This chapter got so lengthy compared to what I had in mind before… It might not be good to read this whole chapter at once during short break time at work or school (almost 7000 words, yet another record X”D)

Yes, you can consider this extra as 2 regular chapters’ length X”D

Enjoy~!

Special thanks for every patron and readers~!

[Level 1: Michelle O, Bigos2, NorAsma Hime, Bryan W,  Anita S]

[Level 2: Remandred, Danmaka, Blasefall, Sami, Albert L]

[Level 3: Christiine G, Ela V, Lucas J, Scipo0419, ACertainFairyCase, Vaitea L, Skyler S, Paco]

[Level 4: Browser, Venalitor, Patrick F, William C, blizgerg, wagtail, Hans-Andre S, Bigem S]

[Level 5: is problematic, Riley R]

[Level 6: alkin, Sir Hellington, Scott M, Jason D, Ghea, Ryuuji, TimelyCrow, Cassandra B]

Extra 3

Lyra and Altaire

Author’s Note:

Since this extra tells the sibling interaction between Lyra and Altaire, this extra won’t be a full story just like Cassie and Fenix’s extra story, but it will be tidbits about the interesting parts in Lyra and Altaire’s sibling interaction ^^

Lyra sometimes tried to act like a baby would, in order to fulfill the others’ expectations of her toddler self, or to hide about her weirdness that could make herself be shunned so early in life. Despite everything, obviously she would seem more extraordinary compared to other normal babies!

Setting 1: The First Day of Altaire and Lyra’s Meeting

Right after Lyra got acquainted with both her big brother and her doting father at the same time, Altaire’s first reaction was…

A little kid’s curiosity towards his newborn sister was… Obviously… this!

He was itching to touch this little creature called “little sister”!

But before his hands managed to touch Lyra, this little sister was separated from him as Cassie held Lyra higher.

Being interrupted from his plan, Altaire was surprised and pouted.

“Altaire, you’re a good big brother, right? So, promise me that you would touch her… very gently. Lyra’s still a few days old. She’s still fragile,” Cassie explained, before she approached Altaire and lowered Lyra who was comfortably lying in her arms.

“Fu… lagile…?” Altaire tilted his head.

“It means that she’s still weak. If you touch her roughly, she will be in pain and cry very loudly, Alt,” Cyan said.

Lyra who fully understood what they were talking about quietly thought, ‘I am not a baby. If it hurts, I may cry, but not that loud. I’m sure nothing can beat the pain I felt in the hospital. Try me, I’m a good, good kid!!’

Seeing Lyra’s funny expression, Cyan extended his hand.

Altaire thought that his father would surely caress his head as he usually did, but much against his expectation, his father’s hand caressed the head of his little sister!

That sparked Altaire’s first sibling rivalry and jealousy.

“Dad, me toooo!!” He quickly raised both of his arms, gesturing Cyan to caress his head, too. Cyan noticed Altaire’s jealousy and quickly pampered his son, too.

“So, be very gentle… okay?”

“Unnn!” Altaire quickly nodded and gazed expectantly at his little sister’s approaching figure.

Since a little kid like Altaire at this time wouldn’t really understand the concept of what can be categorized as too rough, he tried to be gentle and…

Only pointed his index finger to slowly touch Lyra’s baby cheeks.

“Aah, sofffttt!!” Altaire exclaimed as he retracted his finger and slowly nudged Lyra’s cheek again, and this process continued on and on…

Until Lyra felt that Altaire’s pressed index finger was gradually gaining power.

Trying to play the role of an obedient daughter and little sister, she tried to put up with it and only frowned a bit.

Noticing that her daughter’s expression turned sour, Cassie quickly warned the big brother figure who was too immersed in playing with Lyra’s cheeks.

“Big brother, do it gently… gent-ly, o-kay?”

“Alt, is gentle!” Altaire nodded and moved on to gently caressing Lyra’s cheeks and head with his small palms, only barely touching them.

Lyra was saved from being nudged to death.

Setting 2: Why? Why?

“Lyla ish sleeping?”

“Yeah, she’s already asleep. Let’s keep quiet, okay?”

“But, but Mommy said that babies would be noisyyyy, especially if the baby wants to sleep?” Altaire tilted his head. He didn’t feel like his little sister was particularly noisy, and it was the exact opposite of what his parents warned him before this little sister was born.

That he should be patient with his younger sibling later on.

That it was natural for babies to be noisy.

That his parents would need more time to calm down the baby later on.

…where has this gone wrong??

Daddy and Mommy are wrong…?

“…Yeah, your little sister is such a good baby, isn’t she? …though I’m scared that it’s because something is wrong…,” Cyan pondered.

“Well, I heard her cry when she was in hospital, but she hasn’t cried again ever since… It’s just that she’s such a quiet and obedient girl,” Cassie answered.

“Why is she so calm? Why? Why?”

“Because she is a good child! Isn’t it great that you have such a good sister?”

