CHAPTER 2     The Summer Vacation from Hell Begins

“Welcome back, Miss Cecilia and Master Gilbert.”

“Hello!”

“Hi.”

With the advent of summer vacation, Cecilia and Gilbert returned to the Sylvie family estate. Naturally, Cecilia was wearing a dress fit for a lady.

Their parents and the house staff and servants were all overjoyed at their return.

The siblings went to their respective rooms and began unpacking. That being said, it was only a two-week visit; since the manor was already furnished with the bare minimum for both their wardrobes, they hadn’t brought that much back. Cecilia, however, had packed all her cross-dressing gear just in case, so she had twice as much luggage as Gilbert.

I really do feel so much more at ease in clothes like this, she thought, smiling as she fingered the hem of her skirt. She didn’t hate being Cecil, but she did feel the most relaxed in girl mode. Although she’d gotten used to wearing a wig and a binder, they were still incredibly constricting.

She continued putting her things away in silence. When she was almost done, someone knocked on the door.

“Come in,” she said, and Gilbert poked in his head.

“Did you finish unpacking?” he asked.

“Um, yeah! Almost!”

“Becky’s made tea for us. Scones, too.”

“Ooh! Really? I’ll be right down!”

Becky was Cecilia’s personal maid. Her scones were exceptional, so whenever Cecilia was at home, she begged for her to make them every single week.

Once Cecilia heard that her favorite food was waiting, she broke into a radiant grin, which managed to make a smile tug at Gilbert’s lips, too.

“Okay then, I’ll be waiting in our usual place.”

“Got it!” she replied cheerfully, and Gilbert left her room, satisfied.

Their usual place was the estate’s music room. It was originally where her father had learned the violin, and both she and Gilbert had learned piano from a private instructor there. The room had a lock and was perfectly soundproofed, so they now used it to have confidential conversations.

Naturally, the private talks in question entailed Cecilia’s past life.

But for some reason, everyone gets nervous about the idea of us going into this place together.

Especially Cecilia’s other maid, Reina, who would always display bizarre concern for her every time she emerged from the music room. “Nothing happened, right? You’re physically intact—?!”

Then she would flush scarlet before Gilbert cut her off with a dark smile, as he did every time.

From Cecilia’s perspective, she’d just been trying to keep up a friendly relationship with her brother, but maybe this was yet another strange twist of their destinies. Perhaps no one saw the siblings as close, since they don’t get along in the dating sim at all.

In that case, I’ll just have to do a better job showing everyone how strong our bond is!

She was trying to change the bad ending that was predestined for her—her inevitable death. Beginning with the smallest of things, she would need to make steady progress toward defying her fate.

Finished unpacking, Cecilia headed for the music room. When she opened the door, she found Gilbert there, reading as he awaited her arrival.

“You’re late.”

“Sorry. It took a little longer than I thought,” she admitted abashedly as she sat down next to him. Her eyes lit up as she beheld the pile of pastries. “Yay! Becky’s scones! I’ve been craving them for so long!”

“I’m glad.”

“Hmm?”

“Before we left school, I wrote her a letter and told her you’d be thrilled if she made them.”

“You did? Oh, Gil, thank you!”

He really was a devoted brother. It truly upset her that people could think she didn’t get along with someone this sweet.

Cecilia took a scone. They were chocolate-filled, her favorite. That must have been Gil’s doing as well.

Yummm!

She bit into it, holding a plate underneath to avoid spilling the crumbs. With a crunch, the tastes of butter and sweet chocolate spread across her palate.

“Mmmm!”

She almost passed out from their nostalgic flavor. Utterly addicting as they were, though, she couldn’t eat too many—they weren’t exactly healthy.

“You’ve got some chocolate on you.”

“Oh, thanks!”

Gilbert swiped his finger at the corner of her lips. “You’re not a kid anymore,” he murmured ruefully, but she didn’t mind in the slightest. Although…

“All I ever do is rely on you, Gil. You’re always having to cover for me at school.”

It made her feel the tiniest bit pathetic, especially since she was supposed to be the older one.

Licking crumbs off his finger, Gilbert looked back down at his book. “You don’t need to worry about that, okay? It’s not like it’s the first time you’ve needed help.”

“Well, I guess you’re right, but…”

“Besides, it’s better that I cover for you before a serious incident breaks out rather than helping only after things have already reached a crisis. If I’m going to clean up your mess, I’d prefer to do it earlier.”

“Okay, yes, you may have a point, but…!” Cecilia cried, unable to get out a single word in defense of herself, even though she wanted to object.

As she rubbed at her chest in emotional turmoil, her brother looked like he was about to snort. Then, in a much gentler tone, he said, “Anyway, I’m doing that because I like to, pure and simple. So don’t let it bother you.”

“Oh, Gil…”

“That said, I do wish you’d keep a bit of a cooler head,” he added with a dark smirk.

