Chapter 6: Bonds

Chapter 6:
Bonds

 

QUEEN MYLENE and I were in a room by ourselves, standing face-to-face. I’d succeeded in getting an audience with her and had relayed my desire to take supreme command.

Her Majesty was, of course, flabbergasted. “Are you serious?”

I couldn’t blame her. Anyone would question the sanity of an academy student asking for so much power.

“I’m serious,” I said. “I want supreme command. Can you help me?”

“The people don’t trust you.” Her face was the picture of composure—gone was the adorable, girlish smile. “Neither do you possess the accomplishments to warrant the assignment. Even if I did recommend you for the role, the people would assume I had lost my mind.”

“Fine, then you lose. If you refuse me this, I’ll run away. Or do you have someone else in mind for the position?”

She didn’t. No one else could stand against the Principality of Fanoss or their Giants, and we both knew it.

Her gaze dropped to the floor. “It’s all come back to haunt us now,” she murmured. “His Majesty and his advisers are considering a direct charge against the principality’s main force. They intend to ignore the Giant and finish the battle as quickly as possible.”

“They won’t even get close. The Giant will wipe them out.”

“Leon, power alone doesn’t determine victory. It doesn’t matter if you are more capable or more determined than our…wanting king. The people believe in him, not you. That’s just how they are. Even if I did install you as commander-in-chief, you would not be heeded.”

She sounded pretty harsh on our king there, but I had to put that on the back burner for now. I was more just happy she had such a high opinion of me.

“All right, but if you leave it to someone else, they won’t win,” I said. “And we need the royal family’s ship. It has its own special power, doesn’t it?”

She pulled a face. “H-how do you even know about the ship? It’s—”

I stepped forward, backing her into the wall, and planted my hand beside her head. “That ship helped this nation’s founders claim the land for their kingdom. It’s the royal family’s secret weapon. Right?”

“Yes…that’s right. So you see why it isn’t something so simply lent to just anyone. It’s a Lost Item, too.”

It wasn’t the same type as Luxion, no—but it was absolutely essential. I pressed even closer to her. “I need it. Please, lend it to me.”

“It won’t work. Even His Majesty and I can’t activate it.”

“Prince Julius and Marie will, though. Gather her other four lovers as well.”

“But,” she protested, “the Saint—Marie awaits execution.”

We had to have Marie. I was pretty damn sure we needed the power of the Saint, specifically, and if Marie died, the temple might well take its sweet time recognizing Livia as the real Saint in her place. Marie was our safest bet. All I had to do after that was get Livia on board with them. That way we could get their split roles in the same place—Marie as the Saint, Livia with her special power. I had no other solution.

“Luxion, explain it to the queen. Tell her why we don’t have time to waste.”

“Very well.” Luxion slipped out from behind me.

Queen Mylene gasped. “This—he’s the familiar from the reports?”

My partner proceeded to relay the details of our situation, informing her that there were two Giants—one in the sky and one in the sea below the continent.

Her Majesty went ghostly pale. “Is this true?”

“Yes,” said Luxion. “And I have further bad news. Since their appearance, transmissions have become increasingly unstable. In a matter of days, long-range communication devices will likely become utterly unusable.”

“The more I hear, the worse it sounds.” The queen pressed a hand over her face. “Leon, can you really win?”

“I will win, but I need you to prepare some things for me—”

“The Saint and the royal family’s ship, yes. I see. And you need power to demand these things.” Her expression hardened as she looked into my eyes. “If we do this, Marquess Frampton will oppose us. We will make an enemy out of the largest political faction in the kingdom. We will have few—if any allies.”

I glanced at Luxion, and his eyeball moved up and down in a nod. “We’re fine with that.”

“Honestly, I realize this was a situation of our own making, but I wish the other knights shared your loyalty.”

Loyalty? I didn’t have a drop of it in me.

“What do you mean by ‘situation of your own making’?” I asked.

“Until now, we’ve forced a select group of men to bear all the kingdom’s burdens. We’ll speak more on it once you’ve safely returned. Now, you had better win and come back in one piece. Understood?”

I nodded.

Her cheeks heated up as she cleared her throat. Goddamn adorable. “Um, also, I would appreciate it if you’d take a few steps back.”

Oh, whoops. I finally put some distance between us.

