Chapter 3: Big Sister

In my previous life, I never had siblings. I was raised as an only child, and for that very reason, I had no idea what to expect when I met Alda.

She was two years older than me, and unlike me, she did not have to deal with the pressure of being king.

I asked Gonzalo why Alda had no claim to the throne, and his answer surprised me more than I expected.

“Alda is the former king’s natural daughter. Only a legitimate child may inherit titles.”

Even so, my mother did not treat her badly. In fact, she showed her the same affection she showed me, and that struck me as strange once again.

Especially in a world as close to medieval as this one.

“Brother, brother! Let’s go play in the courtyard! You’ve been studying all morning…”

Alda was an energetic girl. She had messy black hair and blue eyes so deep they hardly seemed real. She wore wool trousers and a brown tunic—strange clothes for a girl her age.

“You want to play?” I murmured without taking my eyes off the enormous book Gonzalo had made me read.

By the way, the letters in this world were very similar to Spanish. Identical, even. When I opened a book for the first time, I was able to understand it without any trouble, though the writing style itself was different.

First of all, they used vosotros a lot, and they also relied on a great number of old preterite forms. For example: tuve, anduve, conuve, truxe, and so on.

Likewise, the syntax reminded me of medieval Spanish, with phrases such as, “The hidalgos are arrived at the castle,” instead of, “The hidalgos have arrived at the castle.”

And there were plenty of other details I honestly felt too lazy to explain.

This only applied to written texts, not spoken language.

“Yes! Ever since you recovered, we haven’t played even once. You’ve been reading books like there’s no tomorrow.”

Alda puffed out her cheeks in a pout.

Well, a short break wouldn’t hurt. Besides, I wanted to explore the castle properly already.

During the first days after my reincarnation, I had focused on reading all the necessary information about this kingdom and its surroundings. I also researched its history, customs, and other basic information, since I did not want to look like a fish out of water.

Especially not as a future sovereign.

Because of my age, Mother acted as regent. In other words, my decisions would not carry any real weight until I turned sixteen.

“Okay, you win. Let’s go.”

I closed the tedious book and, without further delay, walked beside my sister through the castle corridors.

The place was not especially luxurious. The stone walls were decorated with unlit torches and small paintings every so often. Among them, we saw religious portraits, as well as images of the former kings who had once lived within these walls.

Alda walked with little hops, greeting every servant she came across, and they greeted her back with cheerful enthusiasm.

Apparently, my older sister was beloved by the servants.

In my case, however, they bowed their heads respectfully and even seemed nervous in my presence.

Was it considered rude to look a noble in the eye?

Or were they doing it only because of my social rank?

Either way, I did not like that kind of treatment at all.

“Come on, come on, little brother! I want to play tag!”

“I’m coming, I’m coming. Don’t run so fast.”

“But if I don’t run fast, you’ll beat me. You already know I hate losing!”

The little girl stuck her tongue out at me, then smiled again without a care in the world.

Something perfectly normal for a ten-year-old girl.

We crossed two more corridors, each lined with different closed rooms. Then we descended a stone staircase to the lower part of the castle and finally arrived at a natural courtyard filled with green grass and trees heavy with fruit.

Farther ahead, there was a second large corridor that led to the main hall, and beyond that lay an enormous training yard, probably twice the size of this recreational garden.

“Your Highness, I wish you a good day.”

One of the guards greeted me with a polite bow. He wore a well-equipped coat of mail, with a heraldic tabard over his armor. On it was a red lion carrying a bloody sword in its jaws.

My family’s heraldry.

Therefore, the guard belonged to the men-at-arms loyal to the king.

“You as well,” I replied with great courtesy.

“Good work, Francisco!” Alda exclaimed, greeting the spearman with a smile from ear to ear. “If you keep it up, maybe I’ll put in a good word for you with Lulu, the florist.”

“I’m counting on you, young lady.”

The man’s rigid expression relaxed, just like every servant who interacted with my sister.

Man.

Would I have to put up with formal treatment for the rest of my life?

Ugh. Just the thought of always keeping up appearances annoyed me.

“We’re already in the courtyard. Do you really want to play tag?”

“Of course I do, Brother! You’ll see how fast I am when you can’t catch me!”

Alda moved a few steps away from me, then crossed her arms with extreme arrogance.

“You’re it first!”

