Chapter 1: Cute Little Sister

It seems my younger sister has been stood up by her fiancé.

Apparently, he has a sickly childhood friend.

What kind of situation would require him to rush over to a childhood friend of the opposite sex?

Are there no servants?

Can an amateur who isn’t even a doctor be of any help by rushing over there?

It is completely incomprehensible.

My sister, it seems, has been quietly waiting the entire time during their promised tea appointments—

I did tell her not to say unnecessary things, but she must still assert what needs to be asserted.

At this rate, it is the same as our family being made a fool of.

If we stay silent, it will only encourage that idiot of a fiancé.

Something must be done—

First, I had my sister write down the dates she had been stood up and the excuses her fiancé gave.

Since she keeps a diary, it wasn’t particularly difficult.

This is terrible.

At the tea gatherings held at his house, he almost never shows up.

Whether it’s meeting at a café or in the park…

At first, he would at least come to give an excuse, but recently, there are days when he doesn’t even do that.

As a human being, how is this acceptable?

I ended up scolding my sister’s maid without thinking.

“Why did you keep something like this a secret?”

Since she accompanies my sister to his house and to cafés, shouldn’t she have reported this?

“I am terribly sorry!”

The maid turned pale and bowed her head deeply.

This maid is the third daughter of a baron’s family.

If she were dismissed for a trivial reason, her life would be over.

“She is not at fault. I was the one who asked her to keep quiet—”

My sister desperately tried to defend her maid.

“Yes, that’s right. You are the one at fault.”

It seemed my sister hadn’t expected those words, as she looked shocked.

“Because you didn’t handle this properly, she ended up being scolded by me.

If Father were to learn of this, she might be dismissed.”

I presented the reality to her without coddling her.

“N-No… that can’t be. I don’t want that. She works very hard.”

“The one most at fault is, of course, your fiancé.

But if you had consulted me immediately, her position would never have worsened.

In other words, it was your misjudgment that made things worse.

You must never think that enduring it yourself is the solution.”

I softened my tone at the end as I explained it to her.

“Older Sister…”

My sister’s eyes filled with tears.

“If you are to marry and become the lady of a household, you cannot remain passive.”

“Yes.”

“Then, could you go inform Father that I have something to discuss with him?”

I called out to my sister’s maid.

I considered asking my own maid, but that might have frightened her into thinking she would be dismissed.

I wanted her to calm herself as she walked down the hallway.

“If you reflect on this, I will speak on your behalf so that there will be no need to dismiss her.”

I said it clearly so that my sister’s maid could hear as well.

“Older Sister—!”

As I patted my sister’s head, I was already thinking about what to do with that insolent fiancé who dared to act so disrespectfully.