TVRP 6

Chapter 6

When the silence continued, my sister muttered,

“So you don’t want to talk.”

I noticed the disappointment and dejection in her voice.

‘Damn it!’

Just imagining my sister lowering her head with a disappointed expression made my chest ache.

In the end, I slowly approached the door.

“Yeah, I’m here.”

“Don’t you want to open the door?”

“……Not right now.”

I glanced at Olga lying unconscious on the floor and broke into a cold sweat.

“I understand. Then can you at least listen to me from there?”

“Mm-hmm. Go ahead.”

“Lily, about what you said to me earlier.”

‘What I said……?’

I remembered shouting that Eden was mine and she shouldn’t touch him, asking if she was trying to take something that belonged to me again, and so on.

My cheeks flushed red with embarrassment and guilt.

“I-I didn’t mean it.”

“Really? That’s a relief.”

There was a hint of laughter in Eloise’s voice.

“You know, Lily, I’ve never once coveted anything that belonged to you.”

“…….”

“If Father really gave you a friend as a present, then I’m happy for you too. There aren’t any children your age in this territory, so our Lily has never even had a friend before.”

Eloise hesitated before adding,

“Of course, friends aren’t things that can be given and received as presents…… Hmm, let’s talk about that properly later. Anyway, what I wanted to say is…… I’m sorry. I’ve always been lying in bed, so I’ve never really taken care of you properly.”

I was startled by Eloise’s apology.

I was the one who had been behaving like a spoiled brat, so why was she apologizing?

The thought made absolutely no sense, and my voice rose involuntarily.

“What do you have to be sorry for?! You can’t help being sick and having to stay in bed! Don’t apologize!”

Eloise had been born with a frail constitution.

She was so weak that she rarely even left the separate residence where she stayed to rest and recuperate.

It wasn’t something she could be blamed for.

Seeing my kind sister blaming herself again made my voice rise without me realizing it.

A brief silence followed.

A few seconds later, her careful, gentle voice came from beyond the door.

“Thank you for saying that.”

There was a hint of surprise in her voice.

Come to think of it, I realized this was probably the first time I had ever spoken to my sister like this.

I had always tormented her and whined at her.

I had taken out all the stress caused by Father’s indifference and the servants’ contempt on my sister.

‘What a pathetic person I was…….’

I instinctively lowered my head as I thought about the past that had continued until only recently.

“I’m really happy right now, Lily.”

Eloise’s voice was slightly excited, as if my words had genuinely made her happy.

Even though it was comfort from someone like me, who had done nothing but mistreat her whenever I felt like it.

“I’d like to see your face…… Could you really not open the door, Lily?”

My sister carefully asked again.

I wanted to face her properly and sincerely apologize for everything I had done.

I really did.

But the timing couldn’t have been worse.

I deliberately turned my gaze away from Olga’s unconscious body and whispered through the door,

“Not right now. I’ll come see you later, Sis.”

“Really?”

There was another bright note in Eloise’s voice.

“I’d be really happy if you came to my residence.”

“……Yeah. I’ll definitely come.”

This was probably the first time I had ever had a normal conversation with my sister like this.

As I realized that we were talking like ordinary sisters, a surge of emotion welled up deep inside me.

“I’m happy.”

Eloise spoke with a smile in her voice.

“I’ll be waiting.”

“Yeah. Make sure you wait for me.”

“Ah, and, Lily.”

Eloise hesitated before adding,

“Um…… About that friend you called a doll. You know people can’t be dolls, right? You shouldn’t treat him the way you teased your sister. Friends are precious.”

“Y-Yeah, of course. I know.”

“That’s my Lily. Well, I’ll see you later.”

Only then did I hear my sister’s footsteps gradually fading away.

I rubbed my reddened eyes.

‘My sister really is too kind.’

Just remembering her warm voice made my heart swell with emotion again.

Could there really be another person in this world as kind as her?

And what had I been doing to someone like her all this time……?

“Waaaaah.”

Even while sniffling, I got to work.

I had to clean up the remnants of mana scattered all over the room.

As I swept up the brilliantly colored fragments, a mournful groan escaped me.

“Oh dear, oh dear.”

‘How many days was that? How many days of my lifespan did I just lose?’

“Sniff. This is really sad.”

Thinking that my second life, which I had only just obtained, had been shortened even a little made me so upset that tears welled in my eyes.

