Younger Sister
I should have stopped it.
"The plan's fine, right?"
"Of course. Do you know how long I've been preparing for this day?"
"Good. Let's go as planned."
The moment I overheard that shady conversation, I shouldn't have brushed it off. I should have figured out what it meant.
"Rian, please. You can keep the promise, right?"
"I'm counting on you, Rian. Please."
If I had figured it out, I never would have needed to hear those words.
If I had figured it out, I never would have needed to keep that final promise.
······I never would have needed to keep ······.
"···."
I had a nightmare.
The same nightmare I'd already had several times.
Having nightmares wasn't anything unusual. Right after I transmigrated, every time I closed my eyes I dreamed of them. Back then I practically had to force myself to sleep, so things were better now by comparison.
But what I wanted to know was this.
"······What am I supposed to keep?"
What request had the me inside the nightmare received? What kind of request could make him regret his past actions so deeply that he suffered like that?
"No matter how I listen, it's my own voice."
The self-mocking mutter was unmistakably the voice of Rian Tryce. A voice that regretted failing to stop something. A voice that regretted treating a conversation he'd overheard as nothing important.
"······Rian Tryce, regretting."
From the perspective of someone who knew the original story, it was bizarre. Even if it was only a dream, the idea that the original scoundrel would regret his own actions made no sense. If I hadn't dreamed it myself, I would have dismissed it as pure nonsense.
Because Rian Tryce would never regret anything.
The original Rian Tryce I knew was not the kind of person who ever regretted his actions.
More precisely—he wouldn't have.
"···."
It was an undeniable fact. A fact no one could deny. No—a fact no one even thought to deny. It was something I had felt down to my bones while living as "Rian Tryce" all this time.
And today, the scar on my right wrist felt especially raw.
I slipped out of the dormitory.
The time showing on my Watch was 7:30. Considering that regular classes at the academy started at 8:30, it was early enough that I almost wondered if I'd come out for no good reason.
"······Refreshing."
But for me, this was the most comfortable time to leave. No chance of running into anyone, and I could claim the rearmost seat in the lecture hall.
The early bird catches the worm.
Every time I used that saying, I felt like there wasn't a single old proverb that was wrong. Well, if it had been wrong it would have disappeared long ago. A saying that didn't fit wouldn't keep getting passed down.
A completely meaningless thought.
Whirr—
I reached the lecture hall at 7:40. Only ten minutes after leaving the dorm. Being this close was nice. As expected of an academy designed by professional technicians. Even with my rather slow walking pace, this was all it took. Another moment that reminded me just how well Sacred Academy had been laid out.
"You're early."
"···."
"Elena unnie was right after all."
At the same time, I realized someone was already sitting in the seat I usually took.
Long straight hair dyed pure black. Red eyes that anyone would notice at least once.
"······Aria."
Aria Tryce. The third heroine from the original story, and—
"I told you not to call my name."
"···."
"Do you really think a bastard like you has any right to say my name?"
—the younger sister of the original Rian Tryce. In other words, right now, my younger sister: Aria Tryce.
Honestly, it was absurd.
The fact that someone who hated hearing her name come out of my mouth that badly had come looking for me first thing in the morning was already absurd, but—
"······This is a second-year lecture hall."
—this was a second-year lecture hall that a first-year like Aria had no business entering in the first place.
Since when had academy discipline gotten this lax? How far had it slipped if a first-year could stroll into a second-year classroom without a second thought?
The old-man temperament sleeping inside me stirred awake on its own, but Aria herself clearly didn't care about any of that.
"What does that matter? There's no one here right now anyway."
"······Can't you see me?"
"Exactly. There's no one except you, the person I came to find. So what does it matter?"
"···."
She was so brazen I had nothing left to say. I wasn't the one in the wrong, so why did I feel like I was the one shrinking?
I let out a single sigh at this miserable situation and, deciding to just send her packing quickly, asked Aria,
"Haa. So what business do you have coming to find me?"