The queen took a deep breath and then fixed her gaze on me once more. “Leon, I owe you a great deal. I’ll lay the groundwork, but I meant it when I said we won’t have many allies. You won’t be able to expect much in the way of military aid. Can you still win, knowing that?”

“Yes. But speaking of military aid, I have something in mind already.”

A lack of allies didn’t bother me. I had the power of friendship on my side.

 

***

 

The capital was in an uproar. Hundreds, thousands of citizens were fleeing, among them a number of nobles and knights abandoning their posts. Some of the men even left their legal wives behind, choosing to run away with their lovers instead. I understood the impulse, but I still didn’t entirely approve.

Upon my return to the academy, I was shocked by the change.

“W-wait! Take me with you!” A girl clung to the heir of a border region.

He violently shoved her away. “You ignored me for months! Don’t start relying on me now!”

The students were hightailing it to their home territories, and similar spats followed them wherever they ran.

One rich viscount from the palace clutched onto a girl for dear life. “Don’t abandon me! Did you forget how much money I lavished on you?!”

“I’ll die if I stay! And if they wipe out the capital, what use will you be?!”

The emergency had made all these jerks lose their minds, but I didn’t feel the least bit happy to see it. What a pathetic way to go.

Luxion guided me along. “This way, Master. The boys have already gathered.”

“I’m just glad they’re still here. Luxion, you go ahead and find Livia and Angie. Do whatever you can to help them! And if you see anyone else we know, bring them as well.”

“I don’t mind, but are you sure you’ll be all right on your own?”

“Don’t worry,” I said. “I’m sure they’ll be with us.”

My friendship with Daniel and Raymond is the real deal!

 

***

 

I had gathered my friends in a deserted classroom used for storage. We needed to hide from all the fracas outside, but I also had a proposition.

“All right, boys,” I said, “it’s do or die. I’m leading the charge against the principality—are you with me?”

“Absolutely not,” said Raymond.

“Yeah, it’s gonna be a no from me,” said Daniel.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me!” I shouted.

“The principality wrecked the kingdom’s forces. That monster of theirs took out almost two hundred ships, right? There’s no way we can fight something like that,” Raymond pointed out.

He wasn’t wrong.

Daniel shook his head. “Leon, give it up. They arrested you on false charges, didn’t they? You have no reason to put in so much effort. If they lose, we just have to swear allegiance to the principality and we’re done.”

Regional lords ruled their own islands and swore fealty to their strongest neighbor. These guys, my friends, were the sons of those lords, so switching allegiance just made sense to them—every one of them agreed.

“Yep, like he said,” said one. “Oh, did you know? In the principality, men have more social cachet than women. When it comes to marriage, women are the ones scrambling to find a good match.”

“Seriously? Shoot, forget this war—sign me up for the principality right now!”

“Me, too!”

I empathize with you guys so much it hurts, but have some freakin’ loyalty! Not that I have any myself…

All these guys had to do was go home and wait for the storm to pass. Meanwhile, the rich nobles who’d until now flaunted their wealth and status were in a panic. They’d all come from mainland or the court—either way, they couldn’t escape the oncoming principality fleet. My friends, meanwhile, cared more about the other hostile nations stalking the kingdom’s borders. Mostly, they just wanted to see how the tides would change.

This exact indifference was probably what the queen had meant when she said the kingdom’s past would come back to haunt it.

Being so packed with dudes, the storage room smelled like an actual sausage fest. I almost choked taking a deep breath. Nonetheless, I kept my composure and produced a document from my pocket. “Take a look at this.”

Raymond pushed his glasses up his nose, scanning the page. “This is the sales contract for those airships you gave us. What about it?”

“That’s right—the airships I gave you. Right now, you’ve all got crews training in your territories, right?”

Daniel nodded. “Yeah. I hear those ships are a dream to fly—excellent performance. My crew’s really pleased.”

The other boys joined in, enthusiastically crowing about the quality of their battleships. Only Raymond blanched as he stared at me.

“Leon, you can’t mean…”

“That’s right. I’m the only one with a facility that can properly maintain your airships. Think you can just run away and try somebody else? Go for it—if you want subpar service. Those machines are cutting-edge technology, so if you don’t come to me for maintenance, they’ll stop running.”

The contracts made it clear: I’d used unique technology to modify these airships; no one else could even hope to fix them.

I watched as the panic began to set in.

