Episode 1: The Bad Girl Will Become a Saint (1)
At the Western Academy, Amelia Darcy is, of course, known as the Saintess. The daughter of a duke. Her beauty and superior grades, plus her kind nature toward everyone. Showcasing her superiority in every way, Amelia had not caused a single stir since her enrollment. Just walking through the courtyard was enough to draw the attention of most of the male students.
“……It really wasn’t just a title.”
My longtime friend leaned against the window, suddenly sighing in admiration, then turned to me reading beside him.
“Luke, is that your sister?”
“Yeah, she is.”
“Wow, I’m so jealous. I’d love a sister like that angel too. She’s the pride of Western.”
Those words had been the same for days now. The true ignorance of a third party was the perfect setup for misunderstanding.
I turned my gaze and gave Amelia a quick glance from afar.
“……Well, maybe.”
The moment she noticed my eyes, Amelia’s expression changed. She smiled sweetly, waving her hand lightly toward me. How had she spotted me behind the curtain?
“Ah, I saw you. Right here, right?”
“Probably.”
My friend looked overjoyed, but I felt a chill run down my spine. Everyone wears a mask, and even the Saintess is no exception. It wasn’t different; I knew Amelia’s true self all too well. ……As the only older brother. And as a complete player who had seen every ending of the otome game Witches’ Sabbath.
Originally, in Witches’ Sabbath, Amelia had been the farthest thing from a Saintess. In fact, she was the opposite. [A girl will love beyond trials!] Within that slogan of youthful colors, Amelia had been the one who carried the burden of “trials,” not love or youth.
Because she was the main villain who brought endless suffering to the protagonist.
—Hey, you commoner, watch your attitude.
[Amelia has issued you a warning. As a result, you cannot participate in the main event ‘Ballroom Dance’.]
She even blocked the only main event once.
—Ah, I didn’t give that warning, though?
[Amelia has spilled a curse about you. Your reputation within the academy plummeted.]
She could even reverse all the stats she had painstakingly built.
—Will you try this cookie?
[Amelia has poisoned the cookie with needles. What will you do?]
Whatever it was that made her hate him so much, Amelia would meddle in the protagonist’s every action. She was a character who faithfully played the villain role.
After playing at my friend’s insistent urging, I ended up with a bitter smile.
“This is way too blatant, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, but that’s exactly why it hits the spot. If you play it too subtly, it loses the villain feel. These days, the trend is for cool, clear-cut villains.”
“……Is that so?”
When I heard it, it didn’t sound wrong at all. In fact, almost no users protested even when Amelia met her miserable end. They simply nodded and said she had gotten what she deserved. Except for a small group of fans obsessed with looks, of course.
‘This ending is a waste.’
I clicked my tongue after seeing countless endings. No matter how much betrayal or massacre, as long as they could proudly shout “I’m beautiful!” in the end, they could survive in today’s subculture market. Even a criminal record would be seen as a badge of honor for the legitimate wife.
But what about the Amelia on the screen?
[Yes, that’s right! When I killed my big brother back then, I did it! How do you like my magic that killed my big brother?]
The developers clearly had no intention of washing Amelia’s sins.
Every episode, Amelia would resurrect as a saint, leaving the moral of doing good and punishing evil.
[The protagonist ‘Eliza’ joined forces with everyone and stopped Amelia the witch from becoming. Peace has come to the Western Academy.]
[Normal Ending 6 ‘Dancing with Flames’]
“Amelia, it’s you again?”
This was supposedly the nth Amelia death route. The methods of death were varied too. I clicked my tongue briefly while staring at the CG of Amelia hanging on the stake.
“Hmph, maybe it’s because her heart is small……”
Outside of that, it was hard to find flaws in Amelia compared to the protagonist. Of course, she had one major character flaw, but did we really need to apply realistic standards to a mere fictional character? What mattered was simply whether it was “cool” or not.
[Would you like to restart?]
[YES / NO]
I muttered with regret while staring at the now pitch-black game screen.
“Can’t be helped. In the next life, please be born with a protagonist that I’ll like.”
……That was back when I didn’t think Amelia’s ruin was anything special.
‘Is this real?’
No warning signs. One morning I woke up and found myself as Amelia’s older brother, Luke Darcy. Even before the original story began—in the body of a young boy.
