Chapter 3

Elaine did not know in what state of mind she had returned to her room. She only knew that she could not keep staying there.

The sound of her heart pounding in her ears felt terribly loud.

She was embarrassed. It was true that she liked Killian and had confessed to him several times, but that did not make the weight of it any lighter.

And yet, the moment those words spilled from her sister’s mouth, it felt strangely as though it had become something trivial.

Even so, she was trying hard not to think badly of it.

Her sister must have said those things for her sake. If Young Master Amerian helped, it would surely be of help.

‘But Killian said he already had my sister in his heart.’

The moment that thought reached her, her chest ached.

“No, let’s not think badly of it.”

She forced herself to say that and soothed herself.

Her sister had truly only said those things for her sake.

But suddenly, the words she had heard from Killian came back to her.

<On the day you confessed to me and left, Cecilia said that to me. She said you were a very good person. So she said she hoped I would reconsider just once.>

<She said you were the kind of person who could do anything for the person she liked. She said that, probably for my sake, you could become any kind of person. So I was deeply moved.>

<That she was the kind of person who could say that much for her younger sister.>

Perhaps because of those words, she might have been twisting things in her own way and hearing them that way even more.

The reason Killian did not like her was because she was not to his taste, not because of her sister. Even if she had been, it would only have been natural for her heart to be shaken by Cecilia.

For some reason, she felt sorry, as though because of those words, her own cowardice, wanting to keep blaming her sister, was rearing its head.

Her sister was a good person. She was someone who always looked after her and stepped in whenever Elaine was in trouble.

<Remember this, Elaine. If your sister cannot raise this family back up, then you, and we, will die having done nothing but repay debts all our lives.>

<……I will keep that in mind.>

<So do not think of it as a sacrifice. Think of it as an investment. If only your sister properly becomes an administrator and catches the eye of those high in the Imperial Palace, our family’s debts can be repaid in an instant.>

<How?>

<Because to those above, an amount that makes us tremble is nothing at all.>

Soon, Elaine shook her head and sat down.

She studied much better in the library, but she could not bring herself to study there. More than anything, she was not that close to Amerian, and her sister was someone who disliked having anyone beside her when she studied.

It might not be like that when she was receiving private tutoring from someone as she was now, but whenever the two of them used the same library, she always heard the same words.

<Um, Elaine. I’m sorry, but could you go do it in your room? I think I’d be able to concentrate better if I studied alone.>

<Ah, okay.>

<Sorry. But you don’t get stressed over grades anyway. Please understand.>

Because her sister would say that and ask to study separately.

And Elaine understood her sister to some extent. Since the expectations their family placed on Elaine were not great, her sister must have been carrying an even heavier burden with a greater sense of responsibility.

It would not do for Elaine to become a hindrance to such a sister when she could not even be of help.

Therefore.

She soon came to her senses and began working on the assignments she had spread out.

Both her sister’s assignments and her own.

Since she was not as good as her sister anyway, she decided to think of it as reviewing something she had already solved once and solving it a second time.

* * *

There was more work than she had expected. By the time she came to her senses, it was already nearly eleven o’clock. Since it was time to go to sleep soon, she tried to get up from her seat.

Knock knock.

Someone knocked on the door, and it felt strange. She had already washed up before studying, so if she simply closed her book, she could go to bed and sleep at any time.

So it did not seem likely to be a servant knocking at this hour.

And her sister was someone who would not come out of the library until dawn.

Unless it was something urgent, her sister always spoke to her only at the Academy. She was that short on time.

“Who is it?”

Elaine asked that and looked at the door.

“It’s me. I wanted to talk for a moment.”

That voice belonged to Amerian.

Suddenly, wondering whether her appearance was fit to receive a guest right now, she hurriedly looked in the mirror. She looked very tired, but not so dreadful.

She draped a shawl over her negligee. The negligee itself was already fairly thick, so there was no chance of anything showing through.

“Please come in.”

After saying that, she walked toward the bed to pull the bell cord.

But the door opened, and Young Master Amerian came inside.

“Where are you going?”

“Ah, I thought I should have tea brought in. I was going to call a maid.”

“Tea? Ah. Yes, that would be nice.”

Suddenly, she felt a little embarrassed, as though while he had only intended to stay a short while and leave, she had unconsciously told him to stay longer.

