SRC 3

Perhaps flustered by my blunt remark, Liam’s face flushed slightly.
I thought he’d be used to flattery like that since childhood, but apparently not.

That kind of innocent reaction… hmm, should I give him some bonus points?

“Olivia, don’t tell me you’ve fallen for Liam?”

Emma’s voice instantly turned icy. If I said yes, she looked ready to execute Liam on the spot.

“N-no. I’m just saying he’s handsome because he’s handsome.”

“He’s just a guy with a decent face and build. Don’t you dare fall for him so easily.”

No matter what, there was no way I’d fall for someone who was not only a candidate to become my brother-in-law but also the Crown Prince.
Still, I obediently nodded.

More than that, I almost felt sorry that Emma’s evaluation of Liam amounted to nothing more than “he looks decent.” Since he’d secured the position of friend rather than rival, it seemed he would have to put in far more effort to be recognized as a man in her eyes.

“Why am I just ‘decent-looking’? Do you have any idea how rare a man like me is in this empire?”

Liam protested, clearly displeased, but Emma didn’t even entertain it.

“Olivia, don’t fall for just anyone. Got it?”

So Liam counted as “just anyone,” huh?
It was a little shocking, but there was no way I could shake my head in front of Emma, who was burning with determination to get a clear answer.

“Okay. I understand.”

Right now, I was too busy focusing on finding the perfect brother-in-law for my sister rather than worrying about my own love life.

Out of all the candidates, I would choose the one who suited her best—make her happy and improve my own fate while I was at it!
That was my life motto.

When I glanced sideways, Liam was wearing an expression that clearly said he had no idea what was going on between us.

Even if Emma referred to him as “just anyone,” he was still technically a brother-in-law candidate, so I supposed we should get along.

“Please take good care of my sister.”

When I suddenly bowed politely despite having looked at him so suspiciously earlier, Liam blinked in confusion.

“W-what… I’ll be the one… asking for that?”

Thankfully, he wasn’t a terrible candidate for brother-in-law.

Emma looked at the two of us with satisfaction.

“From now on, call him ‘Senior Liam.’ And if you need anything, just ask him.”

“Why are you deciding that instead of me?”

“So what? She’s my little sister. Aren’t you going to be nice to her?”

“Well… it’s not that I won’t…”

They bickered, but they seemed quite close.

I narrowed my eyes, trying to gauge the nature of their relationship.

“Now that I look at her, your sister’s tiny as a bean.”

“Liam!”

Deeply offended, I promptly buried myself in Emma’s arms.

Sure, I might be smaller than Liam, but I was absolutely average height!
Just because I was shorter than my sister didn’t mean I deserved to be insulted as a “bean”!

Instead of apologizing, Liam looked amused by my teary-eyed protest.

“Well, if I’m going to treat your sister well from now on, we should start by getting close.”

After unnecessarily pondering my appearance, he arrived at an even more unnecessary conclusion.

“I guess I’ll call you ‘Beanie’ from now on. You’re so small it’s hard to see you properly.”

“Why are you crushing the poor girl’s spirit? I said be nice.”

“You think she’s small too, don’t you? And this is my way of being nice.”

“No matter how small she is, ‘bean’ is a bit much, isn’t it?”

Uh, Emma. That’s not exactly defending me…

“Hey, Beanie. Don’t tell me you don’t like the nickname?”

“How could I possibly like it?”

When I snapped back indignantly, Liam’s smile only widened.

“Seeing how lively you are, I guess I should definitely keep calling you Beanie.”

“Emma!”

I clung to my sister, but Emma just tilted her head, seemingly convinced by his logic.

“Is this… what getting closer looks like?”

“No. It’s not.”

“You’re the only person in this academy I call by a nickname. You should be grateful. Beanie.”

“This can’t be happening!”

Despite my wail of despair, the merciless preparatory bell rang to signal the start of class.

“We should get going. Have a good first class, Olivia.”

Apparently having decided to drop the “bean” issue, Emma left with Liam, smiling.

Before leaving, Liam ruffled my bangs with his large hand.

“Study hard, Beanie.”

