The Villainous Older Sister Who Loves Her Younger Sister Aims for the Guillotine 113

113: The Carriage Ride Home

“—Yawn…”

As we left the city and the carriage traveled at a steady pace along the smooth road, the gentle rocking motion made me sleepy, and I stifled a yawn.

While I was only with Ciel and Leticia, it was still a lapse in composure, unbecoming of the head of a ducal family. I was getting careless.

My bandaged right hand felt better than yesterday but still throbbed slightly.

As an older sister who had protected her younger sister, it was a badge of honor.

But as the head of the ducal family, it was also proof of misconduct.

“Elder Sister, are you sleepy?”

“Well… yes.”

I hadn’t been sleeping well since the first night.

Leticia hadn’t let me.

Having my adorable sister next to me in bed made me want to watch her.

Leticia was a sound sleeper. She tossed and turned a bit, but I thought it was a sign of good health.

However, her movements—rolling over, almost crossing the line I had drawn down the middle of the bed… then rolling back—were bad for my heart.

I was worried that if I fell asleep, I would unconsciously roll over and hug her.

Perhaps I should have just gotten a separate room, admitting defeat and accepting my weak will. But then, how would I explain it to Ciel?

――“I’m afraid I might hug my sister in my sleep, so please prepare a separate room for her”?

Even a non-villainous sister would know that wouldn’t work.

So, I had decided to share a room and even a bed with my sister, as befitting female relatives, while avoiding excessive intimacy.

I endured with an iron will, limiting my observation of my sleeping sister, closing my eyes to rest, occasionally jolting awake, my heart pounding with the fear that I might be hugging her, calming myself by looking at her face or her back.

It was no wonder I still felt sleepy after such fragmented, shallow sleep.

“Elder Sister, Elder Sister.”

“What?”

I scowled and glared at my adorable sister, who had called me twice in that cute way.

My sleepiness fueled my irritation, and I managed to achieve a truly impressive glare.

“Here.”

“…What?”

I genuinely didn’t understand, so I asked again.

That was a good display of curtness.

However, I still didn’t understand what she was offering.

“You can lean on me. Like I did with you in the carriage on the way here.”

I still didn’t understand what my sister was saying, why she was being so adorable.

Lean on her? On her shoulder?

I couldn’t help but look at Ciel. Help me.

Ciel smiled faintly.

As always, Ciel was reliable—

“Why don’t you rest for a bit?”

—No?!

Why wasn’t my trusted assistant helping me maintain my distance from my sister? I was trying so hard to be disliked!

I mentally complained, conveniently ignoring the fact that I hadn’t given her any specific instructions, not even an explanation.

And what was with Leticia’s inexplicably high favorability towards me?

This unreliable fate… The official scenario wasn’t working!

Come to think of it, I had done several things that might earn me her affection: defending her after she tripped at the Ceremony of Recognition, giving her dance and riding lessons, and rescuing her at the tavern yesterday.

But I had also put her in a fireplace-less attic room, made sarcastic remarks, and been generally strict with her. I had been mean.

“Um…”

I felt a pang of loneliness, realizing I was alone in this.

Well, Ciel had always been on my side—and surely, she still was.

And… perhaps… Leticia too…

――Even so.

I was Adelheid von Vanderwaals.

The [Villainous Sister] of [Moonlight Liberium].

I had decided to play this role.

I had decided to walk this path.

I had decided to be the nuisance in my sister’s love story.

I had decided—to fulfill my role as the villain.

I steeled my resolve.

I sighed dramatically, a pointless, villainous affectation, as a prelude to sarcastically rejecting my sister’s kind offer, and took a deep breath.

“—Oof.”

…Oof?

Leticia pulled me towards her, her arm wrapping around me.

The momentum made our heads bump together.

Leticia gently smoothed my long, loose silver hair.

My eyes met my sister’s—short blond hair, the same blue eyes as mine, and a smile seventy times more adorable than I could ever manage.

Our faces were so close that our cheeks almost touched.

“Please, Elder Sister… it’s just family, so you can relax and rest.”

How could I relax?

The sheer impact of her closeness made me close my eyes reflexively.

…Just family.

In the darkness behind my eyelids, I repeated her words.

Ciel was like family to me.

Was Ciel also family to my sister?

And was I… also family to my sister…?

Even so…

I tried to say something…

I tried to gather the remnants of the sarcastic remark I had intended to make…

But with my sister so close… I couldn’t.

I murmured, my current limit,

“…Push me away if I’m bothering you.”

