Chapter 10
"You looked like you might be hungry, so I brought some refreshments."
Celine carefully opened the door and entered.
She held a silver tray bearing cookies and teacups in both hands.
"You could have asked the servants to do it. Why did you come yourself?"
"Ah, um... They said they were all busy."
The servants' job was to do things like this, so what were they so busy with? She was terrible at lying.
Celine subtly looked away.
After the duel and the broken engagement, she must have been worried sick.
At least she had a commendably kind heart.
"Great. I was just getting hungry."
Color returned to Celine's tense face.
Tip-tap-tap-
Celine approached with quick little steps, set out the refreshments, and sat across from me.
Ever since Celine entered, the atmosphere had changed. How should I put it? It had become a little brighter.
Maybe it was just my imagination, but even the texture of the air felt different.
This was why every home needed at least one little sister.
Glance, glance-
Watching my expression, Celine picked up a cookie.
She looked at me quietly for a moment, then cautiously held out a cookie.
"You go first, Older Brother."
"I'm fine. Just watching you eat makes me feel full. Anyway, you came to talk about Azeline, didn't you?"
Flinch-
That reaction told me I'd hit the nail on the head.
Her innermost thoughts were almost painfully transparent.
"I don't know if I should say this, but... she didn't seem like a very good woman to me."
Even in the past, Celine had brought up Azeline every now and then.
She hadn't openly insulted her; she'd just said things like Azeline didn't appreciate all the effort I'd put in for her.
But after I had cursed at her and even hit her, she never brought it up again.
I wanted to beat up my past self. Seriously, what was I thinking?
"All that woman knows how to do is use you, Older Brother...."
Celine drew out the end of her sentence in a timid voice.
She seemed afraid I might snap, 'Who are you to insult my woman?'
"She was a terrible fiancée."
Celine's rabbit-like eyes went wide.
I deliberately tilted my head slightly.
"Back then, weren't you scared?"
"Scared of what?"
"When I hit Azeline. It must have been your first time seeing such a violent scene."
"I was a little surprised. I never thought you'd go that far with Sister Azeline."
"But you weren't scared?"
"...To be honest, without putting on airs, it was satisfying."
That was unexpected.
I'd smashed a young lady's face in right in front of a tenderhearted girl.
I would've considered it a blessing if she hadn't developed a trauma.
"I don't particularly like Sister Azeline. I just dislike her. She's done nothing but use you all this time."
"You have a good eye."
"Oh, um. And I thought you did that because of me. You stepped in for my sake, so I don't need to be scared."
"I'm not so sure."
"Huh? You didn't?"
She was half right.
I'd wanted to teach Azeline a lesson anyway, but Celine had been the final trigger.
I sipped my tea and pretended not to hear.
Celine toyed with her teacup in silence as well. A faint smile tugged at the corners of her lips.
"I thought you liked Sister Azeline more than me. No, I thought you hated me."
"I did in the past. I won't deny it."
Before I regained the memories of my past life, I'd considered Celine a nuisance.
A slow, frustrating little sister. The bastard child who was a blemish on House Cardenos.
At some point, the tea's fragrance began to taste bitter.
"I'm sorry for everything."
Even when I left the family, I hadn't apologized to Celine even once. I'd left without even seeing her.
There hadn't been any particular reason. I was convinced she would never forgive me.
It had been a cowardly evasion.
Now, I didn't have the confidence to face Celine's resentment and hear her ask why I was apologizing.
I'd even deceived myself, telling myself I didn't have the wherewithal to care about family or anything.
Beneath the grand cause of saving the world, family was merely something that weakened one's resolve.
I even made excuses that, even if Celine forgave me, my heart would grow soft.
"Older Brother."
Before I could say anything, I felt a soft touch over my hand.
Celine's small hand was resting over mine.
"I know everything."
"...."
Neither of us said anything more. Not Celine, and not me.
I could only admire her.
I quietly placed my hand atop her head.
Startled, Celine bowed her head and mumbled softly.
Not a blockhead? So she wasn't?
I wondered what she meant out of nowhere, and whether I'd heard correctly.
"Oh, right. I have something to give you, Older Brother."
Celine rose from her seat and stepped outside the door.
She seemed to have hidden something behind the door.
What she brought back was a prettily wrapped gift box.
"A birthday present?"
"I was going to give it to you on your birthday, but you wouldn't accept it...."