“I’m going to fight the principality whether you help me or not,” I said. “You realize what that means, don’t you? If I win and you don’t help, you’ll be at my mercy. You’ll have to brownnose every day to stay in my good graces if you want to keep those ships. Of course, if I lose, you’ll be even worse off. What happens when they take my family’s territory? Do you really think the principality will let you off when they find out you’re tied to me?”

Then the screams began.

“That’s underhanded!”

“Let’s tie him up and offer him to Princess Hertrude!”

“But they’ve already dragged her off to the palace!”

“Calm down, idiots!” I barked. “Do you really think the enemy would let you just roll over and submit? This is the principality we’re talking about. They loathe the kingdom. Worst case, they’ll steal your territories and treat you like slaves.”

Letting that sink in, I lowered my voice. “Listen. It’ll be fine. Work with me. Survive, and I’ll give you a discount on future maintenance for your airships. Plus, you’ll be heroes. Sounds like a pretty good deal to me. All you have to do to get all that praise is hide behind me and shoot your cannons.”

They all scowled.

“Have some faith,” I wheedled. “I’m fighting because we can win. You’ve all seen me fight—you know I’m not the type of guy who charges headlong into a battle if he isn’t absolutely certain he’s gonna win.”

“W-well, if you put it like that…”

“True, Leon’s wormed out of every tight spot he’s been in so far.”

“If he says we can win, maybe it’s true.”

I was bringing them around—how’s that for skillful negotiations?

Daniel, however, waffled. “But you’re always so underhanded.”

“Aw, is that a compliment I’m hearing?” I grinned. “Don’t worry. Underhanded I may be, but I’m your ally. That’s reassuring, isn’t it?”

Raymond raked his fingers through his hair. “It’s because you’re so underhanded that we’re in this mess in the first place. This is a disaster!”

But eventually, everyone gave in—I mean, they, uh, steeled themselves for the coming challenge. Either way, they agreed to follow me.

See that, principality? This is the power of friendship!

“Thank you, all of you! Let’s be friends forever and ever, okay?”

They glared.

“Screw you!”

“You devil!”

“I knew that stupid contract was a trap!”

Yeah, yeah. They could wail all they wanted; we were going up against the final boss.

All right, time for the next step.

 

***

 

Luxion had made his way to Livia’s room to report.

“Leon’s going to fight the principality?” she gasped.

Angie shook her head in exasperation. “He may be a viscount, but I can’t believe the kingdom made a student commander-in-chief. Does that mean even His Majesty and Prince Julius will be under his command? And what about our other forces—are there any?”

Luxion’s single eye moved from side to side as if shaking his head. “Currently, we have scraped together about twenty ships, including the Partner. Who knows what the kingdom’s army can muster? We can’t hope for much of anything from the temple.”

Angie held her forehead. “Leon seriously plans to fight them with that? What about the generals? Or the regional lords’ battleships?”

“Further army assistance depends on Mylene. As for the regional nobles, they’re occupied defending your borders. Most of them couldn’t help the capital even if they wanted to. All others who could feasibly lend assistance are sitting on the sidelines to watch how things play out.”

Livia glanced over at Angie. “Why won’t they help us?”

“Livia, do you understand why the regional lords obey the kingdom to begin with?”

“Um…because they swore allegiance?”

“No… The regional lords bow simply because the kingdom is more powerful. If the kingdom is weakened, they won’t hesitate to turn traitor. Especially after the kingdom spent so many years deliberately undermining them.”

“Huh?” Livia furrowed her brow.

So, it’s just as I suspected, Luxion thought. I did think this kingdom odd. Master was ready to blame his unfortunate circumstances on otome game dynamics, but of course there was an explanation for this society’s eccentricities.

As Redgrave House had strong ties to the royal family, their view of the world skewed in favor of the kingdom. Angie’s prior opinions of regional lords therefore spoke volumes about the royal family’s feelings as well.

“The kingdom has worked to ensure the regional lords can’t accumulate power. Our particular marriage customs, for example—they’re just one method by which the royal family limits the regional nobility.” Angie shook her head and stood. “I’m going to go see my father. I want to lend Leon whatever aid I can. There must be something I can do to help.”

“Are you certain?” Luxion asked.

She smiled. “Leon said he was going to fight. He only did so because he has a chance of winning, right? I believe in him.”

Livia’s face fell, but she soon stood and stepped close to Angie.

“In that case, let’s head to the palace together,” said Luxion as he guided them out of the room. “The duke will be there.”

