47: To My Dearest Elder Sister
The sound of Adelheid von Vanderwaals’ disgruntled footsteps faded as she crossed from the marble floor to the carpet, and finally disappeared altogether. Leticia, still in her maid uniform but without the cap, murmured, looking down,
“…Does Elder Sister… dislike me?”
“Nah, I think a little better of her now. …She’s not usually unreasonable with the servants, y’know.”
The plump, red-haired Bella picked up the maid’s cap, dusted it off, and handed it to Leticia.
“What do you mean…?”
“She’s got a point. She’s worried about your future. After all, other young ladies start their education much earlier.”
Then, Bella grinned and pointed in the direction Adelheid had disappeared.
“And look, she took the cookies.”
“Oh…”
Despite calling it ‘this’ dismissively, she hadn’t thrown the package away or given it back; she was still holding it.
Bella patted Leticia’s shoulder encouragingly.
“…I hope your feelings reach her.”
“…Yes.”
Leticia closed her eyes, clutching the maid’s cap in her hand as if in prayer.
Back in my room, I first made sure the door was locked.
Then, my mood shifting, I practically skipped to my desk and eagerly unwrapped the package.
――A present from my sister!
I was truly elated. I had struggled to maintain a neutral expression and a steady gait until I was alone in my room.
While I wanted to keep it forever, it was just cookies, as she had said.
The rational part of me whispered, “Why are you so happy about something so cheap?” but it seemed I was easily pleased.
…Was this really appropriate for someone raised as a ducal daughter, now the head of the family?
That was precisely why I was so susceptible to heartfelt gifts.
When I said ‘heartfelt,’ I meant gifts with hidden compartments containing gold coins or cryptic messages.
White cloth, pink ribbon.
Compared to the heavy boxes from upscale shops, it was a charmingly simple package.
I usually left the ‘disposal’ of such wrapping paper, boxes, and ribbons to the maids, as I knew they held competitions for them, but this… I would keep.
The cookies were wrapped in crinkled tissue paper, and on top of it lay a small card.
The message—’To my dearest Elder Sister.’
…What did my sister find so dear about me?
While the inexplicably high praise made me anxious about the future, I decided to consider it one of her subtle charms that would win over the [Capture Targets].
What a thoughtful sister, to include such a sweet message with a gift for her mean older sister.
I took out my ‘letter box’ from my desk drawer.
Made of ebony with intricate carvings and gold inlay, it wasn’t for work; it was for personal correspondence.
It held letters from my mother during her illness, a letter from my father containing advice for the future head of the family, which he had intended to give me upon my inauguration, and letters exchanged with Ciel when we had a brief period of exchanging letters… It held precious, private letters.
Prince Konrad’s congratulatory letter for my inauguration, on the other hand, had been tossed into the work letter box, which was numbered by date.
I carefully opened my personal letter box and placed Leticia’s message card on top.
Replaying the words ‘Dearest Elder Sister’ in Leticia’s voice in my mind, savoring the sound, I unfolded the tissue paper and examined the cookies.
“…How elaborate.”
I had handled the package a bit roughly, so I was worried they might be broken, but they were fine.
Not just the standard round and square shapes, but stars… and even hearts.
The heart shapes made me feel a strange sense of foreboding, and I laughed it off.
What was she thinking?
I took a bite, and a gentle crunch was followed by the sweet taste of butter and sugar spreading through my mouth.
“…Delicious.”
They were simple butter cookies, but that made them all the more difficult to perfect.
If you weren’t careful with the oven temperature, they would quickly burn.
While butter was readily available, refined sugar, once a luxury, was now commonplace and inexpensive.
That was one of the ‘spoils of war’ the Kingdom of Eustasia had won.
The fact that I could eat this now was a direct result of the prosperity built by our predecessors.
――I had inherited that.
I had a duty to increase it, improve it, and pass it on to the next generation.
Duty and loyalty.
Peace for Eustasia.
What those words brought about were these small moments of happiness.
Perhaps it was also because I was tired from being out.
I couldn’t stop munching on the cookies, my hand reaching for a different shape each time.
I wanted some tea, coffee, or warm milk, but I couldn’t bring myself to call a maid for such a snack, especially after my harsh words earlier, so I continued to eat the cookies alone.
That being said, there weren’t that many.
I ate them at a rapid pace, and finally, only one remained.
It wasn’t that I had saved it intentionally, but I picked up the heart-shaped cookie and gazed at it.
Suddenly, tears welled up in my eyes.
The weight of my fate, unable to simply enjoy the cookies my sister had baked for me, hit me hard.
I felt a profound sadness.
I quickly popped the cookie into my mouth, trying to dispel the sadness with its sweetness.
“…Bitter.”
If I had simply thanked her properly, would it have tasted like this?
The color of the cookie hadn’t changed.
It wasn’t burnt.
And yet, it tasted incredibly bitter.
Leave a Reply