Chapter 155
I still remember the day Father brought home a new member of the family.
"This is Cyril. He'll be part of this family from today on. Treat him well, Claudia."
The boy, his silver hair tied back, held out a hand to Claudia, his face tense with nerves.
He seemed like a thoroughly serious boy.
His brand-new clothes must have been given to him by Father before he arrived at the house. They suited him, but he didn't seem used to wearing them.
When Claudia didn't say anything, Cyril's expression gradually clouded with anxiety. As if to hide it, he puffed out his chest and put on a stiff expression.
Claudia stared intently at the crown of the boy's head and murmured,
"I thought I was getting an older brother, but... I guess you meant a younger one."
At the time, Claudia was still taller than him.
In retrospect, perhaps that remark was what made her older brother so eager to compete with her.
＊ ＊ ＊
Asked what she thought of her older brother, Claudia's honest answer at the time would have been, "Nothing in particular."
Claudia disliked having other people rely on her.
In that sense, she certainly didn't dislike Cyril.
Cyril always tried to act like an older brother around Claudia, so he generally didn't rely on her for anything.
The problem was that this older brother wanted to compete with Claudia at every opportunity.
He seemed to believe that if Claudia could do something and he couldn't, then he was unfit to be the heir.
So Cyril was always using Claudia as his yardstick, competing with her, overdoing it, and collapsing. It was ridiculous.
And yet, despite constantly wanting to compete with her, Cyril strangely never resented or envied Claudia.
He always tried to act like an older brother, earnestly saying things like, "Is anything troubling you?" or "If anything happens, rely on me."
There was a time when Cyril failed at horseback riding practice and came home covered in scrapes, with a sprained ankle.
Despite being on the verge of tears and dragging his foot, the moment he saw Claudia, he puffed out his chest as if nothing had happened, put on his dignified older-brother face, said, "I'm back," and strode quickly to his room.
No matter what, he seemed to want to be a fine older brother in front of his little sister.
(What a troublesome person.)
Honestly, she couldn't count how many times she'd thought that.
＊ ＊ ＊
Not long after Cyril transferred to Serendia Academy, he unusually invited Claudia to the tea room. Apparently, he had something to discuss.
She could more or less guess what it was about.
Claudia had seen Cyril talking with Neil, her fiancé, from a distance.
"I met your fiancé."
Claudia silently waited for what would come next.
—Neil Clay Maywood. A baron's family was no match for hers in status. He was an unremarkable, ordinary person with nothing particularly notable about him. A plain-looking, short, unimpressive boy. What could she possibly see in him?
...Those were all things she'd heard countless times before.
But Cyril merely reported that he'd met Neil, then sipped his tea as if that was all he had to say.
"...Anything else?"
"Hm?"
"Don't you have anything to say?"
Cyril furrowed his brow as if thinking for a moment, returned his teacup to its saucer, and spoke.
"We didn't speak for very long, but... I thought he was honest and trustworthy."
"...That's all?"
Cyril snorted and puffed out his chest, putting on the dignified older-brother face he often wore in front of Claudia.
"Of course, I made sure to greet him in a manner befitting your older brother. I told him to take good care of my little sister, but... was there something wrong with that?"
"...You called me here just to tell me that?"
At Claudia's words, Cyril pursed his lips in a sulk.
"I greeted my future brother-in-law. Naturally, I should report that to you."
Cyril still looked sulky. He was shorter than Claudia, bad at riding horses, and a troublesome person who overdid things and often collapsed. And yet, somehow, he looked more like an older brother than ever before.
＊ ＊ ＊
Claudia and Neil's wedding reception was held at the Maywood estate, a pleasant gathering attended only by relatives from both families.
It was customary for someone from a marquis's family to rent out a palace and host an extravagant banquet for the lords with whom they had ties, but this reception was tailored to the Baron Maywood family.
Claudia herself had requested it. Her father had respected her wishes.
A noblewoman's wedding attire was generally a white veil paired with a lavish dress made of richly colored fabric—deep red or blue, for example—embroidered with gold and silver thread and sewn with jewels.
Claudia's dress, however, was a charming one made of soft orange fabric and decorated with white and yellow flowers.
A lavish dress that couldn't be worn again was a symbol of power. But Claudia deliberately chose a dress she could wear to other balls, and wore floral decorations in place of jewels.
Claudia was a beauty who could hold her own against dazzling dresses and large gemstones.
Even so, Claudia wanted to stand beside Neil not as the daughter of a marquis, but as the wife of a baron.