“I appreciate it. Let’s go,” Angie said with a solemn expression. “Livia, what will you do?”

“I’m going, too!”

And so, with Luxion, the two of them hurried to the palace.

 

***

 

The floating island next to the capital saw more airship traffic than usual. Airships crowded the harbor, making it difficult to move. My older brother, Nicks, was waiting for me there.

“Leon, you’re all right!” He seemed delighted to see me.

My older sister, Jenna, stood nearby. “Did you break out of prison?!”

And of course, her personal servant, Miauler, was with her. The moment he spotted me, his eyes rounded with panic.

“Perfect timing,” said Nicks. “You can hop on with us. Father just got here to pick us up.” He pointed to an airship.

“Yeah, it really is perfect timing.” I headed inside and stopped one of the crew members. “Hey, where’s Father?”

“He’s on the bridge. Young Master, what have you done this time?”

“It wasn’t me. Blame my sister’s cat-eared slave. And don’t let him on board!”

That little bastard wanted to betray me? Fine. He couldn’t be with Jenna anymore. My bratty sister pitched a real fit, but I rolled my eyes and hurried down the ship’s corridors. When I made it to the bridge, I found my father consulting with the ship’s captain.

“Lord Balcus, civilians are mobbing our ship, trying to flee the capital.”

“Once my children are on board, fit as many people as you can and we’ll set off. Hmm? Leon, is that you?” My father’s eyes lit up when he spotted me, but almost as quickly, his face turned grim. “What did you do this time? I heard they threw you in the dungeon.”

“Sorry, Father, but I need you to lend me your help.”

“Huh? What in the world are you—”

I interrupted to explain the situation, why I’d been arrested and what led to it—including how that creep Miauler had helped. “But if I’m going into battle now, I’d like to have your help.”

My father’s face had paled. I almost felt bad for him. “You really are an idiot,” he said. “No one would blame you for running away—so why aren’t you? You are such a fool of a son.”

The airship I’d given my father was an enormous battleship, capable of truly impressive performance. Its crew was in full command of its operations, too. Of all the people I could rely on, my father was the strongest.

As he debated this, Nicks and Jenna made their way to the bridge, Miauler following behind them.

“Father,” Nicks began in a rush, “Zola and her friends are outside the ship demanding you let them on. She’s got a huge group of people with her.”

Father expelled a sigh and started toward the exit. On the way, he grabbed Miauler by the scruff and yanked him along.

“H-hold on! Let Miauler go!” Jenna protested. “Why are you being so violent?”

Miauler tried to resist, but Father’s grip was rock solid.

“Please, unhand me,” Miauler cried. “I haven’t done anything!”

“You sold out my son. I won’t have you on my ship. You hear me, you useless furball?!” Father roared in anger—the first time I’d ever heard him do it. Boy, was he pissed. He glared at Jenna. “How dare you let Leon’s betrayer onto my ship! Nicks, you stay here on the bridge. Jenna, go to your room and stay quiet. Someone, escort her. Now!”

One of the crew took hold of my sister and pulled her along while my father and I headed for the exit. We entered a cacophony—thousands of people hustled all over the harbor.

Zola waited for us on the dock, her companions in tow. The moment she spotted us, she wailed, “Balcus! Hurry up and let us on board! We need to head for the capital to retrieve my assets from the manor! Understood?”

Without responding, Father sent Miauler stumbling forward.

“W-wait, please! Listen to me—”

“Shut up.” Father unsheathed the sword hanging at his side. The blade whistled through the air and took Miauler’s head off in a single stroke. Father slammed his foot into the demi-human’s lifeless body. Both it and the detached head plummeting through the air.

Zola snapped her mouth shut and cringed. My oldest brother, Rutart, cowered behind her.

“We’re going to war,” Father said. “Rutart, you’ll be taking part. It’ll be your first battle.”

“D-don’t give me orders, you backwoods barbarian!”

I held my tongue.

“Balcus, how dare you!” Zola snapped, barely recovered from her shock. “Do you realize what you owe me for all those years of peace—”

“Hand over Rutart,” Father repeated. “We’re going to war.”

I had never seen him like this.

Zola stomped. “Backwater scum! Arrogant fool! Rutart is my beloved boy! There isn’t even a drop of your filthy blood in his veins. If you want to go to war so badly, send your own useless child!”

Ah. In her fury, she’d blurted out the truth—not a surprising revelation, but still horrifying.

