this sister—who apparently wasn't even in a dire situation—feel about it?
I didn't deliberate for long.
That didn't mean there was no inner turmoil.
After a brief but deep moment of anguish, I reached a single conclusion.
I let out a pained sigh.
"……I see."
Rrip.
The document was torn, envelope and all.
The Sword Duke watched my movements in silence.
Then, the papers were shredded into dozens of pieces. My hands left so many gashes in the paper that the text became illegible.
Tak.
I set the scraps of paper, now nothing more than litter, down on the tea table.
Only then did the Sword Duke speak.
"Are you sure about this?"
"I only have one younger sister."
Yes, hadn't I promised Ria?
That to me, there was only one "real" one.
I hoped this decision would preserve the peaceful daily lives of both sisters.
"……Other than her, no one else exists."
With those final words, I stood up abruptly.
I couldn't even wrap my head around my own feelings.
Rather than staying and potentially reversing my decision, I chose to leave, even if it meant being somewhat rude.
Fortunately, the Sword Duke seemed to understand my heart.
As I bowed to show my respect, the Sword Duke gave a quiet nod.
"Go on. You've worked hard… We shall discuss the rewards from the Imperial Household later."
"……Thank you."
My voice was thick and choked as I replied.
I wasn't necessarily that sad.
It was just that the longer the hesitation, the greater the lingering ache.
I quickly suppressed my emotions and walked away.
Now it was time to go see Senior Elsie.
I had my own life, and that sister I had never met would have hers as well.
This decision was right.
Repeating that to myself countless times, I stepped out of the reception room.
Until the very end, the Sword Duke simply watched me go without a word.
* * *
Immediately after Ian left, the Sword Duke, remaining in the reception room, slowly moved his hand.
His hand reached toward the spot where the shredded documents lay.
He sifted through the clump of paper. Fumbling through the scraps, he searched for any remaining traces of information.
Before long, he managed to find the phrase he was looking for.
A trace that could not be erased, no matter how much it was torn.
"……Only one, he says."
The Sword Duke muttered like a sigh, a bitter smile playing on his lips.
The papers beneath his touch began to glow with a pure white light.
Unable to withstand the excessive infusion of mana, the scraps of paper burst into flames. The sudden fire turned the documents black, and the letters scattered.
With a small pop, the paper turned to ash and drifted away.
The bitter smile on the middle-aged man's face deepened.
"I pray that fate passes you by, Percus."
However, even as the flames licked and swallowed the characters, one phrase remained.
It was slowly turning to gray, but it was still enough to read the information within.
It was an incomplete paragraph.
['Mitram, I will specifically grant you permission to use my clone. Ah, I'm so looking forward to it. The day I drive out that loathsome fake and reclaim my beloved older brother……']
Even that crumbled into ash as a mysterious breeze swept through the room.
Another destiny was waiting for the name Percus.
* * *
By the time I reached the back garden, my heart had settled into a calm stillness.
Senior Elsie seemed to have been waiting for me for quite some time.
She was hesitating, repeatedly tugging at the brim of her hat.
It was a habit she had when she was nervous, and as if to prove it, her face was visibly tense.
It was quite a cute sight.
Feeling the weight in my heart lift slightly, I called out to her.
"Senior Elsie."
"Ah, aaah…! M-Master!"
Elsie, who had been fidgeting, jumped in surprise at my call.
She seemed strangely high-strung.
I couldn't fathom the reason, but I decided to put the question aside for now.
We had plenty of time to talk, after all.
Was this not our first private tryst in a long time?
I decided to use this opportunity to settle the topics I had been putting off.
Regardless of my thoughts, Senior Elsie just scurried toward me.
"A-Are you okay? Oh no… your face is still so pale."
Senior Elsie was famous for being fierce, but before me, she was nothing more than a gentle lamb.
The sight of her looking like she was about to cry, clenching and unclenching her fists, was incredibly dainty.
She was the picture of a lovely girl.
It would have been even better if she had just kept her mouth shut.
But the person standing before me was Elsie.
There was no way she would stay purely "cute."
