Chapter 2: Because I Am Her Sister, I Worry

After some time, an invitation for a tea gathering between fiancés arrived for my sister.

Apparently, the handwriting was not his.

It was likely meant to show his parents that he was properly maintaining the relationship.

In reality, even our parents had believed that a good relationship was being built.

On the day of the gathering, I forced myself to accompany her.

“Older Sister, I can properly say what needs to be said myself.”

My sister spoke in her usual carefree manner.

If you had been able to say it until now, it wouldn’t have come to this, would it?

At my intimidating presence, my sister’s maid flinched and her shoulders trembled.

My own maid looked at her with sympathy.

The servant who greeted us at the entrance looked surprised.

Well, I am an uninvited guest, after all.

“I am aware that this is a breach of etiquette.

However, it seems my sister has been left alone six times, so I came to keep her company.”

When I said that, the servant bit his lip.

He is showing far too much emotion.

Are the servants of this house not properly trained?

“Is your young master present today?

If he is, then I will take my leave.”

When I provoked him like that, the servant silently guided us to the salon.

So, he has stood her up again today.

And the servants are complicit as well.

I sat down on the sofa and quietly waited for the tea to be served.

When I casually checked the sweets, it seemed there was only enough for one person.

How stingy.

Normally, one would prepare extra.

Which means, this is a deliberate slight.

The young master has no intention of coming, and this is a message telling her to realize that they have no intention of properly hosting her.

Very well, I shall accept this declaration of war.

I stopped the servant who was about to leave after serving the tea.

“I apologize for intruding so suddenly.

I would like to offer my apologies, so could you call either the head butler or the lady of the house?”

I smiled sweetly while applying pressure to the ill-mannered servant.

“That is… a bit too much…”

His arrogant attitude vanished, and he became flustered.

“A bit too much—what exactly?

Are you trying to say it is improper?

Then what are you, allowing a foolish son to neglect his fiancée while she is here?

Do you think you can mock our family and get away with it?”

I raised my voice from deep within and berated him.

As the heir of my family, I have been educated to bluff when necessary.

In contrast, my sister was raised freely and has not adapted well to noble society.

Father, Mother, this is a failure in education.

I was once scolded by my own fiancé for acting as her shield like this, saying it would not be for her benefit.

That is why this must be my last act of interference.

My maid let out an exasperated sigh, while my sister’s maid looked flustered.

After waiting for a while, the head butler arrived.

I signaled to my maid, and she handed me a sheet of paper.

I placed it on the table in a way that the head butler could read it.

“These are the dates and times your young master neglected my sister, along with a list of his excuses.

It seems he has quite a special relationship with his childhood friend, does he not?”

The head butler excused himself before picking up the paper.

“Also, I apologize for this extremely uncouth act, but these are the gifts my sister has received.

Do you truly believe that this alone is sufficient to preserve the dignity of an engagement?

How appropriate is this as a noble’s budget?

If your household finances are in such dire straits, we may have to hesitate in sending my sister to marry into your family.”

I handed him another sheet.

It listed the gifts exchanged for birthdays and seasonal greetings.

Perhaps such things are acceptable in childhood, but they were nothing more than bouquets and sweets.

If they were carefully prepared flowers or fashionable sweets, that would be one thing.

Or if they matched the recipient’s preferences.

However, there was no such consideration.

They were at a level unsuitable for a noble young lady of marriageable age.

“I wonder whether your master is aware of this or not.

Either way, it is a problem, is it not?

May I expect that this will be resolved in the near future?”

Without specifying whether I meant “this situation” or “the engagement,” I fixed my gaze firmly on the head butler.

It seemed my resolve—that I would not allow things to continue unchanged—had been conveyed.

If the engagement were to continue and my sister’s treatment worsened, I would absolutely not permit it.

The head butler asked, “May I keep these documents?”

“Yes, that is why I brought them. Please, go ahead.”

They must be properly reviewed, after all.