Father, however, relaxed. “I figured as much. Well, that’s a relief. Goodbye, Zola.”

“W-wait!” Zola cried. “I didn’t mean it. Balcus! If you really want an heir, I can always have one for you now. Just help me escape!”

“Sorry, I’m busy.” Father turned and signaled the crew. A squad of Bartfort House’s armored knights came rushing down to the dock. “Escort Zola out of the harbor. And Leon!”

“Yes!” I had always seen my father as a spineless, pitiful man, but he looked pretty badass today.

“Once I get everyone safely back home, I’ll come back to the capital. But I have a question for you—are you prepared for this? Mentally speaking, I mean.” His brow creased with concern.

He hadn’t changed at all. For some reason, that made me happy. Although I felt a bit pathetic for making him worry, I nodded.

“All right. Then you can count on my support. Do things your way. Not that you would listen to me even if I opposed you. Honestly, you’re always full of surprises.”

Thanks, Father. That’s what I’ll do.

I did honestly feel bad for causing him so much trouble. Whether it was in my current life or my previous one, I was always giving my parents grief.

 

***

 

Once I returned to the palace, Minister Bernard rushed toward me with his report. “Viscount, we were barely able to scrape together any of the kingdom’s army. We also have fewer land forces than we hoped. Only about fifty functional airships.”

Frankly, that was more than I’d expected.

“I was able to secure twenty-four ships on my end, including the Partner,” I said. “Oh, crap—”

Another tremor rippled through the ground. They kept getting stronger.

Minister Bernard paled, even whiter than before. “Viscount, be frank with me. Can we win this? I—I need to know whether to evacuate my family.”

“We can defeat the principality, no question. The problem is their Giant.”

I hadn’t known about any second princess in the game, but if this Hertrauda had summoned something this big with another Magic Flute, I suspected it had the same characteristics as the final boss I knew about. If so, we had only one way to vanquish it, and that was to combine the Saint’s power with Livia’s.

Livia could “speak directly to people’s hearts.” Why did she possess such a unique ability, you ask? Hell if I knew. Ask the game devs! Regardless, we needed her. The Saint’s power alone wouldn’t cut it.

Honestly, I still didn’t understand why Marie didn’t seem to know this.

“You truly are amazing,” said the minister. “Well, how about it? Once this is over, will you take my Clarice as your bride?”

I almost laughed, thinking it a joke, but his eyes were entirely serious. Sweat beaded on my forehead. “I’ll, uh, think about it if we win this thing. Right now I’m kinda busy, you know.”

“Yes, true enough. Preparations should be finished soon in the audience chamber. Take a break until we’re ready. We’ve gathered the people you requested.”

The minister guided me to a reception room not far from the audience chamber, where Marie and the others were waiting.

 

***

 

Marie sat in a corner, covered in filth, her once white dress stained and smeared. She hugged her legs to her chest and kept her face buried against her knees. Prince Julius and her other four lovers fussed over her worriedly.

Carla lingered at the edge of the room, watching from afar. Her clothes hung in similar disarray.

When I entered, Kyle dragged his feet over to me. “I heard they arrested you on false charges. You sure you aren’t cursed?”

“If you want cursed, look at your mistress. What happened anyway?”

Exhaustion lined Kyle’s face, but he filled me in. “Mistress confessed she wasn’t the Saint in front of everyone, so her entourage turned on her. Then the temple took her prisoner and threw her in the dungeon.”

“Seriously? That’s kinda hilarious.”

“It wasn’t the least bit funny to me. And she’s been like this ever since.” Kyle paused. “Are they really going to execute her?”

Well, falsely claiming to be the Saint was a pretty serious offense. Of course the temple didn’t want to forgive her. I was impressed Queen Mylene managed to wrangle her out of their grasp.

“The royal family only had the execution delayed. Whether we win or lose, her life is still forfeit,” I said.

Prince Julius glared daggers at me. Turning to Marie, he cooed, “Don’t let Bartfort get to you. It’s okay. We’re here.”

“Shut up,” Marie said.

“Huh?”

“I said shut up! What part of this looks okay to you?! Do you know what’s going to happen? You didn’t even see that monster, but you think we can win? I wish I could be so stupid and carefree!”

“Marie?”

“Get out of here!” she shrieked at the prince. “All of you, out! I hate you all, every last one you!”

