It had been a long time since I had sat beside Liya on the bed.
To be honest, it was giving me a headache.
I had already been troubled by the notion of abandoning the territory, and now out of nowhere, Liya was sniffling, leaving me at a loss.
As an older brother, I couldn’t just ignore my younger sister’s distress.
Of course, there were other things weighing on my mind.
Up until now, I had been too overwhelmed to remember, but the dark priest Miltram was taking on an appearance strikingly similar to Liya’s.
It was a body he had referred to as a “replica.”
Naturally, it couldn’t be her true self, but doubts started to creep in.
Miltram said that extensive research was required to replicate a human body.
It was impossible for the dark priest to study Liya, who stayed at Percus Manor all day.
Of course, it was merely a one-sided statement. It was not entirely trustworthy.
Yet, for some reason, I felt a vague sense of unease.
Wasn’t there something similar mentioned in the love letter from the future?
That the Percus Family harbored a secret?
However, this was not a problem that could be solved by pondering it right now.
If there was indeed a secret within the family, there must have been a reason for not revealing it to me. And if it had not been disclosed to me, there was a high possibility that they had also kept it from Liya.
This meant that probing Liya would only create confusion.
Before anything else, I needed to comfort Liya.
I asked in a voice mixed with a sigh.
“Liya, what do you mean… Why would I hate you?”
“But, brother…”
Liya hesitated, unable to speak freely.
It looked like a personality from the future had done something once again.
Usually, she would be clinging to me and acting cute, but now she was keeping her distance, which made it clear that she was afraid of me.
The fact that my younger sister was using polite speech, which she had never done before, was also suspicious.
It was one of the pieces of evidence that added to my reasoning.
“And why are you using honorifics all of a sudden?”
“Th-That’s also because of you, brother…”
“You don’t have to.”
Liya flinched and trembled as she looked at me with teary eyes.
I forced a bitter smile and reached out my hand over her head.
Though there was some distance, it wasn’t enough to prevent me from petting her hair.
My hand gently covered the top of Liya’s head.
“You are my younger sister.”
“O-Oh, brother…”
Tears began to well up in Liya’s golden eyes.
It seemed she finally understood my sincerity.
To abandon such a cute younger sister who loved her brother so much, the “me” from the future was undoubtedly a scoundrel.
As I softly patted Liya’s head, she burrowed closer to me, trembling with emotion.
With a thud, the maiden’s body nestled into my embrace.
A fragrant scent suddenly brushed against my nose.
It was the unique fragrance of femininity. Looking at it this way, it seemed Liya was indeed a woman.
Her body seemed to have matured in its curves as well.
Holding feelings I should never harbor towards my sister deep within my heart, I continued to comfort Liya.
“How could I hate you, Liya… Have I ever been harsh to you even once?”
“N-No, but… yesterday, you… Waaaah…”
She burst into tears, evidently still shaken by the shock from the previous day.
It was understandable.
We had gotten along without any unkind words throughout our lives.
I was the only family member who had played with and cared for Liya when our parents and brother were busy.
Though I sometimes lost my temper, I had never coldly treated her.
I had to be her ally and support.
Thus, it was a shock for me to have treated Liya coldly for the first time.
It wasn’t strange for her to cling to me, forgetting her pride.
Even now, she was carefully glancing at me, and if I seemed upset, she would likely kneel again.
She had been particularly clingy to me since childhood.
During that time, she must have thought I would always take her side, even if she acted a bit disrespectful. But now, realizing that she could indeed be disliked. She must have been terrified.
Whether to consider this fortunate or unfortunate was debatable.
For now, it was a relief that I could put a brake on Liya, who was increasingly unable to distinguish between personal feelings and reality.
If it were me, I would never have shown Liya such a cold attitude.
However, on the other hand, I felt uneasy, wondering if I had unnecessarily instilled anxiety in her.
Perhaps it could lead to her clinging to me even more.
But at this moment, my priority was to soothe the crying Liya.
I firmly swore to her.
“Don’t worry, Liya. No matter what happens, I will never abandon you.”
It was a promise that contained not a shred of pretense.
I was already seeking out alcohol, unable to bear the thought of abandoning my territory.
