Max Celtrin [2]

A young woman whose eyes resembled mine.

The maid bowed, and that alone was enough to tell me the woman held an extraordinary position in the family. She approached me with a start, and before I knew it, our eyes met.

"Behave yourself."

But the tone was cold, revealing that we weren't on friendly terms.

I didn't know what to say, so I kept silent for a moment. Then I thought to myself, *Who on earth is this woman?*

She couldn't be my parents, obviously. But who else would speak so freely to the heir of the Celtrin family?

*Relatives?* I wondered. An older sister? A younger one? The similarity in our eyes made it seem likely.

"Little sister?" I muttered without realizing it.

The woman narrowed her eyes. "What is it?"

I realized she was, indeed, my sister. "...No," I quickly corrected myself, clamping my mouth shut.

She looked at me strangely before speaking again. "Just think about it a little."

It seemed like she was worried that her older brother was living like a fool and had been saying so for some time.

"I get it," I replied.

Even if I was a total idiot, I wouldn't speak to my family in an arrogant tone, so this had to be correct. But when she heard that, her eyes looked at me like nothing could be stranger.

*…I was wrong.*

"What are you saying now?"

"Think about it yourself," I snapped, returning to my cocky tone.

There was no need to arouse suspicion from the family from the beginning.

She stared at me silently. I nodded to the maid to move and began walking again, thinking that there was no benefit in being entangled for too long.

As I passed by, she spoke one last time.

"…Stop wasting money."

"I'll take care of it." This time, I was confident in my response. I left the place with a sense of certainty.

* * *

"…"

Reese Celtrin sat lost in thought in an empty hallway. It was all because of one person—her older brother, Max Celtrin.

She truly despised this incompetent, trashy brother of hers, someone who only brought harm to the family. Yet, he sat in the position of successor simply because he was born first.

She understood it, even though it upset her—until two years ago.

She had hoped that entering Saint Leferia Academy, the best on the continent, and seeing the exceptional talents of her peers would make her brother realize his own inadequacies.

If he had any sense, he'd have been shocked and at least regained some self-awareness.

But no, it wasn't like that. He was just an average guy, if not worse.

His performance was easier to count from the bottom up. There were even rumors that he hung out with bad crowds, drank, danced, and frequented red-light districts.

Despite receiving living expenses several times higher than the average student, he still borrowed money from businesses to make ends meet.

And all that debt fell on the Celtrin family.

Even her parents, who were incredibly generous with him, were shocked.

But what hurt the most was seeing how hard they tried to hide their disappointment.

"A pathetic figure," Reese muttered, frowning at the thought of his pathetic academy life. The biggest problem was that he had neither the potential nor the will to improve.

That's why she had finally given up on tolerating him any longer. She had steeled her heart and decided to remove the poisonous weed harming her family, even if it meant usurping the position of successor.

But it wasn't as straightforward as she thought. The situation was more challenging than expected.

That's why she made those bitter remarks every time she saw him, as if giving him one last chance. She didn't expect any change; he wasn't that type of person.

She just wanted to see his pathetic attitude and rid herself of any lingering emotions.

And so far, everything had gone according to plan.

However...

"It was a little different," Reese muttered, her eyes filled with confusion.

The man who always had a nervous expression, who was quick to irritate or ignore others, had answered her obediently for the first time.

She had noticed that too.

*'I get it?'*

Was that really something that would come out of his mouth? No, it wasn't. That's what was confusing. And then he told her to figure it out for herself.

"Tch."

Reese frowned, wondering if it was just a remark he made to mess with her mind.

That seemed likely. But what if it wasn't?

"I'll just wait and see," Reese decided, vowing to thoroughly check Max's academy life when he returned.

* * *

"Reese Celtrin."

I quietly spoke my sister's name inside the carriage—a name the maid had secretly revealed to me.

I tried to recall my memories, but I still hadn't heard of her. It meant there was no significant contact in the game.

Judging by that, she didn't seem like an important person.

But something felt off. There was something nagging at me, something hard to explain.

*I guess I'll have to be careful.*

There was nothing to lose. In the past, she might have been the younger sibling of an extra whose existence I didn't even know, but now she was someone I had a direct relationship with.

If there was something more to this...

There was no need to say anything.

"Let's go," I commanded, and the magnificent four-horse carriage began to move.