The Villainous Older Sister Who Loves Her Younger Sister Aims for the Guillotine 98

98: The Eldest of Three Sisters

I was on pins and needles.

There were no visitors expected today.

So, even though the lord’s mansion also served as a public facility, choosing the entrance hall as our meeting place was a perfectly reasonable decision.

It should have been.

However, holding hands with my sister… was attracting attention.

Guards were stationed for both security and ceremonial purposes.

Servants, especially maids, also passed through the hall. While I had instructed them to avoid the area when there were official visitors, it was currently peacetime.

Of course, I could easily order them to disperse and stop staring.

However, doing so would be like admitting I was doing something I didn’t want to be seen doing.

The reason the guards and servants didn’t gossip openly was because they were all aware of the Vanderwaals’ sharp hearing.

That was precisely why I couldn’t tell what they were thinking.

――Both of us in casual attire, matching straw hats with different colored ribbons… holding hands.

We looked like… close sisters.

…Ciel, hurry up and get here.

As if in answer to my prayer, I heard her voice, slightly low and pleasant.

“Thank you for waiting, Lady Adelheid, Lady Leticia.”

Ciel’s calm demeanor was complemented by her gray dress.

It wasn’t plain; it was… demure.

Her hairstyle was the same as usual, her hair neatly tied back and tucked into her hat, instead of her usual maid’s cap.

The long ribbon around her simple, cylindrical gray hat, the same color as her dress, was white.

The subtle frills and ribbons on her dress were also white, lightening the heavy gray.

The dress was cinched at the waist, subtly accentuating her ample bosom while remaining modest and elegant.

The folded parasol, also gray, added to her dignified air.

Her only accessories were a small brooch at her neckline and the silver hairpin that always held her left bangs in place. Like Leticia, the high quality of the materials made up for the lack of embellishment.

As expected of “Tailor.”

I, unable to bear the current situation of holding hands with my sister in front of Ciel, who looked every bit the elegant, composed lady, asked hesitantly,

“…Aren’t you going to… say anything… about us holding hands?”

Ciel tilted her head slightly.

“I was admiring your dedication to the ‘setting,’ maintaining the act even before leaving the mansion… Is there something wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong.”

I nodded emphatically.

I decided to fully embrace Ciel’s interpretation.

“We’re playing the roles of sisters. Ciel is the eldest, I’m the second, and Leticia is the youngest. We’ll use our real ages. Perfect.”

“Yes. I will be playing the role of the eldest sister, with the two of you as my younger sisters. Since our appearances and hair colors are all different, it will be because you two are my half-sisters. Is that acceptable?”

With the amateur Leticia in tow, we had kept the setting simple and realistic, to minimize the risk of inconsistencies.

“Yes.”

“Understood.”

We could have had Ciel play the role of a servant, as usual, with Leticia and me as the daughters of the house…

But I wanted to give my capable assistant a break.

She rarely took time off.

I trusted Ciel completely, so I had given her permission to take vacations at her own discretion.

One of the reasons her absences were irregular was because a noble’s schedule ebbed and flowed.

The workload of managing the territory varied greatly depending on the season.

However, it was mostly routine, and as long as there were no problems, I could leave it to Judith, the Acting Lord.

Ciel had also taught me that a good territory, a good noble family, was one where you could assemble a team of competent subordinates and delegate most tasks, except in emergencies.

That was probably true.

Of course, making the final decisions and setting the overall direction was my job.

If I made a mistake, if I steered us in the wrong direction, many people would die… and I would eventually pay the price with my own life.

That was the burden of the head of a noble family.

And another reason Ciel’s vacations were irregular was for security.

After all, she was the “Assistant Head of the Family,” arguably more important than the head.

She managed the Vanderwaals’ “shadows,” and her absence would be a noticeable vulnerability.

While I was supposed to be the only one who knew whether she was on vacation or simply working elsewhere… even I didn’t always know.

However, whenever I needed Ciel, whenever I wanted to consult with her, she was always there.

So, I suspected she wasn’t actually taking any time off.

When I subtly brought it up, she simply smiled and said, “I’m using my time freely. Please don’t worry.” I was swayed by her smile, but I still didn’t sense any actual rest from her.

When I asked what she did on her days off, she simply said, “I stroll through the city… various things,” and ended the conversation.

Like with Leticia, I wanted to know what those ‘various things’ were.

However, even though—or rather, because—we had known each other since I was born, she deserved some privacy.

Despite seemingly working non-stop, Ciel never showed any signs of fatigue or decreased performance. She always assisted me and obeyed my orders with an impassive expression.

…Perhaps she had been taught that this was happiness.

She had been trained to serve and obey her master.

