Reincarnated as the Heroine’s Big Sister, but My Little Sister Fell for Me Instead - Chapter 11

The upperclassman’s name was Cyril Berna.

I heard about it from Lian three days later. She said it as soon as she came to the library, so I looked up from my documents.

“He’s a second-year. Light attribute. He was the top scorer in last year’s evaluation exam.”

“Did he tell you that? Himself?”

“He told me when I asked.” Lian pulled out a chair and sat down. “He’s very capable, but not intimidating. He’s a gentle person.”

“I see.”

“Do you know him, Elder Sister?”

“I know his face. I’ve never spoken to him.”

Cyril Berna. Like Edvard, he was one of the romanceable targets in the game. The sincere, amiable type who listens well to others. Not a malicious person.

“Did he talk to you again?”

“Today, in the cafeteria.” Lian said while taking a book out of her bag. “He said if I ever had trouble with my magic studies, I could consult him.”

“And?”

“I declined.”

I looked up.

Lian was looking at me. “Because I have you, Elder Sister.”

“…I think I might be inadequate, though.”

“That’s not true.” Lian opened her book. “I don’t have any troubles.”

She offered no further explanation.

I didn’t press further. Or perhaps it’s more accurate to say I couldn’t press further. When Lian verbalized her reason for refusing Cyril, I had a vague sense of where those words were headed.

I opened my documents.

For a while, the two of us read in silence. It was cloudy outside. I’d been thinking since morning that it might rain.

“Elder Sister.”

“What?”

“About the experiment… is it still on hold?”

My hand stopped.

The interference experiment. The matter Lian had volunteered for last month, which I had left on hold.

“I haven’t spoken to Edvard about it yet.”

“Please talk to him.” Lian said while still looking at her book. “I… I still want to do it. Even now.”

“Your reason?”

“It might be helpful for research.”

“Is that all?”

Lian paused for a moment.

“Because… I want to touch your magic.”

It was quiet.

The scent of rain seemed to have descended even to the underground level.

“‘Touch,’ as in, magically?”

“Yes.” Lian looked at me. “Is that strange?”

It’s not strange, I thought. But I couldn’t answer that immediately.

Lian was saying she wanted to touch my dark magic. Maybe she’d been thinking that ever since she first saw it in the night garden. Ever since that night she said it wasn’t scary, that it was beautiful.

“I’ll talk to Edvard.”

“Thank you. I think I am more suitable for you than Lord Edvard is.”

Saying that, Lian returned her gaze to her book.

I also looked at my documents. I couldn’t concentrate.

Her reason for refusing Cyril was “because I have you, Elder Sister,” and her reason for wanting to do the experiment was “because I want to touch your magic.” Both were directed at me.

And, “more suitable for you.” This seemed to mean, as an experiment partner, but also seemed to contain another meaning I couldn’t quite grasp.

I decided not to reach a conclusion about what that meant tonight.

In the windowless underground, the rainless rainy night continued.

“I think it would be better for you to do the experiment with Lian.”

Surprisingly, Edvard said that.

It was in the library, at our usual spot. Lian wasn’t there. Perhaps she had class, or some other business. In the library with just the two of us, Edvard spoke.

“Why?”

“There is something special between you two. How that will affect the experiment results—it’s intriguing.”

Edvard wore a knowing smile.

Whether he was speaking as a researcher, or with another meaning, with him, it’s sometimes hard to tell.

“Something special… you mean in a research context, right?”

“Of course.” Edvard nodded. “But not only that.”

“Not only that?”

“Yes.”

Edvard said, “We’re getting off track. Let’s return to the experiment.”

“Right.”

I didn’t quite grasp his meaning, but I processed it as such.

“Judging from the results of the recent practical evaluation, Lian is an impeccable light attribute user. She shouldn’t be lacking as an experiment partner.”

I recalled the evaluation. The light that filled the plaza. To manifest that scale as a first-year. The purity was high too. As a partner for the interference experiment, she was indeed impeccable.

“…I suppose so.”

“Then, I would like to attend not as an experiment partner, but as an observer. Is that alright?”

“Fine.”

I said that and returned my gaze out the window.

Outside, it was already evening. Orange and purple were blending in the sky.

“May I confirm one thing?” Edvard said.

“What is it?”

“You don’t seem very enthusiastic about the experiment with Lian.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You didn’t say it, but you seem that way.”

Again, Edvard spoke with that penetrating gaze. “If there’s any problem, I’d like you to tell me. If you’d prefer another partner, I can arrange it. I happen to know a high-level female light attribute user.”

“There’s no problem.”

My tone was sharper than I intended, and I was surprised.

“There is no problem,” I said again. This time, my voice was calmer. “I’ll do the experiment with Lian. You can attend as an observer. That’s fine.”

“Understood.” Edvard closed his documents. “Let’s decide the schedule after checking Lian’s availability.”

The sky outside the window had grown completely dark. I was thinking about Lian, again.