“Lyla ish a good sister?” Altaire asked.

Lyra glanced at her new family members alternately while thinking, ‘Yes, I am, right?!’

“Yes, she is, right? Look, she seems to understand our conversation,” Cassie sweetly smiled at Altaire and Lyra.

Lyra was surprised and widened her eyes to look at her mother.

Whoa, Mommy just said my thoughts out loud!

“Right right! Lemme rub rub her!! Good girl, good sister!”

“…”

But Cyan’s worried expression remained.

The next day, the family all went to the hospital. Under whose urging was it… Well, it was obvious.

The result? As expected, Lyra was declared very healthy…

Setting 3: Sibling Photo Session

After a few weeks, Lyra’s small baby body got stronger that she was able to withstand a light pinch—her neck and head got more stable, too.

Therefore, the family concluded to hold their first sibling exclusive photo session.

“Okay Alt, sit here and place your hands on the bed. I will place Lyra in your hands, please stay still and just smile at the camera, okay?”

“Okay!”

“Be quiet so we can call Lyra so that her attention will be to the camera, okay?”

“Got it, got it!”

Lyra only sighed in her mind, ‘If it’s just tilting my head to the camera and striking some good poses, then I can do it on my own, thank you.’

The result?

“Ah, Lyra’s pose is already good! Altaire, see the camera for a moment and stop looking at Lyra first, okay?”

“…”

The big brother was defeated by the toddler little sister.

And Lyra—being afraid that this big brother of hers would come to hate her—suddenly…

“Awwaaaaa!!”

She wriggled around and acted like how a toddler should be.

“Ah, now it’s Lyra’s turn… Lyra, Lyra, stay still… stay put… look at Mommy, look at Daddy, here, here!!”

“Sssh, Lyra, Lyra, look here!”

“Little sister, that way, that way!!”

…deep in her mind, Lyra tried so hard to swallow her embarrassment.

She felt relieved to see that her Alt-nii didn’t seem to show any sign of dislike towards her.

Yes… my embarrassment is nothing, as long as it’s to avoid any future problem, namely sibling discord!

(For Setting 4)

It’s common knowledge for babies to have some reflexes or involuntary responses to some conditions… Let’s take a look on Lyra’s various reflexes that surprised herself on how she wasn’t able to “behave” well!

*Note that I have no recollection of experiencing those reflexes myself (…obviously, lol!), and I tried my best to relate it to the available theories and my experience, so hopefully it didn’t stray too further from the proper mechanism/theory of those reflexes! If it has some differences, then… excuse me and I hope they’re still as enjoyable! ^^

Setting 4: Grasp Reflex

“Lyra’s hands are so smaaaaalllll!!” Altaire had a new hobby—poking his finger in Lyra’s hands, as his finger was bigger in comparison to Lyra’s tiny fingers.

Though his fingers were comparatively smaller than the adults’, but it was the first time Altaire touched a baby’s fingers. Even adults couldn’t hold the temptation to touch a baby’s tiny fingers, let alone a child like Alt!

“Altaire, please be gentle,” Cassie reminded Altaire, just in case.

“I knowwww~!”

Altaire didn’t even stop paying his attention to Lyra and continued to nudge at Lyra’s small hands.

This action—the act of putting his finger on Lyra’s palm—triggered an involuntary response from Lyra’s body!

Lyra reflexively gripped Altaire’s finger, as if she was clinging on to him. This was not the first time it happened. This happened when her parents did the same thing. At first, Lyra was surprised at her reflex—but since it caused her parents to pamper her more, with them saying, “Awww, my cutie pie!”—or something along that line—Lyra didn’t think that it was bad at all.

It was a childish action, and she preferred that she didn’t do it—but she had no choice, since it was involuntary.

“Aww, look at Lyraaaa! She wanna be with me!” Altaire said proudly.

‘No… actually, it’s just my reflex… but well, as long as you’re happy, big bro!’ Lyra thought inside her mind.

“Fufu, isn’t she cute?”

“Very! Her grasp is cute!”

Such a harmonious scene, a heart-warming scene between a brother and sister…

…that lasted only for a short moment.

After doing that for a few times, Altaire felt bored and wanted to let go, but since Lyra was gripping him, he attempted to pull away so Lyra would let go of his hand—but…

Instead of feeling his hand being let go, Altaire felt that Lyra gripped his hand even tighter!!

“Lyraaa, let go! I wanna play!” Altaire put more power to pull his hand away from Lyra’s grip, but just as he was about to put more power in…

“Altaire, don’t! You’re going to hurt her if you put more power!”

Cassie quickly prevented Altaire from doing so.

“But Mommyyyy! It’s Lyra’s fault! She doesn’t lemme go!!” Altaire pouted.

‘…Uh oh, am I in trouble? But I can’t control it! Even I want to let you go as I know what you want to do!’ Lyra furrowed her eyebrows, but Cass thought that she furrowed her brows because she felt uncomfortable from Altaire’s strength to pull his hand away and scolded Altaire.