"Well, a dainty dress suits you too, Claudia. I would've liked to see you in a dazzling dress, but this isn't bad either. Yes, yes, this works quite nicely."
The one who approached Claudia at the reception and said that was her cousin, Curtis Ashley.
He was a handsome black-haired man with features very similar to Claudia's, but his sunny, frivolous air was the exact opposite of hers.
When Claudia said nothing and merely looked at him, Curtis tilted his wineglass and went on chattering.
"Still, I'm so glad Cyril was adopted into the family. Father was planning to marry me off to you, you know. You and me, married! Ugh, what a horrifying thought!"
Claudia rather disliked the man, so she wholeheartedly agreed with him on that point.
Curtis was a man who had no qualms about relying on others and had no sense of responsibility whatsoever.
On top of that, he had no ambition or aspirations, and when Cyril was adopted, he was apparently overjoyed.
For the record, the words Curtis said to Cyril when they first met were:
'Cyril-kun! I'm so glad you came! Thank you, thank you! Now I don't have to marry Claudia! You saved me!'
That was what he'd said.
He must have hated the idea of becoming Marquis Hione—and marrying Claudia—so much.
"It's been a while, Brother Curtis."
Cyril hurried over and greeted Curtis politely.
When Cyril had first been adopted, Curtis had taken care of him in various ways, teaching him the customs of high society and introducing him to young nobles around his age.
That was why Cyril looked up to Curtis like an older brother.
"Hey, hey, long time no see... Oh, are you not drinking today either?"
"Sorry, I'm... not very good with alcohol..."
"You'd better get used to it soon, or you'll be in trouble. Come to my villa sometime. I'll teach you how to enjoy wine."
Curtis laughed cheerfully, tilted his wineglass, and said in an affected tone, "Mmm, delicious."
To Claudia, he looked utterly foolish. To Cyril, however, he seemed like "Brother Curtis, who can tell the difference between wines."
Curtis winked at Cyril, who was looking impressed.
"Alcohol is perfect for easing your nerves. By the way, your right hand and right foot are moving at the same time again, Cyril-kun."
"Huh?"
Cyril's face stiffened in alarm; he was visibly nervous.
Cyril would soon have to make the rounds and greet the Maywood relatives.
Cyril took a small piece of paper from his pocket, checked what was written on it, and muttered to himself.
"First, I'll talk about my first impression of Neil, then an episode from our time on the student council... No, wait, should I switch the order of those stories?"
At this rate, his right hand and right foot might go forward at the same time again.
Claudia let out a small sigh.
"...What an unreliable older brother."
Cyril pursed his lips in a sulk and put on his dignified older-brother face.
Claudia plucked one yellow and one white flower from the decorations on her dress and pinned them to Cyril's chest.
Curtis raised his eyebrows in surprise at this uncharacteristic gesture from Claudia.
"Oh, is this a share of your happiness? That's generous of you, Claudia."
Flowers worn by a bride—especially yellow ones—were said to bring happiness.
A bride giving someone those flowers with her own hands meant that she was sharing her happiness.
Cyril stared blankly, looking back and forth between the flowers on his chest and Claudia.
Claudia gave her older brother a wicked grin, utterly unbecoming of a bride.
"The greetings to the Maywood family... I'll leave them to you, biiiig brother."
"Of course. I'll greet them in a manner befitting your older brother."
With the air of a truly dignified older brother, Cyril headed for the Maywood family's table. His right hand and right foot moved alternately, just as they should.
"Now that's a dependable older brother."
"Yes, he is."
Claudia's answer was so matter-of-fact that Curtis couldn't tell whether she meant it or was being sarcastic.
Watching her brother's back as he walked away, Claudia spoke as if to herself.
"...That man basically never relies on me."
When Cyril did rely on Claudia, it was always because a certain girl was involved.
Things like asking Claudia to see the girl back to her dorm, or to lend her a dress—probably without even realizing it.
That was the unreliable part.
"I just felt like sharing a little happiness with him for once, that's all."
Claudia neither liked nor disliked her older brother; she simply thought he was troublesome.
He still couldn't break his habit of competing with Claudia, he overdid things and collapsed before she knew it, he worried about his little sister's love life while neglecting his own, and at today's wedding, too, he was the first to burst into tears because he was so overcome with emotion—he was truly a troublesome person. He hadn't changed, then or now.
(Even so, I'm glad that man is my older brother.)
Of course, he's troublesome, so she had no intention of telling him.