Lady Philia d’la Love’s Mistakes Short Story 1: A Day With The Brother And Sister

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Because the last chapter was too short, there will be two updates today. This is the second one.

I’ve changed the format of the pages from here on out.

To celebrate the story concluding, this will be a short story (from Luca’s POV with a bit of Philia’s at the end) as thanks.

 

It’s from the first person view of 10-year-old Luca looking back on his 7-year-old self. Such a mature child for his age, is what he is. Philia’s POV is at the end of the story.

(Because this happens chronologically from a different, younger Luca, he may seem a little different from usual)

 

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I heard about this later on, but I was apparently a pitiful child.

From what I could remember, my mother was busy messing around with men aside from my father, and my father would spend his time at the gentlemen’s club, getting drunk on alcohol. In the beginning, the wet nurse and babysitter were there, but before I knew it, it became normal for me to be all alone in my room. The married, servant couple noticed my situation, but because the servants left little by little, their work increased, and I remember the years of my being alone increasing as well.

It’s not as if I had no one to talk to, but I just patiently confined myself inside my room. Whenever I went out, my mother would be doing disgusting things with the lover she brought home without even closing the door, or I’d hear my drunk father breaking things and making loud noises, which scared me enough to not come out.

Outside my room’s window, the vivid green of the garden was very comforting, but that bright place was an unknown world, which to me was also terrible.

My father died when I was six years old, and while my mother was enamored with my father’s male cousin, His Excellency the Duke, who attended my father’s funeral, the inside of the house turned quiet, but as always, I spent it being absent-minded in my room.

After that, I was taken out of my room when my mother married His Excellency the Duke.

 

“The reason I brought you along is… I want you to become his daughter’s playmate. Be good, follow along, and don’t get in my way, okay?”

 

She said with a beautiful smile and a kind voice — my mother probably wouldn’t have taken me along with her unless His Excellency the Duke told her to.

I looked extremely similar to my father, so to my mother, I was evidence of her failed marriage to him.

As for me, I didn’t want to follow my mother. Because my feelings of wanting to be loved have long dried up and disappeared a long time ago, and I’ve thought of my mother who only drew close to men as revolting.

The servant couple was still around, but the house was sold off, and it seems that they were sent somewhere else.

And just like that, I left the room I grew up in, and headed towards the castle-like residence of the Duke.

Towards the place where I would receive warmth for the first time, and meet a beloved, and kind person.

 

 

 

After I became Luca D’la Love, I was always with my elder sister during meals.

For nobles, until they have grown to a certain age, children weren’t allowed to enter the banquet room, and ate their meals in their rooms instead. That’s why I always ate my meals with just me and my sister.

My sister would sometimes selfishly say, ‘I would like to eat with you, father.’ My father-in-law was His Excellency the Duke, so he was an extremely busy person, and to be quite honest, children’s meals don’t really quite suit him. But when my sister pesters him, the probability of him doing so jumps up. Father is a good-looking man enough to charm my mother, and young maids, but his face is relaxed and all grin when he hears my sister’s pestering, which isn’t exactly a pretty sight.

I’d rather be alone with just my sister, but because she looked so happy about it, I tolerated it, and ate my meals as father conversed with us.

It seems that sister called father for my sake when she had noticed that I’ll be an adult soon.

The places where nobles and children go about their daily lives are distinctly separated, and it’s said that if one is unlucky, they might not even see each other for one month. If it weren’t for my sister’s selfishness, my relationship with my father would have turned distant even moreso than strangers who don’t talk more than necessary, what with me not approaching people on my own will despite not being a cold person, and father who isn’t attentive to others aside from my sister who he believes is too cute.

I thought that I would be a hindrance to my father who’s clingy with my sister, but he’s an adult man capable of respecting others, as a human, and as a noble. He was someone who taught me that fathers are supposed to be strict, but kind.

It was all thanks to my sister that I was able to grow up with a father-son relationship with him. To be honest, I apologized to him deep down for making him go along with her selfishness.

My sister has always been like that, and worries about me all the time.

In the beginning, I didn’t really think much of her, and because my mother only told me, ‘Be obedient so your new father and sister will like you,’ I didn’t go against my sister. Because I was scared that my father and sister will hate me, and kick me out.

But my sister always looked at me properly. She would immediately notice if I had even just a tiny bit of interest in anything, and either teach me about it in great detail, or quietly give me presents. It was my sister who taught me chess when I thought of how beautiful and sparkly the crystal chess board was.

I liked the garden even more than the inside of the house, and when my sister noticed that I looked interested in rolling on top of the grass outside, the picnics we had for lunch in the garden increased from there on out. Without making a disgusted face at the mud and dew on my clothes, she would say, ‘You’re so energetic, Luca,’ and delightedly smile.

My sister was always kind like that, and just like that, I came to really like her.

It was during one of our picnics.

 

“Oh my, Luca, you left some cucumbers?”

 

Because we didn’t bring any maids along, sister was diligently pouring our after-meal tea, and tilted her head at my plate with the leftover cucumber. They were the ones that I secretly removed from the sandwich.

