Chapter 3

“Hmm.” I twirled my quill in my hand, staring absentmindedly at the paper before me.

The little fairy’s knowledge about the future was sketchy at best. Yui, per her own admission, had limited knowledge of the future, but what she did know she knew tremendously well.

She knew who I was, the day my new little sister would join my family and of the ‘trauma’ events of the male leads. Unfortunately, most of those events wouldn’t happen until I was at least 10 years of age.

Until then.

“Preparation!” Yuri had loudly proclaimed one morning.

If I hadn’t had a good night’s sleep whilst cuddling my latest toy, I think I might have locked Yuri in a cage, her precious little limbs bound, and her mouth gagged.

Perhaps I’ll do that anyway.

“We have months, no years, to prepare for the best end route plan!” When did we give it a name like that? “In stories like this, we, I mean you, need to develop loads of new skills and abilities! Create an unbreakable foundation that will endure even if the Best End, Everyone’s Happy Forever After Plan!”

I smiled a little at that memory.

It had only been this morning, but I was a little nostalgic for it as my cute fairy was, in her words, exploring the estate.

She had only been by my side for a few days, yet Yuri felt somewhat irreplaceable already.

“My lady, the Duchess wishes to speak with you.”

“Mother?” I put my quill down. “I shall be right there.”

I could take an educated guess as to what Mother had to say; it would be regarding my new sister’s past.

Hmm.

While I have learned of Yui’s past fairly comprehensively from Yuri, it’d be best to only reveal that I have seen her scars and treated her warmly.

I would rather not have Mother asking how I have come to learn of such things.

More to the point, Yuri and Yui are my exclusive toys.

And I do so hate to share.

At present, I was the only one who could see Yuri and I intend to keep it that way. If I play my cards right, I could make my new little sister mine, unable to ever leave my side of her own accord.

Oh, I get shivers just thinking about it.

Relax, me. I took a deep breath in and removed the ‘oni’ smile as Yuri called it from my lips.

Was it really so terrifying?

As I expected, Mother explained everything to me. It was near exactly as I’d heard from Yuri, which raised an interesting question; were there details that Yuri was hiding or was it Mother who was?

I knew I was mature for my age, but perhaps Mother thought it would be too much for an 8-year-old.

“I know it’s a lot, but please don’t think badly of her or of your father,” Mother said with a gentle smile. “I don’t know if she will become part of our family, but try to treat her like a sister, okay?”

I returned a perfect smile to her. “Of course. In fact, I have asked Yui to treat me as such.”

“Oh my.” Mother laughed. “Did you want a little sister all along?”

“I can’t deny that I’ve thought about it.”

“Then, should we try to adopt her?”

“Not yet, Mother.”

“Why?”

“We shouldn’t rush into such matters until Yui feels settled and she has had time with us.”

“Oh my, do you think she’ll dislike living with us?”

I giggled. “Don’t worry, Mother. I’ll make sure she wants to be our family.”

My little toy needs to want to stay or else it won’t be as fun.

Well, not like it wouldn’t be fun to break in a rebellious girl.

Oh! What could be fun was to get Yui to do it for me some day. Maybe she’ll enjoy it or not question her dear big sister’s orders?

I shivered again, elated by the possibilities.

Like the little fairy said, it’d be best to use our time wisely now to build a strong foundation. I would train my magic more than normal, learn how to wield a sword and nurture my new sister.

It would, of course, make my daily life incredibly hectic, but that was fine by me.

If Yuri was right, my life would take many dramatic turns, and possibly end, because of Yui, my future fiancé and the other young gentlemen at the academy.

Two years I’d have to wait before stepping into the ‘main scenario’ as Yuri called it.

When I returned to my bedroom, I found Yui waiting for me, still wearing her pyjamas and fidgeting on the bed.

"Yui." I called out to her sweetly like I would a stray cat.

Excitedly, and then shyly, Yui turned and ran up to me.

