Chapter 121

Chapter 121

The Heroine of the 1st Playthrough Remembers My Training.

Episode 121: Daily Life In The Beatrice Family (1).

‘…So annoying.’

Bianca stabbed the innocent steak, as if to vent her frustration.

The more she tried not to think about him, the more Yujin’s face came to mind.

‘That perverted bastard…’

Other than his impressive family, a somewhat decent face, his subtle acts of kindness while pretending not to, and the fact that he’s good at those things, did he even have any other good traits?

‘…What am I even saying right now!’

She intended to curse him, but before she knew it, her mind was filled with praises for Yujin.

‘This… This makes it seem like I actually care about that bastard! …Ahh!! Whatever!’

The more she thought about it, the more it felt like she was falling into the trap laid by that con artist, so she stopped thinking altogether.

‘…Let’s just eat.’

Maybe it was because her heart hadn’t calmed down.

Thud—!

“…Ah.”

The fork, which she had brought down forcefully onto the steak, slipped from her hand.

Clang—

The fork flew to the floor, and Vivian, startled, screamed.

“Eeeeek! I… I’m so sorry!”

Seeing Vivian react like that left a bitter taste in Bianca’s mouth.

Even though she had said she wouldn’t seek revenge, Vivian still didn’t seem to believe her and remained afraid of her.

“…Haah.”

Letting out a deep sigh, Bianca rose from her seat.

Then, as if making a big decision, Vivian spoke in a trembling voice.

“…Uh… Sister… where… where are you going… Your… Your meal…”

“I’ve lost my appetite. You eat.”

Returning to her room, Bianca grabbed her head and muttered to herself.

“…What an idiot.”

Once again, she had gotten mad at Vivian.

She didn’t mean to.

Vivian had been concerned enough to speak up, and Bianca could’ve responded more kindly…

Why was she always like this?

‘…It wasn’t like this from the beginning.’

When did her relationship with Vivian become so twisted…

Recalling the irreparable past, Bianca buried herself deep under the covers.

Boom—!

The large tree, struck by young Bianca’s fist, slowly toppled backward.

Thud—!

As the tree finally fell and a cloud of dust rose, the watching adults clapped their hands and said,

“As expected of Lady Bianca. She’s truly worthy of being called a genius!”

“Of course! At her age, to have already awakened her unique ability and wield it like this… The revival of the Beatrice family is practically guaranteed!”

…Looking back now, it was incredibly embarrassing, but I thought I was a genius.

I awakened my unique ability far earlier than my peers, and everyone around me praised me so much that the young me couldn’t help but think I was a prodigy.

“Unnit!”

As I stood there smiling in satisfaction at the fallen tree, Vivian called out to me with her childish pronunciation.

“Vivian!”

I rushed over in one stride and hugged her tightly.

Her deep violet hair, eyes shining like amethyst, and her adorable nose and mouth made her face so irresistibly cute, I could never get tired of looking at her.

“Ugh… Can’t… breathe..! S-sister, this…!”

How thoughtful of her to bring me a towel to wipe off my sweat every day without even being asked.

I couldn’t help myself, so I rubbed my cheek against Vivian’s soft, squishy face.

“…Vivian! Vivian! Why are you so cute!” “…Ugh… Sister… you smell like sweat…”

Though she complained about the smell of sweat, instead of pushing me away, she rubbed her cheek against mine.

If there was anything in the world cuter and more lovable, it had to be Vivian.

‘…Vivian.’

In one corner of Bianca’s heart, there was always a feeling of guilt toward Vivian.

Because the family’s reason to restore the glory of the Beatrice house… no, all of the support and attention from their parents and the family was focused solely on Bianca.

Vivian was always overshadowed by Bianca.

‘…So at least I.’

At the very least, I had to protect this small, young sister.

That’s what I thought.

Quite some time had passed, but my abilities had hardly improved.

“…It feels like I’ve gotten… a bit dull compared to before. Is it a slump? Or perhaps…”

The gazes of admiration and expectations from the adults who once looked at me had quickly turned into disappointment and doubt.

“…”

The looks in their eyes pained me more than the blood seeping through my tightly clenched fist.

Back in my room, I sat down and unwrapped the blood-soaked bandages.

“…Ugh.”

The bandages, stuck to the wound, caused me to groan in pain every time I peeled them off.

“…Haah.”

As I looked at my messed-up hands, a sigh escaped my lips.

My once-soft hands had become rough and calloused from the daily training sessions.

‘…Starting tomorrow, I’ll increase my training even more.’

Even though I had already increased my training multiple times, my skills remained stagnant.

Back then, I was still in denial, but now, I could admit it.

‘I’m not a genius.’

My talent, at best, was not even that of a genius—just that of a prodigy.

I was merely a child who had happened to awaken my “unique ability” early.

