CH 2

Feud with My Sister

Lucrezia decides to teach her sister some manners while waiting for her father to find a new marriage for her.

Rosa is sixteen years old, and although she has just made her debut in the social world, she is still in the prime of her life and wants to have fun. Inside, she’s still practically a child.

Moreover, their father had spoiled her, so she had neglected her lessons. She still has many bad habits that need to be corrected, both in her manners and her conversation skills. From Lucrezia’s point of view, who had received a strict upbringing, her faults stood out even more, making her look like an undisciplined child.

‘Because you are engaged with Falco-sama, you have to be disciplined so as not to be ashamed at least.’

That was Lucrezia’s big sisterly heart, but it didn’t seem to get through to her sister at all.

“……Rosa, when you talk to people, don’t just say, ‘Oh no’. Say ‘how nice’, or ‘how wonderful’.”

During tea time at an acquaintance’s house with her family, Rosa, who was quietly told the correct speech from the side, distorted her pretty face into an annoyed scowl.

Rosa, after looking around with hesitation, provocatively sneered at Lucrezia.

“Sis, you must be frustrated that Falco-sama was taken away from you, right? That’s why you’re so stingy with my manners, isn’t it? If you were cute and had a good personality, no one would care if you made a little mistake!”

Lucrezia was annoyed by her sister’s boastful attitude.

“No, I’m not. I’m just worried about you.”

“There is nothing for you to worry about!”

At this rate, even if Lucrezia says anything, she’ll immediately refute it and refuses to look back on herself.

Father always praised Rosa, saying that she was wonderful and Lucrezia was not, and so now she is under the impression that she’s better than her sister.

‘In the past, she used to say “big sister, big sister,” and she was so adorable.’

Lucrezia was heartbroken.

“Why don’t you worry about yourself before complaining about my speech? You often make mistakes too!”

In addition, she would argue for days or even months over a single mistake.

“While I make a mistake once, you make a hundred mistakes.”

“That’s not true! I still read and study at least five books a month!”

Lucrezia looks at her sister, who frequently laughed at her, saying, “You’re so dull.”

“……It’s those romance novels that are popular around here, isn’t it?”

“Ugh…….”

Apparently, she was right.

Lucrezia patiently begins to educate her sister.

“There are a lot of aristocrats in romance novels, but the authors of these novels are common people. All of them have never seen a real aristocrat. What is the point of you, an aristocrat, being taught etiquette by commoners?”

“Y-you’ve never read any of them, so don’t talk to me like you know what you’re talking about! Besides, I’ve seen a lot of operas!”

“Even your favorite opera playwrights don’t come from aristocratic backgrounds. Do you want to be like the aristocrats in “The Middle-Class Aristocrat”[1]?”

Lucrezia sighed, naming a comedic play in which the nouveau riche ridicules the aristocrats.

Rosa is all talk, so she is quick to quibble, and is reluctant to listen to Lucrezia.

Lucrezia turned around to talk to her.

“Listen to me, Rosa. Don’t believe everything you read in romance novels. You should only believe what I tell you because I have been trained to be a marshal’s wife.”

“W-What? Even Falco-sama said that no one in the court does the same rigid and moldy mannerisms as sister does!”

“It’s not ‘said’, it’s ‘mentioned’[2]. Falco-sama is not yet qualified to attend official receptions. Like you, he is still in his infancy. You can’t take what Falco-sama says seriously, because he lies as if he has seen it all.”

“Why not? Even if it’s wrong, everyone is supposed to obey the Duchess!”

Rosa finally exploded in hysteria and pounded the table roughly. The attention of the surroundings gathered unnaturally to her.

“Well, you must have accidentally bumped your hand. Did it hurt?”

Lucrezia takes Rosa’s hand and pretends to check on her, whispering desperately in her ear.

“……Rosa, a lady should never hit a thing, no matter how angry she is. What kind of rumors will they start?”

Rosa was getting increasingly agitated and would not listen.

“I don’t want sister to tell me that! Even Father always says that you’re so defective that it’s embarrassing to keep you as Falco’s fiancée! He also said he was relieved to have me replace you! How’s that? Can sister still say something about my manners?!”

Lucrezia smiled softly, trying to calm Rosa’s mind as much as possible, even though she was annoyed.

“…… I know how you feel, but I’m educating you because I love you. This is also a trial.”

“I don’t know, I hate sister! Get away from me!”

Rosa screamed like an eight-year-old child. Her behavior was so uncharacteristic of a lady who had already made her debut in the social world that it made Lucrezia’s heartache.

The ladies at the tea party were also looking at her from behind their fans, wondering what was going on.

Lucrezia wanted to continue her education, but she had to give up for the day because her sister had completely gotten angry.

Translator Notes:

1. The Middle-Class Aristocrat, or Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, is a five-act comédie-ballet that satirizes attempts at social climbing and the bourgeois personality, poking fun both at the vulgar, pretentious middle-class and the vain, snobbish aristocracy. ↵

2. The Japanese word for ‘mentioned’ is『おっしゃっていた』which is the polite form of 『言ってた』or in the translated text, ’said’. ↵