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Translator: penny
Chapter: 29
Chapter Title: No Hard Feelings
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I know you get it—no feelings involved, right?
After reincarnating and spending eight years in a child's body, I'd come to realize just how straightforward a kid's physical reactions were.
My mind could always make rational judgments, but my body reacted faster than my thoughts every time.
When something good happened, I couldn't hold back a smile.
When I got mad, no amount of clinging to reason could stop my body from trembling or the frustration boiling up from deep in my chest.
And in physically taxing situations, my emotions showed plainly on my face.
Just like right now.
"Hands up straight, Bella."
Roselia's firm voice made me stretch both arms straight up over my head.
Hand-raising as punishment? Even nobles had to stand like this.
"You too, Camilla."
Her gaze shifted sideways, and Camilla—who had flinched slightly—promptly shot her hand up.
Our tangled hair bore clear signs of being yanked.
"...Sister grabbed my hair first, Mother."
"Who started it all?"
"..."
Camilla clamped her mouth shut and raised her hand even higher.
I bowed my head under the occasional resentful glances she threw my way.
I should have held back. I really should have.
Even now, I couldn't make sense of my own behavior.
I'd heard "give up if you've got no talent" plenty of times in my life—no need to fly off the handle like that.
But for some reason, hearing Camilla say it so casually ignited an inexplicable surge of anger.
"What I wanted was for you two to get along, not pull each other's hair."
Camilla's head snapped up at Roselia's deep sigh.
Her purple eyes flicked toward me sidelong, glaring as if demanding I say something in her defense.
Thinking it over, this mess was mostly my fault. I should be the one to smooth things over.
I cautiously lifted my head to meet Roselia's gaze head-on.
"Countess... I heard sisters build bonds by fighting."
"..."
"So, won't this actually bring us closer...?"
Roselia's chilling glare made my body twitch involuntarily. I'd never get used to that look.
After a moment of silence, she pressed a hand to her forehead and let out a deep breath.
"Haa... Fine. Lower your hands."
Camilla and I dropped our arms at the same time.
My limbs were still so frail—holding them up briefly had left them throbbing.
"Try talking it out next time. Understood?"
"…Yes."
Camilla and I answered softly in unison.
Only then did Roselia smile down at us.
"Since you're both at fault, just apologize to each other."
"Pardon?"
I tilted my head, not quite following.
"I told you—reconciliations are with kisses from now on."
Camilla's and my bodies went rigid. We slowly turned to face each other.
"It started with lips, so ending with lips seems fitting, don't you think?"
My face twisted into a frown without me realizing.
Camilla's did too. Irritation crept onto her usually impassive features.
I might have brushed it off before, but not in this mood—I had zero desire to touch her.
"Lips feel... a bit much, don't they? Forehead might be better."
I ventured the suggestion carefully, but Roselia just shrugged with a lukewarm reaction.
"What's the big deal? You're both girls, sisters, and still kids anyway."
"But..."
"Seeing those reluctant faces makes me want lips even more."
Her tone left no room for argument.
"Get on with it."
Under her urging, I hesitated, drew a short breath, and stepped toward Camilla.
...You know there's no feelings, right?
I mouthed the words with my lips alone, then carefully tilted my face toward hers. Our lips brushed briefly.
Smack.
I pulled away before I could register the sensation.
"Camilla, your turn."
"...Yes."
At Roselia's prompt, Camilla stepped forward this time.
She squeezed her eyes shut and leaned in.
Our lips met again. She lingered longer than expected, letting me feel the full softness of hers.
A sensation I had no interest in knowing.
"Good. That's how you'll reconcile from now on."
Roselia wrapped things up with a satisfied smile between our grimacing faces.
In this awkward spot, she was the only one in a good mood.
With everything settled, I headed straight to my room.
After the mess with Camilla, I wanted nothing more than to bury my face in bed and stay there all day.
But I had potions to prep for the market tomorrow. I'd bought some fine flowers from the florist to package them with petals.
No time for lounging.
I slapped my cheeks a few times to snap myself out of it and jumped out of bed.
I was packing my things to head out when a magic tome on the desk caught my eye.
『Stubbornness is no good, Sister.』
I shook my head slowly and stepped out the door.
Papers densely covered in circuit diagrams rustled underfoot.
The night everyone else was asleep, a profound silence blanketed the mansion. The only sound drifting in from afar was an owl's hoot.
Camilla walked the corridor alone.
'She really rubs me the wrong way.'
That girl who popped up out of nowhere and pestered her at every turn.
What did she think she could accomplish with a body devoid of talent? Her blind enthusiasm was grating.
And the way she acted like some big sister trying to teach her? Infuriating.
To top it off, today she'd even dared to grab her hair.
How ridiculous.
So fragile she'd crumble to a single spell, yet charging in without fear—it was laughable.
If Mother hadn't been there, she would've sliced off an arm right then.
And watched her collapse to the floor, armless, tears streaming pathetically. That would've eased her mood a bit.
It surely would have...
Throb—
Suddenly, a sharp pang stabbed somewhere in her chest.
Caught off guard by the unfamiliar feeling, Camilla stopped and blinked blankly.
Only after thoroughly checking her body did she realize the pain wasn't physical.
Camilla had lived her whole life without a shred of guilt. Not even a single tear when she killed her parents.
So why now?
Why did picturing Bella staring at her with those lifeless eyes make her chest tighten like this?
'...Whatever. Ignore it.'
Dwelling on it would just give her a headache for no reason.
She was nothing but a disposable tool, to be discarded the moment she outlived her usefulness.
Roselia might wear a kind face now, but she wasn't one to get attached to emotions.
A woman born of cold blood, who could blow a person's head off without a flicker of expression.
Mother was just like her.
Maybe that's why Camilla craved her approval.
Or, if she dared dream bigger... she wanted to live like a real mother and daughter.
But Camilla, who knew Roselia better than anyone, was certain: no matter what, she'd never earn her affection.
She'd been adopted into this family solely for her magical potential.
Yet that girl. The one who barged in calling herself "sister."
Why did Mother give her... that?
"...Hah."
As her thoughts spiraled, Camilla's steps halted.
Familiar light leaked through the gap under a door ahead—Bella's room.
A sigh escaped her. Grimacing, she approached the glowing crack and muttered to herself.
'Don't tell me she's still hung up on magic.'
It was well past bedtime.
Plus, hadn't she said she went out selling during the day? No talent for magic, but stamina she had in spades.
'Infuriating.'
Camilla twitched her fingertips, sending a thin thread of mana slipping through the door crack.
The door eased open silently.
Sure enough.
There, at the desk in her room, the girl with sky-blue hair sat oblivious to the door, utterly absorbed in her magic tome.
Camilla was just thinking she might need to drive home the point about quitting magic again.
But Bella looked different from usual—Camilla's eyes widened.
Reddened nose tip. Even more flushed eyes.
Tears streamed endlessly from those usually clear, sky-blue eyes.
Yet she never tore her gaze from the book.
She'd sniffle now and then, squeezing her eyes shut tight, but when they opened, they always returned to the page.
"..."
Camilla was speechless for a moment.
The sight of her wiping away tears with a trembling hand, tracing circuit diagrams...
Foolish. Idiotic. And yet, for some reason, impossible to look away from.
Throb—
Her chest clenched again.
An unfamiliar pain she'd never felt before.
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