Reincarnated as the Heroine’s Big Sister, but My Little Sister Fell for Me Instead - Chapter 16

I had never once invited another person into my research lab.

I only ever met Edvard at the library. No one else came. The lab was my place alone. It was a stark, barren room with only my texts, scribbled notes on magical formulas, and a small tea set placed by the window.

It was last week that Lian asked, “What’s your research lab like?”

“Would you like to see it?” I said, surprising even myself.

“Is that really okay?” Lian’s eyes sparkled.

“Let’s make it a rainy day. It’s quieter then.”

Today, it rained.

Lian said she would come at two in the afternoon.

A little before two, I boiled water. I took out two tea cups. I originally only had one set, so I had bought the other one for today.

There was a knock.

“Come in.”

The door opened. Lian entered, folding her umbrella. Raindrops clung to her shoulders. Her refined face was damp with mist.

“I’m here.”

“I’m here,” Lian said, looking around the lab. “It’s more spacious than I imagined.”

“Is it?”

“I thought it would be smaller and darker. Since it’s your room, sister.”

“How rude.”

“But it’s lovely,” Lian said, approaching the window. “Because you can see outside.”

The rainy courtyard was visible. The moon-viewing stones were wet and glistening.

“Have a seat.”

I indicated the chair by the window. I pulled out the other chair and sat opposite her. We were separated by the desk, but the distance was closer than at the library. The lab desk was simply smaller than the library tables. That was all it was. Yet, despite that, my heart felt unsettled.

I poured the tea.

“Thank you,” Lian said, accepting it with both hands. “So you make tea yourself, sister.”

“Who did you think would make it?”

“A maid, or something.”

“There are no maids in the research lab.”

“Right,” Lian laughed. Steam wafted over her face. “It’s delicious.”

“I’m glad.”

The sound of rain filled the air. The lab was at the end of the third-year building, close to the outer wall. The low sound of rain hitting the wall was audible. It was a sound you couldn’t hear in the library basement.

“Sister.”

“What?”

“Do you always research here alone?”

“Yes.”

“Aren’t you lonely?”

“I don’t really have much of a sense of loneliness.”

Lian thought for a moment. “Is that so? I feel lonely when I’m alone.”

“That’s because you enjoy talking with people.”

“You don’t like it, sister?”

“It’s not that I dislike it. I just need time alone just as much.”

“I see,” Lian nodded. “That’s why you’re often alone in the library.”

“That’s right.”

Lian looked out the window. The rain had grown slightly stronger. The moon-viewing stones were being pelted by the rain.

For a while, there was only the sound of rain.

It wasn’t a bad time. It was rare for me to feel that sharing a space with someone wasn’t unpleasant.

“Sister.”

“What is it?”

“May I ask you something?”

“That depends on what it is.”

Lian, still cradling the teacup in both hands, paused for a moment.

“Have you ever been in a relationship with a gentleman?”

It was an unexpected question.

“No.”

I answered immediately. There was no need to think about it because there hadn’t been one. Since my reincarnation, I hadn’t spent time on anything other than magic practice and research. Even in my previous life, I had no such experience.

“Is that so?”

Lian let out a small breath.

She looked relieved.

“…I’m glad.”

“Glad?”

“Ah,” Lian’s eyes widened slightly. She looked as if the words had slipped out without her intending them. “Why did I think I was glad?”

“You don’t know?”

“I don’t,” Lian said, looking at her teacup. “But I felt glad. For some reason.”

I didn’t answer.

It wasn’t my place to answer. It was something for Lian to sort out herself. But I had an inkling of where that “I’m glad” came from. Knowing that, I remained silent.

“I haven’t either,” Lian said. “Been in a relationship with a gentleman.”

“I heard you’ve been confessed to several times.”

“I turned them all down.”

“I see.”

“At first, I didn’t understand why I kept refusing,” Lian continued. “But now I do.”

“Why?”

“Well… It’s just a feeling.”

An answer of “just a feeling” wasn’t really just a feeling. But Lian said that when there was something she couldn’t yet put into words. I knew that too.

The sound of rain continued.

“Sister.”

“What?”

Lian raised her face from the teacup. She wasn’t looking out the window or at my face, but at the wood grain of the desk.

“If… if a girl liked girls—would that be strange?”

It grew quiet.

Only the sound of rain continued.

I looked at Lian. Lian kept her gaze on the wood grain. Her cheeks were slightly flushed. I didn’t think it was from the humid heat of the rainy day.

“It’s not strange.”

Lian looked up.

“It’s not strange?”

“It’s not strange,” I repeated. “Who someone falls for is for that person to decide. It’s not something others can call weird from the outside.”

“Is that so?”

“It is.”

Lian lowered her gaze again. But this time, she wasn’t looking at the wood grain, but at her own hands. The hands cradling the teacup.

“I’m glad.”

She said “I’m glad” again.

This time, she seemed to notice it herself. She gave a small smile. It was a weak smile, but she smiled.

“I said ‘I’m glad’ again.”

“I heard.”

“Why did I say it twice?” Lian tilted her head. “I don’t even know myself.”

I thought I understood. But I didn’t say it.

It was a journey for Lian to make on her own.

“Sister,” Lian said. “Do you think… people like that are strange?”

“I don’t.”

“Really?”

“Really,” I took a sip of tea. “Even in my past—no, even before, I never thought such things were strange.”

“Even before…” Lian looked slightly puzzled. “Sister, you sometimes say odd things, don’t you? Like ‘even before,’ or starting to say ‘past life’…”

“It’s your imagination.”

“Maybe it is,” Lian laughed. “Well, it’s fine.”

She didn’t press further. This child would look puzzled but wouldn’t dig deeper. That was both a relief and, in a small way, a bit lonely.

The rain was letting up.

The tea had cooled. Lian drank the last sip and placed her cup on the desk.

“Can I come here again?”

“If you want.”

“Even if it’s not a rainy day?”

“That’s fine.”

Lian’s face lit up happily. “Yes!”

“It’s not that big a deal.”

“It is to me,” Lian said. “Because you invited me.”

“You should go. The rain is easing up.”

“A little longer.”

“It will be dinnertime soon.”

“I’d rather be here than have dinner.”

“You need to eat.”

Reluctantly, Lian stood up. She picked up her umbrella and headed for the door.

“Sister.”

“What?”

She turned at the door.

“I had fun today. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Lian smiled.

The door closed.

The sound of her footsteps faded away.

I was alone again.

Two teacups sat on the desk. I looked at the one Lian had used. Proof that she had been here just moments ago remained there.

If a girl liked girls—would that be strange?

I heard that question again in my mind.

It’s not strange, I had answered. I truly believed it wasn’t.

But while answering, I had also thought of something else.

If Lian were to like someone. I didn’t yet know who that someone might be. Today, I didn’t know if I wanted to know or not.

Outside the window, the rain had almost stopped.

The moon-viewing stones still glistened, wet.

As I cleared away the teacups, I thought about why Lian had said “I’m glad” twice.

I thought and then stopped thinking.

But as I washed the cups, I thought that when the next rainy day came, I would invite her again.

That much, I had decided.