Carla rushed over to her. “Don’t push us away, Lady Marie. We’re friends! You said so yourself!”

“That was a lie—obviously,” Marie snarled. “Are you really that dense? No wonder everyone bullied you. I only used you to piss off that annoying background character over there. Otherwise I’d never touch a traitor like you.”

Carla burst into tears.

I clicked my tongue. “Welp, there you have it, your true colors. You were pretty good at playing cute and harmless, I gotta admit. But the cat’s outta the bag now.”

Marie glared at me, eyes filled with hate.

“Bartfort, enough!” Chris snapped. “She’s just exhausted.”

That only made her start in on him, too. “Excuse me? I’m the one who should be saying enough! You act pretty high and mighty for someone who’s useless without a sword in their hands!”

“Wha…?!”

Marie turned her ire on Greg next. “And you—you’re all talk. What’s all that nonsense you spew about ‘actual experience’? You’re totally worthless. And you, purple guy. A disgusting narcissist. Green dude, you give me the creeps. I never know what the heck is going through your head. And finally, you…” She rounded on the prince. “You’re the biggest problem here!”

“Marie? What in the world has gotten into you?” Prince Julius gawked at her, unable to comprehend the personality change.

“Outside your royal title, you have no value at all.” Marie broke out into hysterical laughter. “You’re all a bunch of idiots. You threw away everything—your positions, your honor, even your finances—and you thought it’d make me happy? You’re out of your minds.” Still cackling, she turned toward Kyle. “And you, you annoying little pipsqueak… You’ve got some ego. If I wasn’t kind enough to forgive your nasty attitude, you’d have already been sent back to the slave company. You should be grateful!”

Everyone in the room gaped in horror.

“You should have all been nicer to me!” she wailed. “And you should have listened! I hate people who ignore me and do whatever they want. I hate people who can’t be useful. I hate them, I hate them, I hate them!”

I snorted. “This is pitiful.”

“Shut up! Go jump off a building! You’re the reason I can’t be happy! I demand a refund. Give it back! Give my happiness back to me!”

As she wept, Angie and Livia stepped into the room.

“Leon! You’re all right!” Angie paused. “Uh, what happened?”

“Why is Marie crying?” Livia asked, concerned.

Ugh, just when we’d been reunited, too. I sighed. “Would you all mind leaving for a bit? I’d like to speak with Marie.”

As they filed out, Marie hiccuped and sniffed, alone, until she collapsed. The exhaustion had caught up to her. She immediately fell asleep.

She really does piss me off.

 

***

 

Marie dreamed again.

She saw the day her brother abandoned her on the street, leaving her in tears—a memory from her previous life. She’d skinned her knee and sat on the ground, wailing. She remembered crying herself to sleep.

I really was an idiot. I should have just hurried on home, but I was so stubborn. Wait…how did I end up getting back to our house after that?

The image in front of her blurred, indistinct, but she spotted a boy venturing closer. He was cursing under his breath. “You idiot. If you had the energy to cry yourself to sleep, you should have just walked.”

Her older brother had returned. He scooped her up for a piggyback ride.

That’s right. He came back for me. What a turd. He should have just done that to begin with.

She wanted to berate him for it, but she had tears in her eyes. Her younger self looked so relieved as she slept safely against her brother’s back. Drool dribbled from her mouth, soaking into his shirt. Marie figured he’d start cursing again, but instead…

“Why do you rely on me like this?” He smiled faintly.

Marie pressed a hand close to her heart and squeezed it into a fist. Now she remembered—her brother had a filthy mouth, but he was kind.

Jerk… You shouldn’t have died. Why did you have to die on me?

She remembered the day he passed.

I wanted you to gripe at me like you always did.

When she returned from her trip abroad, her parents had slapped her across the face. They’d run her out of the house as soon as his funeral was over.

I knew that as long as I had you around, I could get through anything. Once you were gone, I was so miserable. Why did you have to die? Bubby…

Although they’d always snapped at each other, she’d been happy with their relationship. She could leave anything to him, and he would do it, no matter how reluctant he was. She took advantage of this, certainly, just like with the otome game she made him finish for her.

But then he died playing her stupid game, and her life went off the rails.

She’d been on an overseas trip with a friend, and when she got back, she learned he had tripped on some stairs and died from the fall. He’d sent an email to their mom before the accident, so her parents knew what she’d made him do—that she’d lied about the trip, about work, about money, all to make him play a game. They grew so cold after that. They didn’t trust her at all.

