SWNOVELXO chapter 223
Chapter 223 – Side Story: Sisters
“How have you been… … No, that would be a pointless question. There’s no way you’ve been doing badly. Right?”
Diana, who was sipping tea, started to cry. Next to her, Nika and Beatrice were quickly filling in what was missing. Normally, Diana’s direct maid would have done it, but since it was my place, it seemed like it was me.
If Beatrice, who also served as the chamberlain, insisted on taking on the role, there was no maid in the Crate household who could refuse it.
“Of course I wasn’t having a hard time, but why all of a sudden?”
“I heard the news. I heard that even the young lady of Duke Eichenhardt Renitus is involved with you?”
“I don’t know what the significance of that entanglement is, but if it was during the summer festival, then yes. We had a fight to decide the order of the free sparring. If it was anything more than that, then no.”
It had been a while since I last saw Kang Yu-na, but seeing her acting so softly made me feel strangely uncomfortable. The only time she acted like that was when she received an 800% increase in bonus.
When I saw Kang Yu-na, whom I met again after 20 years, feeling more familiar than Diana, whom I had known for nearly 20 years, I thought that blood is thicker than water.
“That’s amazing, Mira.”
“what?”
“How can I not say that it is amazing that my beloved younger sister is trying to bring the Duke of Lenitus over to her side, not to mention the Duchess of Agnes?”
“How did you hear me say that it wasn’t like that?”
“No? I thought he was trying to stir things up again because even the Duke of Renitus’ faction was sneaking up on me. I heard that Mira, you were quite close with Lady Eichenhardt during the summer festival.”
“From the beginning, that person was single-mindedly devoted to the Crown Prince. There’s nothing I can do about it. No, if I do this, there’ll be another misunderstanding. Even if there was something like that in the first place, I wouldn’t have done it. So I’ll tell those people to stop talking nonsense and get out of here.”
Diana, who seemed to be thinking deeply about what I said, clapped her hands slightly.
“I see. You approached me to ask me to build a bridge because you are close to the Crown Prince. Then that explains why you and I met. You wouldn’t have been caught by the Crown Prince.”
“Everything is true, but one thing is wrong. He just took me there, saying he had something to talk about in front of His Highness the Crown Prince.”
This was a pretty sharp guess. I nodded.
“He asked me if I could find out what kind of women His Highness the Crown Prince likes. He said it would be okay for me to ask that question.”
“You’re sitting here, talking to me, and my family hasn’t been wiped out yet, so I guess you have a good eye for detail. So, did you ask?”
“I asked. I heard that your ideal type is a woman who is careful, quiet, doesn’t go out on her own, and is faithful to her family without complaining.”
I gave the same answer that Laura and I had given to Eichenhardt. Diana followed Eichenhardt’s response exactly.
“As expected. It seems like you want to block other people from getting their hands on power from the start. I think that’s right.”
No, I was talking about the kind of wife Laura wanted to be. But no one else needed to know that.
Horok, Diana, who was sipping tea again, stared at me intently.
“Are you okay?”
“What’s next?”
“Young Lady Eichenhardt, are you sure you can leave it as is? It’s a very royalistic situation where a relationship that started out as a transaction has completely forgotten its original purpose and has become a relationship where they covet everything about each other.”
“Didn’t I tell you to read some erotic novels?”
When I said this in disbelief, Diana kicked in.
“I’m kidding.”
“You’re joking with the young lady who has been confirmed as the next Duke of the Rennitus family. You really have a lot of guts. Do you have two lives, sister?”
“If something goes wrong, our lovely youngest sister will protect us. The Crown Prince, the warrior, the saint, and the duke’s daughter are all by our side. How could she just sit back and watch her own older sister get dragged away?”
“… … .”
It was an incredibly shameless attitude, but it was difficult to say anything because it was true.
“Well, let’s leave the small talk at that. So have you thought about what you’re going to ask for? Since it’s a wish that grants you anything, are you saving it to use when it’s crucial?”
If it’s a wish ticket that grants anything, it’s the one I received in lieu of a commission fee while carrying out a commission related to Io last time. I had no use for it so I just left it alone, but a good idea just now came to mind.
Since you started it first, you should give it back in kind.
“No, I’m going to write it now. What I mean is—”
“Dongsaeaaa! It’s been a while!”
-Wow, wow, wow!
Someone broke the window and rolled in with a loud noise. It was my little sister Trisha. Diana grabbed the back of her neck and used her magic. The glass shards flying everywhere solidified.
What I was about to say just rolled into my head.
“Little brother! This time I’ll hug you for real!”
Trisha, who had performed a perfect superhero landing, immediately looked for me and jumped at me as soon as I stopped moving.
I easily subdued the brazen intruder, then placed my hands under his armpits and lifted him up like a cat. Trisha’s eyes widened as if she had never been treated like this before.
“Huh? Huh? Huh? What, what! Let go of me!”
Trisha flailed her arms and legs trying to get away.
It’s a ridiculous idea. Even if she’s a tall woman, she’s still far behind me, and the gap in strength is so great that it’s impossible for her to do so.