She dropped her gaze and muttered a “sorry” after a pause. She loved Gilbert, but that face he could make was so terrifying. She wished he would cut it out.

Cecilia finished her scone, then turned back to face Gilbert. “Hey, is there anything you’d like me to do for you?”

“For you to do for me?”

“Mm-hmm. Like I said just now, I feel bad that you’re always covering for me! At least let me do stuff for you during summer vacation! I’ll take care of whatever you need!”

Gilbert narrowed his eyes. “You’re going to take care of me?”

“Yeah! I’ll even cook for you!”

He gave her a baleful look. “I’d rather live, thanks.”

Undeterred, she put her hand over her heart and proclaimed heroically, “This summer, I’ll give everything to you! Use me however you like!”

For a moment, Gilbert’s eyes widened. Then he scrutinized her. “Should you really be saying that?”

“Of course! You’re always doing so much for me and all!”

He muttered after a pause, “Why do you never understand that you need to be smarter about things like this?”

He grabbed hold of the hand she was resting on the sofa and swooped in close until their faces nearly touched. Cecilia pulled back instinctively, but he planted a hand on the armrest behind her, locking her in. “But if you’re going to insist, there is one thing I want you to do. Are you ready?”

Cecilia stared, aghast.

“This is what you want?”

“Mm-hmm.”

Cecilia was sitting on the sofa with Gilbert’s head resting on her thighs. His legs were propped up on an armrest while he gazed straight up at her, toying with strands of her honey-blond hair.

“I’ve been so exhausted lately. I wanted to do something that would relax me.”

“Oh, that’s right. Hasn’t the teacher been summoning you a lot lately?”

“Yeah, to discuss my old family.”

He was referring to his birth family, the Coulsons. House Coulson, distantly related to House Sylvie, was an illustrious clan that had produced generations of government ministers and other officials that had been appointed to serve the nation. However, that had also instilled in them a strong sense of elitism, and they looked down on those outside their kin. The current head lord’s and lady’s condescending tendencies were even more pronounced. In fact, they’d claimed that “undesirable insects would attach themselves” to their sons if they sent them to Vleugel Academy, as most of their ilk did, so they refused to.

“Is something going on with House Coulson?”

“A lot, apparently,” Gilbert replied, lowering his gaze and declining to go into detail. While he didn’t look depressed over the situation, he did seem to be truly fed up with it.

I wonder if something happened?

Thanks to his upbringing, Gilbert undoubtedly did not think much of his birth family. He had cut off all contact with them and refused to talk about them, so they hadn’t spoken of it up to this point. But what if he’d been suffering in secret while Cecilia had been none the wiser?

She stroked his forehead appreciatively, and his eyes went half lidded in contentment.

Gil’s still just a kid, too.

Pleased that her brother, who always acted so mature, would let her spoil him like this, she broke into a grin as well.

“Hey, did you mean it when you said you’d give me your whole summer?” asked Gilbert, taking hold of the hand that was stroking his forehead.

She grinned and nodded. “I did! Oh, except for the days when I have plans!”

“What plans?”

“Ummm, I’m going to get Hans to give me some lessons, and I promised Donny I’d help him with his schoolwork. And I’ll have Becky and Reina to teach me cooking and go weeding with El. And…”

Cecilia rattled off her list of summer plans, counting each item on her fingers. Hans was the sword instructor, Donny was the Sylvie family butler’s son, and Becky and Reina were her maids. El was a young gardener.

“And you’ll still be able to make time for me?”

“I will! Um, probably.”

At her vague answer, Gilbert intertwined their fingers. “Turn them all down.”

“What?”

“You said you’d indulge me in whatever I asked, didn’t you? Turn them all down.”

Gilbert brought their intertwined hands to his lips. The softest, slightest touch to them sent her cheeks flaring up.

“You’re going to let me have you all to myself, aren’t you?” he insisted in a honeyed whisper that tickled her ears. Even if Cecilia tried to yank her hand back, he didn’t seem to have any intention of relinquishing it.

This guy really is an otome game love interest! His charm is off the charts!

She fanned her flushed cheeks with her other hand. If he could lather on the allure like this with his sister, any heroine he turned his fancy to would be in serious trouble.

He sure does love getting spoiled lately.

If Cecilia had insisted on taking care of him like this a few months back, he would have snorted and ended things right then and there. While she was incredibly happy that he was allowing her to pet and dote on him, it also left her awfully flustered.

As he watched her fan her cheeks, Gilbert muttered, “I’m starting to feel like two weeks is enough for something to happen.”

“For what to happen?”

“Oh, I wonder,” he replied with an easy grin. Cecilia frowned, puzzled. For as long as she’d known him, she’d never had any idea what he was thinking.

“Oh! But I can’t turn down the plans I made with Lean.”