“I’m not that small!”

Ignoring my protest, the two headed toward the second-year classroom.

As I turned around, fuming, I noticed that all my classmates were staring at me—and at the two disappearing figures.

Being the center of attention so suddenly was embarrassing, but I smiled and waved.

“If you want to be friends with me, now’s your chance, everyone.”

A bean was a bean, and this was this.

Shouldn’t I make the most of having a talented sister with a talented friend?

Spreading my arms wide like a cult leader recruiting followers, I smiled magnanimously.

Thanks to those two, I instantly became famous in my class.

“To think you’re close with the Crown Prince… Your sister really is amazing.”

“Right? I’m very curious myself how those two ended up being friends.”

Siana seemed fascinated by Emma and Liam’s relationship.

Meanwhile, I was puzzled about why, unlike in the original story, they weren’t rivals but friends instead.

Maybe they resolved their rivalry last year and decided to become friends?

Then would it be my job to pave the road from friends to lovers?

Deep in thought, I was heading to the elemental magic building when—

“Hey, Beanie. Heading to another building?”

Someone grabbed the top of my head from behind.

I didn’t even need to turn around to know who it was.

I wanted to respond with a thoroughly displeased expression, but since he was holding my head in place, I couldn’t turn around.

“Let go of me.”

“Oh? Feisty, Beanie?”

“If you stop using that insulting nickname, I’ll treat you properly as my senior.”

“Oh dear. I can’t. It’s a sign of my sincerity.”

“You should show that sincerity to my sister.”

“I have to show it to you so you’ll pass it along to her. My sincerity.”

Sigh.

Silently, I let out a long breath.

Trying to win my sister’s heart by getting on my good side was a fine strategy.
But the method was completely wrong!

Wasn’t he just trying to look close to me by using a weird nickname?

“Even if you don’t do this, I’ll make sure to tell my sister you treated me with the utmost care and sincerity.”

It was a lie, but I blurted it out anyway just to free myself from his grip.

“Make sure you do. If Emma finds out I treated you carelessly, I’m a dead man.”

Did he like my sister enough to die for her?
Then why on earth was he bullying her little sister like this?

“Then you shouldn’t call me strange nicknames.”

“That’s unrelated.”

I could practically feel his determination to keep using that nickname.

I gave up resisting.

“At least let go of my head while we talk.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

Because of his rough handling, the hair I had neatly tied up was sticking out in all directions.

When I untied the ribbon to fix it, my unruly curls spilled down to my shoulders.

“You don’t resemble Emma at all, do you?”

Liam muttered as he watched me tie my hair.

“Yes, I hear that a lot. My sister’s perfect, and I’m ordinary, so we don’t look alike.”

I was used to comparisons between us.

It never made me despair.
Emma was the heroine. I was just an extra. I accepted that as natural.

“No, that’s not what I meant…”

“It’s fine. I hear it often.”

Like someone who’d just made a verbal mistake, Liam covered his mouth with his large hand.

He glanced at me sideways, as if checking whether he’d hurt my feelings.

To show I was perfectly fine, I shrugged nonchalantly.

“Anyway… that’s not what I was trying to say.”

Tilting my head in confusion, I was met once again with his large hand landing on my carefully arranged hair.

“You probably have your own charms too. So don’t get discouraged.”

“I was never discouraged.”

As I moved to swat his hand away, he fortunately withdrew it first.

“Really? You’re quite a tough bean.”

“Then could you please stop calling me that? Hey—where are you going?”

Without so much as a proper goodbye, Liam waved a hand behind him and disappeared.

“Even the way he walks away is perfect…”

Beside me, Siana murmured dreamily, completely smitten.

It was true—pulling off that kind of arrogant behavior wasn’t easy unless you had the looks of a male lead.

Because of that cursed nickname, I constantly felt the urge to remove him from the list of brother-in-law candidates, but I had to admit—his face alone deserved credit.

“We’ll be late for elemental magic, Siana.”

No matter how much I glared at his retreating figure, he wasn’t going to stop calling me “Beanie.”

Having accepted reality, I decided to hurry along instead.