Marie had never hated her brother, not really. He griped, but he always saved her.

But she couldn’t even remember what he looked like anymore. It pained her.

Please, I need you. Why aren’t you here? Save me…

 

***

 

“Bubby…” Marie was muttering in her sleep.

I sat nearby, frowning. I really couldn’t stop thinking of my little sister whenever I saw her. She’d always done the same thing, dragging me into her trouble and wearing me out. I had the worst luck with women.

“Master, are you sure it’s wise to let her sleep like this?”

I’d brought an empty gun to threaten her with, just in case I needed extra leverage. I glanced over at the table where it sat. “Let her get a little bit more rest. We still have time.”

“You mean you aren’t going to violently shake her until she wakes and force her to spill her guts?”

“Just what kind of person do you think I am?! Don’t answer that. Odds are you’ll call me unfeeling scum or something awful like that.”

“I was going to say you’re an indecisive, incompetent loser, but you were close, I suppose.”

They weren’t remotely close! That made “unfeeling scum” sound like a compliment.

As I glared at Luxion, Marie stirred and sat up. Her eyes were red and swollen, and her hair was a disheveled mess. A terrifying sight to behold.

I reached for the gun, brandishing it. “Good, you’re awake. It’s time for us to have another little talk.”

“No,” she mumbled. “I’m not doing anything until my big brother comes.”

What is she going on about? Is her brain fried? She really is hopeless. “Your big brother? If he’s related to you, he’s definitely a real sleazeball.”

“Don’t make fun of him!” Marie snatched up the closest thing she could and hurled it at me.

I snatched up Luxion and used him as a shield.

“Master, I’ll be sure to remember this,” he said resentfully.

Whatever! I’d get to him later. “You really are a brat,” I snapped at Marie. “I was an idiot for thinking you and my little sister were anything alike. She was way better than you!”

“Shut up! I’m sure your little sister is a crazy idiot, just like you!”

True, she was crazy, and an idiot, and so selfish it infuriated me literally all the time, but Marie had no right to say that!

“She was a hundred times better than you! Okay, fine, her personality sucked, and she liked watching guys get it on. And did I mention her personality sucked? But I’d still take her over you any day!”

She huffed. “Yeah? Well, my older brother was a hundred times better than you. More! Sure, he looked like a background character, too, and he was a complete wallflower, and he had a dirty mouth and a rotten personality and a dirty mouth… Anyway! Don’t diss my big brother!”

This was ridiculous. We were both gasping for breath by the end.

“Why did you become the Saint anyway?” I muttered, composing myself. “If you cleared the game, you should know Livia’s power is essential to win. I can’t believe you went into battle without the royal family’s ship.”

Marie’s shoulders shook. “I didn’t know that! I wasn’t—I mean, my big brother cleared the game for me. But he died right after, and I only got to check the save data after things had calmed down. I only got to see the CGs and videos!”

So she only had a half-assed understanding of the game, but she still tried for the reverse harem ending?!

H-hold up. Wait a minute here. Her older brother cleared it for her? I paused. “The only reason I played the game was because my little sister told me to when she went on a trip. She forced the game on me and made me clear it while she was gone… Don’t tell me, are you…? No way.”

Marie stared at me, jaw agape. “Huh?”

I stared hard at her face. No… No way… I know this face! It pisses me off—it always pissed me off. There’s no mistake! Marie’s my little sister!

“So then you’re my…?” Marie gasped. Then she flung herself at me, arms spread wide. “Bubbyyyyyyy—ouch!”

I bonked her over the head with the butt of my gun. “You, of all people!” I howled.

There was a clamor on the other side of the door, but I couldn’t give a crap—all my attention was on the weasel of a girl in front of me.

“You’re being awfully mean. I’m your little sister! We’re finally reunited!”

“Ha!” I glared. “I swore to myself if I ever saw you again, I’d have my revenge.”

“You’re the one who went blabbing to Mom and made everything so complicated! Do you have any idea how much I suffered after that?”

“You were the problem in the first place!” I hesitated, fury suddenly leeching from me. “No, wait. How were Mom and Dad after that?”

Luxion glanced between the two of us. “It seems to me you two aren’t actually putting on an act. Hmmm. I suppose that means you really were telling the truth when you said this was an otome game you were reincarnated into.”

This little jerk, did he still doubt me after all this time?