Chapter 13
Translator: Jawbrie
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It seemed that the reason that Mariwa knew of my secret was not due to the story of it being reverberated throughout society.
The truth was that the daughter of the Marquis who had tipped me off about the flower petal in my hair was Mariwa’s old student. Mariwa would then later hear from the palace gardener that there were marks left in the flower bed that suggested a child had been playing in it. She was able to put two and two together and decide that I was the culprit.
It was rather infuriating to have her fist grind into my head over such speculation, but I could not say anything, as well, she was not wrong.
“My lady. You are much too careless.”
After her abuse of the lady of the house, witnessed by two servants, Mariwa and I entered the carriage and rode the rest of the way to the mansion. Her lessons in etiquette began as soon as we reached my room. I sat on a chair with a meek expression, but Mariwa pounced on me in a harsh voice.
“I’ve been meaning to warn you about this for a while, so now will be a good time. You have a bad habit of becoming captivated by what is in front of you and cheating your way out of situations with temporary measures. It’s fine if I wasn’t seen at the time. I’ll get away with it when the time comes. You are full of such simple-minded thoughts. You do not understand that temporary solutions will not solve the root of the problem, and so you cannot see far ahead. This is why you continue to fail at every turn.”
“Grrrr.”
She was loudly suggesting that my past failures were not by chance, but due to defects in my own reasoning.
Mariwa gave me a quick sharp look when she saw my unladylike attitude, but continued without addressing it.
“As a lady, this will not do at all. You are not to right your posture just because someone is looking. You must always have your back straight and act gracefully. It is only when you can maintain the correct posture at all times, that you will be accepted as a young lady.”
She was very brave for lecturing a genius such as I, but I had to admit that there were still many things that I could learn from her. While I was a genius who had memories of my past life in my head, I was still no match for Mariwa, the old maid who was past thirty, when it came to experience.
“In other words, I would not even consider you a budding lady. Do you understand? My lady Chris?”
“I understand, Mariwa.”
I swallowed her words and experiences and tried to understand and express their contents in my own way.
“It’s Miss Toinette, my lady.”
“Ahh, fine. Never mind that. …So what you’re saying is this. I should not only pay attention to eyewitness reports but that I need to crush any evidence left at the scene. A perfect destruction of evidence. You do not care as long as I am not…”
“No one has said anything of the sort.”
” -Ouch!”
Apparently, my understanding of her words was flawed, for her fist came down on my head part way.
Recently Mariwa had taken to using her hands instead of the whip. Thanks to this, there were all kinds of variations like the direct hit and the fist-grind, etcetera.
“My lady Chris, you must stop trying to interpret things in such a self-centered way. Do you not understand that if you keep saying such things, you will one day make a fatal mistake? I intend to beat this corrupt nature out of you before it is too late, I hope that you are prepared.”
“Wha-, that is not something to say after you hit me! And besides, Mariwa. There is one important thing that you are forgetting!”
The bony fist inflicted a different kind of a dull pain compared to the sharp feeling from the whip. Even as I held my head with teary eyes, I desperately tried to persuade her.
“Do not treat me like other seven-year-old children. I, Christina Noir started to walk at the age of one. At three I could talk freely. At five I finished reading all the books in the library. I am a genius! How could you possibly believe that I would make a fateful mistake!?”
“…my lady Chris.”
As I puffed out my chest with pride, Mariwa gave me a cold look and pointed out:
“Your third and fifth accomplishments aside, walking at the age of one is no more than ordinary in that developmental stage of a healthy child. According to your own words, your beginnings were nothing more than common. Is that what you are saying?”
“!?”
She had completely stabbed me through the heart. I was troubled and did not know how to answer.
Allow me to change my introduction a little.
I am Christina Noir. I am a genius.
At one year old, I could freely run throughout the mansion. At three I could talk freely. At five I finished reading all the books in the library. I am a genius.
“…Yes.”
“…?”
I ruminated over this revised self-introduction and nodded. Michelie looked up at me oddly as I was doing this, but my explanation to her would have to be postponed.
As usual, I had gone over to visit Michelie’s room after Mariwa’s lessons.
The idea was to play and have fun with Michelie as usual, but self-worth as a genius had been serious rattled by Mariwa’s words. And now I was left to devise a way to regain my confidence.
The result of which was the previous introduction.
At one year old, I could freely run throughout the mansion. At three I could talk freely. At five I finished reading all the books in the library. I am a genius.
Hmm. I won’t jump to any conclusions, but I was pretty sure that this was it. Well, no. I do not have any knowledge of ordinary child development, so I cannot say for sure. But I did not think that the average child could freely run through the hallways and climb the stairs of a mansion… Probably. It was surely due to my abilities as a genius that I was able to do that at one and a half. …Probably. Oh, it is because there were no books on child rearing in father’s library, and I had no knowledge related to child development in my past life…
“…Hey, Michelie.”