“She’s just a baby, your power is different from her, and she still has yet to understand anything!”

“But, but, you said that it felt like she understood!”

“Still, she’s just a baby… Here, just don’t do anything and Mommy will help you,” Cass gently lifted up Lyra’s hand which was linked to Alt’s and gently rubbed the back of her hand, causing it to relax and Alt managed to free his hand.

“Bad, bad Lyra!” Altaire swung his hand around at Lyra, and Cass quickly secured Lyra away from his tantrum.

“Altaire, you’re her big brother! You shouldn’t be mean to her!”

“But it’s her fault first!”

“I’m sure she doesn’t do it on purpose, Alt. Can you be gentler when you play with her? No force allowed.”

“Mommy, you should scold Lyra, too! It’s not fair!”

Cassie sighed, “Okay, okay. Lyra, don’t be mean to your big brother, okay?”

Lyra only stared at Cassie with her wide eyes.

‘But… but… I tried…’

Lyra felt that it was sad to be misunderstood like this… She wanted to be an exemplary baby… The goody-two-shoes kid…

“Pfft—Look, Lyra seemed like she understood I was scolding her, and she feels sad because of it!”

“Bad, bad Lyra!”

“Uuuguuuu!!” (Baby language translator: But the bad one is you, Alt-nii!!)

Setting 5: So itchy! My teeth are growing, so forgive me~!

Babies tend to suck their thumbs even before when they were born. As such, Lyra found herself sucking her thumbs as a habit… and oddly enough, she felt that it was soothing! Though her thumb would get dirty by her saliva… she could just clean it afterwards! No problem!

This habit expanded even further when her teeth started to grow—as her gum felt so itchy that she needed to nibble on something to ease the itchiness!

Whenever it was bearable, she would wait and selectively choose the things that she could nibble safely, like her chewing toys, any food that she could nibble on, any safe cloth, and lastly, her fingers…

Altaire still liked to play with his little sister’s toys, and since the chewing toy’s form was unique enough, he wanted to play with it—and one day, they incidentally aimed for the chewing toy!

‘So, so itchy, I want to chew on that toy…,’ Lyra aimed at the toy and extended her hand—and Altaire who didn’t pay attention to what Lyra was doing, also gestured the same and—

Lyra’s hand touched Altaire’s finger that blocked her way to grab the toy, and because the itchiness was unbearable, Lyra’s hand quickly brought whatever she grasped to her mouth!

“Aaaaah, Lyraaa! Don’t suck on my finger! Ewwww!!”

Lyra finally managed to process what was going on and widened her eyes in surprise—but her hand and her mouth were still doing their activities!

After her gum touched Altaire’s finger, she felt quite relieved and slowly let go of his hand, to continue sucking on her own fingers…

“Mommyyyyy, Lyra’s sucking my finger! Look!!”

“…,” Lyra thought to herself, ‘But it’s because you blocked my way to the toy.’

“It’s because you put it close to her that she could reach it, right? Then, just don’t be on her reach,” Cassie calmly answered.

‘Way to go, Mommy!’

“But, but! I wanna grab a toy and her hand grabbed my hand! Mommy, Lyra’s also bad, scold Lyra, too!”

“…”

Lyra got scolded again, and she sighed in her mind. Sure, having a big brother who’s younger than your real mental age is… tiring.

She felt like she played the role of big sister rather than little sister, having to sigh and accept anything.

Oh well… such is life.

Setting 6: Toys

“Mommyyyy, you’re buying a toy for Lyra again?! What about me?!” Altaire protested when he noticed Lyra had new toys in her collection.

“You already have a lot of toys, right? Lyra barely had some…”

“But you bought some for Lyra, and none for me! You love Lyra more, right?! Humph!”

“…”

Both Lyra and Cassie were rendered speechless by Altaire’s way of thinking.

Maybe it’s true that siblings get jealous of one another at some point…

“Ah, ah,” Lyra quickly shoved away the new toys in her hand to Altaire’s side.

It was always like this. Whenever Lyra played with a toy that Alt also wanted to play with, Lyra would quickly let go of the toy and offered it to Altaire.

“Ah, look, Lyra’s so kind, offering to share you her toys. You should also share your toys, Alt, you’re her big brother. You two can share and play together,” Cassie said, wanting to let Alt learn how to share.

“So, it’s always Lyra is good at this, and that, and I’m not?! That’s why you bought her toys and not me?”

…Altaire took it the wrong way. Lyra frowned when her good intention turned sour…

“Altaire, the amount of toys Mommy and Daddy brought for you was way more than Lyra’s share.”

Luckily enough, Cyan chimed in.

“But I also want new toys!”

“Okay, okay, Daddy will also buy you some next time.”

“Yayy, I love you, Daddy!!”

