The Valdia family governed a territory that shared borders with other countries. This territory was a mark—it was quite far from the imperial capital, and it came with a certain level of authoritative power. The mark was ruled by a margrave, and I was that lord’s son, Reid Valdia.
I started every morning with a visit from a certain little devil.
“Big Brooother!!! It’s morniiiing!!!”
I let out a grunt before replying, “M-Morning, Mer...”
“Good morning, brother!” she responded with a cheerful giggle.
This little girl was Meredy Valdia. She was my adorable little sister, but in the mornings, she transformed into a menacing little devil. She seemed to have fun waking me up, and at some point she’d begun waking me up every morning. Being woken was fine in theory, but she enjoyed doing it by jumping on top of me while I was still lying in my bed. It was similar to the wrestling maneuver from my previous life known as a body press. She would get upset if she couldn’t wake me up like this, but I was keeping it a secret that I’d become a bit scared of mornings.
One time, I’d started waking up early, afraid of suffering Mer’s body press, simply waiting for her arrival. She’d gotten upset and whined, “Ugh! It’s my job to wake you up, brother! I hate you!!! Hmph!!!”
Her complaint had been quite adorable. Even Danae, the maid who attended to her, was smitten by her cuteness.
Though we’d been amused by it, Mer had been genuinely upset, and she’d avoided speaking to me for the rest of the day. The following day, I’d waited up for her in a similar manner, and she’d ended up bursting into tears. Garren the butler had run in, wondering what the issue was, and the maids all just turned to me with a bitter look. Danae was the only one who appeared to feel some sympathy for me. After that day, I’d decided to steel myself and let Mer perform her body presses on me.
Since she was only a four-year-old girl, my father didn’t say much about this behavior. Garren and Danae just smiled as they watched over her. Had everyone forgotten about me? I recalled a saying from my previous life: The greatest hate can spring from the greatest love. Perhaps that was actually a sentiment that showed how people felt about children. At the end of the day, Mer was indeed adorable, so I would always forgive her.
After waking up, it was time for breakfast. My mother, Nanalie, was ill, so she couldn’t leave her room. My father was currently away visiting the imperial capital, so Mer and I were the only ones sitting at the table. Accompanying us as we ate breakfast were Garren, Danae, and a handful of other members of the household staff. When my father was here, Garren would sometimes whisper things into his ear, but we’d spend most of the meal dining together as a happy family.
Our meals generally consisted of salad, bread, and soup. I had memories of rice and miso soup from my previous life, which I craved from time to time, but there was no point in thinking about what I couldn’t have. So, I’d given up on those foods—for now, at least.
Basic etiquette required making as little noise as possible while eating. Perhaps it was because I had memories of my previous life, but I’d been praised for having exceptionally good dining etiquette for my age. Mer’s etiquette was befitting of someone her age, but it was clear that she was the child of nobles. She ate with proper manners that wouldn’t normally be expected of a regular four-year-old. She still made mistakes from time to time, so Danae would step forward and show her how to handle any utensils she was having trouble with.
“See you later, brother!” Mer called out.
After breakfast, my sister returned to her room and studied. She was provided a special curriculum for gifted children. Though she might just seem like an adorable little girl, at the end of the day, she was the daughter of nobles. She had a mountain of things to study for her future, such as academic subjects, etiquette, speech, and dancing. She was only four, though, so she probably wanted to play more than anything else.
Mer would sometimes sneak out of her lessons, which was just another one of the many adorable things she did. I had a feeling that she insisted on waking me up every morning because it was one of the few moments in the day where she could get some physical contact with her family.
After saying goodbye to Mer, I always visited my mother to see how she was doing. I knocked on the door to her room and entered after she responded.
“Good morning, mother,” I greeted her.
“Good morning, Reid,” she replied. “I’m glad to see you’re doing well today, as always.”
I sat in a chair that was placed beside her bed. It hadn’t been there before—Garren and the maids had prepared it for me, since I was visiting my mother quite often. There was another chair here for Mer, of course.
As always, my mother was sitting up in bed and reading. She used to primarily lie in bed and would sometimes sit up once I’d arrived. Now that I was visiting her every day, she’d probably started sitting up in preparation for my arrival.
My mother, Nanalie Valdia, suffered from an incurable illness known as mana depletion disorder. However, there were only a handful of people even within our household who knew about her disease.
Does she know that she has mana depletion disorder?
I couldn’t ask her that question. Sometimes, I would catch her looking into the distance with a sorrowful expression, which made me feel as if she could sense that she was approaching death. Since she couldn’t leave this room, I did what I could by telling her about the events of the previous day and that morning. I told her about how Mer was waking me up every day with those body presses, and she seemed amused and laughed.
“My. I also did that to my family when I was a little girl,” she shared.
Though I had memories of my previous life, I also had the memories of the original Reid Valdia. My current personality seemed to be built on a foundation of my experiences from my previous life mixed with Reid’s past experiences. I tried not to think about it too much.
The original Reid had clear memories of Nanalie back when she was healthy. He’d started lashing out after his mother was put on bed rest because of her illness and had gone on to take out his anger on everyone around him, including his sister, the maids, and the butler.
There were a variety of complex emotions and pained questions swirling inside Reid’s heart: Why had this happened to his mother? Had he done something bad to cause this? Why was his mother sick and not the parent of some other child?
I had a strong desire to save my mother, no matter what, and that desire was likely driven by the powerful feelings within the original Reid.
“Are you all right, Reid?” my mother asked. “You have quite a stern look on your face.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I was just thinking about the martial arts lesson I have later today.”
“Is that so? I guess that’s fine. Don’t push yourself too hard, all right?”
“Yes, mother.”
I spent some more time speaking with her, and eventually it was time for my martial arts lesson. It would also take some time to walk to the training grounds, so I had to leave now to make it there on time. I swiftly stood up from my chair and lightly bowed to her.
“I will be heading out to my martial arts lesson now,” I announced.
“Be careful not to get hurt,” she cautioned. “Also, say hello to Mer for me.”
“Yes, I definitely will!” I energetically replied before leaving the room.