"What business?"
"Yeah. You hate me that much. You must have a reason for forcing down your disgust just to come see me."
"······Ah, right. I forgot for a second."
It was so frustrating I could lose my mind. I was the one who felt more uncomfortable with the person standing in front of me, yet the one who'd brought it up out loud was acting like this.
Ah. My head hurt.
As I clutched my head against the sudden headache, Aria finally began stating the reason she'd come.
"Fine. I don't want to talk with you any longer than I have to either, so I'll just say why I'm here."
"······Okay."
"Did you go to the hospital yesterday?"
She said she'd get to the point, then immediately started grilling me about the fact that I'd gone to the hospital the day before.
Hmm. Why were so many people suddenly interested in my private life since yesterday?
I had no idea why Aria wanted to know about my hospital visit, but I also had no particular reason to hide that I'd gone.
"Yeah, I went."
I answered without thinking much of it. The moment she heard me, Aria's face twisted into a frown.
"Why did you go? Are you sick somewhere?"
"I went because I was sick, yeah. If I wasn't, I wouldn't have gone to the hospital."
"So. Where does it hurt that you had to go to the hospital?"
Aria kept firing questions as if she had zero intention of letting this end easily. Watching her, a purely honest question rose up inside me.
"······Why are you even curious about that?"
Why did she want to know? Why was this girl who looked unpleasantly identical to me so interested in this?
"······Huh?"
As if she hadn't expected to be questioned in return, Aria looked noticeably flustered.
"No, I'm just curious. Why you're asking me this."
"I just—Elena unnie······."
"I already know. Elena told you I went to the hospital."
That much was obvious. No matter how popular Aria was among the first-years, she couldn't possibly be that quick on second-year news. She'd heard it from the girl she'd been like sisters with since childhood—saying it out loud would only tire my mouth. Just a moment ago she'd even mentioned that Elena had told her I usually came to the lecture hall early. Knowing all that and still failing to notice would only be the problem of the person who failed to notice.
"What I want to know is this. What's your intention in asking me?"
"···."
"You must have some reason for asking. Honestly, our relationship is worse than complete strangers."
Honestly, I found the entire situation hard to understand. From the start, the other person was Aria. The one who hated her name coming from my mouth more than anything, the one who called me "you" instead of "Oppa," was Aria. The person who hated Sacred's scoundrel more than anyone else was Aria.
Someone who hated me that much. Someone who might jump out of her skin if our hands so much as brushed. Why was she making this kind of scene first thing in the morning?
"I—I······."
Aria couldn't answer. Her voice was gradually turning tearful, the kind of tone that sounded ready to break into sobs at any second.
"······Fine. I went to the hospital because of my wrist. Nothing serious. They said resting will make it better."
"···."
"Satisfied now? Then go."
Whether it was because I'd told her to leave, or because I'd finally given her the reason I'd gone to the hospital, Aria stood up at once, walked past me, and left the lecture hall.
"···."
I felt like I'd become a truly terrible person. The feeling of becoming the kind of awful older brother who made his little sister cry with cruel words.
In truth, I already knew to some degree. Aria had simply heard from Elena that I'd skipped class and gone to the hospital, and she'd come because she was worried. Because Aria Tryce was that kind of person. A kind-hearted person who, even when she hated someone, still worried about them.
Yes. That was the kind of person she was.
If Rian Tryce was an unchanging scoundrel, then Aria Tryce was an angel who was kind and gentle to everyone.
But even knowing that, the end result was that I had made Aria cry and sent her away.
"······Haa."
I couldn't even guess the reason myself. Even though it was something I had done, I couldn't guess why. It just felt like that was how it had to be. It felt like Rian Tryce and Aria Tryce had to keep having a bad relationship.
I didn't know the reason. And honestly, I wasn't all that curious either.
"······Nothing changes."
Even if my relationship with Aria improved now, nothing would change.
That single thought simply kept circling inside my head.