The Feeling of a Fluttering Heart

When she opened the paper box holding the cakes, it was obvious they had assumed Solor would be the one delivering it to Ellie.

Inside were two slices of cake and two small wooden spoons.

When she heard that the cakes were made by Evelia and Furse, Ellie actually felt a brief surge of happiness.

After all, as her most trusted “Crimson Raven,” she had always believed in him and enjoyed the absolute loyalty he showed her.

In the past, she had ordered him to kill many people.

Whether he was Furse in his male form or Evelia in her female form, under her command he was always an assassin.

Something like baking cakes…

The all-capable Crimson Raven surely could do it, but she had never once asked this assassin to handle such mundane, everyday matters.

Eric was not the kind of person so cold-hearted that he wouldn’t eat sweets.

As mentioned before, he was someone with a very balanced diet.

Whether he liked or disliked something, for the sake of his health he would still eat it normally, and he even quite liked sweet things.

It was just that back then, to maintain his image, Eric rarely praised other people’s cream cakes in public.

Of course, he still ate them in private.

He wasn’t made of iron.

It wasn’t like if he said he wouldn’t eat something, he’d never eat it for the rest of his life.

As long as no one knew, he’d just eat it.

Eating it himself was one thing.

But if it was something given by someone else, that was even better.

Especially when it wasn’t just anyone, but a gift from his most trusted Crimson Raven.

In her heart, Crimson Raven was second only to Solor.

One was the person she wanted most to obtain.

The other was the one she cherished most after obtaining him.

Her attitude toward Crimson Raven was different from how she treated other assassins.

On the surface, Crimson Raven enjoyed the best待遇, but correspondingly, the standards she demanded of him were also the harshest.

She hadn’t even gotten to eat something made by Crimson Raven in her previous life.

Yet in this life, she actually did.

This was a good thing!

Was this rebirth really meant for atonement?

Why did it feel more like it was here to fulfill her wishes?

Was this really okay?

Wasn’t she supposed to kill to repay lives?

When would it finally be time to kill her?

But… what had Solor just said?

Had he just said…

“His Evelia…?”

Suddenly reacting to that phrase, Ellie raised an eyebrow.

“Ah, yes.

After all, Eigmad and Evelia are getting married.

It should be sometime this year…”

Solor said this, but as he lifted his head, he suddenly noticed that Ellie’s expression had changed.

Eh… w-what… what happened?

Why did she suddenly look unhappy?

Generally speaking, it was rare for Ellie to be unhappy in front of Solor.

Ellie was always smiling.

Even when she played pranks, she smiled through them.

She had never shown this kind of darkened expression before.

Ah—no, wait.

She had.

As this thought struck him, Solor suddenly realized it.

Ellie had used that expression before, but not toward him.

It had been toward…

Eigmad?

Huh…?

Eigmad?

Why?

Why did his sister always seem to direct her hostility toward Eigmad?

Had Eigmad really done something to wrong his sister?

Or did she dislike the knight order in general, and because Furse’s snack upset her stomach, she held a grudge against them?

That didn’t seem right…

Ellie didn’t seem like someone so petty…

Without any major wrongdoing, she shouldn’t react like this… right?

“Is something wrong, Ellie?

Did something I just said make you unhappy?”

“Ah, no, it’s nothing.

Royal brother, don’t be so nervous.

It’s fine.”

Seeing Solor look a little anxious, Ellie smiled.

Her smile finally returned to her face.

But when she thought about Evelia and that knight commander, she still felt…

“…If only I could die this year…”

“—What?!”

Logically speaking, Solor should have been a mature and steady person.

After all, he was destined to become emperor in the future, so his temperament was supposed to be calm.

But when it came to Ellie, he always burst out with reactions completely unlike his usual composed self.

“—What’s wrong, Ellie?

Did Eigmad—did that Eigmad bastard do something?!

I’ll go find him right now, he can’t have gone far.

Just tell me, Ellie.

You’re my sister, and you’re a daughter of the royal family.

No one dares do anything to you.”

“……”

Seeing Solor so worked up, Ellie’s eyes widened slightly.

What was that supposed to mean?

What did “you’re my sister, no one dares do anything to you” mean?

Those words… those words…

They sounded far too beautiful, didn’t they?

Could you say that again, royal brother?

But change “sister” to “brother.”

Say it like this instead—

“You’re my brother, no one dares do anything to you.”

Would that be okay?

But such thoughts could only remain thoughts.

Ellie pressed her lips together and said,

“Don’t worry, royal brother.