“Whaat?”
“Michelie, were you able to run around at will when you were a year old?”
My usual confidence was at a minus forty percent as I asked Michelie for her opinion.
Even if her experience and absorbed knowledge were small, Michelie was an angel. I just knew that my confidence would return to its unshakable form if I had her assurance.
To my question, Michelie shook her head to the side, back and forth.
“I don’t know.”
Apparently, my five-year-old younger sister did not remember being a year old.
“Oh, right. Who would…”
“Eheheheh.”
It was not the answer that I had wanted, but as she was adorable, I patted her on the head for being so good. It was a great mystery, but Michelie’s smile would always somehow make every other problem seem insignificant to me.
“Nevermind that sister. But how was the ball yesterday?”
“Huh? Oh, it was…”
As usual, my beloved sister would want to hear about very specific subjects. I organized my thoughts. Michelie was still so young, and I had to make the story easy to understand and as entertaining as possible.
“We all gathered at a place called a dance hall. It was full of pretty decorations and delicious food. It was an amazing and sparkly place, and in it, everyone wore dresses and danced and had fun. And in that, I was the most popular of all. Why, people would incessantly come to introduce themselves to me.”
“I know why. Because you are so cool!”
“Fufufuh, yes. Right, right, right!”
The conviction that my beloved sister adored me was my greatest joy in life.
“Also, there were other children my age there. But most of the time we were just there as our parents were greeting each other… Oh, that’s it. Michelie, I made a new friend.”
“Friend…?”
“Yes.”
I was, of course, talking about Charles. I had only talked with the other children of nobility while still wearing my princess disguise, so I had not made any honest friends there.
Now, perhaps I did make some sort of promise of secrecy with Charles, but my heart was constantly and fully open when it came to Michelie, and so the rules must be relaxed this time. It could not be helped.
Even so, I would keep out the parts that must remain a secret. Such as his name and that he was royalty and that we ruined a flower bed together. Those parts especially.
“The new friend is a boy. How can I say this, he was a small and wicked runt who unconsciously tried to corner me, a genius. He had the upper hand from the moment he appeared. He must be very lucky to have caught me like that.”
“A boy…”
“Yes. I was pretty close to acknowledging him as a rival, but in the end, I was completely victorious. But after a little talking, we decided to be friends on equal standing and things settled down. Is he not the most amusing?”
“…”
I was most entertained as I recalled those moments, but then I noticed something. The more I talked the quieter Michelie’s answers became. And she had now become very quiet.
Usually, her blue eyes would have glimmered brightly as she listened. What could have happened? I was worried as I looked into her face.
“What is it? Michelie?”
“…Sister…”
My black eyes met her blue ones. She continued in a desperate tone.
“Me and that boy friend, who do you like more?”
“I like you more!”
I said without a moment’s hesitation.
Apparently, my story about Charles had caused Michelie to feel a pang of jealousy. But my order of priority was unchanged, Michelie would always be number one in the whole world. I was so moved by Michelie’s adorable and innocent emotions that I hugged her tightly.
“I, your sister, will always, always love you! Now, long before, and from here on out, more than anyone!
“…Really?”
“Really!”
“…You promise?”
“I promise!”
“Promise, promise?”
“I promise, I promise, I promise!”
“…Eheheheh.”
I assured her repeatedly and Michelie finally started to smile again.
Now that her worries had been erased and her angelic and brilliant smile was restored, Michelie hugged me back with all of her strength.
“I love you too, sister!”
“Fufufuh. My love for you is even stronger than your love for me!”
“That’s not true! I love you just as much as you love me!”
“Oh, I’m not too sure!”
“It’s true!”
“Hooray! We both love each other equally!”
“Yes!”
With words and an embrace, our sisterly bond was reaffirmed and we basked in that bliss.
We sisters were the best of friends. After we had hugged for a while, we let go of each other with a smile of immense happiness.
“Fufufuh. We are the strongest pair. I think you will become good friends with him too one day.”
After all, according to my knowledge of my past life, this was a possible pairing that would leave me, his fiance, in the dust. In this current life, I was a genius, a bug. So I did not think such a thing would happen this time, but I still felt that they could get along quite well, if it was just as friends.
So I said those words with confidence, yet Michelie laughed and answered:
“I don’t think that is possible.”
“Huh?”
Her surprising denial left me at a loss for words.
Why would she declare that it was impossible if she hadn’t even met him?
“…is it, impossible? He is quite amusing, you know?”
“Yes. It’s still impossible!”
The genius brain of mine was left confused as Michelie laughed and started to grab and tug at my sleeves.
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