“Okay. I mean, no, I won’t.”

I actually wanted her to push me away.

…I couldn’t bring myself to break this embrace.

“I would never think of Elder Sister as a bother.”

She didn’t have to say such kind things.

No matter how mean I was, how many sarcastic remarks I made, my sister kept sending me ‘messages.’

That she wasn’t my enemy, that I could relax around her.

…That she wanted to be close.

But I was her enemy. Her antagonist.

I couldn’t stop.

This world was the stage of [Moonlight Liberium].

I had arranged the encounter with Konrad in town.

Louis had been at the herb garden I chose because Sonia was there.

And it would have been difficult not to encounter Felix, since we were both in charge of the joint training exercise.

And I had a sister.

I had known about her existence for more than three years before we met, and it had come to pass.

That was proof that fate existed in this world.

What would happen if I abandoned my role?

There was a possibility a ‘replacement’ would be found.

That person might torment my sister.

Not the lukewarm, mostly harmless ‘meanness’ of a typical romance story villain, but true malice.

The [Capture Targets] were all prominent figures.

They held positions that could attract unwanted attention, jealousy, and resentment.

I couldn’t see into people’s hearts. Not even the “Coldhearted Vanderwaals.”

I was my sister’s enemy.

Only by being her enemy could I be her ally, as fate dictated.

This position allowed me the greatest control over any malice directed towards her.

Leticia didn’t say anything more; she simply leaned against me.

Our shoulders, our heads, touched, supporting each other like meshing gears, finding a comfortable position.

As if it were the most natural thing in the world.

As if we had always been this way.

I discreetly relaxed my shoulders—

—and I could feel my sister relax against me.

Even a subtle shift in my posture hadn’t gone unnoticed, with her so close.

But perhaps my sister had also been tense.

She had been acting as if everything was normal, as if she were at ease.

…As if…

My sister was incredibly cute.

Her gestures were national treasure-level adorable. Her words were so cute I wanted to record them for posterity. Her heart was as pure as a saint’s.

Just like a [Protagonist] sent by fate.

But my sister was just a girl.

Seventeen years old. Who had lost her mother and lived her life, struggling, striving to survive.

Even if everyone else forgot, I mustn’t.

Even if all the Capture Targets could lean on her, I mustn’t.

I shouldn’t be like this.

I had to help her.

I, of all people.

Because I was her older sister.

I had lived for more than ten years without even knowing she existed.

And even after learning about her, I had only offered indirect support for three years.

I had turned a blind eye to her hardships, deeming them necessary for the scenario, without even checking if she was truly suffering.

I, who had unknowingly—and even knowingly—been complicit in the fate that hurt my sister, had a duty to follow the fate that would bring her happiness.

Or perhaps it wasn’t duty.

I simply felt… that it was what I should do.

――Because I wanted to be worthy of the title ‘Big Sister.’

“…Elder Sister.”

“…Yes?”

I listened to my sister’s soft murmur, my eyes still closed.

With our heads touching, her voice seemed to resonate directly within my skull, seeping into my heart.

“I… like this. I wish we could stay like this forever.”

“…I see.”

――Leaning on each other.

If that was what Leticia, the protagonist, desired, then, just for now…

…until Eustasia’s short summer ended.

After one more major romantic event, the scenario would rush towards its conclusion.

And the player, the audience, would think, I wish they could have spent more time like that, relaxing.

And after reaching the end of the story, following the protagonist’s perspective, they would think, Despite everything, I’m glad it was a happy ending.

The villain’s death was like a pebble by the roadside.

What the reader would remember was surely the final confession and what followed.

In the context of the story, it was like reaching the last page, tracing the final sentence with your finger, closing the book, closing your eyes, looking up, and reflecting on the story, its past and future.

I wouldn’t be there.

But that was fine.

As long as there was a happy ending.

――The summer sun in northern Eustasia, not yet at its peak, felt pleasant against my face through the carriage window.

With my sister leaning against me, my eyes closed in the bright darkness, I felt myself drifting off to sleep.

Even the vibrations, which would be uncomfortable for those unaccustomed to travel, lulled me to sleep.

And in the carriage ride home, between dream and reality…

Leticia gently took my hand…

And I couldn’t bring myself to pull away…

In fact, I think I intertwined my fingers with hers…

However, as that was absolutely unacceptable behavior for a villainous sister, I crushed the memory, along with the lingering sensation in my fingertips, deep within my heart.

-Volume 2 – End –