Rival (3)
Rival (3)
Alice hadn't really expected much.
The word "Elder Brother" Sylvia had used wasn't likely meant with genuine feeling so much as Sylvia simply needing Jaden's strength. Alice didn't know exactly how Sylvia behaved before she used her "ability"... but that didn't mean she couldn't imagine it.
Sylvia had never directly discussed her ability. Alice hadn't pressed her to explain, either. Still, considering what their father had said back then, deducing the nature of that ability wasn't impossible.
What if I could make my mistakes as though they had never happened? Whenever Alice dwelled on that thought, she inevitably arrived at the same conclusion: Do everything you want to do first, then take only the results you wish to keep.
But it still stung.
How could it not?
The person who had been beside Sylvia the longest, or if not the longest then certainly for a very long time, was Alice. It had taken quite a while, but Alice had come to genuinely regard Sylvia as a sister. Admittedly, the assertion that she was the older sister contained a certain measure of stubborn pride.
And hadn't Sylvia, ever since childhood, maintained an amiable attitude only toward Alice? While remaining cold toward their other siblings, she had never hesitated to offer Alice her help.
Older brother.
Yes. Frankly, it stung a little.
Even if that moment could be made to have never happened, it still stung. Whatever the case, right now, Alice was the one who remembered it.
That was why Sylvia's reaction that morning caught Alice rather off guard.
"Sylvia?"
Alice almost never had to wake Sylvia in the morning. Usually, Sylvia rose even earlier than Alice did. It wasn't that Sylvia required less sleep than other people; rather, she seemed to prefer maintaining a regular daily schedule whenever possible.
During the field practicum, Claire, who woke even earlier than that, had been the one to rouse Sylvia.
Alice envied Claire, too. The difficulty of saying "older sister" and hearing "older sister" was as far apart as heaven and earth. Calling someone "older sister" was simply a matter of deciding to do it, but hearing it required the other person to somehow accept it and use the word of their own accord.
If Sylvia said she didn't want to, that would be the end of it.
"......."
At any rate.
In that sense, Sylvia waking up later than Alice meant something had happened to Sylvia. Even if it wasn't anything particularly dangerous, it implied the existence of some minor reason that had forced her to stay up late the night before—something she hadn't been able to cancel with her ability.
Or perhaps Sylvia was simply preparing to return to a point before she had used the words "Elder Brother," and so wasn't paying much attention to trivialities like oversleeping.
Whatever the reason, it was about time for her to get up. Their teacher was waiting, and in Alice's experience, he didn't much care for lazy people. He wouldn't expel them, but the day's training could easily become several times more grueling.
Alice raised her hand and knocked on the door again.
"Sylvia?"
There was no response from inside.
"Coming in?"
When even that request for permission drew no answer, Alice decided to simply open the door and enter.
And what she encountered inside was Sylvia, fully prepared to go out.
Wearing the academy uniform she had donned nearly every day since she began attending, Sylvia sat blank-faced in a chair.
Yes—blank-faced.
By Alice's standards, which were capable of reading Sylvia's expressions, this wasn't a face that could be called expressionless.
"Sylvia?"
Only when Alice approached close and spoke did Sylvia, with a slow blink, open her eyes wider.
"...... Your Imperial Highness."
Not "older sister," not her name, but "Your Imperial Highness." Once again, Alice felt her temper begin to crawl its way up, but she held it firmly in check for the time being. If Sylvia was so unsettled she couldn't even hide her expression, then the situation had to be quite serious.
"Is something the matter?"
"......."
Alice put as much gravity into her voice as she could, but Sylvia only stared vacantly at her for a long moment. Then, abruptly, she raised a hand and wiped it down over her face.
"Is it serious?"
"Well......."
At Alice's question, Sylvia hesitated profoundly.
Watching that, Alice felt her heart drop once again.
*
I had become unable to return to before the moment I called you older sister.
How in the world could I have said something like that?
Especially to someone who was asking with such a serious expression.
Considering the image I usually intended to maintain, I wasn't supposed to be that flustered. I was meant to be a character who always acted cool and beautiful.