“…Cyan, don’t pamper the children too much…”

“Well, let’s let it go for now. It’s better than letting him get jealous at Lyra too much. He will understand within time.”

“…,” Lyra witnessed everything with her cute round eyes as she wondered how overly pampering her new father was…

The problem with toy sharing still lasted for many years later. However, it got better as Lyra learned Altaire’s preference and behavior that made her successfully avoid taking the toys Altaire preferred to play with.

…in the first place, Lyra preferred to play with things that could tell her stories or songs, while Altaire liked to play with things that he could throw around…

Setting 7: Smile, Lyra!

“Mommy, Daddy, why doesn’t Lyra smile that much?”

One day, Alt asked Cassie and Cyan. He tried to entertain Lyra with what he thought a baby would find amusing, like peek-a-boo or playing with any toy that produced sound.

“Well, that’s also bothering Daddy, Alt…”

“While it’s good to see her smile more, I think even babies have different temperaments… Lyra just happens to be a serious baby,” Cassie tried to stay calm and recite one of the theories she had ever read.

“If you make weird faces, I’m sure she will laugh,” Cassie gave a suggestion.

“Okay!”

So—Altaire created various weird and foolish expressions that Lyra couldn’t help but feel that it was ridiculous…

“Pfft–.”

Lyra managed to laugh a little bit, but for some reason…

“She smiled, but why do I feel like she’s ridiculing me?!” Altaire protested.

‘…Because I really thought that it was foolish… Forgive me…,’ Lyra wanted to say that, but since she couldn’t speak yet, she only blabbered, “Waa, aaah! Daaaa!”

Cyan chose that time to do a voice-over.

“Look, she’s saying, ‘No, big brother! I just felt that you were funny!’”

“Really?”

‘…No, Dad’s got it wrong, but…’

“Really. Right, Lyra?” Cyan lifted Lyra up and Lyra only continued to blabber what she could, “Daaa!”

Altaire was convinced.

“I know a way that can surely make her smile!” Cyan said, as he lifted Lyra up so high and quickly moved his hands down, which made Lyra felt such a ticklish sensation around her stomach and as a reflex, she laughed.

“Oh, oh, put her down, I also know how!!” Altaire didn’t want to lose out, wanting to make his little sister smile again.

“Oh? Show Daddy, then,” Cyan put Lyra on the bed.

Altaire quickly approached Lyra and… gave her stomach some tickling!

“Aaahahaa! Daaa, aaaahh! Ahhh!!” Lyra laughed uncontrollably—but sadly, it was because she was very sensitive and felt ticklish very easily. She also rolled a few times on the sheets, trying to dodge the hands that were tickling her, but she was intensely chased!

“See, see, she’s laughing so happily!” Altaire continued to tickle her that tears started to form at Lyra’s eyes.

“Altaire, stop that now, your little sister’s gonna cry if you keep tickling her!” Cassie noticed Lyra’s reaction and swooped her up in her arms.

“Ah, but, but, she’s laughing!!”

“If you do it too long, she’s going to cry. Just do it briefly, okay?”

Lyra shuddered at the suggestion—‘I still didn’t want to be tickled, thank you!!’

From that moment onward, whenever someone gestured to tickle her, Lyra would raise her voice as if she was angry.

“Lyra, Nii-nii is here!”

Altaire gestured his hands and Lyra quickly understood that he’d tickle her with those hands…

“DAAAAAAAAA!!”

“It’s okay, come here!”

“DAAAAAAA!!”

Lyra dodged Altaire’s tickle by rolling on the sheets.

“Ly—”

“DAAA! RRRRRR!!”

Lyra continued to roll on the sheets, further from Altaire…

“You wanna play chase?”

“Yaaaaah!”

(Lyra wanted to say no, but it was not possible with how she still couldn’t speak well…)

“Aw, you’re being cute! Okay, challenge accepted!”

“Aaa…”

Lyra looked at the bed dejectedly while thinking, ‘I’m tired of rolling on the sheets… Should I cry so someone can stop him?’

This was when Lyra learned to swallow her pride and sometimes took advantage of her toddler body to escape from situations that she didn’t want to experience…

Yes, yes, no matter how patient someone can be, there’s a limit that others shouldn’t cross!

To Lyra, this is it.

“WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!”

Lyra tried to pretend she was crying, but tears didn’t fall, and she looked upset instead…

“Yah, why’re you upset?!”

Niina who happened to be nearby quickly arrived on the scene and scooped Lyra away from Altaire’s reach and respectfully lectured Altaire.

But Lyra was kind.

She distracted Niina’s focus from lecturing Altaire by reaching out to Niina’s fluffy ears, wanting to gently stroke it!

Niina was in dilemma—Should I let her touch it, or should I not? If she was rough, it would hurt a lot, but…

Lyra somehow was able to decode Niina’s thoughts and looked up at her with puppy eyes—Niina was defeated and let Lyra stroke her ears.

Heavens knew how reassured she felt when Lyra was being so gentle!