It hadn't been a Heart Demon?
I almost blurted that aloud.
Celine shyly held the present out to me with both hands.
I accepted it reflexively, then opened the wrapping under her uneasy gaze.
"...A talisman?"
"Yes! It has dried lilacs and a ruby shaped like a heart inside. They say happiness will come to you if you keep it."
So that's why it had looked like a lucky pouch.
"I reserved one through the Aether Market after searching for it since last year. It was sooo hard to get."
"The Aether Market? Then it cost almost two million shillings, didn't it?"
Two million shillings was half a year's salary for an imperial official.
Two million shillings for a mere talisman? You might ask that, but at the Aether Market, every item cost whatever its seller demanded.
"Don't tell me you spent all your allowance?"
"...Not all of it. About half."
I almost scolded her for burning half her entire fortune on a single gift, but stopped myself.
She had gone to so much trouble to give it to me; I should accept it gratefully.
A gift wasn't just about considering the recipient's feelings; you had to consider the giver's feelings too.
"Thank you. I'll treasure it."
"Um, there's more underneath."
Underneath?
I lifted the talisman, revealing something covered by a bundle of thread.
"I started making this yesterday to give to you, Older Brother. I'm embarrassed because my skill is still so lacking...."
A circular sword-knot, braided neatly from red-gold thread.
It was a decorative knot knights hung from the ends of their sword hilts to honor their good fortune and their family's pride.
Unlike with the talisman, Celine kept sneaking nervous glances at me.
She didn't need to say it was a gift she'd made herself.
A sword happened to be standing by the head of the bed.
In front of Celine, I firmly tied the sword-knot to the end of the hilt and let it hang.
Whoosh!
I gave the sword a light swing, and the red-gold knot swayed.
"You did a good job. I think I'll keep it on."
"There's one more. Really the last one."
Celine rummaged through her skirt pocket.
Soon, with her little fingertips fidgeting, she pulled out the final present and held it out.
It was a handkerchief the size of my palm, embroidered crookedly with black thread.
She seemed to have tried to embroider Cardenos's symbol, the Black Lion.
No matter how I looked at it, though, it resembled a cat with its fur standing on end, or a flattened steamed bun, more than a lion.
"Pfft."
"Aah! I knew you would laugh! I shouldn't have shown it to you!"
"Who says I laughed? It's cute."
Looking closely, I saw stains along the edge of the handkerchief where drops of blood had seeped through.
It was easy to imagine her clumsily sewing it after pricking her fingers.
My heart grew warm.
"Looks like I bought the talisman for nothing."
"D-do you not like it?"
"No. I like these two much more."
The corners of Celine's lips danced and twitched.
She couldn't hide a single expression whenever I looked at her.
"Come to think of it, your birthday isn't far off either."
"Huh? You remember my birthday?"
"It's in fifteen days. If there's a present you want, tell me in advance. I'll give you anything."
To my past self, Celine's birthday had been as good as nonexistent.
I'd thought, Why bother celebrating a bastard child's birthday?
Instead of giving Celine a proper present, I'd only scolded her.
Celine's eyes flew open, and she parted her lips a little.
"I want to receive a letter from you, Older Brother."
"A letter?"
"Yes, a letter. I've always been jealous of Sister Azeline. She used to get letters filled with care from you."
What was one letter worth, anyway?
"I'll write enough letters to make you sick of them. I'll throw in some rare grimoires and artifacts, too. I received three myself, so I should at least do this much for you."
"Grimoires and artifacts? Why are those coming up?"
She seemed to think she'd said it casually.
Her rabbit-like eyes, however, wandered helplessly without knowing where to look.
It was only natural.
House Cardenos would never permit magical items.
House Cardenos was an ancient house renowned for swordsmanship.
Anyone of the family bloodline was expected to walk the path of the sword.
There was an unspoken taboo against magic, which stood at the opposite end of the spectrum from swordsmanship.
"You can be honest with me. You like magic more than the sword, don't you?"
"M-me!?"
"Your older brother knows everything. There's nothing I don't know about you; I know you best."
"I really don't like it.... I'm not interested, either. I'm following the same single-minded path of swordsmanship as you and Sister."
Celine was already a bastard child with little standing within the family.
It was obvious that the pressure weighed on her all the more heavily.
Above all, she must have been afraid of being berated by her useless older brother.