Trying to escape by saying “a woman’s virtue is to be tolerant” will not work.

I glanced at the sweets on the table.

The head butler followed my gaze and turned pale.

“You served this?”

They were simple sweets, delicious enough for a family to enjoy.

But there was no sense of hospitality toward a guest.

“Th-The young master said… that since she is already family…”

The servant stammered an excuse.

“Please do not be too harsh on him.”

I interjected from the side.

Even I thought how improper I was being.

The servant’s face brightened for a moment, thinking I was helping him.

As if that were the case.

“This is your failure in supervision.”

I tapped the head butler’s chest lightly with the tip of my folded fan.

The color drained from his face.

After all, I had just struck at his pride.

And he had no room to argue.

“Well then, shall we take our leave for today?

Even if we wait, the one we are waiting for will not appear.”

I spoke gently to my sister.

I ordered the trembling servant to bring our carriage to the front entrance.

One should not give orders to another household’s servants, but he ran off as if fleeing for his life.

“The reason I, her older sister, came today is because if our parents were to get involved, it would become a serious matter.

Please understand that this is an act of leniency and a grace period.”

I made sure to impress this upon the head butler.

“Also, please properly discipline your young master so that he does not resent this and treat my sister even worse.”

“Older Sister, you’re so strong…”

My sister looked at me with sparkling eyes full of admiration.

How adorable.

“You should not be impressed at a time like this.

Ideally, this is something you should have handled yourself.”

Even as I scolded her, she cheerfully replied, “Yes!”

I truly worry about her.

Later, his parents came to our house to apologize.

The so-called childhood friend was apparently the child of a former servant.

That servant had passed away.

When they tried to keep the daughter as a servant, she refused to accept it, insisting that she would eventually become the lady of the house.

So they drove her out.

However, the young master took her in… and apparently spent the budget meant for his fiancée on her.

It seems that his personal attendant and some of the servants sympathized with her.

How absurd.

This has nothing to do with our family.

Even if they say they will separate him from the servant’s daughter, this is a household that failed to notice the issue until we pointed it out.

Father apparently refused, saying, “There is no way I would entrust my precious daughter to such a family.”

That is what Father told us over dinner regarding his discussion with their parents.

It is truly a ridiculous story.

“I am glad we noticed this in advance.

Just like in novels—she would be pushed into an attic room, given meals worse than the servants, have her jewelry stolen and sold off, and the mistress’s room would be used by the mistress’s lover.

That is exactly what would have happened.”

As I spoke, unable to suppress my anger, Mother admonished me.

She told me to rest assured, as Father would never allow the engagement to continue.

Although it has been decided that the engagement will be broken off, it cannot be done immediately.

The terms must be discussed.

They must properly compensate for emotional damages and for the time my sister has wasted.

We must also inform in advance those who introduced this match, as their reputation is at stake.

There is much to be done.

Later, at the academy, my sister was apparently about to be struck by her former fiancé, but she struck him down instead.

Despite her cute appearance, she had admired knights and managed to obtain permission under the pretext of learning self-defense.

She has now reached a level far beyond mere self-defense.

The old knight who taught her apparently said, “Since you cannot participate in matches anyway,” and taught her practical combat techniques.

Not refined one-on-one lessons, but techniques meant to defeat an opponent.

As a result, during her girlhood, she came to resolve everything with her fists and intimidation, never refining the verbal sparring expected of a noble lady.

Even though I warned our parents not to spoil her, they casually said she could simply marry into the countryside where her nature would be accepted.

This is the result.

If you strictly order someone who acts before thinking to “not use your hands,” “behave like a proper lady,” and “do not intimidate others,” this is what happens.

It is too extreme in either direction.

The engagement was successfully dissolved, and now passionate proposals are arriving from families that produce marquesses and knight commanders.

My fiancé said something outrageous like, “Your sister is tougher than you, so worrying about her is pointless.”

Even if she is strong, she is still naive about the world, so of course I worry about her.

Honestly.