As proof, the peers who couldn’t even catch up to my toes at first were now standing beside me.

Every time I saw them, a fear crept in that, no matter how hard I tried, I might be surpassed.

That alone was painful enough, but there was something even worse.

—Slap.

“…Bianca… You’ll do better next time, right?”

It wasn’t my mother’s violence that bothered me.

Although my cheek stung a little, I had long grown accustomed to pain to be bothered by something like this.

“You must restore the Beatrice family. If… if you don’t, the Beatrice family will… Ah! Ahh… Ahhh!”

…But I couldn’t bear to see my mother deteriorating more and more as I fell behind.

“Yes, Mother. Don’t worry. I’ll do better next time.”

“Yes… Bianca… I have… no one but you. No one but you…”

Every time I saw my mother sobbing as she held me, something inside me withered away.

‘…I’m exhausted.’

It felt like running an endless race.

How long would I have to keep repeating this?

No, would it ever even end in the first place?

In my increasingly desolate heart, Vivian was my only solace.

‘…Come to think of it, why didn’t she come today?’

Vivian always brought me a towel after training, but today she was nowhere to be seen.

“Mother, where’s Vivian?”

“Vivian? I don’t know. She’s probably in her room. Rather than worrying about that, focus on the training next week…”

…That?

She called Vivian that?

I bit my lower lip hard to suppress the urge to hurl insults at my mother right then and there.

“Bianca? Are you listening to me?”

“Yes, Mother. I’m going to head back to training now.”

“Yes… Training is important. Work hard.”

I let my mother’s words pass through one ear and went straight to Vivian’s room instead of the training grounds.

—Knock knock.

“Vivian? Are you inside?”

I knocked, but there was no answer.

Thinking she might have forgotten to cover herself with the blanket again, I opened the door and stepped inside.

What unfolded before my eyes was an unbelievable sight.

‘…What is this?’

Woom—Woom—!

Several magic spells had been manifested at once.

In the middle of it all, Vivian was waving her hands around as if conducting a performance.

“Vivian?”

Even as I called her name, I wasn’t sure.

Was this truly the little Vivian I knew?

“Ah! Sister!”

But as soon as Vivian turned to me with a bright smile, my doubts vanished.

“Look! I followed what was written in the book and it worked!”

Vivian ran to me like always, hugging me.

I couldn’t even think about hugging her back. I just stared blankly at the magic floating in the air.

‘…Multiple incantations?’

There were plenty of wizards who couldn’t even perform dual incantations after decades of study.

Yet Vivian had succeeded just by reading it in a book?

I realized it in an instant.

‘She’s a genius.’

Vivian wasn’t a half-baked talent like me. She was a true genius.

At the same time, an overwhelming fear welled up from deep within my stomach.

‘…No.’

This couldn’t happen.

Mother must never find out about this.

If someone with my mediocre talent was already suffering this much, what would Mother do if she saw Vivian’s abilities?

Vivian would be ruined for sure.

I couldn’t stand by and watch that happen.

‘I have to protect her.’

As her sister, I couldn’t let Vivian walk the same path as me.

“Sister? Are you mad…? Is it because I didn’t come out to meet you? I… I’m sorry. I got so focused that I lost track of time…”

Vivian asked in a worried voice, probably because my face had stiffened.

I hugged her tightly and answered.

“No, I’m not mad. How could I ever be mad at you? I was just a little surprised.”

“Hehe… Okay, Sister. I practiced because I wanted to show you!”

Seeing Vivian laugh so innocently strengthened my resolve even more.

I hardened my expression and spoke in a low voice.

“Vivian, from now on, you’re forbidden from using magic.”

“…Huh? Why? Why can’t I use it?”

“If someone finds out you’re using magic, you might become as busy as I am. And then you won’t be able to play with me anymore. Do you want that?”

Vivian, startled at the thought of not being able to play with me, shook her head.

“No… I want to play with you, Sister!”

“Then you won’t use magic anymore, right? Can you promise me that?”

“Okay! I promise!”

Vivian hooked her pinky with mine, sealing her promise.

“Good job, Vivian.”

As I reached out to pat her on the head in praise, I suddenly realized:

…Vivian’s eyes were almost at the same height as mine now.

“…Did you get taller, Vivian?”

“Really? I didn’t notice.”

Vivian widened her eyes and tilted her head.

‘What kind of question is that…’

Why was I asking something so pointless?

I guess it bothered me a little since I had stopped growing recently.

‘…I’ll probably grow soon anyway.’

I let out a small, bitter laugh and shook off the random thoughts.

“Come here, Vivian.”

“Hehe… Sister.”

Feeling the warmth of her body in my arms, I made a vow.

I would work even harder so that Vivian wouldn’t have to sacrifice herself.