3. Day 1 (2)

“My older sister… has died?”

The words of the butler turned Lumina’s face a deep blue. She hurriedly covered herself with her hands.

Her appearance was of a younger sister mourning the death of her older sister—or, at least, to her surroundings.

In reality, she desperately wanted to laugh. Her mouth, which was covered by her palms, depicted a crescent-like arc.

My hinderance of a sister is finally gone!!! Now, everything will become mine!!!

She suppressed her urge to scream. Her entire body trembled in delight.

“Lady Lumina… oh, this must be so hard for you…”

Perhaps thinking that Lumina was crying, the butler draped a shawl over Lumina’s trembling shoulders and helped her sit on the chair.

“How did Lorona die?”

Lumina asked, with her face covered with her hands. After making a slightly lost expression, the butler slowly opened his mouth.

“…An accident in her carriage. It was terrible, Lady Lorona’s body…”

“What happened?”

“…H, her face was… forgive me, I can’t speak about it any longer.”

“I see… please leave me alone for a while…”

Due to appealing with a fleeting voice, the butler and the maids quietly nodded as they left the room.

Lumina, once left alone, only raised her head after confirming that they had completely left.

“Fufufu! Yay! Finally!”

She dropped her ladylike attitude and dropped down on the couch, throwing the cushions and screaming like a child.

Her clear expression showed no sign of mourning of the death of her sister.

“Now, not only Velbutte, but the entire Ruth family is mine! How wonderful!”

She was about to die from happiness. Lumina hugged a cushion with a wide smile on her face.

Lorona, who was two years older than Lumina, was nothing more than a lump in her eyes.

Lorona was always well-behaved and had an impeccable attitude when it came to studying and manners. She was certainly beautiful—but that was it. Lumina had always loathed Lorona who never laughed much nor stomped her feet whenever she was angry.

“…It’s the fault of that revolting woman for disappearing.”

Lumina’s mother was unmistakably an aristocrat, at least until her grandfather’s generation. In truth, she was the daughter of a fallen aristocrat, one who had sunk into debt and had to sell his title as a result.

Desperate to improve her circumstances, Lumina’s mother was invited into the Ruth family as a tutor.

Fortunately, soon after that, Lorona’s mother, who was the count’s wife at that time, died after a horse accident.

Lumina’s mother devoted herself to support the count. Finally, she gained the status of his second wife and gave birth to Lumina.

As a matter of course, those in their surroundings had looked down on Lumina and her mother.

Since she was a fallen aristocrat, rumors began to circulate about her after she had successfully become the count’s second wife.

Her mother was unfazed, but the same couldn’t be said about Lumina.

Her mother certainly had no title, but aristocratic blood flowed within her veins. She was also a daughter of the Ruth family.

She wondered why she always had to be compared with Lorona.

She was so desperate, she finally decided to put in effort.

She learned etiquette to be a suitable countess. Still, she couldn’t defeat Lorona. On the contrary, Lorona would sometimes point out her mistakes.

Due to Lorona’s existence, Lumina was dying of loneliness.

“Fufufu… all the belongings of the Ruth family will become mine…”

In that kingdom, primogeniture was the rule of the thumb, regardless of gender.

Originally, the Ruth family was supposed to have Lorona welcome a husband and connect the families. As such, she became the fiancée of the prince.

Lumina truly believed she’d be the successor of the Ruth family—but she, in fact, wasn’t.

There was a law allowing the eldest son to retain the title despite having been married to another family for some reason.

It was enforced because others maliciously trying to get rid of the first born to assume control the family was a common occurrence.

When the eldest retained the title, that person had to either let his or her first born inherit the title, or follow the procedure to transfer the title to someone directly affiliated with them.

While retaining her title, Lorona said that once she became the crown princess, she’d eventually let her newborn succeed the Ruth family.

“Even though Lumina is here!”

Lumina remembered that time and unleashed her frustration by hitting the cushion.

According to Lorona’s words, Lumina could only assume ownership of a small fortune.

She couldn’t believe that.

She once asked Lorona to give her the title, but Lorona was consistently cold about it.

“I’m sorry, my older sister. I’m glad you died.”

Now that Lorona, the heir, had died, Lumina was the only one left to succeed the Ruth family.

No matter who said what, it would be Lumina.

“I have to meet Velbutte!”

Lumina stood up with a scream.

She had to ostensibly mourn, even if she was actually happy that her sister died.

While humming, she opened the closet door to choose as somber a dress as possible to symbolize her state of mourning.

***T/N: …Well, of course. This story won’t be complete without a little sister like you, after all.

I’m sorry, Lumina. I hope you suffer down the road.