Chapter 4

"Welcome back, Miss Reika."

At the academy, the family's chauffeur is responsible for picking up and dropping off the students. This is both a security measure against kidnappings and a practical solution for transporting study materials and practice equipment, allowing the students to attend their extracurricular activities without returning home first.

The life of a young lady is busy.

Her afternoons are almost entirely filled with extracurricular activities. Unlike the children at the local public elementary school, whose homes are scattered, they can't just leave their backpacks and gather to play. Still, most of the students are busy with their extracurricular activities, so after school, they simply say, "Good afternoon."

Today's lessons are ikebana and piano.

"I'm back."

Ah, I'm so tired. Juggling multiple extracurricular activities is tough. The piano is somewhat enjoyable, but ikebana... It's all about sense. Today, my arrangement was a mess, and it didn't look good at all. The teacher didn't seem to think it was complete and asked me how I planned to arrange it further, but my poor artistic sense couldn't come up with anything.

In the end, the teacher rearranged my work, saying, "Wouldn't this be better?" and the final result was almost entirely devoid of my personal touch. I'm sorry, teacher, for being such a poor student.

After changing out of my uniform, I went to the living room, where my brother had just returned home.

"Welcome back, Brother!"

"I'm back, Reika."

You see, I didn't know this, but Reika Kishuuin has a brother.

Originally, Reika Kishuuin was only a villainous character, so there was no deep exploration of her family background or inner thoughts like there was for the protagonist or the emperor. Her parents only appeared briefly in connection with her engagement. Readers didn't really care to know much about Reika, either. Ah, tears...

"Brother, did you have club activities today?"

"Yeah, that's right."

My brother, Takahiro Kishuuin, is 13 years old, 7 years older than me. He is currently a second-year student in the middle school division of Suiran Academy. He is a member of the archery club and practices a few times a week.

This brother, Takahiro, is so calm and proper that it's hard to believe he is Reika's sibling.

"Will the tutor be coming after dinner today? If so, could you keep me company until then?"

I love my brother. In my previous life (let's just say it's certain; it's too much trouble to keep questioning it), I only had a younger sister, so having a brother to dote on is incredibly exciting.

"Sure. What do you want to talk about? What happened today, Reika?"

As he said this, he patted the spot next to him on the sofa, and I quickly sat down beside him like a dog jumping onto its master.

"Today, I had piano and ikebana lessons."

I happily told him about the enjoyable piano lesson and the one where I didn't do so well with ikebana.

My brother mentioned that he had a bit of a rough day with archery, so I said,

"Try shooting this fan down,"

and I used a magazine as a fan, waving it back and forth.

"Yasui? Reika, you know such difficult things even though you're so young."

He was a bit surprised.

Hmm? I thought this was common knowledge for a first-grader.

After dinner with the family, my brother went to his room with his tutor to study, so I moved to the living room with my parents to spend some time together.

"How is school, Reika?"

"It's fun."

"Reika, how are the people at Pivoine?"

"They are all wonderful, and I learn a lot from them."

Since I became a first-grader, my mother has started calling me "san" instead of "chan." I don't mind being called by my name, but this seems to be the norm in the upper class.

My mother, who is from Kyoto and did not attend Suiran, has a special affection for Suiran, especially for Pivoine. She is incredibly proud that her daughter is a Suiran student and a member of Pivoine. When I talk about Pivoine, she looks so happy.

"Speaking of Pivoine, have you become close with Kagemasa Kiyotaki from the Kaburagi family?"

"Huh?"

My father looks at me with hopeful eyes.

"No, not really. He only gets close to specific friends."

My father's face clearly shows his disappointment.

Father, you're trying to use Reika to get closer to the Kaburagi family. In the game, Reika's relentless pursuit of the emperor, despite being rejected multiple times, might have been influenced by her father from a young age. Of course, Reika had her own qualities, but...

However, Father! Excessive ambition can lead to ruin!

No, it really can.

Father, please stop any unethical business practices.