‘Why?’
No matter how much I thought, I couldn’t figure it out. ‘I wasn’t run over by a truck or spammed with hate comments in a review—why?’
Even as a modern person familiar with the concept of reincarnation, it took me three days to accept reality. With no status window or special perks, the frustration ran even deeper. ‘Is it because this character doesn’t appear in the original?’
I spent night and day pondering, but all I could do was guess. The more I tried to stay calm, the more the futures I had already observed made my spine shiver.
[Yes, that’s right! When I killed my big brother back then, I did it! I killed my big brother!]
“……I’m sure she said that.”
Luke Darcy was a character who didn’t even appear in the main story. It was because young Amelia had assassinated him out of resentment. From the in-story mentions, she had looked down on him greatly. No matter how you looked at it, this was a terrible sister who killed her only older brother. ‘What should I do about that kid?’
For a while, I was troubled over what to do with Amelia. Fortunately, the conclusion was simple. ‘I should just play the good older brother.’
With my sister Amelia, I would treat her well. I would stop her corruption and twist the world line where Luke would be killed. Furthermore, I would remove the bad ending flags of Witches’ Sabbath in advance. Since this dangerous life had become reality, I had to raise the probability of survival however I could.
I carried that ruthless black heart and visited young Amelia. And the scene I saw was truly heartbreaking. ……You are Amelia, right?
Amelia’s living quarters were hard to call a room. It was closer to the center of abuse than a noble family’s side building. No, in the middle of winter, this freezing garbage attic. My university share house had been better than this at least.
Creak—creak—
As I stepped on the old boards I hadn’t meant to and snapped them, a meek little guy curled up in fear looked up at my face.
—Who are you?
Young Amelia at the time of my reincarnation still didn’t know me well. It was because she had been raised separately as a bastard because of her stepmother status. It was for the best, really.
—Isn’t it boring there? Want to play with me?
On the line of possibility, I began offering Amelia kindness. I visited every day to greet her, gave her gifts, took her outside to see the world, and never withheld praise or encouragement. But,
I’m scared outside.
Amelia didn’t change easily. Every time I approached, she grew more distant. It was due to the many wounds accumulated from long discrimination. Seeing her pitiful state, I thought a lot.
Yeah, she didn’t do anything wrong. Since I was going to be nice, I should be properly nice.
From the day I made that firm decision, I never gave up on outwardly presenting Amelia as a Darcy. I always tried to forgive even her flaws. I always tried to understand even her mistakes. —Amel, you said your mom passed away, right?
—……Yes, I don’t remember well, but I heard I went to heaven when I was little.
One day, I proudly extended my fist and made a promise that warmed my chest. —Really? Then from now on, I’ll be your uncle. —Uncle…? Older brother is a man, though.
—You lack gender consciousness. That’s what it means. No matter what happens, I’ll support you like a family. —Older brother……?
What started as selfish good deeds had slowly turned into compassion and affection. Sensing my feelings, Amelia sometimes gave me a faint smile. It was around the time ten years had passed. ……The next duke is you, Luke.
I had been given the power to change someone’s fate. When my father passed away from illness, I was appointed as the next duke. After the funeral, all eyes turned to me. But I didn’t rashly wield power. Using my young age as an excuse, I delegated all major family matters to the elders. It was a tactic to avoid making enemies as much as possible. Thanks to that, the gazes that once warned me of me had become gentler, and I based the accumulated support to propose one thing.
To make Amelia the legitimate daughter of the Darcy family. Of course, the elders were surprised and asked.
—Luke, is that serious?
—That girl has tainted blood mixed in.
—This is a decision against the lineage.
Some opposed, but I stubbornly persuaded them. I poured out how Amelia was a fitting member of the Darcy family. In the end, the elders reluctantly agreed to my wishes. Only one person had not agreed until the end. That was Amelia herself. One day, Amelia questioned me as if she couldn’t understand.
—Why are you doing this so much, older brother?
I said it was because I was her older brother. —Do you like me, older brother?
I said it was because we were family. —……You really are a hopeless man.