Well, sure. I had always known the persona would crumble someday. Yes.
But I hadn't thought it would happen at a time beyond my control.
"...... It's nothing."
I exhaled slowly and composed my expression again. While I had been sitting there in a daze, morning had apparently arrived. I had slept, but not restfully. After enduring a dream three separate times in which Jaden appeared and said, "Now, call me 'Elder Brother' one more time!", each time jolting me awake, even if I had barely slept, any trace of morning drowsiness had been thoroughly banished.
"Really?"
Alice's face remained serious, but she didn't press further.
She had always been like that. As if to say, if I didn't want to talk about it, then I didn't have to.
...... And yet, when it came to the title of "older sister," she had never backed down.
And now I couldn't even cancel it.
I forced down the urge to bury my face in my hands and stomp the floor.
Hah.
Well, fine. This was where things stood. I'd just have to scrape together whatever remained of my character.
"That’s right."
I replied and rose from my seat.
"Let us go to the teacher."
"Ah, yes."
I stood, walked out the door with as much poise as I could muster.
"Ah, um, Sylvia."
Then, from behind me, a voice called me back.
I turned my head—
"Isn't it this way?"
Alice was pointing to the corridor in the opposite direction from the one I was heading toward.
"......."
I stiffly turned my body around and walked back toward where Alice stood.
Alice still wore a serious expression......
But I couldn't tell her it was because I had called her older sister, even if my life depended on it.
Nor could I tell her that, despite checking several times, the checkpoint was still updating in real time, meaning the Masked Woman was still somewhere nearby.
If Alice knew, she would never let such an opportunity slip.
*
"Sis!"
The moment we reached the training grounds, that word, by now nearly traumatic, rang out loud and clear.
For some reason, Claire was waiting at the training grounds.
...... Should I have stuck a nickname on Claire soon?
Something like "Flash" or whatever they called them in those chuunibyou light novels. If I gave her a nickname like that, wouldn't Claire have gotten embarrassed and stopped using that "older sister" address?
But at this stage, the risk was too great.
Knowing Claire's sunny personality...... wouldn't she just have declared it wonderful and made a nickname for me, too?
In that moment, a chill ran down my spine again. The same chill that had run down it several times yesterday.
"Claire."
Claire ran up to the two of us wearing a beaming smile.
"Now that we know the teacher is nearby, Mother obtained permission for me to train here as well."
"Though only on the condition that she returns home in the evenings for bridal training."
Leo, who had followed Claire, said.
"Bridegroom studies?"
When Alice asked what that meant, Leo gave a slight shrug.
"The fact is, we're a baronial house. If we were somewhat higher nobility, there would be a line of suitors willing to marry Claire even if she were a little less feminine. But for a barony, unless they're a house of equal status, it's the other party who scrutinizes our conditions."
Claire shot Leo a look for using Polite Speech, unlike at the academy, but did not contradict him.
"Well, we'll be adults ourselves someday."
"Tch, tch."
At Claire's remark, the Sword Saint clicked his tongue.
"At your age, you still have no sense of yourselves as adults? When I was your age—"
At the Sword Saint Frederick's words, the expressions of the three conversationalists turned subtle. If I hadn't been managing my face with particular care because of yesterday's events, I, too, would have worn that look for a moment.
Though the Sword Saint said that, he had stopped Leo from setting out for the battlefield when war broke out.
"Ahem."
About to launch into a lengthy speech, the Sword Saint took in the three faces, gave that dry cough, and spoke.
"Well, what can you do? Times have changed. Even an old man like me must keep pace."
Having said that, the Sword Saint swept his gaze across us once before continuing.
"Then, we shall now begin the morning training. The meal will come afterward. Understood?"
"Yes!"
Energetic voices resounded through the training grounds.
I discreetly turned my eyes toward the soldiers standing by the door.
Every one of them was watching us with barely concealed envy.
...... Well, yes.
Forbearance enough to quietly refrain from joining the training was, in itself, worthy of praise.