Chapter 13

“I’m sorry for acting out like that.”

Will’s eyes, as he sniffled and blew his nose with a tissue, were completely red.

He sat down on the plush sofa in the guest room and blew his nose.

“And… thank you very much, Second Prince Dylan.”

I blinked in mild surprise at Will, who bowed his head lower and lower, looking nothing like the delinquent he had been earlier.

“You don’t need to call me a prince. Let’s see. Ah, I’d love it if you called me Big Brother.”

“Eh… is that alright?”

“Of course.”

Will looked slightly bewildered as the prince smiled cheerfully. Leaning forward eagerly, I chimed in, too.

“Um, erm…”

“Hm?”

“B… Big Brother Dylan…”

Muttering the words with a clumsy motion of his mouth, Will turned bright red and muttered in a tiny voice, looking away shyly. The prince smiled with satisfaction.

Wait. What about me?

Expecting the same, I stared intently at Will from right beside him, but Will, his face still flushed, averted his gaze and turned his head away to dodge me.

Heyyyyy!

“Bell, are you perhaps still being disliked?”

“Eeeh!”

As I slumped my shoulders in defeat and drooped my head, the prince let out a hearty laugh.

“Will, do you hate your older sister? Is that it?”

“…Not really.”

“Then why are you being so standoffish?”

“She followed me into the bath.”

“Ah, oh…”

At Will’s blunt reply, it was my turn to stammer. To be fair, that was pretty creepy… Maybe it was inevitable that he ended up hating me.

“Ha, this is rich. Ah, it’s about time for me to be heading back.”

“Eh? Is it already that time?”

When the prince casually stood up, I stood up as well to prepare to see him off.

As expected, it felt like he was leaving earlier lately. Though maybe it was just that things had been abnormal up until now. He must be gradually taking on more work…

“Big Brother, thank you very much.”

“Let’s play together again sometime.”

“Of course!”

When the prince patted Will’s head, Will narrowed his eyes in apparent comfort.

Hey, that’s my job.

As I scowled in frustration, the prince looked over at me and chuckled.

“Does Bell want me to do that, too?”

“That’s not what I meant!”

“Besides, I’m technically older than Bell, you know?”

That was true. The prince was one year older than me. In sibling terms, we were practically born in the same school year.

“Come here, then.”

The prince beckoned with a light wave of his hand. It seemed he had noticed me itching for it.

I didn’t have any older siblings in either my past life or this one. At most, I had only ever daydreamed about what it would be like to have an older brother or an older sister.

The prince as an older brother, huh…

Feeling a mixture of embarrassment, I approached timidly and lowered my head, whereupon he gently stroked my hair.

“Big Brother…”

“Hm? Big Brother is nice, too.”

The prince said that and smiled happily.

There was absolutely no way such a gentle older brother existed.

“Well then, Bell, Will, see you later.”

“Yes. I’ll be waiting!”

“Please take care.”

After bowing properly and watching the prince depart, I stepped out through the front entrance as well.

“Hey, wait!”

“I’ll be right back! There was something I forgot to tell the prince!”

Ignoring Will’s voice calling out in protest—which sounded remarkably different from when he spoke to the prince, causing a slight pang of sadness—I hurried off to catch up to him.

“Um! Your Highness!”

“Eh? Oh, Bell?”

Hearing my voice, the prince turned around looking surprised. He was right about to board the carriage. Talk about cutting it close.

“Your Highness, thank you very much.”

Straightening my slightly disheveled dress, I bowed deeply, very deeply. This wasn’t something I could talk about easily in front of Will, which was why I had chased him all the way here.

“It’s about Will. To go as far as you did for him… That was something I, as his older sister, should have done.”

Thank you so much, I added, bowing my head once more. I could sense the prince reacting with a flustered, hesitant air.

“Bell, raise your head. I didn’t really do anything.”

“That’s not true. Will smiled so happily, and that’s all thanks to the prince.”

When I said that with utmost seriousness, the prince gave a faint smile.

“I merely prompted him to step out of his room. Whether he becomes a proper head of the house depends entirely on Bell.”

“On me?”

“Because I can’t face Will the way you do.”

The prince’s expression clouded over momentarily.

“Even if I can draw out his sympathy, I can’t charge straight at him like Bell does. You’re the only one who can give him genuine affection.”

“That’s not—”

Ignoring my words, the prince gave a slow shake of his head.

“Facing someone is surprisingly terrifying. Especially with Will.”

It felt like looking at a reflection of himself, the prince muttered with a self-deprecating smile.

“Trying to understand a person sounds simple, but it takes an immense amount of effort. Bell, you’re amazing.”

I hadn’t done anything grand enough to warrant such praise. I had no awareness of doing anything as profound as “facing someone,” and I wasn’t even sure if I actually understood him. It was just that when I thought about what I could do, the only thing that came to mind was staying close by his side.

