TNDOBM 04

Chapter 04

“Then, if I forgive you, will you grant me one favor?”

“A favor, you say……?”

“Before that, I have a few questions.”

Cecilia cleared her throat with a soft *ahem*, and brought up ‘that question’ which had been on her mind since the previous night.

“Are you unmarried?”

“……Pardon?”

He blinked, looking taken aback, as if doubting his own hearing.

But when Cecilia urged him with a look, without any correction, he hastily nodded.

“Y-yes!”

“Then, do you perhaps have a secret lover that your parents oppose?”

“Huh? No!”

“Or a fiancée promised by your families?”

“N-no, not at all.”

“What about a childhood friend you’ve harbored feelings for since you were young?”

“I don’t have one, but…….”

*’Oh, passed.’*

“Um, why are you asking……?”

“Just curious.”

Having finally finished her questions, Cecilia nodded with satisfaction.

After all, no matter how desperate you are, you shouldn’t covet what belongs to another, right?

Her mind now at ease, Cecilia revealed her desire without hesitation.

“What I’d like to ask is that you, young master…….”

“You can call me Rien.”

“Yes, Rien. While you’re in the territory, I’d like it if you could spend time with me like this sometimes. I didn’t get to attend the Academy, so I don’t have any friends.”

*’To think that I, who was a graduate student, don’t even have a middle school diploma here.’*

The anger at her shortened academic credentials flared up again, even more than the fact that she had no friends. But seeing his blank face, her anger subsided as if by magic.

“I-is it really alright…… for me to do that?”

“Of course.”

Fortunately, he seemed to take her request, which would serve as the foundation for Plan D, quite positively.

Cecilia, who had responded enthusiastically to his hesitant demeanor, hastily added.

“Ah, and Rien, you can call me by my first name too.”

“……Lady Cecilia.”

She had thought he might be a bit flustered by her somewhat rash suggestion. But he seemed even more moved than before.

As if this was his first time building a friendship with someone or calling them by their name.

*’Could this man also have no friends?’*

With such a fragile personality, it was highly likely he hadn’t been able to make his mark among the high-nosed nobles of the capital.

She gave him a pitying look.

Whether he knew he’d earned her sympathy or not, Rien, who had been murmuring ‘Cecilia’ once more, quietly lifted the corners of his mouth.

It was a smile just as beautiful as Dais’s, just as she had expected.

—

The morning in this other world was still clear and bright.

Unlike the previous days when she’d forced herself up while mulling over the failures of her plans, Cecilia woke up with a light heart.

All thanks to Plan D, which was proceeding smoothly.

*’I’ve managed to become something like a friend for now. Since the weather is nice today, how about I suggest we go on a picnic?’*

And if she used the excuse of returning the favor for treating her hand, it would be even harder for him to refuse.

After finishing her light preparations, Cecilia picked up the bundle of fur from under her bed.

“Charles, you’re coming with me today too, right?”

For reference, the name ‘Charles’ she gave the cat was taken from a respected scientist.

Charles seemed to have an evolved intelligence worthy of his namesake, and replied with a short “Mew~” as if he understood her.

“Then let’s stop by the kitchen first and…….”

“Are you planning to go next door again?”

“Ah! You scared me!”

An eerie voice suddenly cut in.

Startled, Cecilia whirled around.

Melanie, who had been standing like a ghost beyond the half-open door, offered a slight bow and strode in.

“Miss, as I’ve told you before, it’s dangerous to get close to a man of unknown identity!”

“Rien isn’t dangerous.”

“Goodness, you’ve already exchanged names? Really, you weren’t like this before.”

“That’s because of the fever…….”

Cecilia’s voice trailed off sheepishly.

[Miss, you’ve been a bit strange lately…….]

[Well, to be honest, I think my memory has become a bit hazy since I was ill.]

When Melanie, who had been watching Cecilia closest of all, noticed something odd and asked, that was the excuse she had given.

[Huh? Then rather than this, we should call for the High Priest immediately!]

[No! I don’t want to worry Father any further. My memory will get better gradually. Okay?]

Her earnest plea seemed to have worked quite well, as Melanie couldn’t refuse her request to keep the secret.

However, she seemed unable to get used to her master’s 180-degree change in behavior.

Melanie, unable to hide her bewilderment and concern, soon shook her head.

“You can’t go today anyway.”

“……Why?”

At the shocking words, Cecilia dropped Charles from her arms onto the bed with a soft *thump*.

“The young master returned this morning. The Marquis has ordered you to attend the luncheon, so you must start preparing now.”

“……Young master?”

There was only one person Melanie would call ‘young master’.

