Who Are You People?
The kid who had just hurled a child much smaller than himself onto the ground narrowed his eyes at my sister and me, then muttered something about us being “rather pretty.” I wondered what kind of home education could possibly produce a mouth like that at such a young age. When I let out a disbelieving snort, several of the little brats took it as mockery and flared up in anger.
But when we remained completely unfazed, a few of the adults who appeared to be their attendants finally sensed something was off. They cleared their throats awkwardly and asked if we might perhaps be children of a noble house. The particularly nasty-looking brat among them scoffed.
“No way. If they were nobles, I’d definitely know their faces.”
Hearing him boast that he hadn’t seen us even once at any of the parties held over the past two years, the other brats puffed up with renewed arrogance. I decided that continuing this conversation would only lower my own intelligence, so I shot a meaningful glance at the attendant who was already staring at them with icy eyes.
At my signal, the attendant let out a long, exhausted sigh as if she had been waiting for this moment forever. She stepped forward a few paces, drawing everyone’s attention.
“Everyone, if you bow your heads and apologize right now, we can pretend this never happened.”
She deliberately prodded their pride to ensure they wouldn’t back down, then smirked when she saw their faces twist in fury. Wow, she’s got a worse personality than she looks.
While I was thinking that, the attendant quickly schooled her expression into one of mild discomfort and exhaled again. Then she kindly informed them exactly who we were.
“These two young ladies are the most precious flowers of Marquis Lorelei.”
After repeating her words several times in their heads, the brats and their entourage finally realized who we were. Their faces hardened. The way their attitudes flipped the instant they learned we were the marquis’s daughters—while the people in question stayed quiet and the attendants stepped forward instead—reminded me of a cooking manga. It was almost comical.
“So now…”
The moment the attendant spoke, the group exchanged nervous glances, then immediately scooped up their terrified master and bolted from the scene.
“Wow, that was flawless from start to finish.”
As I marveled at the extras—no, the third-rate villains—who looked like they had been drawn straight out of a report, René puffed out her chest with smug satisfaction, as if she had won some grand victory.
Clicking my tongue at the renewed importance of proper upbringing, I noticed the children who had been beaten struggling to get up. I walked over and helped one of them to their feet.
“O-oh, your clothes will get dirty!”
The child looked troubled, so I glanced down at my already dust-covered outfit. When I saw their faces turn pale at the sight of my clothes, I waved my hand and told them not to worry. Dirty clothes could just be washed.
“Right?”
“Yes, that’s correct, Lady René.”
When I asked for confirmation, the attendant bowed her head in agreement. The children finally breathed sighs of relief.
“Are you hurt anywhere? Does anything ache?”
“N-no…”
“Don’t lie. Tell me the truth.”
“M-my knee hurts…”
After thoroughly checking over the child I had helped up, the attendant and the escort knight moved on to examine the others. Fortunately, there were no serious injuries—just a few scrapes and bruises. We apologized on behalf of the cowards who had fled so disgracefully.
“W-wait, why are you apologizing, Lady René…?”
The attendant looked startled when I bowed my head in apology. I gave her the most plausible answer among several options.
“Because I’m a noble too.”
When I added that someone had to take responsibility and apologize, not only the children but even the attendant and escort knight opened their mouths in admiration. René quickly sidled up beside me. She placed a hand over her chest and proudly declared that she too was a noble, then added that there were far more decent people in the world than the idiots from earlier.
I smiled at her words. Since an apology should never be just empty words, I took out the coin purse I had brought along and gave them several silver coins. It was to cover medicine, laundry, and a nice meal to help them forget the awful experience.
“Th-thank you! Thank you so much!”
They kept bowing repeatedly as they accepted the coins. I waved at them, then we left and headed back to the inn along the crowded street.
“Ouch! Why all of a sudden…?”
When I brought up the earlier incident and told her she had been too reckless, René opened her mouth to protest but fell silent after seeing the attendant and escort knight quietly nodding in agreement. In a small voice, she apologized.
We made a promise that if something like that happened again, she would only act when her safety was guaranteed—or at the very least, when I was with her. Then, a beat later, we asked the attendant and escort knight to keep today’s events secret from our parents.
“That won’t do. We must report today’s events properly so that—”
“Please?”
“Just this once?”
When they tried to refuse, we grabbed their sleeves and begged again, turning on the charm. The cuteness that had once changed even Arlan and Aran’s personalities proved too much. In the end, the two reluctantly agreed to keep our secret.
“René, René. Did you enjoy your outing?”
“Yes. It was really interesting and fun!”