Because that was all I could do. Both now and in my past life.

“Really, I’m not as amazing as you make me out to be.”

“Bell is younger than me, right? Sometimes I almost mistake you for being older.”

Though a cold sweat broke out on the inside, I somehow managed to maintain a smile on my face. I only hoped it didn’t look too strained. The prince was far too sharp.

“Well, anyway, I am truly grateful.”

“Hmm, in that case, I suppose I should collect a reward.”

“A reward?”

When I tilted my head in bewilderment, the prince offered a refreshing smile. It was the smile he wore when something good had happened.

“Pet me.”

“Eh?”

“My head. Pat it.”

As the prince dipped his head with a go ahead, I stood there utterly baffled and at a loss. His soft-looking, golden locks swayed gently in the breeze.

Pat the prince’s head…?

“Come on, hurry. I’ve had a lot of things to memorize lately, so I’m tired. I want some praise.”

“Erm, but to pet the prince’s head…”

Seemingly losing patience with my hesitation, the prince grabbed my dithering hand and guided it straight onto his own head.

A fluffy, soft sensation accompanied by an astonishing smoothness under my palm. Lustrous, with a pristine halo of light beautifully framing his hair.

O-Oh…this is…!

As I became utterly absorbed in patting his fluffy hair, I could tell the prince was smiling. No, this texture was dangerously addictive.

“The prince’s hair is so silky and fluffy.”

“Silky and fluffy—which one is it?”

He didn’t even have naturally curly hair, so why was it so delightfully soft…? My own hair was naturally curly and unruly, so I was deeply envious.

Bell is fluffy, too.

“Eh, really?”

“Yeah. It has a soft wave to it, and it’s cute.”

Since I paid a lot of attention to my hair, I never neglected its care. Being complimented on that made me genuinely happy.

“Ah, thank you very much.”

As I expressed my gratitude with a flushed face, the prince smiled gently. As expected, the prince really was a gentle older brother.

After I had enjoyed the texture of the prince’s hair for a little while longer, his attendant finally spoke up with a hurried tone.

“Um, Prince Dylan…”

“Ah, right. Sorry.”

“I’m so sorry! For keeping you.”

I bowed my head to both the prince and the attendant. The attendant looked startled by my bow, offered a hurried nod of his own, and quickly retreated a few steps back.

“See you later, Bell.”

“Yes. Please be careful on your way back.”

I kept my head bowed deeply until the prince’s carriage disappeared entirely from sight.

When I opened the front door of the mansion, Will was standing right there.

“Eh, Will? Were you waiting for me?”

“Not really.”

He had his arms crossed in the exact same stance he’d had when we saw them off. He actually had a rather cute side to him, didn’t he?

“Are you… Big Brother Dylan’s fiancée?”

Delighted that he had initiated a conversation, my cheeks softened into a smile, though I internally shed tears over the vast gulf in status between the prince and myself.

“That’s right. For now, anyway.”

“Huuuh…”

Will fell silent after that, lowering his gaze.

Tilting my head in confusion because I couldn’t read his intentions, I closed the mouth I had half-opened, figuring that being too persistent might annoy him. According to the prince, I was apparently a rather fussy older sister, after all.

“You’d better marry Big Brother Dylan, for real.”

“Eh?”

Why? The words I was about to add were cut short by Will’s voice.

“If you do, won’t Big Brother Dylan become my actual brother?”

“…Ah, yeah.”

Weren’t you getting a little too attached?

I couldn’t help but feel terribly envious of the prince.

His expression was smiling, but I was pretty sure his eyes were dead inside. I felt like my precious younger brother had been stolen away by the prince.

“Besides…”

When Will started to say something more and I looked up, I saw him turning bright red and fidgeting shyly.

So cute… Keep fidgeting like that forever.

If I said that out loud, I’d probably be murdered on the spot, so I kept my mouth shut.

“Besides, I think Big Brother Dylan will make Big Sister happy.”

“…Hm?”

“Big Brother Dylan is kind, so I’m sure he’ll cherish Big Sister.”

Whether from embarrassment, he muttered those words out defensively while his eyes grew moist with unshed tears.

My own eyes grew moist with overwhelming emotion.

“Eh? Are you thinking about your big sister?”

“Shut up! It’s not like that! I just want to become actual brothers with Big Brother Dylan…!”

“Yes, yes, go on, say it again?”

Big Sister, Big Sister, he’d called me!

I didn’t care about the honorifics at this point. More than anything, I was just overjoyed that he had acknowledged me as his older sister.

“You’re so annoying!”

Turning completely bright red, Will hurled an insult at me, bolted up the stairs, and slammed his bedroom door shut with a loud bang.

“Is he a tsundereeeee?!”

Left standing in the entryway, I writhed in a mixture of embarrassment and triumph all by myself for a good while.