Once I finished cleaning up the remnants of mana, my gaze fell on Olga’s body.

The biggest problem was actually Olga.

What if she woke up and told Father that I had used Mana Explosion?

“Damn you, Olga.”

Why did she have to act like such a bully toward us?!

‘If she hadn’t done that, I wouldn’t have instinctively activated my mana in the first place!’

I was so angry that I kicked Olga’s foot.

She didn’t move at all.

“Is she dead?”

Eden, who had silently approached from behind me like a shadow, muttered,

“Want me to tell you how to dispose of a corpse?”

I glared at him in horror.

“What are you talking about?! She’s breathing perfectly fine!”

“But she took the magic head-on, so—”

“Hey!”

I hurriedly grabbed Eden by both shoulders.

“I told you to watch what you say, didn’t I? I don’t know how to use magic. So just assume that’s the truth!”

“You…… The more I learn about you, the stranger you are.”

Eden furrowed his brow.

“Why are you saying you can’t do something when you obviously can? I heard magic is an extremely rare ability.”

He had a point.

I was only twelve years old.

If people found out that a child this young could use magic, the academy would probably roll out a red carpet and whisk me away immediately.

But I had absolutely no intention of letting anyone discover my ability.

“Listen carefully, Eden.”

I gripped Eden’s shoulders firmly.

“I told you I’d help you escape, right? Somewhere without monsters.”

“…….”

At the mention of escaping, Eden narrowed his eyes.

He still looked suspicious of whether my promise was genuine.

“As you saw earlier, this family is completely insane. Even the head maid has absolutely no sense of boundaries. And that’s not all. My brothers, whom you haven’t even met yet, are even crazier.”

I shuddered slightly as I thought of my eldest brother Edward and my second brother Lawrence.

‘Those lunatics……!’

“What I’m saying is, you’ll never be able to escape on your own. You’ll definitely need my help! But what happens if you get me labeled as a genius mage and I end up being sent to the academy? Then you’ll be all alone!”

I pointed at Olga.

“You won’t have anyone to save you like I did today when people like her start bullying you!”

“…….”

Eden continued saying nothing.

He simply stared at me with his beautiful golden eyes.

Still, he seemed to be listening carefully to what I was saying.

“So you mustn’t tell anyone that I’m a mage. I’m not a mage anyway! Got it?”

A few seconds later, Eden slowly opened his mouth.

“If you insist that’s the case, then I suppose it is. Let’s just say that’s how it is.”

Fortunately, he wasn’t completely clueless.

‘In the original story, he was portrayed as such an emotionless psychopath that I was a little scared of him…… But so far, he’s pretty normal?’

I tilted my head slightly.

In the original story, Eden was described not metaphorically but literally as a monster who didn’t understand emotions.

He didn’t even understand the emotion called love, which was why he simply became obsessively attached to the female protagonist.

‘But the Eden right now…….’

Sure, he was a rude and rebellious brat, but he was still much better than when I had first met him.

Perhaps he had lowered the guard he had worn like armor just a little, because occasionally, he even made expressions like an ordinary child his age.

It was almost as if he had evolved from a wild cat with its claws fully extended into a cat that would cautiously poke its head out whenever someone brought out a snack.

‘Anyway, I’ve successfully made Eden keep his mouth shut.’

Now only the biggest problem remained.

“What am I going to do with her……?”

I stared at Olga lying unconscious on the floor and fell into thought.

Olga was in pretty bad shape.

Her hair had been burned into tangled curls from taking the full force of the Mana Explosion. Her skin was covered in soot, and even the bridge of her nose was turning a deep blue from the bruise.

She looked completely different from the impeccably groomed woman she usually was.

And then…… Oh my goodness.

‘Is that a bald spot on her head?’

Apparently, one section of her hair had been burned away by the explosion.

“Pfft.”

Serves you right. I feel so much better now…… No, wait!

‘I need to clean this up somehow. What am I supposed to do?’

Thankfully, Rossi’s circuit was still intact.

After retrieving the circuit from Olga, I crouched beside her and groaned as I pondered the situation.

I absolutely couldn’t let anyone discover that the magic that had injured Olga was mine.

If that happened, I’d immediately be dragged off to the academy or some research facility and turned into a lab rat.

‘I need to think of something. Quickly.’