Just like I had been raised as the future head of the family.

――I wondered… what kind of adult she had wanted to be.

That thought suddenly occurred to me.

I was born the eldest daughter of a ducal family and raised as the future head. I hadn’t chosen it.

But Ciel was a commoner. While she was the daughter of servants, she had other options.

Our family had provided her with a home and… a job after she lost both her parents in an accident, out of consideration for her parents, who had served us faithfully—that was the official reason.

And yet, a seven-year-old girl had entered the service of a newborn ducal lady and lived like that for over twenty years.

Like family.

…A girl who had lost her family.

…I wondered… what she truly felt.

“Lady Adelheid?”

Ciel peered at my face.

I didn’t doubt her loyalty.

The days Ciel spent raising and teaching me were undoubtedly her duty, her job… but I believed it was more than that.

――But it was also true that it wasn’t just affection or fondness.

I no longer had the option of releasing her, my most trusted subordinate… Not as the ‘head of the ducal family.’

My death would set her free.

Though Ciel might not even want that.

“Is something wrong?”

I felt like… she was concerned.

I supposed it was understandable, considering I had been lost in thought more often lately. Being guided by this dubious fate, rereading the [Text Log] in my mind, anxiously awaiting the next [Choice], wondering how the [Scenario] would unfold… it was natural for her to be concerned.

“No. I was just thinking… that outfit suits you, Ciel.”

“You flatter me.”

Ciel bowed slightly, her expression unchanged, acknowledging the compliment.

She looked like a noble lady incognito.

“Now then, Lady Leticia, we are to be daughters of prominent members of the ‘Idex Trading Company.’ You don’t have to remember the details. Just remember that you’re the daughter of an important person in that company. We’ll handle the rest.”

“Okay. I’ll try not to be a burden.”

We were playing the roles of young ladies connected to a trading company that secretly worked with the Vanderwaals.

Or rather, a company we secretly owned.

A ‘secret purse’ the kingdom was unaware of.

Officially, Idex Trading Company had no connection to our family.

The goods they handled, their supply routes, their distribution networks—nothing was directly related to the ducal family.

While it was ostensibly self-sufficient, with the ducal family’s financial backing, they didn’t have to worry about minor losses, and since they knew the policies the lord would enact, they were never truly scrutinized. It was only natural that such a company, even with a somewhat conservative approach, would be successful.

Of course, they paid their taxes to the territory, and, indirectly, to the kingdom; a clean company with nothing to hide.

The clean funds generated by this clean company funded the… less than clean… activities of the “Coldhearted Vanderwaals.”

Currently, the Vanderwaals’ foundation was solid enough that even if I, the current head, was sent to the guillotine, and my sister, the first in line, inherited the title, things would be fine.

This inspection would probably be my last chance to see the territory that supported it.

We left discreetly through the back entrance, seen off by the guards.

There was no one around.

As we emerged from the shadowed alleyway behind the mansion into the sunlight, Ciel, walking ahead, stopped and opened her parasol.

Then, she turned to us and smiled.

“Let’s go then… Adel. Leti.”

“Yes, Big Sister Ciel!”

Leticia replied cheerfully, adapting quickly.

‘Ciel,’ ‘Adel,’ and ‘Leti.’ Those were our aliases for this trip.

Ciel was using her real name, though.

…I hesitated for a moment…

…and then gently took Ciel’s hand with my free hand, the one not holding Leticia’s.

“A-Adel?”

“…Big Sister… Ciel?”

Ciel blinked.

Her expression remained unchanged, making it impossible to tell what she was thinking.

After a brief pause, as if choosing her words carefully, she spoke, not with her usual crisp, professional tone, but with gentle warmth.

“…There will be more people on the streets from here on. It’s best not to hold hands.”

“Ah… right.”

“Yes… you’re right.”

I released Ciel’s hand, and Leticia released mine.

I wasn’t sure if she was simply following the ‘eldest sister’ setting, but Leticia seemed more obedient when Ciel spoke than when I did.

I looked down, feeling a slight sense of… inadequacy.

“…But… I’m glad.”

I looked up, and Ciel, holding her parasol, had turned and started walking. I couldn’t see her expression or tell what she was feeling when she said those words.

Leticia and I followed, side by side.

I would follow fate.

Today was partly my job as the head of the family, conducting an inspection incognito, and partly my job as the villainous sister, bringing fate’s scenario to life.

But today’s ‘setting’…

…of three sisters—the eldest with no blood ties, and the two younger half-sisters… a setting that hinted at a complicated family history…

…if it held even a sliver of truth…

…I couldn’t help but wish… that we could simply spend the day as… sisters.