 

“…I hate vegetables.”

“Eh… Now that you mention it, your appetite always becomes poor whenever we eat vegetable dishes.”

 

Grasping my hate of vegetables, my sister lowered her head, and made a troubled face.

 

“But you have to eat your vegetables.”

 

She unconsciously let that out, and my eyes grew wide. That’s because before coming here, no one had said anything about my meals. I’m surprised that my sister who’s kind to me would tell me to eat something I hated.

I stared blankly as my sister held my cheeks with both hands. This is a habit of hers whenever she wants to tell me to do something.

 

“You see, vegetables makes your body strong, and makes it harder to catch colds. If you don’t eat any vegetables, you may fall sick. I don’t want my cute Luca to become sick.”

 

My sister caressed my cheeks as she gently smiled.

When she makes this face, I can’t help but obediently nod. But I still hate vegetables.

There is more or less a reason as to why I hate them.

Back when I used to live in my previous house, my family rapidly became poor despite being nobles. The amount of maids and servants decreased, and the only ones left were the married, servant couple who were old enough to be my grandparents, and the drunkard cook. The servant couple was taking care of everything in the house, so they were busy, and I still ate the meals that the cook brings while grumbling complaints all alone in my room.

At that time, I neither liked nor disliked anything. But one time, I unknowingly ate a meal with a rotten tomato mixed into it, and because of that, I was unable to eat all vegetables.

I don’t know if it was because my family was so poor, or if it was because it was the cook’s mistake. But I still remember that raw, sour, and indescribable taste even to this day, and just smelling any raw vegetables sickens me.

 

“…”

 

When I stayed silent, my sister removed her hands from my cheeks.

The warmth when she gently caressed my cheeks disappeared, and I suddenly felt disheartened. I wasn’t listening to what she had said, so she must think that I hate it.

But without getting angry, her eyes suddenly began to sparkle.

 

“That’s right, I’ve thought of something wonderful!”

 

My sister took out a small bottle from the middle of the picnic tea set. She opened the lid, and when she tilted it towards the plate, golden-colored, thick liquid came out.

I watched dumbfounded as she poured high-grade honey on top of the cucumber.

 

“Fufu, there we go. Luca, try eating it now.”

 

She pushed the plate towards me, but it’s not like I could just eat it.

 

“In fact, when you eat cucumber covered in honey, it taste quite like melon! Don’t you like melon, Luca?”

 

She brought her smiling face closer. Her smiling face is cute, but that’s beside the point. I definitely don’t think cucumber and honey taste good together.

 

“Hey, Luca, if you think I’m deceiving you, why don’t you try it just once?”

 

I did think she was deceiving me, but the me back then couldn’t say it.

My sister said, ‘Though this might be a little rude of me,’ grabbed the honey-covered cucumber with her fingers, and before I had time to escape, threw it into my mouth.

 

“!?”

“See? It tastes like melon, right?”

 

She was brimming with confidence, but it really just tastes like cucumber and honey mixed together.

I desperately swallowed the mixed taste of the rawness of the cucumber, and the strong sweetness of the honey. I just couldn’t stand it in my mouth anymore, but my sister hugged me out of sheer happiness.

 

“Luca’s a good boy. You properly ate your vegetables!”

“I did…”

“You’ll be fine now, I’m sure. If you eat your vegetables, you’ll immediately grow taller.”

 

It is true that I was able to eat it because honey was mixed with it, and thinking that, I felt that I would be able to eat as many common vegetables as I can.

When I washed away the remaining taste inside my mouth with black tea, my sister suddenly grabbed the remaining cucumber on the plate, and put it into her own mouth.

 

“Ah…”

 

Despite eating it in a hurry, she looked really happy.

 

“Mhmm, this is it, the taste of inexpensive, green melon! Our melons are too high-class, and hurts your throat, doesn’t it?”

 

As always, something was weird about her words, and said something I didn’t quite understand. My sister has been a noble longer than me, and shouldn’t have know the taste of cheap melon.

I wondered about that, but my eyes were glued at my sister as she licked the honey off of her fingers, and immediately made me forget about that issue.

Seeing me staring at her, her face turned red, embarrassed.

 

“To do this in front of Luca, that was improper of me. Don’t tell anybody else, okay?”

 

I nodded while preoccupied with her wet fingers, and her lips.

 

“…Sister, another one.”

“Eh, a cucumber?”

“Yes… I’ll eat another one.”

“Oh my, you seem to like this taste, huh?”

 

‘Why don’t we try spread the appeal of eating together in this world?’ While saying words I don’t quite get, my sister grab that again, and held it out to me with a smile.

When I opened my mouth, she put the strange object (I, for one, don’t regard it as food) inside.

Just ever so slightly, her fingers touched my lips.

It felt like I ate something even sweeter than honey.

Suddenly, my heart started beating fast. I was filled with something that didn’t quite taste like cucumber and honey.