“Not fair, me too!”

–Another trouble arrived!!

Altaire felt jealous by how Lyra was treated and demanded the same.

“Altaire-sama, you can ask my Clavis to—”

Wait a moment… If Altaire was rough, then Clavis was the one to suffer! As a mother, I shouldn’t let that happen!

“…Altaire-sama, be gentle… okay?”

“Okay!”

At that moment, Niina learned how Altaire’s definition of gentle was actually rough—in contrast to Lyra’s gentle and soft touch…

Niina sighed and thought…

How can they be so different when they’re blood siblings?!

But wait… if Lyra was as rambunctious as Altaire, then I’m dead!!

Setting 8: Stop it, I’m tired T^T

Months had passed ever since Lyra’s birth, and naturally, Lyra finally learned how to crawl! She liked crawling to grab the things that interested her, like some books…

She would actually read the books to chase away her boredom, but her family’s reactions were…

“Look, she looks like she’s really reading the books!”

“How cuteee!”

“Okay, if you want to read that much… here’s alphabet table. Now look, Lyra, this is… (introduction to alphabets)”

“…”

Lyra cried in her heart, screaming how she actually could read really well, and that the alphabet introduction was not needed…

But then, it was established that Lyra’s favorite object was book.

So, Altaire came up with a new prank!

“Lyra, look what I’ve got!” Altaire purposely showed his story book in front of Lyra, and in return, Lyra welcomed his offer with sparkling eyes. It couldn’t be helped, the book looked so interesting, and it had been so long since Lyra last read, so she would gladly welcome every book shoved her way!

Altaire showed a mischievous smile that Lyra failed to notice due to her focus on the book.

“Come, I’ll put it here.”

Altaire kindly put it somewhere near him that Lyra could reach as long as she was willing to crawl her way there.

Lyra sincerely believed that Altaire only wanted her to train her muscles by letting her crawl to get the book, so she swiftly crawled.

“Ah!” Lyra happily smiled at the book that was just within her reach as she stretched her small hand to grab it when…

Altaire swiftly took the book away from her!

“No, go here instead!”

Altaire fished her further from her playmat to the door, and Lyra obediently chased after the book.

Once again, the same thing happened and Altaire put the book back to its original position.

Lyra thought Altaire just wanted to lead her back to her playmat after the exercise so she could read it comfortably there…

But much to her dismay…

“Whoops, too bad, come here!”

Altaire then snatched the book away and put it further—this formed a cycle and Lyra was only going back and forth… without being able to lay a single touch to the book…

…Lyra didn’t even notice it until she went back and forth for the third time…

When she noticed it, Lyra decided to only sit down and observe Altaire’s movements—not moving anything except for her head, to follow her big brother’s movement.

“Lyra, what’s wrong? Don’t you want the book?”

Lyra wanted to lecture this kid for pulling a prank on her, but sadly, she couldn’t.

So…

“Brrrrppph!” Lyra could only play and make sounds with her mouth while pouting, voicing her discontent.

“No way, did you figure it out?”

“Gyaah!!” Lyra tried to nod.

“…Did you just answer me?!”

“Aaaarrrh!!”

“Did you seriously get my words?”

“Gwaah!!”

“…Lyra, are you a genius?!”

Altaire threw the book away and approached Lyra quickly to squeeze her chubby cheeks.

“Wowwww, Lyra’s amazing!!”

“Mmmmmmrrrrrhhhh!!”

(Give me the book, give me the book, you bully!!!!)

Lyra swung around her hand towards Altaire as a form of her protest, but sadly her big brother didn’t manage to grasp the meaning behind her gesture and continued to nudge her…

Setting 9: Sneaky Time!

Afterward, Lyra tried to sneak around the room to get some books herself, but whenever the adults found her, she would be carried back to her starting point, much to her disappointment.

One day, she just happened to know the timing and the route where nobody would be able to find her before she reached her goal and happily executed her mission!

…Yes, this was the only instance that Lyra was considered naughty—whenever it concerned books!

But she forgot to count in the surprise factor, namely…

“Lyra, why are you here?”

Lyra froze on the spot when she listened to that familiar voice—Alt-nii!

“Aaaawawa…”

Lyra was so close to reach her goal, but her big brother stood on her way. She could only play cute and pretend that she was crawling around, wanting to play with him when she slowly moved forward…

“Niiinaaaa? Chloeeeee? Anyoneeeee? Lyra’s crawling out of her areaaaa!”

“…”

Lyra sat back down and looked at Altaire with half her mouth open.

Alt-nii, you traitor! Can we even cooperate in the future if you’re like this?!

In the end, it was when she was able to talk and walk that it became easy for her to grab some books…

This incident when her big brother blocked her way from grabbing books caused Lyra to believe that they might not form good team together, but is this true?

We can only see that in the future…

Setting 10: Lyra’s Speaking!

Moving forward to another time, Lyra finally managed to control her speaking better, though it was still hard!