I got it. I’ll try, Amelia. I said I would always support her. I don’t know if it was the right action. But from that day, Amelia changed dramatically. She stopped being the cold villainess and began living as the Saintess of the Darcy family. Compared to the original story, it was a dazzling development. I felt the bad ending flags had been cut. Peaceful days followed. But looking back, there was something that always bothered me in a corner of my heart. —You always have to support me? That pure white smile Amelia had shown that day we made our promises. It was too white to be clean and pure. And over it, a fleeting number. [1]
What did that number mean?
“What are you thinking about, older brother?”
“……Ah.”
An familiar voice pulled me from my thoughts. I looked up. The feast spread over the table. Beyond it sat a woman with long black hair.
—Do you not have an appetite?
Amelia tilted her head and looked at me. Her eyes were deep as if looking into my soul. I continued cutting my knife and smiled faintly. “Just old memories.”
—Old memories? When?
“Well, whenever it was.”
I evaded it vaguely. Amelia pouted like a hurt child. “We’re eating together for the first time in a while, but you keep thinking about other things. When I ask, you just dodge. It’s improper in many ways, you know?”
“……Sorry.”
First time in a while? A few days at most. A cramped excuse rose to my throat but I swallowed it. Instead, I quietly focused on eating. Amelia continued with dissatisfaction. “And why didn’t you greet me earlier?”
You’re really observant. It must have been about the thing that happened that afternoon. I calmly denied it. “Oh, was I? I don’t remember well.”
“I definitely made eye contact with you in the afternoon. You’re not avoiding me, are you?”
“I thought I greeted Lexon. Now that I think about it, Lexon was really happy about it.”
It was a string of insincere answers. It was embarrassing to explain the real reason. He had no idea how tiring it was to have a Saintess wearing a mask as his sister. Amelia had a mocking smile on her lips. “Lexon? Ah, that flamboyant guy?”
Her tone was sharp like a needle. A fleeting hint of superiority flickered in her ruby eyes. This was the real Amelia that others didn’t know. I cleared my throat and changed the mood. “She’s a bit light, but she’s a good person. Don’t say anything bad about her.”
“Ah, sorry. My words were a little careless.”
An apology without a drop of sincerity. It was the kind of act she often showed. Amelia kept flirting, then suddenly asked. “Aren’t you going to give me a snack today?”
The moment my fork stopped moving. “Snack?”
“You’ve been good today too.”
It was a story we had already had many times. I drew a firm line. “Amelia, you’re already an adult who has come of age. There’s no such thing as that anymore.”
As if an odd habit had taken root, Amelia still demanded her childish tantrums from when she was little. It was ridiculous. Yet the girl looked at me with a feigned upset expression. “Then maybe I’ll go back to the bad times.”
“You’ve already turned it into blackmail, so it’s not bad.”
“Hmm, you’re strict. Okay. Then……”
Amelia picked up a grape from her plate and slid it toward me. “Here, ah—
I frowned, staring at the grape that had reached my lips. “What are you doing?”
“Why, isn’t this fine?”
“I don’t know what’s fine.”
“If we’re close siblings, we could feed each other. You don’t want even this?”
“……”
Amelia’s eyes narrowed. If I refused, she might find some other excuse. I let out a short sigh and opened my mouth. With a slurp, the grape went into my mouth. Without time to taste it, I roughly swallowed. Amelia clapped her hands with a satisfied expression. “Tasty, right? Now it’s your turn, older brother.”
“Stop being so manly about it.”
“You always fed me when I was little. Don’t tell me you’re only eating it yourself and wiping your mouth.”
She had been like this from start to finish. Amelia had a stubborn side once she made a request. In the end, I couldn’t endure her gaze any longer and picked up the grape. “Just this once.”
“Yes.”
Amelia leaned forward and opened her small mouth like a baby bird. I brought the grape to her lips as if I had done it just now. The moment my fingertip touched hers, a tingling sensation spread. The lukewarm moisture seeped into the creases of my fingerprint. Amelia had bitten my index finger, not the grape. Startled, I quickly pulled my hand back. Amelia looked at me with an innocent expression. “Hehe, it’s delicious.”
“……Hey, you.”
What kind of prank is this? I glared at Amelia as if scolding her. These days, I couldn’t read her inner thoughts at all. I didn’t know what that clinging gaze wanted. Yet when I saw her smiling with satisfaction, I unknowingly harbored two feelings that a brother should never feel toward his sister. “Is this also a bad thing? Older brother?” Fear and beauty.