That was surely the moment I first became aware that my sister was a girl.

After that, realizing that I would eat things I hate if she fed them to me, she threw every kind of vegetable into my mouth. As always, I disliked the rawness that tears would accidentally come out, but when my sister fed them with her hands, it would somehow taste sweet, my heart beating fast.

I didn’t know why that was until I grew a few years later.

 

As for finding out that my sister was surprisingly malicious, and would personally feed me with her hands not because to cure my hatred of vegetables, but because she got to see my tears was for a story for much, much later.

 

 

 

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The days continued to pass without ever seeing the face of my recently busy younger brother, and now fiancee, Luca. He would come home late at night, and quickly look at my sleeping face in my bedroom, with me the only one unable to see his.

On an afternoon that Luca was able to free up after a long time, we prepared a picnic, and had tea under the shade of a tree. I saw how obviously tired Luca was after so long, so with the intent to thank him for his efforts, we relaxed outdoors, which Luca loved.

A pleasant wind brought the smell of the roses in full bloom, mixing together with the scent of the black tea. Luca’s expression softened somewhat, and one by one, ate the snacks we prepared.

‘Recently, he’s been so busy to the point that he flat-out doesn’t eat anything,’ the head maid lamented, so I was relieved that he was doing so.

But seeing the leftovers to the side of his plate, I suddenly smiled.

 

“Luca, as always, you’re avoiding the cucumber, huh?”

 

It looked as if he carefully removed just the cucumber from the cucumber sandwich, and ate the bread.

Realizing how childish his behavior was, Luca awkwardly averted his gaze.

 

“…I eat vegetables as much as is needed. That is unnecessary.”

“Jeez, that’s just an excuse.”

 

Luca, who had grown into a fine noble, looked at the small pieces of cucumber he avoided, and smiled.

 

“But you have to eat your vegetables, you know? Especially since you’ve been so busy recently, it’d be a problem if something happened to your health.”

 

We ate together when we were kids, so he was careful about being caught, but these past few years, we never really saw each other much, and nowadays, we try to eat breakfast together as much as we possibly could.

 

“…Then please feed me.”

“Huh–”

“You would feed me back then, remember?”

 

Luca, who had had his eyes averted away for a while now like a kid, suddenly shot a meaningful look at me.

I felt my heart jump. Not because of the suggestive look in his eyes, but because of my feelings of guilt.

Because of how cute teary eyes were on an angel-like, pitiful boy, I would forcibly feed him the vegetables he hated with a smile on my face. From a young age, Luca’s facial expressions were very few, so I was aware of how I did incredibly malicious things just to see his precious, crying face.

After all, Luca didn’t dislike me doing it, but seeing how even now he still hates vegetables, it must have been quite severe back then.

 

“Ah, uhm, that’s…”

 

When I looked about, wracked with feelings of guilt, Luca came near me.

 

“You’ll feed me, won’t you, my dear sister?”

“Ugh, ah… Yes.”

 

Recently, my victories have been quite trivial under not only the cold pressure of my younger brother, but also with his unnecessary charm.

Seeing as we only prepared finger foods, I grabbed one the same as back then, and timidly held it out to him.

Luca’s face as he slightly opened his lips and waited, was somewhat erotic, but for some reason, it felt like I was offering bait to a wild beast.

When I gently inserted my fingers in between his lips, he closed his lips, snapping it shut. Not just the cucumber, but my fingers were also in his mouth.

 

“Eeek!”

 

Despite grabbing my wrist and pulling my hand back, I wasn’t able to do anything.  Luca held my fingers in his mouth as he skillfully swallowed the cucumber.

 

“L-L-Luca! Properly chew, okay?”

“Yor wight, hai’ll chuw et.” (You’re right, I’ll chew it.)

“I-I didn’t mean my fingers!”

 

Flustered at saying the wrong thing, my finger was bitten, and licked all over by his tongue. He noisily sucked on it, his gaze hot.

 

“Sister…”

“Luca? Don’t be hast… Kyaa!”

 

When I slowly backed up, sensing the danger, Luca hugged me, and pushed me down on the picnic blanket.

 

“It’s so delicious, sister.”

 

I have a feeling he wasn’t talking about the cucumber.

 

“Feed me some more…”

 

I realized as he whispered into my ears with a chilling, sweet voice.

I can’t feed Luca vegetables ever again.

 

 

Just like that, I received retribution for the malicious things I did to my small, younger brother.

This is that so-called ‘getting your just desserts.’

 

 

 

= Short Story ‘A Day With The Brother And Sister’ End =

 

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Small Luca’s polite tone is due to servant couple helping him out. Despite being a kid, the master’s son has to speak politely.

After growing up, Luca began to unconsciously copy His Excellency the Duke, and became an arrogant noble man.

 

Thank you for reading.

The main story is complete, but from here on out, I plan on adding short stories.

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WAO. Tbh, fingers are salty… But aight Luca. Gotta be seductive lol.

Important: Chapters from here on out are on our new site, crappyasstranslations.com

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