The first person to witness this was…

“Daaa, dadada!!”

“L-lyra, are you looking for me?!”

Papa Cyan looked back at Lyra when Lyra muttered those words in his arms, while grabbing onto his shirt.

“Daddaaa!!”

“…Yes, Lyra’s not blabbering, she is indeed calling for me!! Cassieeee, look, our daughter’s able to speak!!”

“Oh? So earlier today, she was indeed calling for me?”

“Wha?”

“Yes, she said something like…”

Lyra quickly seized this opportunity to turn around and reached out her hands to her mommy while saying—

“Maaa!! Mammmaaa!!”

“Yes, that’s what she said!”

“…”

Cyan thought that he was the first person to witness Lyra’s speaking, but he was wrong.

“Well, babies tend to call out their mothers first, so it’s okay, Cyan! Look, her second word was Dadda, right?”

“Well, I guess!”

“…”

Lyra gulped. She actually practiced speaking alone, so her first words weren’t really Mamma or Dadda… it was actually her name…

“Ohhh, can Lyra call her Nii-chan?”

Altaire quickly approached Lyra and grabbed her arms.

“Iiiii! Niiii!!”

“Oh, look, Lyra’s calling me ‘big brother’!”

“Oh my, she is a fast learner!”

“Call me again, Lyra!”

“Niii! Niii!!”

“Me, too!”

“Daaa, daaa!!”

“What about Mommy?”

“Maaa, maaa!!”

“Aww, look at her, she was able to completely understand our words!”

“Quick, grab some of her books and let her recite the words after us!”

“…”

After having her vocal training for quite a long time, Lyra got so thirsty that she drank a lot that night…

As a result, she wetted herself in her sleep…

Please keep it a secret as it was one of Lyra’s embarrassing moments…

‘It can’t be helped! My control over my bladder at that time was still bad!’

That was her defense statement.

Setting 11: Alt-nii is such a naughty kid!

It happened after Lyra was at around 3, the age where she was able to walk and talk well.

Lyra was taking a deep nap when Altaire came into her room to ask her to play together when he looked at Lyra.

Then, before he left her alone, he saw something from the edge of his vision!

What is that? Oooh, some markers!

It was his little sister’s markers, lying around disorderly on the floor!

At that moment, a light bulb (in other words, an idea) sparked inside his mind.

–Fast forward to when Lyra was awake—

Hmm, what a nice nap it was! Being a baby was the best!!!

Lyra stretched her body and yawned again before rubbing her eyes and walked outside.

She could hear that there were Alt-nii, Clavis-nii, Niina, Chloe, and Vince all gathered together. Perhaps it was break time.

Lyra decided to join them as she was bored and her mind was still tired to read any book. …not that anyone believed that she could read so well!

She slowly opened the door that wasn’t even properly closed and slipped out of her room.

“Ohh, the princess is awake!”

After Chloe’s remark, everyone’s attention shifted to Lyra, followed by an awkward moment of silence.

“…?”

Before Lyra could ask what was wrong, everyone had blurted out in laugh!

“Huh? Whaa?”

Lyra only stood there dumbfounded, not knowing what caused everyone except her to laugh like that.

“Aah, my bad, my bad, Lyra-sama! Pfft—ah, Altaire-sama, was it your doing?”

Chloe tried hard to suppress her laughter and switched to interrogative mode, but failed.

The adults’ expressions turned weird because they tried to suppress their laughter out of consideration for Lyra, and Lyra felt quite bad for them.

“What’s so funny?”

“Lyra, have you seen yourself in the mirror?” Altaire managed to say it in his chuckle. Yes, he couldn’t wait to see Lyra’s reaction!

“Mirror…?”

Lyra had a hunch…

So she hurriedly ran off to the nearby mirror to take a look at her own face and—

“Aaaa, what’s thissss?!”

Her face was no longer familiar, it was full of different colors and “make-ups”. She looked like a clown… Red nose, thick eyebrows, weird drawings on both of her cheeks, an “X” mark at the middle of her forehead, artificial square-shaped “moustache”, oddly-shaped beard…

Judging by the thickness of her “make-up”, it seemed that it would take a long time and a lot of efforts to brush them off!

“Uu…”

Altaire followed behind and was excited. Is Lyra going to cry?

Sensing Altaire’s presence, Lyra turned around and instead of a pitiful expression that seemed like she was about to cry, Lyra’s expression was stern.

“Uuu, Alt-nii, this is going too far! You’re also wasting those crayons!!”

“…”

Was that really her concern?

“L-Lyra-sama, let’s wash those crayons away, and while we’re at it, let’s take a bath as well!” Niina who followed in quickly prepared for Lyra’s bath.

Lyra’s bath that time took a very long time… because the doodles on her face were so hard to wash away!

Lyra felt like crying out of her frustration—after all, what kind of woman wouldn’t feel so upset from this prank? …No, maybe everyone would get upset because of the efforts needed to wash them away?