Her expression soon darkened into something vicious.
"Seriously, that bitch is so useless. Acting all high and mighty as a Saintess, then talking about how you might die or whatever… Next time I see her, I’m gonna burst those tits of hers like watermelons……"
"Don't do that, Senior Elsie."
I couldn't help but give a bitter smile at the profanity that flowed so naturally from her.
No matter how many times I saw it, she was a woman of contrasts.
I was a bit shocked at first, but after spending so much time together, I had no choice but to adapt. In fact, these days, it felt weird if Senior Elsie didn't swear.
There were very few times when Senior Elsie restrained her language.
She only became quiet when she was depressed, when she had done something wrong, or when she was facing someone she couldn't handle.
Even that was starting to become a rare exception lately.
Once someone messed with me, Elsie often lost even the minimum amount of self-restraint.
That was also why her relationship with the Saintess had deteriorated so rapidly.
"It's thanks to the Saintess that I'm even alive."
Senior Elsie couldn't bring herself to deny my words.
She merely grumbled, making her dissatisfaction clear.
It was exactly as I said.
Without the Saintess, I would have been dead or crippled long ago.
I certainly would have lost my life to this recent severe injury.
The Saintess's contribution to keeping me alive was that significant.
At the very least, she didn't deserve to have her "tits burst like watermelons."
In the first place, why would anyone want to burst something so precious?
If anything, they should be preserved and protected.
But Senior Elsie seemed genuinely upset to hear me praising the Saintess.
"Hmph, I don't like it. No matter how I look at her, she's just a black-hearted bitch……"
I took emergency measures before Senior Elsie's complaints could go any further.
My hand landed tak on top of her pointed hat.
As I stroked her head for the first time in a while, the sulky look on her face vanished instantly.
She simply beamed and leaned her head against my chest.
Elsie's face was full of happiness as she rubbed her cheek against me.
"Ehehe, hehehe… M-Master……"
"So, why did you call me here today?"
That was when I brought up the main point.
Naturally, if she had business with me, it had to be about that.
And for the first time in a long while, I saw Senior Elsie's face stiffen.
The girl's frozen body wouldn't melt, no matter how much I stroked her head.
Elsie just blinked blankly for a while. It was only after a few moments that she snapped out of it and pulled away from my embrace.
Judging by the way she cleared her throat, she seemed a bit embarrassed.
For some reason, Senior Elsie tried to strike a serious tone.
She hadn't been like this since she started calling herself my pet dog.
I was having a lot of unfamiliar experiences today.
"T-That is… Master? There's something I absolutely must tell you……"
She broached the subject while stealing glances at me.
There was no reason I couldn't play along.
However, a thought suddenly crossed my mind, and I reflexively cut her off.
"Ah, I actually have something to tell you as well."
Her clear, blue eyes turned toward me.
Her gaze said she hadn't expected me to have business with her.
It was just a misunderstanding.
There was something I had always wanted to say to Senior Elsie. I had just been putting it off because the right opportunity hadn't come along.
So, I decided to take this chance to resolve the issue.
"……Could you stop calling me 'Master'?"
I heard the imaginary sound of something cracking.
Senior Elsie froze, her eyes wide. She looked at me with a gaze full of disbelief.
I had mentioned this once before, and every time, her reaction was the same.
She looked exactly like an abandoned puppy.
In the past, I would have felt bad and stopped there.
But right now, Senior Elsie and I were being discussed as potential fiancés.
If I didn't return this relationship to normal, there was a high chance it would cause problems later.
I was especially worried about meeting Count Lainella.
He was a Great Witch who had placed the Lainella family on a solid foundation. I didn't particularly want to experience firsthand just how powerful he was.
Faced with my firm attitude, Senior Elsie asked back with tears in her eyes.
"……P-Pardon?"
"And formal speech is also forbidden."
At my subsequent declaration, Senior Elsie looked like she was about to burst into tears.
"From now on, only use informal speech. I'm your junior, after all."
And Senior Elsie wasn't a dog.
At those obvious words, a tear finally escaped Elsie's eye.
She looked truly pitiful.