Sister, Don’t Marry That Guy – Chapter 38

Chapter 38

“I know that the Young Master’s orders are more important than anything, but I apologize in advance for not being able to follow them.”

“What?”

“I am currently the Young Lady’s temporary guard, and my priority is the Young Lady’s safety. Naturally, unless the Young Lady orders otherwise, it is my duty to stay by her side.”

“……Huh? Hey, good-for-nothing. Since when did you start dragging around such a cumbersome guy?”

“Don’t say that.”

“What?”

I frowned and then pouted.

“I don’t know why Older Brother is telling me what to do, but as you heard, Rainante is my knight. You shouldn’t talk like that to a capable knight. Don’t you know that it’s Older Brother, not Rainante, who I want to leave here?”

“Are you now…….”

“Or did Older Brother come here to show off because you gave me an access pass? Like Roman and Caron? That’s what they’re best at. This.”

“What are you talking about.”

I smiled with my lips still pouted. I didn’t know why he was pretending not to know.

“They call me a moron, and yet they boast the most about what I don’t have? I won’t stop you if you want to act the same way… but are you trying to become like them?”

“Who! More importantly, what about those guys?”

“That’s not important, is it? Okay, then why did you come?”

This time, Stefan frowned deeply and ruffled his own hair.

He looked a bit like a madman. He really did seem strange today.

Come to think of it, he was dressed very smartly? Usually, the second one was always in training clothes.

Hmm, today is the day of the banquet, isn’t it?

“Ah, okay. I understand. To be honest, I have something to say to you. I wish we could be alone…….”

When Stefan finally spoke quite seriously, I was at a loss for words.

Putting aside what he wanted to say, the expression he was making at me was very strange.

His usual brazen expression was nowhere to be seen, and he looked like a defeated soldier.

I wrinkled my nose and turned my head.

“Sir Rainante, you may go to my room first.”

“But, Young Lady…….”

“It’s okay. That’s an order.”

Rainante shut his mouth tightly.

I thought that was the end of it, but he knelt down next to me and whispered very softly.

“If anything happens, please shout.”

“……What are you talking about? How would you hear that in my room?”

“I will hear the Young Lady’s voice.”

“…….”

“Definitely.”

His expression was so serious that I couldn’t say anything.

It was as if he would really come running if anything happened to me.

I felt a strange fluttering in my heart.

He soon saluted me with a precise posture. I watched his retreating figure before turning my head.

『Master, protection. This guardian’s duty!』

No sooner had Rainante disappeared than Ice stuck to my cheek.

It was enough to quickly fill the void I felt when Rainante disappeared, even if only for a moment.

I smiled inwardly and gently touched Ice. He’s so cute!

‘By the way…….’

As far as I know, Stefan was also a Blackwinter who was never second to anyone, and a swordsman with great talent, which means…….

“Hey, what did that guy just say? What? Shout?”

Of course, that means he could hear even a sound like this if he paid attention.

There’s no way Rainante wouldn’t know this…….

I shrugged.

“Don’t get angry. Maybe it’s because he saw you getting annoyed last time.”

“Annoyed? When did I ever show anything like that!”

“You’re doing it now. Older Brother, well, you don’t know? To a young girl like me…….”

I tapped my chin and then walked over to Stefan with a toddle.

When I approached him, Stefan paused for a moment. Looking up at him, I realized how big he was.

“When someone even a little bigger than me like Older Brother gets angry, it feels scary. It’s like a huge shadow is covering me.”

“…….”

“But it seems like people don’t really know that.”

Stefan awkwardly lowered his hand and took a half-step back.

“I, I’ve never been angry…….”

“Never raised your voice? Never frowned? Never called me by a disrespectful name instead of my own?”

“…….”

“Older Brother, people call that being angry.”

An expression I had never seen before appeared on Stefan’s face.

It was quite a complex expression that was difficult for me to interpret.

Well, I wasn’t particularly interested in what this second one was thinking.

Still, I was curious about why he had come to see me and what he wanted to say.

Above all, I had wanted to go see him at least once…….

‘But I didn’t expect him to come to me on his own like this.’

So, what is it that you want, you grumpy second older brother?

“You wouldn’t want to look at me for long either, so say what you want to say quickly. It just so happens that no one comes here at this time.”

“Want to look at you for long, hey, why do you act like you know all my thoughts since a while ago?”

“Am I wrong?”

“Not all of it is right!”

Stefan huffed and then avoided my gaze when our eyes met.

“To be honest, I don’t really know why I came to find you either. I just thought I had to go!”

“Suddenly? Why?”