Diana, who was looking at Trisha, who was being held captive by me, with a pitiful look on her face, said a word.
“How many times do I have to tell you to keep your cool, Trisha? When are you going to grow up?”
“If it’s iron, I’ve already heard of it! Don’t you know how well Kingdom of Heaven is doing? If we keep this up for a few more years, it’ll surpass your top sales?”
Trisha giggled, still shaking.
It was as he said. The gambling house that Trisha had taken over while the owner was gone was doing much better than before. It was so short of space that they had to build four additional buildings at the same time.
“… … What matters is net income, not sales.”
“When was it the other way around? How ugly, our sister Diana.”
Diana bit her lip and looked at him as if she didn’t know whether to praise him or not, then changed the subject again.
“What were you trying to say earlier, Mira?”
“I just remembered that thing about ordering things. Can I say it now?”
“Uh… … Yeah. I’m ready.”
Diana took a deep breath, her eyes looking slightly tense. I snickered and put Trisha down.
“How about sticking with your little sister all day and praising her no matter what she does?”
“… … .”
His face turned ashen.
“Really? No matter what I do, you only praise me?”
“Oh. You can tease me as much as you want.”
Trisha’s expression changed after receiving the answer, like that of a balding man in his fifties who saw a woman under hypnosis. Diana, who noticed that the target had changed, cried out pitifully to herself.
“No! No! Make me do something dirty! Make me do something dirty! That’s better than being stuck with Trisha!”
“Oh, then can I throw away all the erotic novels in your room? Aren’t there a lot of limited editions and out-of-print copies there?”
“… … .”
Diana, who realized that I would never give in, bowed her head sullenly. Trisha sat down next to me with a haughty attitude and put her arm around my shoulder. Diana’s body trembled.
“Ugh… …Kill me… ….”
“What are you talking about, dying! On such a beautiful day!”
Hahaha, Trisha, who was laughing like a fool, suddenly put her hands in her pockets.
“That’s right. Little brother, shall I show you something good?”
“Good thing?”
A pack of cards was held in his hand.
“I learned some skills there. Do you want to try it too? Oh, Diana got all ripped off by me and didn’t speak to me for a while.”
“Hey! That’s—”
“Oh, what a beautiful and upright word. Isn’t that an order given by our youngest daughter to grant whatever she wants? Again, what did you say?”
“… … Proof, Ddenhudeugh… … .”
The sound of this curse came out between her lips. Diana’s eyes burned brightly. Trisha’s lips curled up at the sight. I wonder if she’ll be able to handle the aftermath.
“What do you think, Mira? Want to try?”
Well, he’ll figure it out later.
“I’m fine, so if you’re confident, go for it.”
“Oh? Really?”
“Instead, it’s no fun if you just do it. How about a wish ticket that allows you to grant anything like your older sister?”
“Our youngest has finally come of age! The bigger the stakes, the more fun it is! Let’s go all out!”
“… … .”
Trisha’s fate was obvious as she steadily planted the defeat flag, saying, “Go with all your might.”
I lost my soul to him, and every time Trisha lost, I had to shoulder-crash her with all my might, and he disappeared with a bewildered expression on his face.
Who would dare to attack with such tricks?
If I had just gone with luck, I would have been honest with you, so the odds of winning would have been somewhere around 50/50. However, since you openly said you had learned the skills, you wanted to use them to win, so I had no reason not to use magic.
“You look happy, Young Master.”
“Well, that’s right. How’s Io? Is he doing well?”
“Yes. I heard that he was very sorry that he couldn’t meet you in person because he was in charge of Lady Diana’s upper body escort mission. He said that it would take a week at the earliest before he could return.”
“Tell her it’s okay since I have plenty of time anyway. I’m not coming just for today.”
As he said that, he took out his smartphone from his pocket. Beatrice looked at it and remained indifferent. It was because he had personally made the magic tool and asked to keep it a secret from others.
Beatrice was thrilled when Nika became a succubus and another secret arose. Nika, who couldn’t help but know about the smartphone, kept her mouth shut.
I turned on the screen and checked the chat. The conversation I had with my older sister a few hours before returning to my family home came to mind.
-Hey
-Mom asked when you would come home
-When are you really coming? It’s starting to get hard.
-If you took the money like that, you should have wrapped it up so that he wouldn’t worry and said he wouldn’t come today. Tell him that you’ll be there by next week.
-You son of a b*tch, then at least tell me the results of your date
-You asked me for help, so I poured my soul into decorating it, but now that I’ve seen all the stuff, I don’t need it, right? Huh?
-How many times do I have to say it’s okay? Stop asking.
-You should tell me how good it was, you conscienceless brat.
-What are you trying to say if I just cut to the chase?
-We are still meeting seriously
-Is it okay?
-Oh, then introduce me to him later
-Why?
-I asked how far the progress was made
-This girl is crazy
-o
-o
Looking at the conversation that ended with the Korean vowel symbolizing the middle finger, I realized once again how kind these older sisters are.
“Beatrice.”
“Yes, your highness.”
“Isn’t Trisha a great older sister?”
“yes……?”
While Beatrice was flustered, Nika was quietly holding back her laughter next to her.