"Don't worry about what other people think. Do what you like. You'd rather handle books than force yourself to grip a sword, wouldn't you?"
"...."
"I'll take responsibility for you and let you live doing everything you want. I'll talk to Father properly, too, so don't worry. I've only treated you badly all this time; it's time I started acting like your older brother."
In my first life.
This small, delicate child had been fated to become a monster.
After I killed Celine with my own hands, the infamy attached to her was 'The Witch of Cardenos.'
Luna had a habit of cunningly exploiting its host's suppressed desires and deficiencies.
To Luna, Celine was a host brimming with potential.
Celine was not only isolated from her family; she was festering inside, too.
Her suppressed magical talent and extreme stress were more than enough to lay the roots of a calamity.
-Ah, Older Brother....
A bastard child who had never been loved by her family in her entire life.
Perhaps Celine's deficiency had not been limited to magic.
"I'm telling you this out of concern: never think about opening your mind circuit. I'll make it possible for you to learn magic in peace. It'll be soon; it won't take long."
Celine, who had been looking at me, lowered her head. She tried, clumsily, to hide her emotions.
Her two hands, demurely resting on her lap, trembled faintly.
"You're right, Older Brother. I've wanted to study magic all along, but how could I? I'm a Cardenos too...."
"You don't need to worry about that. From now on, live doing everything you want. I'll make it happen."
Tears welled up in Celine's eyes.
I was the one who had just received presents, but Celine seemed to be the one who was moved.
"...Then, I..."
Celine struggled to get the words out.
"Can I enroll in the Academy? I want to study in the Department of Magic."
"No!"
I was startled by my own outburst.
Only after seeing Celine's widened eyes did I calm down a little.
"Anyway, the Academy is out of the question. Absolutely not."
"Wh-why not?"
"All you'll do there is fool around; that place ought to be shut down. I'll send you to the Magic Tower instead. If your goal is to learn magic, the Magic Tower is much better."
Even if she cried, begged, and pleaded, I had absolutely no intention of sending her to the Academy.
Not even over my dead body.
***
"Sob, sob.... Dad...."
The office of the head of House Rosenthal in the southern part of the Empire.
Only a woman's mournful sobbing echoed through the room.
What kind of woman was Azeline? She was Rosenthal's precious jewel, the darling of the Empire's high society.
Her tears could never be an ordinary matter.
"How dare those Cardenos bastards...!"
Victor Rosenthal, head of House Rosenthal, ground his teeth.
His daughter's once porcelain-white cheeks were swollen with livid bruises. Several scratches marred her delicate features.
Victor knew that Azeline was to blame for the broken engagement.
She had dragged an outsider into a duel, leaving her with not even the slightest excuse.
But Cardenos's retaliation had gone far beyond the line.
Astin. That bastard had kicked his daughter's abdomen and stomped on her face several times.
It was an unmistakable provocation and insult directed at the family.
"Cardenos has lost its mind. They've forgotten to fear the heavens!"
Though Rosenthal and Cardenos stood as equals, that was irrelevant.
Rosenthal, the overlord of the south.
Except for the imperial family, there was nowhere in the Empire that Rosenthal's claws could not reach.
"How should I tear those reckless wildcats to pieces...."
Bang-!
At that moment, the mahogany door to the office was thrown open.
Three men rushed inside in a panic.
"Azeline!"
"My sister! Are you hurt anywhere?"
"Get out of the way! Azeline! Your big brother is here!"
Azeline's three older brothers. The eldest, second, and third sons, all born one year apart.
"O-Older Brothers! Waaah!"
Azeline began to wail piteously.
The three brothers were horrified the moment they saw their little sister's face.
"What happened to our baby sister's face?!"
"It was Astin! That bastard did this to Azeline's face! Isn't that right, Father?!"
"I-I know I was in the wrong, sob, I know I was, but... how could he trample a lady's face? What if I can't even go out into high society anymore? How am I supposed to live? How, how....!"
Murderous intent flared across the three brothers' faces.
"How dare that good-for-nothing bastard Astin!"
"It was bad enough that her fiancé was a piece of trash like that. How dare he lay a hand on Azeline without even knowing his place!"
"Father. We must storm Cardenos immediately and tear that bastard limb from limb. This is a grave matter concerning our family's honor!"
The three brothers wanted to retaliate with force at once.
Victor wanted nothing more than to mobilize the Gryphon Mage Corps and wage an all-out war.