“I don’t know!”

“That’s strange. You’ve never come to find me before… Was there something that suddenly made you come to me? Especially today?”

“That’s…….”

Stefan hesitated and then looked like he was about to cry.

A crying face? I didn’t know that this prickly and willful guy could make a crying face?

I looked at the second one with a little bit of curiosity.

Stefan was an older brother who always spoke to me with a twisted tongue.

Even before I remembered my past life, it was the same. Roman and Caron were the ones who tormented me the most, but I wasn’t unaffected by the twisted words of this second older brother who would occasionally appear.

Of course, the previous me had wanted to get close to this second older brother as well.

No, there was a time when I desperately wanted to get close to all my family members.

That was before I remembered my past life.

“Today…… Yeah, something happened. It’s embarrassing to talk about. Anyway! Can’t I just say this?”

Stefan finally raised his head and stared at me.

“I just, for some reason, you were especially on my mind today.”

“…….”

What a ridiculous lie. I blinked my eyes wide.

“……That’s strange. You’ve been calling me ‘good-for-nothing’ all this time?”

“Th, that’s!”

“You genuinely thought of me that way, didn’t you? You didn’t know or think about how I felt or what I thought about those words…….”

To be honest, I was briefly angered.

I could have gotten angry and said, ‘What kind of nonsense are you spouting now, you second one, after making fun of me all this time?’ but…….

That was when I hadn’t remembered my past life.

I quickly changed my mind.

If he came to see me for a reason he couldn’t even talk about, then what does it matter?

In fact, what he said wasn’t wrong either.

I am a real good-for-nothing in this family anyway. I don’t get hurt by it now.

But I’m a magician now! I even inherited ancient powers!

‘I even have a wonderful guardian!’

『The guardian shows off his chest!』

As if waiting for it, Ice fluttered up and puffed out his chest proudly.

Wow, even a snowman can puff out his chest.

It looked like a sparrow puffing out its feathers, so I barely managed to hold back my laughter.

Anyway, it was rather a good thing that Stefan came to see me like this. I don’t know what kind of change of heart he had…….

“Okay, I understand. You’re saying you came because you were worried about me for a reason you can’t tell me? I’ll believe you.”

“You, you’re acting like you’re doing me a favor….!”

“It just so happens that I wanted to go see you too.”

“What? You wanted to see me?”

“What’s with that expression? Am I not allowed to go see you?”

“You’re not interested in me, are you?”

“That’s true.”

“…….”

Why is he making such a gloomy face again? It doesn’t suit him.

That’s an expression that suits our third black puppy.

I frowned slightly and then opened my mouth again.

“This might sound a bit strange, but will you listen to me, Older Brother? But if you listen, you have to listen to the end.”

“Go ahead.”

Huh, he didn’t even hesitate. Good.

Let’s cooperate with him.

“What, did you say? It might be really strange. Older Brother, would you like to do a plan with me?”

“……A plan?”

The plan to secretly infiltrate Grandfather Cronos Blackwinter’s room required consideration of what would happen if we were caught.

‘And if we were caught, the best-case scenario would be for it to end as a happening where ‘grandchildren who were too curious about their grandfather secretly sneaked in’.’

To do that, we needed someone who was trusted to some extent by the vassals, the Acting Head of Family, and our father, but was also young.

In reality, the situation narrowed down to either Kyle or this guy.

Kyle would never do anything reckless, so this guy is the right choice.

The problem was how to persuade him, but no matter how much I thought about it, I didn’t know.

“What kind of plan?”

“A plan where I need you.”

What I chose was a direct approach. I had to try it first, and if it didn’t work, I would have to think of another way…….

“……You need me?”

When I raised my head, the second one strangely had expectant eyes, which made me flinch.

“Yes. It has to be you.”

“Really me? ……Not Older Brother?”

“Why is First Older Brother coming out here?”

Just thinking about that guy made me feel unpleasant, so I frowned.

Then, he rolled his eyes and glanced at me.

“No, it’s just that…… Everyone says they only need Older Brother…….”

When I saw his head lowered, I unknowingly opened my mouth.

“I’m a useless guy…… So, just…….”

Huh, what is this now.

‘This guy’s condition is serious too.’

The night I infiltrated Father’s study for Roy, the image of this guy came to mind.

“D*mn it! I can’t find it, where is it!”

He was angry and vented his rage, and in the end, he was about to cry.

“……If I had that, Father would look at me, not just Older Brother, even once…….”

It was the first time I thought that I might be able to have a conversation with this guy.

I had made up my mind to target him someday.

I didn’t know that his mental illness was this serious.