However, because she didn’t want to cause everyone to worry and scold Altaire harshly that might result in him hating her (though it was his fault to begin with), Lyra only held it in.

She didn’t say a single word to her parents, yet Niina and Chloe obviously stepped in to report this incident.

Altaire still got plenty of scolding as a result… especially when Lyra turned out to catch a cold due to taking such a long bath!

But to look at the positive side… Altaire learned the hard way about the consequences of his pranks… As Lyra’s cold was contagious that the virus rotated around the Hartmann house’s member, Altaire himself included!

Setting 12: Oh, so you’re a genuine little sister!

This event happened some time around when Lyra was 3-4 years old.

Altaire got the idea from one of his friends at school, who also had a sister! This friend kept on talking about how he liked to tease his sister with the insects or worms he found, wondering why his sister was so scared of the cute insects and the wriggly worms.

At first, Altaire thought, ‘There’s no way Lyra would be afraid of mere insects and worms… Ah right, she’s just a child, not like my friend’s older sister. She might get happy if I were to bring some insects and worms in front of her!’

To see his sister’s happy face or his sister’s funny face…

Oh well, that’s a win-win situation anyway!

If things didn’t go right, he would just see Lyra’s indifferent expression.

Okay, nothing to lose.

So, right after school that day, Altaire went home and made sure Lyra was leisurely spending time at home before he darted off to the garden to find some insects or worms!

Fortunately for him, he managed to spot a cute wriggling worm in no time!

He didn’t hesitate at all as he picked the worm and dashed to Lyra’s place.

“Lyra, look what your brother got for you!”

Altaire hid both of his hands behind his back, as if he was bringing her some souvenir or present!

“What is it?” Lyra stood up and tilted her head, wondering what he might have for her.

“Book?” She tried to guess.

“Nah,” Altaire shook his head.

“…doll?”

“Nope.”

“Sweets?”

“Nope.”

“…I give up, can you tell me please, Alt-nii?”

“I’ll just show you, then! Close your eyes and give me your hands.”

Being the obedient and trusting little sister she was, Lyra obeyed Altaire’s command. Yup, Alt had never done such kind of a prank, so Lyra wasn’t really suspicious of anything…

Altaire held back his giggling voice and put the wriggling worm on top of Lyra’s hand…

Lyra immediately felt an indescribable feeling, it was moist, and it was wriggling… it seemed slimy, and somehow she felt yucky…

Lyra quickly opened her eyes to find a cute worm on top of her palm!

She widened her eyes and…

Quickly threw away the poor worm back at Altaire!!

“Ewwww, get it away from me, noooo!!”

Lyra quickly ran off from Altaire and the worm’s place. Altaire’s eyes lit up in amusement, as he expected his sister would be indifferent!

Altaire quickly grabbed the worm back and swung it around at Lyra, chasing her away up to the garden again…

“Ahahaha, Lyra, look, it’s so cute!”

“Get it away from meeeee!!!”

As a reminder, Lyra was a fine lady that was raised delicately as Reinst—and she developed a feeling of disgust for things like worms and some insects like cockroaches.

Though some kids her age would be happy to play with the insects and worms, Lyra had long outgrown that phase! As Reinst, when she was a child, she had played with some insects’ wings and got scolded, but it all changed after she grew up…

And she still kept this mindset up to this day, as Lyra.

Vince, who noticed their antics, quickly followed and stopped the two of them, lecturing them (especially Altaire) on how worms were also living beings that shouldn’t be played with like that.

After they washed their hands and feet together…

“Oh Lyra, I didn’t expect you to have that kind of a reaction! Aren’t you a genuine little sister? Haha! Never thought of this side of yours!” Altaire chuckled happily.

Lyra was still pouting as she glanced at Altaire who didn’t seem to feel guilty or bad of his attitude.

“Obviously, I’m a lady, after all! Uuuu, Alt-nii, don’t do it again! You heard Vince, right?”

“Yes, yes, I know. Don’t tell Mom and Dad, okay?” Altaire rubbed Lyra’s hair, while Lyra protested as Altaire’s hand was still wet!

He was using my hair to wipe the water on his hand…?!

Lyra grabbed Altaire’s hand and pulled it away from her head.

“Okay.”

“…”

Inside his heart, Altaire thought that Lyra would definitely tell either Mom or Dad, an action typical of a younger sibling.

However, Lyra didn’t mention anything!! Vince was patient enough that he thought it was sufficient for Altaire to only get his lecture, so he didn’t report it yet.

‘In the end, I don’t think I can put the standard of a typical little sister to Lyra…,’ so Altaire thought.

Oh, in the end… Altaire grasped the core of Vince’s lecture and stopped shoving any living worms or insects at Lyra.

…Instead, whenever he found their carcasses, he would play chase with Lyra again that eventually, Cyan and Cassie found out…

Altaire chasing Lyra with some bugs, and Lyra being disgusted with the insects. Altaire commenting on how Lyra is acting like how a little sister would!