“B-big sister!”

“What’s wrong? Why aren’t you dressed yet?”

“U-um, I…wanted to match…with you. Can I?”

I petted her bed hair. “Of course. Teles.”

My personal maid appeared seemingly out of nowhere.

5 minutes later, Yui was fully dressed in a soft red dress identical to mine, although it was a slightly lighter shade of red.

“Teles, make sure to ask father when he intends to go shopping for Yui’s clothes.”

“Of course, my lady.”

“Big sister, do you not like matching with me?”

I giggled and stroked her hair. “It’s not that, Yui. I want to dress you in all sorts of cute clothes that suit you and only you. When we start going to tea parties and balls, we can match then.”

“Really?”

I nodded. “Not all the time, but sometimes.”

As cute as matching dresses would be, I want to dress up my toy in all sorts of outfits.

For now, cute, frilly items would triple her adorableness - when she got older and began to develop and mature, I’d buy clothes that enhanced her figure. They would emphasise her natural beauty and captivate all, which would make it all the sweeter knowing that the envious gazes would never have her love.

They would look at her, but she would only have eyes for me.

Oh dear - I’ve been quite overstimulated today.

If I’m not careful, someone might spot my true nature.

It was refreshing not to have my guard entirely up, but even the little fairy couldn’t see my (as Yuri would call it) perversions. What was so wrong about want to monopolize cute creatures?

I had to play this carefully however.

If I didn’t, the ‘bad ends’ Yuri told me about would become the least of my concerns.

***

That evening, I found Yuri trying to open a book on my desk.

It was something about agriculture, a text I only decided to read on Yuri’s advice, but it was far too heavy for her to open and, from the look of things, she hadn’t heard me enter.

How I wish I could preserve the cuteness of her struggles forever.

Maybe Yuri would know of some way, or maybe I could find a spell that could do it.

Eventually, Yuri gave up and dejectedly spun around, slumped over.

When she saw me, she became as red as a tomato.

“H-h-h-how long-?”

I simply smiled.

She flew towards me and punched my chest; her hits were so weak I couldn’t feel a thing, other than immense pleasure.

Ah, how futile, how adorable, how endearing. I carefully pinched her wings and held her up to make her stop.

“…I hate you.”

I giggled and patted her head with my pinkie. “My apologies, but I couldn’t help myself.”

“You really are the villainess.”

“Did you say something?”

“Eek!”

I let her go when I saw tears in her eyes, deciding it best to leave my teasing there for now.

“Did you enjoy exploring the estate?”

Yuri nodded. “It was really fun, but, like I thought, no one but you can see me.”

“A shame.”

How fortuitous.

“Well, at least you can see and speak to me. If no one could, I think I’d go insane.” She sighed. “That could happen anyway.”

“You shouldn’t worry so much. We can achieve the best ending together.”

“…That wasn’t what I meant.”

I intentionally ignored her snide comment.

Yuri, you are such a drama queen - well, you aren’t entirely wrong.

“Oh, right, what did your mother say?”

I recounted my conversation with her to Yuri who nodded along merrily.

“As expected of the Armina Duchess - a shame her daughter didn’t-”

“Ha?”

“Eeek!” Yui fled again.

“So, now that we have a vague plan on how to proceed, what do you think our best course of action is?”

Yuri hummed softly and started drifting slowly across the room; is this what happens when she stops concentrating on flying?

“There’s still so much time until the first flag, so I can’t think of anything else to do than just train and prepare.” Yuri sighed wearily. “No wonder Isekai skip these parts.”

I didn’t understand everything she was saying, but I chose not to ask.

Yui had previously said the first major narrative point in this otome game involved the prince when he was 13. We were the same age, so there was plenty of time until that day.

However.

Yuri’s appearance and actions had created a divergence from the original story.

Any potential actions I could take might render Yuri’s knowledge of the future useless - Oh dear.

I began to chuckle.

I had quite the thrilling game awaiting me.