Reincarnated as the Heroine’s Big Sister, but My Little Sister Fell for Me Instead - Chapter 3

The first time Lian saw my magic was one summer.

That day, I had gone out to the garden late at night to practice.

Inside the manor, there was a chance someone might see me. A maid might pass through the hallway. My parents might notice. I didn’t fully understand yet what the problem would be if they found out I was practicing dark attribute magic.

What would my parents think if they discovered their daughter, who was supposed to be practicing light attribute magic to aim for sainthood, was experimenting with the exact opposite attribute in the middle of the night?

Before I could even think it through, I had concluded it was better they didn’t know.

The moon was out. Standing in the center of the courtyard, I raised my right hand.

I drew out magical power. Not towards the light, but inward. A dark mist seeped from my fingertips. The basics of dark magic from my past life’s memories—a groping-in-the-dark theory that was just reading light magic incantations backward. I didn’t know if it was correct. But my magical power didn’t run dry. That hollow exhaustion I felt every time I practiced light magic was absent.

Instead, there was a sensation of filling up.

I thought, this is the right direction.

I rolled the mist into a ball on my palm. Condensed it. Spread it out. Condensed it again. I let it drop to the ground and tried guiding it along the stone pavement. It moved within the shadows, as if avoiding the moonlight.

This is interesting, I thought.

It was something I had never once thought while practicing light magic. It wasn’t just because I hadn’t improved. That practice, from the very beginning, didn’t feel like it was for myself. It was something the Rene of my past life had continued because she wanted someone’s approval.

This was different. I wasn’t showing it to anyone. No one would evaluate it. And yet, it was interesting.

Suddenly, I felt a gaze.

Whether dark magic users are sensitive to people’s presence, or if it’s just my nature, I knew clearly.

I realized abruptly. Someone was in the shadow of a pillar.

I lowered my hand.

Took a deep breath, then turned around.

It was Lian.

She emerged from the pillar’s shadow. Dressed in thin nightclothes, properly wearing shoes. I asked how long she had been watching.

“I couldn’t sleep,” Lian said.

“Were you watching?”

“Yes.”

She’s an honest child, I thought. She doesn’t try to hide it.

“Weren’t you scared?”

There was a brief pause, as if she was thinking. Then,

“No,” Lian said. “I thought it was beautiful.”

Beautiful.

That word was slightly unexpected.

I had anticipated ‘I wasn’t scared.’ This child hasn’t been easily frightened since she was little. But I hadn’t anticipated the reply, ‘I thought it was beautiful.’

I didn’t know what to say.

“Could you not tell anyone?”

“I won’t tell.”

It was an immediate answer.

“Go back to your room.”

“… Will you go back too, Sister?”

It was a way of checking my situation. As if to say she would stay too if I wasn’t going back.

“I’ll be back soon.”

Lian nodded. She turned on her heel and started towards the stairs. There, she looked back.

“That magic, what attribute is it?”

“Dark attribute.”

Lian paused again for a moment. The night wind swept through the courtyard.

“… May I watch again sometime?”

I thought I should refuse.

I thought of reasons to refuse. The initial judgment—that it was better not to be seen, better not to be known—floated to the surface of my mind. But tonight, Lian had seen it, and nothing had been exposed. She had called it beautiful. That was all.

I couldn’t say no.

Lian went up the stairs. The sound of her footsteps faded into the manor.

Left alone in the courtyard, I looked up at the moon.

I thought it was beautiful.

I chewed on those words once more in my head.

In the game from my past life, Rune’s dark attribute was portrayed as a curse that hindered her sister’s saintly nature. That was one of the reasons Rune was disliked in the game. But tonight, Lian said it was beautiful. She said she wasn’t scared.

On the second floor of the manor, a light was on in Lian’s room window.

She must have returned to her room.

I thought I should go back too, but I stood there for just a little while longer. The moon cast a white glow on the courtyard’s moon-viewing stone.

After a while, the light in Lian’s room went out.

She must have fallen asleep, I thought.

After confirming that, I returned to the manor. Walking down the hallway, I passed by Lian’s room. I stopped for just a moment in front of the door.

It was quiet inside. Not a single sound.

I let out a breath as if relieved, then went back to my own room.