He didn’t do anything to me.

You don’t need to be so agitated.”

Though, to be honest, she really did want to vent.

For example, how her most loyal servant had been turned by Eigmad, then directly married off, and now was about to get married right before her eyes.

Who could stand that?

If, after ten months of pregnancy, the child was born and actually named Eric, then what was the point of living?

She might as well jump straight off 👋🏻.

But in front of Solor, she couldn’t say any of this.

The reason was simple—Solor didn’t know about any of it.

They weren’t even on the same timeline.

How could he possibly know?

So all this mess could only be digested by herself.

Which sounded pretty pitiful, really.

Because they didn’t belong to the same world, so many things in her heart couldn’t be said to the person in front of her.

But it was fine.

At least her feelings for him had never changed.

She was still Eric.

Only the name had become Ellie, and the body had become female.

“Then… Ellie… tell me what’s bothering you?”

Seeing that Ellie didn’t seem very willing to talk, Solor softened his tone.

He had always felt that he wasn’t a very competent older brother.

He didn’t know what his sister liked, nor what she disliked.

In his impression, Ellie seemed like a girl who accepted everything.

That kind of girl, if you put it nicely, was broad-minded.

If you put it bluntly, it meant she had no real chance or ability to discern.

As a princess, how could Solor allow her to be like that?

“…Mm… it’s nothing much.”

Seeing that Solor wouldn’t stop unless he got some kind of answer, Ellie sighed and replied,

“I just care about… the way Eigmad said ‘my Evelia.’

That ‘my.’

That kind of way of addressing someone.

Clearly, I haven’t even…”

Clearly, I haven’t even addressed Evelia and Furse like that yet.

That’s clearly mine!

There’s a bull here!

“—!”

But this hesitation meant something entirely different in Solor’s eyes.

What?

A way of addressing someone?

What way of addressing?

Clearly she hadn’t… hadn’t what?

Could it be—

“—No, Ellie.”

Solor suddenly spoke loudly and looked at Ellie very seriously.

“I can do that kind of address too!”

He suddenly became very earnest—though Ellie was completely lost.

What address?

You want to steal my Crimson Raven?

“You don’t have to be so lonely.

I can say that kind of thing anytime—

You are my sister, my one and only sister.

You are my Ellie.

I won’t allow anyone to disrespect you!”

Solor said this with absolute seriousness.

But it left Ellie stunned.

What?

…What?

Her brows furrowed slightly, as if she were trying to process the situation.

After playing pranks for so long, this was the first time Ellie hadn’t understood what Solor was doing when he got serious.

He—ah, he misunderstood?

Because she had casually thought about dying this year to avoid seeing Eigmad’s wedding, and then said something about caring about how people were addressed…

So Solor interpreted it like this?

That… actually made sense.

Although Solor’s understanding was light-years away from her own thoughts, considering he had no memories of the previous world, it was only natural that he’d think this way…

Natural?

“My one and only sister”… “my Ellie”…?

If that were changed to “my one and only brother,” the sheer immersion would probably make Ellie die of happiness on the spot.

But still… it really did make her happy.

It felt like being acknowledged.

Like being accepted with seriousness and love.

“……”

“…Mm.”

Ellie nodded.

This time, her smile came straight from the heart.

“Thank you, royal brother.”

Those words made her incredibly happy.

So happy that even today’s sunlight felt warmer.

So warm that her heart started pounding, and her cheeks were tinged with a soft blush.

“I’m very happy that you see me this way.

Thank you.”

I’m happy to be your one and only.

“In my heart, you are also my one and only royal brother.”

In my heart, it’s the same.

No one can replace your place there.

If you don’t believe me, you can dig out my heart.

Carve your name into it with a blade, then stuff it back into my cold corpse.

Even if my heart never beats again, the name left upon it will never disappear.

Ah… royal brother…

You’ve always been like this.

With just a sentence, an expression, a smile, you make me willing to smash myself to pieces just to leave a mark in your heart.

So please, care about me more.

Look at me more.

Let me become the version you like most, then acknowledge me, praise me.

Even if I die, you must remember me.

Though her thoughts were twisted, the smile on her face was undeniably sweet.

Ellie’s smile was like the shadow of flowers blooming in spring.

A beauty hard to describe, yet one that let people taste the feeling of a fluttering heart in an instant.

…Huh?

As his heart began pounding because of Ellie’s smile, Solor suddenly froze.

A fluttering… feeling…?

Toward… Ellie…?