If I heard the suggestion to abandon Liya as well, I could not predict what I might do.
In response to my strong promise, Liya brought up a memory from quite some time ago.
“…Because you are a knight?”
As I hadn’t officially been knighted yet, I wasn’t a knight.
Of course, any Academy graduate could be knighted if they wished. So it was customary to use the title “Sir” as a token of respect, but that was only in formal settings.
There was no need for Liya to mention the word “knight” to me.
If she did, it must have been solely due to childhood memories.
A wry smile appeared on my lips.
“When was that?”
“It wasn’t that long ago; I still remember it…”
Liya’s defeated tone conveyed her frustration.
I chuckled and patted her head.
During the time when I was striving to enter the Academy, I had taken it for granted that I would become a knight.
Back then, I was neither particularly talented nor did I have any remarkable background.
The only thing I could do was swing around a sword.
Then, unexpectedly, a little sister had appeared, and I had pretended to be a knight to win her favor.
At that moment, I thought it was just a childish boast.
But upon returning to my hometown, it seemed that the influence from that time still lingered.
Not only Liya, but even Ned continued to follow me around, calling me “Master, Master.”
Ned admired knights after all.
His desire to protect his sister mirrored my own.
As I floated through my memories of the past, I quickly had to snap back to reality.
It was thanks to the muttering from my younger sister.
Still with a voice that was wet from tears, Liya said,
“To me, that memory is incredibly precious… At that time, you treated me like a princess.”
“Did you miss those princess days that much? Should I call you princess even now?”
As I teased her, Liya shot me a glare.
It seemed her old temperament was returning bit by bit.
She tried to raise her voice to hide her embarrassment.
“Stop teasing me…!”
But she was startled and ended up hiccupping instead.
Cautiously glancing at me again, Liya eventually trailed off.
“Please… don’t say that, brother…”
The gentle side of my younger sister was quite adorable.
It was obvious she would soon revert to her original personality. So I decided to keep a mental note of this version of Liya.
I burst into laughter as I tousled her hair.
Though Liya grimaced slightly, she didn’t reject my touch.
“Whether you want to be a princess or not, you’re my younger sister, so don’t worry.”
“Who would want to be a princess…?”
Liya pouted slightly and mumbled.
“…It’s because you’re a knight that I want that.”
“Then I should rethink my future. I don’t even know what I will become later.”
With that, I gave her head one last light tap.
She was truly my little sister, not some dark priest.
That sense of security was on a different level.
Honestly, the image of Miltram trying to stab me with a knife and going crazy had given me chills, but now I felt a bit calmer.
Still, the unease in my heart remained, and I thought I might need a drink.
As Liya seemed to be calming down, I intended to issue a calming command.
That is, until Liya’s next words stopped me.
“…But thank you, if it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have been able to endure it.”
As I tried to detach Liya from my embrace, I hesitated at her words.
The emotion behind those words was different in density.
It indicated that Liya genuinely felt that way.
I deliberately maintained a casual demeanor while comforting her.
“What are you talking about? You’re family… Even if it weren’t me, your brother or parents would have taken good care of you.”
“No, that’s not it.”
However, there was a strange conviction in Liya’s denial.
It was as if she believed that if I hadn’t been there, no one would have cared for her.
My puzzled gaze slipped over to Liya.
She wore a somewhat lonely expression.
Looking back, it had always been like that.
Liya kept her distance from every other family member except me.
While we had a friendly relationship, it was one characterized by using honorifics and respectful language. Liya only spoke informally with me.
I had always thought this was because of childhood memories.
Accounted for her return to the estate when she was ten after being treated for an illness.
Everyone must have seemed unfamiliar, and among them, I was the only one who had cared for her, likely making her warmer towards me.
But what if that wasn’t the case?
What if I was the only one who cared for Liya, and because of that, I ended up being the one to look after her? What conclusion could I reach then?
For a fleeting moment, Miltram’s deep voice echoed in my ears.
“Fate.”
“Brother, actually…”
It came as a moist whisper, like a flower petal kissed by dew.
I found myself momentarily dizzy from that sweet scent.
“…I have no memory before coming to the manor.”
All I could do was tighten my embrace around Liya without a word.
My mind went blank.
