My Little Sister Started Calling Me the Villain
Responding with an awkward lie to Michaela wouldn't work. After all, she was the woman who had moved between the roles of crown prince and princess, engaging in society activities.
"That's right. Someone has noticed the decoy."
"...Got rid of her?"
"Not yet. From my judgment, she's not that dangerous a person. She doesn't seem like someone who'd blab about it to others either."
Michaela fell into thought, her eyes closing as she stayed silent for a while. Was she checking whether what I said was true or false? Or was she assessing how trustworthy of a human being I was?
"If it's Lucia, then."
"Yeah. Thanks for believing me, Michaela."
The conclusion Michaela had reached was that she trusted me.
Was it because she was one of the few people in this country sharing a secret with me? Or perhaps because she was the fiancé whose name I had met since childhood? Either way, it was fortunate that no troublesome matters had arisen.
"Still, be careful, Lilith. I don't want any more people sharing secrets with you."
"I am being careful too. This matter was truly discovered by chance."
On that day, if I hadn't gone to meet my sister, I might not have heard the secret. I didn't know how long Lucia would continue to stay quiet without coming directly to see me.
If... she had spoken to someone else first instead of me, she would have been dragged to the convent with a gag in her mouth.
"There are no signs that the information has leaked from my side. I'll investigate for now, but it might be better to suspect Lilith's side."
"...I understand."
Lucia.
How had this girl, whose name I once thought belonged to the trivial past, suddenly recalled such grand memories that involved the secrets of the world?
I had read every book I could find in search of someone in the past with similar circumstances, but I hadn't found a single comparable case.
It was a first in history that something like this happened to my own sister.
I wasn't sure yet whether I should feel joy or anger.
At this point, I couldn't properly assess how this situation would unfold.
"Michaela. Do you know about otome games?"
"...What game?"
"Never mind. Looks like you don't know."
From then on, we continued our usual conversation.
Recently in society, such things had happened, and the latest trending products were around this level, with the demand for aquamarines increasing.
The crown prince still hadn't woken up... similar topics.
It was a topic that could be helpful in many ways, but talking with Michaela for a while made my head throb. What if the crown prince didn't wake up like this? The worry kept nagging at me.
'...Lucia must know.'
A major event with the future of the country at stake.
From my sister's reaction, it seemed she knew roughly when the crown prince would wake up, but I didn't think she would easily tell me.
Normally, I would have to extract the secret by force, but why did I not want to do that? Perhaps I was still far from being an excellent duke's daughter...
━━━
"Sister! I've missed you so much!"
'...She looks like she's greeting a puppy.'
The morning after Michaela left.
Taking advantage of the time my mother was out, I headed to the annex, and my sister, covered in dirt, greeted me with wagging her invisible tail.
She must have been immersed in farming again.
"Lucia. From now on, when you're done with the farming, do your grooming. It's embarrassing to be seen by others."
"Ah! Y-yes, I'll be careful, sister."
Well, Lucia was the kind of child who would follow instructions properly. Since she hadn't received the necessary knowledge from the noble society, I had no choice but to teach her one by one.
"Sister. Today, I have something to show you."
"Something? ...Is it not another thing to bully me like last time?"
"Ah, no! At least for now, it doesn't seem like I need to do that."
For now... but maybe later I might have to do it again. If this continued, it might become a habit, so I should refuse it properly for now.
"Well, follow me."
Lucia shook off the dirt on her hands and offered it to me. She still looked dirty, but she didn't realize it? ...Well, dirt was fine.
"Yes, Lucia."
The hand of Lucia, whom I hadn't touched in a long time, had become so rough that it didn't seem like the hand of a noble maiden at all.
Not only had it been dirtied by mud, but hard calluses had formed here and there, giving the impression of a knight from a reversed era.
When she came next time, I should bring the makeup I use. She had been born with good skin, and it was a shame to see it not managed properly like this.
"...Where are we going, Lucia?"
"We'll arrive soon!"
Lucia, holding my hand tightly, was leading me deeper into the annex.
Passing through a broken corridor, we went past several rooms with spiderwebs, and then to the stairs leading down to the basement.
The annex basement... The main building, designed the same way, was used as a wine cellar, but what was the purpose of this place?
"Oh my...!"
"Amazing, right? Hehe."