“This is one of the most notable cities in the east, so that makes sense.”
After arriving at the inn, we greeted Mother and chattered away—carefully omitting the part that needed to stay secret—before returning to our room. We took a leisurely bath, then had the attendant help dry our wet hair. As we gazed at the city dyed in the colors of sunset beyond the window, our eyes sparkled with wonder.
“Aran! Not only did you come back late, but you reek of alcohol!”
“Ack! I-I had no idea it was alcohol!”
“You’re even lying now?”
Around the time the sun had set and darkness fell, Aran returned to the inn with a flushed face and the sweet scent of liquor clinging to him. When we saw Mother scolding him fiercely, we quietly agreed that today’s incident must remain a secret no matter what.
“Um… René. Are you asleep?”
That night, in the dark room with the lights out, René called my name.
“Why? Can’t sleep?”
Perhaps because of what had happened earlier, I answered. René turned toward me, blinking eyes the same color as mine, and asked why I had gone so far today.
“What are you talking about?”
When I expressed confusion at her unclear question, she tapped her lips with her index finger and thought for a moment. Then she mentioned how I had bowed my head and apologized to the people I had helped.
She said that after thinking about it again, she realized there hadn’t really been any need for me to apologize from the position of the helper. This time, I took a moment to think of an answer.
“There was a little kid there.”
I simply said what came to mind. I told her that since a child had been subjected to such unfair bullying, it was only right to go that far. No matter the situation, I never wanted children to suffer, and if they did, I wanted to help them shake it off and feel better.
René stared at me intently.
“Then… if there hadn’t been a little kid earlier, you wouldn’t have gone that far?”
“That’s a difficult way to interpret it…”
Faced with her rather serious expression, I smiled bitterly, thought for a moment, and joked that it probably would have been a little different if there hadn’t been a child. Then I suggested we stop here and get some sleep. René insisted we sleep clinging to each other tonight and pulled me into her arms.
“…Looks like I’ll be sleeping on the floor tonight.”
“Hm? What did you say?”
“Nothing. Let’s sleep.”
Recalling René’s violent sleeping habits, I muttered to myself and then played it off. I quietly hoped I wouldn’t get kicked awake by her feet.
“…Huh?”
The next morning, contrary to my worries, I woke up peacefully in the exact same position we had fallen asleep in—still holding each other. I blinked in surprise. After that, whenever we slept together, her notoriously terrible sleeping habits disappeared like magic.
“Miss, if there’s anywhere uncomfortable, please let me know.”
“Yes.”
Now that we had finally found a way for the two of us to sleep comfortably, a few days later we began preparing in earnest for the party—the real reason we had come here. My outfit had a simple design, so it didn’t take long. René, however, took quite a while, and the look on her face made it clear she had decided to copy my style from now on.
“Ugh, how long has it been since I last breathed fresh air…”
A few days ago, Aran had been grounded after coming back drunk and late. He had been stuck in his room the whole time. Now he inhaled the outside air like a prisoner who had just escaped to freedom, then quickly hurried over to us when he noticed Mother’s sharp gaze.
“Ahem. You two really are beautiful.”
“Thank you for the kind words.”
“No, I mean it.”
“Thanks for the sincere compliment, brother.”
When we responded with cold eyes to his obviously empty flattery, Aran cleared his throat awkwardly. He was about to say something when he heard Arlan calling his name and dashed off.
Shaking my head at how his body had grown but his behavior was still that of a child, I turned my gaze toward the carriage that had just been thoroughly cleaned and was now approaching.
“René. If you feel tired on the way, come tell me right away.”
Mother approached me as I watched the final inspection. She spoke her careful request in a gentle voice. I smiled softly to show there was nothing to worry about and nodded. Mother smiled back, hesitated for a moment, then added that she was entrusting René to me.
“Don’t worry. I’ll stay right by her side.”
“Thank you for saying so.”
Mother looked slightly strange at the fact that she was asking the younger sister to look after the older one, but she soon walked toward the carriage that had finished its preparations. Watching her talk with Father, they truly looked like a lovely couple. But for those of us pushed to the background—Arlan, Aran, René, and me—it left a tiny pang of disappointment.
I thought to myself that being a good couple didn’t necessarily mean being good parents. It was the same reason René had turned out that way in the original story. Realizing I was confirming it again like this made me chuckle at how ridiculous the thought was.
“When did my standards get so high?”
I reflected on my previous life, which now seemed so lacking compared to the raised bar I had somehow developed. Then I decided that I could simply fill in the gaps myself. I walked over to René and fixed the hair ornament that had gone slightly crooked.