Ending: don’t tell mommy or daddy! Lyra: Okay. Altaire: *didn’t think Lyra would keep a tight mouth about it* …in the end, I don’t think I can put the standard of a typical little sister to Lyra.

Setting 13: Conclusion – Having sibling isn’t that bad…

In the end, despite all the pranks Altaire pulled and despite Lyra’s occasional sigh as she felt more like an elder sister, the two thought of the same thing.

‘Having a sibling isn’t that bad…’

Lyra thought back on her former insecurities of having discords with her big brother especially since she was reincarnated and sometimes would be more superior than Altaire. About how she remembered those old dramas about sibling jealousy, and so on…

Is it because I always try to be well-behaved? In that case, then all my efforts were not in vain!

Meanwhile, Altaire also thought on his initial jealousy towards his newly born sister, as she took up his Mommy and Daddy’s time and attention.

In the end, Mommy and Daddy didn’t really compare me a lot with Lyra, and Lyra was being such a good child.

He heard the complaints that his friends—who were fellow big brothers had, and thought of his own sibling relationship with Lyra. Nah, his complaints were not as plentiful as his friends…

He thought that it would be nicer to have no sibling, at first… But when he went to school’s class trip the other day, he felt like he was so used to having Lyra beside him, that it felt kinda lonely not having a little sister to occasionally tease or show off to.

The same goes for Lyra, she felt like her days were longer and more boring than they were compared to when Altaire hadn’t started school yet.

Sometimes, she would think back on her life as Reinst and her relationship with her two brothers…

They weren’t that involved with one another that their presences didn’t really matter to one another…

When she thought back of it and compared it with her current relationship with Altaire, she felt quite lonely.

What if we forged a stronger relationship back then? Will things turn out different?

Lyra wanted to imagine a different past and future for Reinst, but after considering various situations, she felt like it couldn’t be helped that things turned that way in her life as Reinst.

There was no other choice. It was the circumstances that didn’t allow us to forge a better relationship as siblings.

However, for me to be able to experience such a different relationship now—well, that isn’t bad, I think.

She unconsciously smiled when she thought of that during when she was trying to sleep.

That night, she dreamed of a very impossible scenario, yet it was such a warm one.

It was in a familiar room with a fireplace—from the scenery outside the window, it was snowing hard. However, the room was warm—not only due to the fireplace, but also due to what happened inside of it.

An image of Reinst, Clyde, and Domi laughing and playing around could be seen.

They seemed so happy and close—without any tension among them.

It was such a blissful moment. A warm moment that the same room had never experienced in reality.

Not knowing whether it was a good thing or not, but when Lyra woke up the next day, she only remembered how she had a nice dream, but as for the content… she had no recollection of it at all.

[Mini Theatre]

Note: Mini theatre is like a commentary from the characters if they were put in the readers’ position—but this is not a canon conversation that happened between them~!

Alt: Boo, Lyra, do you think I’m such a stingy big brother that will get jealous at anything you do that can surpass my ability?!

Lyra: W-well, better safe than sorry…

Alt: Bah, do you think you can surpass me? I will be able to do everything so long as I put my all in it!

Lyra: …Okay, bro. You are an irregularity, after all…

Alt: See, li’l sis? You were worried for nothing! You could have been more spoiled, you know? You should have taken full advantage of your infancy period!

Lyra: Eeeeeh? How could I do that?! I’m a splendid lady and a well-behaved girl! Doing that would insult my pride!

Alt: Pride? Is that important when you were still a toddler? You won’t get another infancy period!

Lyra: …you’re right… Did I just waste my childhood again?

Alt: Seriously… don’t tell me that you’re already thinking on your third life?

Lyra: …No, please not again—

God (or Aion?): Oh? You want to hop on the reincarnation train?

Lyra: Wait, no—Big brother, save meeeeeee!

Alt: Here I go, my Void magic will negate your ability, Aion(?)-sama!

God: Nuh uh, you’re a mere mortal being, I’m a god. Resistance is futile. Mwahahaha!!

Author: …wait, so you’re the real antagonist, dear god who reincarnated our dear Reinst/Lyra?

God: Duh, it’s just a joke!! I just want to try to say those lines…

Everyone: ………

God: Anyway, the scenes were only 13! It was exactly your age when you first died, Lyra, haha!

Lyra: I’m sure it’s just a coincidence.

Author: No, really, I did it on purpose. As it was your age when you died. Your longest record of life so far in the story.

Lyra: …Is it just me, or I feel like everyone’s trying to bully me now?

Altaire: I will make sure you can beat that longest record of life and live to a hundred year this time!

Lyra: Aww, thank you, Nii!

Author: Whoops, that’s a touching scene, but I still have the final say.

Altaire: *chants something to return the author to the void*

[Story ends because author has been returned to the nothingness! …Joke XD]

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