And after saying that, Alda ran ten meters to the right and hid behind a lemon tree.

“We’ll see about that!”

My shrill voice still felt strange to me, but little by little, I was getting used to the idea of having this tone for a few more years.

I ran toward my sister with my hands stretched forward. However, Alda knew exactly when to move, and in less than the blink of an eye, she was already running to the other side.

I tried to catch up to her as quickly as I could, but these short legs were no help at all.

Ah, damn it. I hate being small.

I was used to the athletic, well-trained body I had possessed in my previous life. Having to build myself up from scratch again certainly made me feel somewhat discouraged.

Apparently, this body was not used to exercise at all, and after a few minutes of running, I was forced to stop.

“Y-You’re fast,” I whispered. “But you won’t beat me!”

I needed to adapt quickly to my new legs, and the best way to do that without raising suspicion was to play with Alda.

I ran again toward the orange tree where she had cheerfully slipped away with another sprint.

And so we continued for quite a while.

I tried to catch her by every possible means, but it was useless. She refused to let herself be caught, and she even showed off her athletic ability by dropping to the ground and then springing back up in one sudden motion.

Humility was definitely not one of her qualities.

“Too slow, little brother! You’ll never catch me!”

“I’ll catch you eventually. I’m sure of it.”

I certainly did not consider myself a sore loser. In reality, I only wanted to improve my physical control over this body.

But after an hour without any success, I began to genuinely want to win this stupid competition.

“Oh, you two are lively today.”

Our game was interrupted by Sora, my personal maid.

“I’m so glad to see you healthy, Your Highness. Come here. I brought you some delicious lemonade so you can recover your energy.”

“Yes, lemonade! I’m dying of thirst.”

Alda drank hers in one gulp, then blushed.

“Ah, right. Thank you, Sora. You’re very kind.”

“I appreciate it, Sora.”

I sat down on the courtyard grass and drank the lemonade little by little. Sora smiled at us again and immediately settled down beside us.

“You really are such well-mannered children.”

Besides cleaning my room and supervising the cooks, Sora’s duties also included keeping my sister and me company. Her confident and friendly attitude made me feel safe in this new world.

“Misbehaving is not worthy of a king.”

I tried to impress her with an elegant expression, but the sweet maid only gave me a smile and then ruffled my hair.

“You are quite right about that.”

“Bad girls don’t get dessert,” Alda murmured while finishing the act of licking her lips to savor the lemonade she had drunk so quickly.

“By the way, Miss Alda, how are your reading lessons going?”

My adorable older sister’s little eyes opened wide. She did not look very happy with that question, and it certainly gave me an idea.

“Everything is going perfectly. You’ll see. I’ll master those letters in no time. I don’t know how my brother suddenly became a reading master out of nowhere. It’s not fair!”

“It’s not that big of a deal. You just need to concentrate, that’s all. Reading is truly easy.”

Sorry, my dear sister, but I had already known how to read for years.

In a way, I felt guilty about this unfair progress. My reading ability came from my higher education in another world, while here, the ability to read was a privilege rather than an obligation.

“I was surprised as well. Have you always known how to read so well, Your Highness?”

“Of course, Sora.”

In truth, I had no idea what relationship the owner of this body had with reading, so I decided to play dumb and avoid raising suspicion.

“That explains why you hated the basic lessons Gonzalo gave you. If you already knew everything, then repeating the same things over and over again must have been frustrating.”

“Yes, something like that.”

Major save!

I sighed in relief. I had managed to dodge a bullet.

“Okay, children. I must go to the kitchen to supervise tonight’s dinner. I’ll see you later.”

Sora dusted off her dress and finally left the garden at a slow pace.

Alda also stood up.

“I’m going to wash up too, Brother. I need to be clean for dinner, and honestly, I don’t want to hear Lorenza scold me again. See you later!”

What peace.

I stayed there, watching the blue sky from that well-kept stretch of grass.

At least the clouds and the sun were the same, no matter the world.

In any case, I also decided to return to my chambers so I could finish my readings and, while I was at it, investigate a little more about this society I would inevitably rule once I came of age.

I had already learned how the economy worked, as well as the social classes.

Now I still had to memorize the heraldry of every noble house.

Ugh.

What a pain.

Memorizing images was not exactly my favorite activity.

Besides, I needed to make an important announcement during dinner…