The moment we reached the basement, a groan that sounded like a scream escaped from my mouth, which I couldn't close.
"This is the thing that appeared after I licked my sister's foot last time."
"Really...?"
"Yes. It seems that reproducing the event was important."
After just licking the foot, something like this appeared...?
A Dimensional Gate that possessed immense magical power.
In the basement where my sister had taken me, there was a treasure that could not be found in this world.
"Eh, the only person who knows besides you is... no one, right...?"
"Yes! This thing, if it wasn't coming with me from the start, wouldn't even be visible to others. I've already checked with someone else, so it should be reliable."
"Th-that... I see..."
My head was hurting too much... Maybe it would have been better if I hadn't known.
"Eh, how far can we go?"
"Anywhere I've visited before. Right now, it's only the plaza and the nearby forest, but it will become much more in the future."
The world's secrets that my sister had told me.
This world was a virtual world called an otome game.
At this moment, I could feel the weight of those words piercing my bones.
"Sister, it's still too early to be surprised!"
"What more could I... aaaah!"
Lucia jumped towards the Dimensional Gate while holding my hand.
In the sudden crisis, I almost let go of my sister's hand without realizing it, but I tightened my grip because I thought I might not see her again if I let go here.
"S-still alive..."
After the strong dizziness that made the world sway passed, the surroundings had changed from the barren basement to a lush forest.
Species of trees that I, who had remembered all the ones native to the empire, had never seen before.
Even the bird songs tickling my ears were too unfamiliar, making me feel like I had been transported to another world.
"Sister. This is my exclusive dungeon."
"Dungeon...? A dangerous place with monsters?"
"Yes! Since it's still early, most of them are slimes, though."
After hearing the crown prince's secret from my sister, I thought there would be nothing more to surprise me... but it exceeded even my imagination.
"The reason I brought you here today is to show you the evidence."
"Evidence?"
"Yes. I can't teach you all the truths, but I won't hide any of the possible ones as evidence. I had a feeling of certainty that if my sister was incredibly kind unlike the original, you would believe it."
My sister, who had always looked so foolish, now seemed impressive for the first time.
Was this the same person who had cried while licking my sister's foot or lay on the ground to have her step on her like a puppy?
"...Yes. Since sister will stay silent, Lucia, keep it hidden as much as possible. It's a discovery that could shake the foundation of the empire."
"Hehe. Of course! I wasn't planning to tell anyone except sister."
If it was revealed that this kind of thing was hidden in the Sadonium Duke House annex, my family might face treason charges.
"So, what kind of space is this? If it's just a place where slimes come out, I wouldn't need to come here..."
"Gold and items... no, things come out."
"What?"
"One picture is worth a thousand words! I'll show you directly."
Leaving me in shock behind, my sister, without knowing where she had gotten it from, held a short sword and jumped forward.
How many steps did she run? From the thicket next to the running sister, a green slime suddenly popped out.
It was a low-grade monster, but still a monster.
I panicked and tried to defeat the slime with magic, but my sister, without panicking, calmly stabbed the slime's core with her sword.
Thud, tu-thud.
Where the slime that had turned into light had been, a few gold coins and a small pouch had fallen.
While I was blinking in disbelief at the reality, my sister returned to my side with a bright smile, gathering the spoils.
"Four gold and radish seeds. This one was a miss, hehe."
"M-miss..."
It wasn't a huge amount of money, but the fact that money had dropped was important... for it to be a miss.
Monsters normally drop money, but only if sold as materials or for hunting quests.
At least from what I knew, there were no monsters that dropped money or items like this.
"Th-this... can I catch them infinitely?"
"Because of the balance, it doesn't work like that. About thirty a day? If I catch that many, they automatically come out."
Thirty was enough to calculate roughly as one hundred and twenty gold.
Money that a commoner could eat for a month and still have left... even recalling my sister's words, it seemed that was the level of a miss, so if it hit, it would be much more.
I wanted to go back to the time when I didn't know this. At least, it was fortunate that my sister was the one with such an ability...
"Sister! Let's hunt together today and aim for a lucky drop! It's an early dungeon, but there are loot items. Do you have time...?"
"...I do. No, even if I didn't, it would happen anyway, so don't worry."
"Yes! Hehe."
First, I would follow my sister to explore this place more in detail. If I worked it well... I might gain a way to become independent from mother at an earlier time.