That was Cecilia’s only brother and the heir to the Verberdin family, ‘Knox Verberdin’.

In other words, Cecilia’s older brother.

Cecilia’s face crumpled, for a different reason than before.

*’An older brother.’*

The language patch, a basic passive skill of possession, was thankfully in place, but the memories were not.

Moreover, when she possessed Cecilia, Knox was away in the capital, so she had never met him even once.

In other words, she had absolutely no idea how to act towards her own brother to be considered ‘Cecilia-like’.

*’It doesn’t seem like they had a bad relationship.’*

Cecilia pulled out a letter that had been discarded in the desk drawer.

Her only connection to him was a single letter sent from the capital.

<I heard you were quite ill, so I’m sending you some painkillers that are popular in the capital these days.>

She had heard that just before she possessed her, Cecilia had been seriously ill.

Seeing that he worried about her even from afar and sent a letter and a gift, he must care for his younger sister quite a bit.

You know, the handsome and capable older brother who dotes on his sister, a common trope in romance fantasy.

However, the enclosed painkiller had a horrendous taste, as if it were a mixture of all sorts of foul medicinal ingredients.

Cecilia shuddered at the memory of that horrifying flavor, which she couldn’t seem to forget.

Anyway, perhaps this wasn’t such bad news.

*’He could become an ally like Melanie.’*

Of course, that was on the condition that she didn’t get caught not being the real Cecilia.

“We’re going to be late at this rate! Let’s change your clothes right away.”

Melanie, having checked the time, quickly rolled up her sleeves.

In the end, Cecilia was changed from her comfortable dress into a proper one and made her way to the dining room, dragging her long skirt along the floor.

Before she could even compose her anxious heart, filled with worry and anticipation, she came face-to-face with the person in question as soon as she reached the entrance.

“Cici!”

A man with a noble appearance, as if he were a divine creation beloved by the gods of mythology, waved his hand, his green eyes crinkling softly.

His golden hair, as warm as the spring sunshine, sparkled so brightly that he could be recognized from a hundred miles away.

Cecilia quickly sized him up and greeted him cautiously.

“Hello. ……Brother.”

Having lived as the confident firstborn daughter in her previous life, this was a rather difficult title for her.

Cecilia wrapped her arms, covered in goosebumps, and forced a gentle smile.

*’This should be close to how the usual Cecilia would act.’*

But contrary to her expectations, the man’s fine features hardened seriously.

Knox closed the distance with his long legs in an instant and grabbed her cheeks, tilting her face up.

“You… surely you’re still not sick, are you?”

His expression was so full of concern that Cecilia reflexively waved her hands.

“No! Thanks to your concern, brother, I’ve made a full recovery.”

“But…….”

The man’s brow, which furrowed as his voice trailed off, showed no signs of relaxing.

*’As expected, he must be a sister-con.’*

A brother who dotes on his younger sister.

Wasn’t that something more legendary than a unicorn?

[Hey! Big trouble! Come to my room right now!]

[Cut the crap and get lost. You’re just gonna ask me to turn off the lights again.]

[I’m telling you, it’s really a big deal!]

[Ugh, what!]

[Close the window for me.]

[Please, just drop dead.]

She easily recalled conversations with her real younger sibling.

*’That’s the reality.’*

Just when she was thinking this only added to the credibility of the ‘book possession’ theory.

“No matter how I look at it, your head doesn’t seem to be fully healed.”

“Huh?”

She snapped her head up at the low mutter she heard near her ear.

*’What was that, did I mishear?’*

It sounded like he even clicked his tongue…….

“I’m sorry, Cici. It’s all my fault.”

“……Pardon?”

“I’ve been diligently praying to the gods to take away your hopelessly empty head. But I didn’t mean for you to become this strange.”

“…….”

“Oh, could it be that the medicine I sent back then had gone bad?”

“……You mean that medicine you sent with the letter?”

“Yeah. I did choose the worst-tasting one, but it wasn’t poison, you know.”

*’What is this? Give me back my romance fantasy brother.’*

Cecilia looked up at him with a bewildered expression, like a raccoon that had lost its cotton candy.

Knox still wore a sweet smile as he grabbed her head, turning it this way and that.

“Um, brother? My head hurts…….”

“That’s unfortunate.”

“So, I’d appreciate it if you’d let go of my head.”

“Yeah, let me find the injury first.”

“I told you, I’m all better.”

“No, you’re not. With that cringey title and that tone of voice, there’s no way you’re in your right mind.”

The way he tilted his head was quite beautiful, but to Cecilia, who had grasped the reality, it no longer appeared that way.

Having cooled down considerably, Cecilia twisted her trembling lips in irritation.

“Take your hands off me, you lunatic.”