First of All, Let’s Hide My Younger Brother

“I’ll come with you! It’s your first time, so you might get lost.”

 

As she put on her slippers and wore a shawl over her chemise, Philia took the lead.

 

Autumn is approaching, so it might feel chilly.

 

“The bathhouse is on the 1st floor.
It’s always open, but it’s getting cleaned early in the morning, so you won’t be able to go in during that time.
You’re going to have to leave by 1 a.m.
at the latest.”

 

“I see.
It must be hard for the people who cleans the bathhouse every day.”

 

“It’s the first time I’ve ever heard a noble lady say such a thing.”

 

Philia chuckled every time I said something curious.

 

It’s only 9 o’clock, but the dormitory hallway is very quiet.

 

“Is the curfew early here? It’s very quiet.”

 

“The head dormitory teacher is very strict.
She doesn’t like students walking around after 8 p.m.”

 

“Are you okay with us going to the bathhouse at this hour?”

 

“It’s okay to go to the bathhouse and the restroom.
Instead, we need to talk quietly in the hallway……”

 

Suddenly thwack! The sound of a whip hitting the marble floor echoed through the hallway.

 

“Quiet!”

 

At the sound of the woman’s shrill voice, Philia covered her mouth with her hands instead of speaking.

 

“The director’s room is also in the first room.
So, we have to speak really quietly from here on.”

 

As I walked cautiously like a cat, I was surprised when I arrived at the bathhouse.

 

The floor, the fountain and the large bathtub containing warm water are made of marble.

 

“Woah, it’s better than I imagined?”

 

I took off my dirty clothes.

 

For a moment, embarrassment flashed across Philia’s face.

 

Seeing her reaction made me feel self-conscious.

 

“Why are you like that? We’re both girls.”

 

“No, I’ve never seen a noble take off their clothes like that in front of others before…”

 

Indeed, I remember her saying that nobles don’t like sharing their bare body.

 

I thought that I should be careful about this from now on.

 

“By the way, Kayla has a really good figure.”

 

“I guess it’s because I exercise every day?”

 

“What kind of exercise do you do?”

 

“Horse riding and swordsmanship? Before coming here, I also practiced things like rock climbing or tree climbing at home.”

 

These were the exercises I had been doing on my own recently to strengthen my body.

 

To be ordained as a knight, I need to have good basic physical stamina, but right now, my stamina is terribly poor.

 

After lightly washing my body, I went into the hot tub containing warm water.

 

“Philia, do you also want to come in?”

“필리아, 너도 들어올래?

 

Philia sat far away from the bathtub and shook her head.

 

She kept glancing outside, seemingly fidgeting for some reason.

 

Why is she acting that way. 

 

It must have something to do with what we talked about earlier, about nobles and public baths.

 

I wanted to ask about it, but Philia changed the subject.

 

“Speaking of which, Kayla, I’ve heard rumors… ”

 

Philia asked cautiously while looking at me completely submerged in the hot tub.

 

“Is it true that you are engaged to Lord Lithaus who is in 6th grade?”

 

I heard that Lithaus is quite popular at Kratier boarding school. 

 

Does Philia have an interest in Lithaus, by any chance? 

 

“……I was engaged, but we broke up.
There’s nothing going on between us now.”

 

I told the truth because I have no interest in hiding it.

 

Besides, I have no feelings for Lithaus whatsoever.

 

Of course, the same goes for Lithaus, but……

 

“Oh my, really? I see.
Lord Lithaus took great care of Franz, you know.
It was nice to see him look so caring… I mean, isn’t that a great friendship? I can't even imagine how excited my friends were when they heard the story.

(T/N: There are so many interpretations with the last sentence.
I really tried finding the translation that best fitted the context, and I this is the beat one so far.
If it doesn't make sense, please do let me know through the comments.
Since Lithaus is popular, I'm guessing that hearing Lithaus's caring side made Philia's friends fangirl over him.)

 

I was a little curious as to why her friends were excited, but the temperature of the hot bath is making me drowsy.

 

“But why… did you break up? Oh, you don’t have to tell me if it’s hard to answer.” 

 

“It was because of family circumstances.
We mutually agreed to call off the engagement.”

 

I spoke like it was something trivial. 

 

That way, people’s curiosity will fade quickly.

 

“I see.
Lord Lithaus is cool, and you’re very pretty.
I thought that you got along well with each other.
Oh, is it impolite for me to say that?”

 

I didn’t answer but laughed instead.

 

I don’t know how many times I have been told that Lithaus and I make a good match.

 

Do our appearances match well together?

 

Come to think of it, there were couples wherein one is the complete opposite of the other. 

 

My brother Franz and his fiancée, Marian Dmirov.

 

I know that Marian also goes to Kratier Academy.

 

“Do you know a student with the name Dmirov in third grade?”

 

I cautiously asked Philia about Marian.

 

“If it’s Dmirov… Do you mean Lady Marian Dmirov? We’re not really close.
Why do you ask?”

 

Now that I realized it, Philia seemed to put the title ‘lady’ to every noble girl.

 

“Well, we know each other.”

 

“We have classes together, but we never talked.
When I saw her for the first time, I thought that she was really pretty.”

 

Marian is indeed really pretty.

 

Astaire, who was pretending to be girl, and the one I saw at Burke station, was also pretty, but he and Marian belonged to different categories.

 

If Astaire was as pretty as a fairy, Marian was like a mature, coveted rose.

 

“Marian is also popular with the male students.
I don’t know how many love letter she receives in a week.”

 

“I see, she’s that popular, huh.”

 

“But she always rejects them in a way one stabs a someone with a knife.
She says she has a fiancé.
I heard he’s also a student here, I wonder who it is.”

 

The two of them got engaged last year.

 

The social world was buzzing about the son-in-law that Duke Dmirov had picked.

 

“Her fiancé is my brother.
Franz Vesta.”

 

“Really?”

 

Philia was more surprised than when I told her that I had broken up with Lithaus.

 

“That’s so unexpected.
I really didn’t know! Both of them didn’t show it at all.”

 

What that, so they pretended not to know each other knowing they both attend the same boarding school. 

 

“Uwah, I can’t imagine.
The two of them together…”

 

I knew what Philia was trying to say.

 

“Don’t match?”

 

“Huh? No, no, it’s not that they don’t match, but rather it’s somewhat unexpected.”

 

It seemed that Philia couldn’t tell me the truth because I was Franz’s older sister.

 

“I know.
They don’t match.”