The Elder Sister Who Ran Away After Being Cheated by Her Fiancé and Younger Sister - Chapter 21:

Estelle wrote a letter to her mother.

She wrote that she might reconsider if her father came to see her directly and told her to “come home.”

She thought he’d probably never come.

As expected, it wasn’t her father but Patrick who visited.

“Gram says she’s making you my assistant, but are you actually useful?” he asked.

Estelle guided Patrick to the guest room in the dormitory and asked the elderly supervisor to place a weight in front of the door.

Then she cornered Patrick with all her might. She aggressively cornered him. Thoroughly cornered him.

She meticulously listed every failure of Patrick’s that had been compiled in the investigation report, tore him down, refuted him with sound arguments, and sneered at him.

At first he shouted back and threw tantrums, but when Estelle gently hugged and soothed him like an older sister, he quietly listened.

Eventually Patrick started crying and tried to run away, but the door wouldn’t open immediately.

She brought him back and continued.

Estelle intended to completely break Patrick here.

This would be her final service to the Heinny family.

She endlessly poured into Patrick’s ear – right into his brain – about how incompetent, worthless, and harmful he was, a bag of shit. The wonderful vocabulary she’d learned during her military training, which she had acquired as knowledge but never had a chance to use, came in handy.

When Patrick finally crouched on the floor crying pitifully, she didn’t forget to gently stroke his back and comfort him, saying “It’s good you can inherit the company, isn’t it? It’s good you have a place to belong.” What a good sister.

When she tried to leave the room, leaving the unresponsive Patrick behind, the elderly supervisor opened the door for her.

Had he been there the whole time? How embarrassing…

“No, I just came because the voices had calmed down, so I thought you were finished,” the old man said as he moved the weight aside, anticipating Estelle’s departure. Estelle thanked him for his cooperation.

She thought the old man slightly pulling back his hips must have been her imagination.

◇

“I’m leaving my family behind.”

When she went to Courtney’s office, Estelle reported this.

Estelle would protect this country through the national army. Which in turn would protect the frontier too.

She hoped that would be acceptable.

“Yeah, is that so. You know, I kind of thought it might come to this.”

Courtney was smiling cheerfully.

Then she brought out a set of documents.

“By the way, if you wish, I can write up a transfer request to the royal capital for you.”

“Huh?”

“Well, you see, there was an informal inquiry from headquarters in the royal capital. But I said it would depend on Estelle’s wishes, so it’s been on hold until now.”

“Huh?”

“Think about what you want to do.”

Estelle left the room in a daze.

Huh.

She had indeed been thinking about getting transferred somewhere.

She had been thinking about it, but…

The royal capital?

…What convenient timing. There must have been a plan made from the beginning after all.

Or perhaps she was being made to tidy up her personal affairs because the transfer to the royal capital came up.

Which came first?

Come to think of it, Fretes was also being transferred to the royal capital, so maybe they could meet again over there.

—The timing seems almost too good, but surely not.

◇

The message she had left for Fretes reached him, and he informed her that Valken would be coming to the capital.

She was happy since it had been quite a while since they last met.

Estelle decided to invite him to the dormitory and treat him to dinner. Though “treat” wasn’t anything fancy, since he had seemed to like the frontier-style home cooking and flavors she had made before.

On a weekend evening, Valken arrived carrying several bottles of various kinds of wine.

With only brief greetings, Valken ate and drank heartily.

“I love this. What spice gives it this flavor? I suddenly remembered it and have been curious ever since.”

Valken happily bit into thinly sliced meat, seasoned with the seasoning made from those grass seeds and grilled, sandwiched between thin flatbread.

It didn’t have a particular name, but it was a standard dish in the frontier, made in large batches in big pots to be stored. If you eat a lot at once, you quickly get tired of it, but having just a little is delicious.

“So, what did you want to consult about?”

Valken asked while opening a new wine bottle after his stomach had settled.

All the wines Valken brought were so delicious that Estelle had almost forgotten the main topic.

What was it again?

Oh right, about Fretes’ lover.

That was part of it, but first she talked about what happened after reuniting with Theo, about her family home, and about her plans. Valken listened quietly and then hugged Estelle.

“Estelle, you’re such a strong person. I’m proud of you!”

Though somewhat intoxicated, Estelle was greatly comforted by Valken’s open affection.

Then came the matter of the lover.

“That Pavla we had lunch with before – are you still supporting her?”

“Pavla? I check on her occasionally, but she’s doing fine on her own. Hmm… which unit was she in now?”

“She’s Fretes’ lover, right?”

“Who is?”

“Huh?”

“Excuse me?”

Estelle and Valken looked at each other.

“Who did you say is Fretes’ lover?”

“Uh, Pavla.”

“That’s false information. Estelle, where did you get that from?”

“Pavla said it herself. She said ‘I’m dating Fretes.'”

“Ah, that. That’s Pavla’s delusion.”

Estelle was surprised by how decisively Valken dismissed it.

It’s not true?! But she was so intense about it, so serious. It’s not true?

“Well, thinking it in your heart is free, I suppose. But she shouldn’t say it out loud. If she’s spreading it to others, I can’t overlook it. Thank you, Estelle, for telling me.”

Hearing that made Estelle feel like she had tattled, but if it was a lie, it certainly wasn’t good.

“There have been people like that from time to time since long ago. You know, Fretes has a very good outward appearance, right? Even if he thinks he’s maintaining a line to prevent misunderstandings, well, you know.”

“Ah… he is quite skilled at it.”

She could understand. He naturally had a handsome face even when silent. If he had cultivated a cold and ruthless image with that, it might have been different, but with his usual demeanor, unless you had a perspective like Estelle’s that kept some distance, you’d probably fall right into it.

“Was that what you wanted to consult about?”

“That’s right… you know, if he’s transferring to the royal capital, we probably won’t see each other anymore, and if he gets married, I thought I’d at least like to give some kind of gift.”

“Oh, but Estelle, you’re going to the royal capital too, aren’t you?”

“Huh?”

She had heard about that, but…

How did Valken know about it?

“I’m still thinking about it.”

“Huh?”

Valken stared at her with a face full of genuine confusion about why there would be anything to think about, making Estelle uncomfortable.

She was hesitating.

What would she do at headquarters in the royal capital, in such a big place full of nobles? There were commoners too, but they were all outstanding, carefully selected elites. She didn’t think there was anything she could do there.

She had that kind of reluctance.

At the same time, she also had the desire to test how far she could go in a new environment, and some small ambitions.

When she said this, Valken was surprised, saying “What is there to hesitate about?!” and when put that way, she thought maybe that was true, and around that point she was overcome by the wine she had drunk too much of, and her memory after that was hazy.