DPAA 60

chapter 60

Finally, the day of the tournament quarterfinals had arrived.

Among the remaining students, all were burning with fierce determination—but there was one woman who remained completely unbothered.

Her silver-blue hair shimmered in the sunlight, flowing beautifully like high-quality silk.

Beneath her rounded forehead, her eyebrows stretched gracefully, framing deep, dreamlike blue eyes.

A well-defined nose, lips as red as blood, and flawless skin that made passersby sigh unconsciously at her beauty. Who was this peerless beauty?

Of course.

It was Kanis Escliff, my…

“Could you stop that monologue that sounds like something I’ve heard somewhere? If you go any further, you’ll get hit with a copyright issue.”

“Huh? Did you just read my mind?”

“I didn’t read it—I just heard you say it out loud!”

“Oh, I see.”

“Hey.”

I managed to cover Mei’s mouth, who was murmuring a strange monologue while looking at my sleeping self.

Still, her flushed cheeks refused to calm down.

What’s this? Are sisters always like this?

Are younger sisters naturally supposed to revere their older sisters like this?

……No.

In my previous life, I only had a younger brother, but I also had friends.

…Wait.

A sudden thought struck me, and I stopped in my tracks.

This is a romance fantasy, isn’t it?

Exactly.

This place looks like reality, but it is undeniably the world of a romance fantasy novel someone wrote.

And what is a family like in a romance fantasy?

They either hate you to the extreme or obsess over you to the point of being grotesque.

That’s right. Most families in romance fantasy take such forms.

Look at the Duke and Duchess, and my younger brother Claude.

No matter how much someone hates a daughter or sister in real life, who would try to kill them?

Even my parents in my previous life weren’t that extreme.

But in this insane romance fantasy world, such things happened constantly.

For the same reason, my younger sister Mei doesn’t find me… grotesque, but she cherishes and adores me to an unusually intense degree!

I see. Got it completely!

Of course, older brothers in childcare-themed stories tend to fall in love instantly when their younger sisters lightly tap them on the arm saying “Pa, pa!” and start imagining marriage in their heads (with various plotlines in between). Compared to that, it’s natural that a family member directly saved by me would like me.

This, my friends, is called a cliché.

It sounds gross, but in the story, it’s wrapped as a fairly beautiful familial love.

And that’s part of the fun of reading it.

Though I’ll probably never see it again.

…Or maybe?

“Where are you going? There’s still an hour until breakfast.”

“Oh.”

I glanced at Mei’s face and shrugged.

“I just wanted to check something.”

“Uh.”

“Uh.”

Hoping to find a romance fantasy (specifically a childcare-themed one), I went to the library and ran into Bella.

“Oh, hey.”

“…What?”

Bella stepped back slightly, wary of me.

I stood there silently, surveying her from head to toe.

Crimson hair. Freckled, completely ordinary face that could hardly be called pretty.

A library totem, huh.

And the first ordinary student I had encountered at this academy.

The one who had approached me as if to pick a fight.

I had paid her back later, so no grudges remained.

“Why else would I be in the library?” I said.

“I mean… not that.”

“Huh?”

I tilted my head. I had thought she would either pick another fight with me or avoid me entirely.

“…Never mind.”

Her tone was a little brusque.

But people express things nonverbally too, right?

I looked at Bella, who did not avoid my gaze.

“Well.”

“Well?”

“I’m sorry… for everything.”

And then something unexpected happened.

“Huh?”

I let out a nervous laugh, and Bella’s face flushed.

“After bothering me so much, now you’re scared of the backlash? Afraid I’ll block your future or get revenge?”

“No, that’s not it.”

“Right, I mean, once you become Duke Escliff, crushing a fallen noble who’s no different from a commoner is nothing. You might even get rid of us without anyone noticing.”

“-That’s not it!”

“Then?”

Bella sighed and answered my question.

“I just felt ashamed of my actions.”

Her lips pressed firmly together.

I crossed my arms and waited for her to continue.

The story resumed.

“No matter how late you awaken to it, achieving high grades on a written exam is impossible without effort. So I… I thought you—”

She hesitated briefly, then clenched her eyes shut and said:

“Even though you illegally enrolled in the magic department, with no talent and a bad head, I thought you wouldn’t even try to study!”

“What?”

“But after the last incident, I realized you’re not that kind of person.”

She clenched her fists and raised her head.

“For a notoriously underperforming student like you, surpassing even Dean, there must have been relentless effort. I think I misunderstood you.”

“You really want to apologize, huh?”

Do I have to be insulted face-to-face too? I said coldly, and Bella looked a bit flustered.

“No, that’s not it.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter.”

I chuckled.

“I don’t really care.”

Handling someone who annoyed me wasn’t difficult.

But there was no particular reason to do so.

Annoyed. Past tense.

Up until now, before running into Bella here, I had no feelings toward her.

Moreover—

No one has ever apologized to me before.

In my previous life, there were plenty who wronged me. Some even committed crimes that could have taken my life.

Yet, none of them had ever apologized first.

It’s the same in this life. I just handled them without suffering, but I never received a sincere apology.

“…Really?”

“Yeah.”

I nodded and added:

“Also, I think you’re misunderstanding something.”

“What?”

“I didn’t become good at studying because of effort.”

I gave a smug smile to the confused Bella.

“I’m just naturally smart.”

It’s thanks to skills, but still, a naturally sharp mind.

“Liar!”

“I’m serious. I just hid my power.”

“Ha, but that doesn’t make sense. Why such an inefficient thing?”

“Simple.”

I raised my index finger and declared:

“Because it’s cool.”

“?”

“Just kidding.”

“???”

Bella looked like her whole face was covered in question marks, but it didn’t matter.

My gaze naturally returned to the library desk.

“What’s that?”

“…Oh, pomegranate juice.”

Bella explained.

“I brought it to drink here. Sugar is important when studying.”

Then she glanced at me and asked:

“…Do you want some?”

Pomegranate juice.

It had been a while since I drank something like this. Last time in the capital, it had been just tea and desserts.

Maybe she was trying to give me a poisoned bottle to tease me…

Nope.

The bottle was half empty.

And every time she spoke, I could smell pomegranate. Clearly, she had already drunk half.

But I tested her.

“Drink it first, then I’ll drink.”

“You’re suspicious… fair enough. Fine.”

Seeing her indignation, Bella reluctantly agreed.

Honestly, anyone would be suspicious, right?

I expected her to refuse out of annoyance, but she really drank the juice in front of me.

After drinking about three-quarters, she handed the bottle to me, doing nothing suspicious.

That was trustworthy enough.

Even if something went wrong, it wouldn’t be a big problem. Unless it was fatal, I could just use recovery magic.

Without hesitation, I chugged the juice.

“…Whoa.”

I grabbed Bella by the shoulders.

“Why—why? It wasn’t bad—”

“It’s delicious!”

“Huh?”

“Like StXbucks taste!”

Indeed. While the desserts and juices in the Crocus Empire are good, they lack the punch of modern Earth flavors.

But this juice… was delicious!

Tasted just like something from a beverage shop on Earth.

If I had to call it, it was revolutionary.

“Where did you get it? Which shop? The capital?”

“Well, um…”

Bella rolled her eyes at my rapid-fire questions and answered:

“I… made it myself.”

“!”