“Would tea perhaps be inconvenient for you?”

“No.”

She could not raise her eyes, because it was obvious he was only saying it politely. Perhaps because of the embarrassment, her face felt hot.

He was sweeping his eyes over the assignments she had been looking at.

“So you really were doing your sister’s assignments in her place?”

“……Yes.”

“The one below doesn’t seem to be mathematics.”

“The others still have a bit of time before the submission deadline. So I’m looking over those as well.”

As she said that, she asked the maid who had come to the door to bring tea. Then she closed the door and headed toward where Young Master Amerian was seated.

He was actually holding the assignments she had done and reading them, as though he found them interesting.

“You study rather well, better than I expected. Did you say you were in Class 1 too?”

“Yes.”

Valeros Academy was the highest-level Academy in the capital. It was a place every noble living in the capital wanted to enter, but it was not somewhere one could get in through wealth alone.

The entrance exam for Valeros Academy was famous for being difficult, so unless one was quite capable, one could not get in.

Her sister was an unprecedented genius who had received a perfect score on the entrance exam.

As for Elaine, she had barely managed to get in by the skin of her teeth.

And as for classes, they were divided by rank, so Class 1 was the class where those with fairly good rankings were gathered.

Elaine, too, had only been able to enter the lower end of Class 1 thanks to the effort she had put in while doing her sister’s assignments in her place.

“I see. So you must put in quite a lot of effort too.”

Amerian carefully examined the assignments, then took out a fountain pen and began marking something.

“May I write down the wrong parts for you?”

“Yes, I would appreciate that.”

At her words, he soon corrected the wrong parts with his fountain pen and smiled faintly.

“I happened to hear something earlier.”

“For what…… reason are you saying that?”

“That you have liked Killian for a long time.”

“……Ah.”

“Don’t misunderstand. Cecilia said it to me because she was worried about you.”

At those words, Elaine nodded. Then Amerian swept his eyes over her as though examining her and continued speaking.

“As you know, Cecilia is working very hard for the family.”

Young Master Amerian’s expression was very gentle. It even seemed somewhat similar to how her father looked whenever he was proud of her sister.

“But it wouldn’t do for you to become a hindrance to Cecilia, would it?”

For some reason, those words were not wrong.

“Yes.”

“Right, then for your sister’s sake, you’ll have to work a little harder, won’t you?”

“……Yes.”

It seemed Amerian had come to see her in order to say this. At her answer, he smiled gently and met her eyes.

“How admirable.”

“Thank you.”

“So, since Cecilia should not worry too much about you either, how about not dating? At least until Cecilia graduates.”

“Pardon? Ah……”

It seemed there were two warnings. One was not to become a hindrance to her sister, and the other was to stay away from his younger brother, Killian.

Once she understood those words, they tasted bitter.

“Yes.”

“Don’t take my words too much to heart.”

“No.”

He kept looking at her until she raised her eyes, so she had to force herself to smile as though she was all right and meet his gaze.

With a very satisfied expression, he smiled and said to her,

“There are many men in the world better than Killian.”

“……Yes.”

“Perhaps, rather than someone the same age as Killian, a young nobleman who is a little older might suit you much better, Elaine .”

“Thank you for your concern.”

After saying that, he soon rose from his seat.

“Please tell the maid I’m sorry.”

“It’s all right.”

“Then.”

After saying that, he left the room at once. As though his business there was done.

* * *

The next morning came, and Elaine had to go to the Academy with her sister.

On the way there, her sister had to read a book inside the carriage, so ordinarily Elaine would have been careful not to make the slightest sound.

But for some reason, because of what had happened yesterday, she could not hold back her words.

“Sister.”

“Is it important? I’m a little busy right now.”

Her sister said that, cut her off, and did not take her eyes off the book.

Perhaps because of what Killian had said to her, Elaine suddenly became curious about what state her sister was in.

“Who do you want to marry later?”

At that, her sister opened her eyes wide as though surprised and looked at Elaine with a strange expression.

“You really have it nice. To be able to worry about such pointless things in your graduation year.”

“…….”

“How nice it would be if I could live as comfortably as you.”

Her sister said that as though very tired, then turned her gaze back to her book.