However, an all-out war between the Empire's two pillars could not be allowed to happen.
The imperial family would not sit idly by, and even if it turned a blind eye, such a war was impossible in practical terms.
"Calm down, you fools. Do you think I want to let those bastards off the hook?"
At the head's furious bark, the three brothers huffed and gradually cooled their anger.
Victor was piecing together a plan in his mind.
There were plenty of ways to trample those bastards without spilling blood.
"The Cardenos are beasts who know only how to swing swords. When hunting beasts, there's no need to face them head-on. We need only slowly tighten the noose from every direction and bleed them dry."
The South's retaliation would rust the Black Lion's blade.
"Hernan. Send word to the major merchant guilds in the south today. Order them to completely cut off all distribution to Cardenos territory. Threaten that any guild trading even a single coin with them will be permanently cut out of the southern markets in Rosenthal's name. We'll have to bear losses on our side too, but we control seventy percent of the southern market. Don't forget that we're the ones holding the blade."
"Yes!"
"Albert, spread rumors when you attend high-society gatherings. Say that the Cardenos wastrel brutally crushed the face of a delicate young lady. Make sure everyone sees him as a barbarian worse than a beast, so he can be completely isolated from noble society."
"I'll bear it in mind, Father."
This alone would not be enough.
They could also round up the major assassination guilds in the back alleys and mercenary bands willing to do anything for money.
If he used them to raid and plunder Cardenos's outlying territories, mana-stone mines, and merchant companies day and night.
And if he abducted Cardenos's lesser knights and administrators and threatened them.
Victor shook his head.
If he carried out retaliation from the shadows like that, there was a strong chance it would go beyond retaliation and become a prelude to war.
The imperial family would turn a blind eye to economic and political retaliation.
But if force were involved, the imperial family would impose sanctions.
'No. Wait. There was that.'
There was one chance to retaliate with force legally.
"When is this year's Mage-Martial War with Cardenos?"
"....! Six months from now!"
The Mage-Martial War was an exchange competition between magic and martial arts.
The two families were the Empire's paragons of swordsmanship and magic.
For that reason, they had held friendly sparring matches every year to improve and exchange their skills.
It had definitely been a 'friendly match.' In the past.
"We can punish them thoroughly then. If we break their arms and legs under the pretext of a sparring match, no one can say a thing."
Cardenos would surely be thinking the same thing.
Victor looked at his three sons, the corners of his mouth curling upward.
The sons of House Rosenthal were elite mages renowned throughout the Empire.
But what about Cardenos?
There wasn't much talent in Cardenos's current generation.
A wastrel who had lived for pleasure instead of swordsmanship. A bastard girl whose very presence was barely noticed.
At least they had an eldest daughter fighting on the northern front, but she was only one person.
'Even if that wastrel Astin did defeat a Third-Path knight.'
To the three brothers, who had reached the Fifth Rank, that meant nothing.
Julian was indeed a promising talent.
But he was a 'young' promising talent.
"It doesn't matter even if Cardenos's eldest daughter returns. The three of you can trample Cardenos's wildcats. Especially that wastrel. That one must be beaten half to death so he can't walk out on his own."
"Of course, Father."
"They know they're at a disadvantage too. If they withdraw, all the better."
The Black Lion of Cardenos fleeing with its tail between its legs? It would only tarnish their honor.
The conflict between the two families spread as swiftly as the wind, and the nobles turned their attention to their confrontation.
Naturally, interest focused on the upcoming Mage-Martial War.
Even if Cardenos came up with every excuse under the sun, the nobles knew.
The Black Lion had lost its nerve.
Cardenos was no match for Rosenthal.
As expected, Young Master Astin was a coward who wouldn't even show his face.
"Don't let your guard down. If I know Cardenos, they're surely sharpening their blades. Focus solely on your training for that day."
"We'll bear it in mind, Father."
"When my turn comes, I'll remodel that wastrel's entire face."
"I should cripple him completely. I doubt even that would satisfy me."
"Sob, sob...."
Azeline continued sobbing copiously behind her hands.
She was acting the part of a wounded woman, but her true thoughts were completely different.
'I will never forgive you, Astin. I'll repay this humiliation a hundred, a thousand times over. I'll drag your sister into it and make you crawl like a dog for the rest of your life...!
She was not merely Azeline.
She was a Rosenthal.
Azeline's venomous eyes were hidden behind both her hands.