Compared to the second son, Theo, the eldest, Ellos, retained a little more memory of Edith.
When Edith suddenly collapsed one day and never woke up, the atmosphere of House Capanteni became more tense than walking on thin ice.
Ellos had cared for Edith in his own way as her older brother, but when she became a living corpse, he hadn’t been that deeply saddened. He had believed she was simply sleeping for a long time.
But as the time Edith remained asleep grew longer, her presence gradually faded from his memory.
Even when he heard that she had awakened, he finished all his duties before leaving the Palace to see her.
“Perhaps due to the shock of collapsing and waking up, or for some other reason, she doesn’t remember you at all.”
“I see.”
“…Treat her kindly.”
He wasn’t a kind person.
He had heard himself called an asshole many times.
Still, he didn’t want to be called that by his younger sister, who had just awakened after so long, so he did his best to act kind.
“Edith, I’m your eldest brother, Ellos.”
“…Ah.”
“Congratulations on waking up. Let’s get along well from now on.”
It was an extremely simple greeting.
Since she had collapsed at such a young age and only just awakened now, he had first wondered whether her mental age might be childish, but fortunately, that didn’t seem to be the case.
“Yes.”
She answered gently, spoke well, and smiled often.
It was certainly a personality rarely seen in House Capanteni.
“I heard you are the Commander of the Imperial Knights.”
“That’s right.”
“What does the Commander do? Will I be able to see it someday too?”
“Are you curious?”
“Yes. I want to see for myself what kind of work you do, and how cool you are.”
“It’s nothing special…”
All Ellos really did was maintain discipline among his subordinates and follow whatever orders were given.
Having a personality very similar to the Duke’s, rather than working creatively like Theo, he simply found it more suitable and comfortable to follow orders once they were given.
“What do you mean it is nothing special? You must have worked incredibly hard.”
“…I did.”
His personality was naturally strict and by-the-book, so training hadn’t been difficult for him.
But many people tended to think Ellos had become Commander of the Knights without effort.
Because he was the Duke’s son, and since he preferred training alone most of the time, it looked to others as if he were simply wasting time.
He had even heard people speak behind his back. They said he was just a talented brat who easily became Commander, and that it was annoying.
Ellos had scoffed, but he had never wished for others to acknowledge his efforts.
He had simply crushed their pride thoroughly.
“Please show me someday.”
“…I will.”
Had Edith’s personality always been like this?
Thinking back to his distant memories, Edith had certainly been gentle and considerate. Because of her, House Capanteni had always been filled with laughter when she was young.
That was why their parents had taken her collapse especially hard.
“I will work hard on my rehabilitation. I want to go places with you soon, Brother.”
“…Heh.”
“Why are you laughing?”
“Because it makes me happy just imagining it.”
“…Me too.”
Edith smiled shyly, clearly pleased.
It felt good to have someone who didn’t dismiss his efforts but recognized them. Ellos thought so.
Even their parents had rarely interfered with him, since he was so stoic and handled everything well on his own.
“What else do you want to do with me?”
Above all, it had been a very long time since someone had asked to do something together with him.
Thinking back, when Edith had been healthy, she had always pestered him. Even though he found it troublesome, he had still played with her often.
“Um, have you eaten?”
“Eaten? I had lunch.”
“It has been quite a while since then. You have not had dinner yet?”
“I came as soon as I left the Palace.”
“You have not even eaten yet! Someone who uses their body like you should not do that! Then hurry and eat! With me!”
It had been a long time since he had received such nagging concern.
“What else?”
“Hm?”
“Why, is there nothing else you want to do?”
“There is a lot! I want to do everything with you, Brother.”
The more Ellos talked with Edith, the more old memories he had forgotten began to resurface. They were all warm memories, and it made him feel good.
Though it also made him a little sad, thinking that Edith had forgotten those memories.
“Yes. Let’s do everything.”
Even without speaking deeply, Ellos instinctively felt it again. So strongly that he wondered why he had ever forgotten.
That Edith would once again become someone precious to him.
***
Theo hadn’t been particularly interested in Edith.
Just a small curiosity toward the younger sister who had awakened after so long.
That was all.
But when the family began insisting on monopolizing Edith’s time in turns, and Ellos was among them, that small curiosity grew.
Ellos Capanteni wanted to spend time with someone?
“Has he lost his mind?”
Ellos was someone who liked being alone as much as Theo did.
Of course, Ellos was the Commander of the Imperial Knights and spent more time with others than Theo, but like Theo, he had absolutely no social skills.
What was so special about someone so small?
Was there something about her that could stimulate Ellos’ curiosity?
That small curiosity grew into something larger, and Theo willingly began setting aside his research time to meet Edith as well.
“Have both of them gone mad?”
That was what the Duke said.
“Why are they doing something they never did before?”
Theo didn’t feel the need to answer, but the Duchess didn’t seem to think the situation was bad.
And so, Theo came to meet Edith separately.
“This is something I’m inventing.”
“…It is amazing!”
He hadn’t really had anything to say and had just been sitting there, but feeling that the time was too precious to waste, he decided to at least show her some of the inventions he was working on, and brought a few with him.
“Is that all?”
But no sooner had he shown her a few things than Edith came up with an invention called a wheelchair right on the spot.
“What do you think? Do you think it would help me?”
“It’s incredible.”
“Really? It is nothing special.”
“No! It’s truly incredible!”
Did she think of it because her own body was uncomfortable?
He wondered that, but not everyone could come up with something like that just because their body was weak.
At first, he found it fascinating, so he began visiting Edith more often and talking with her about various things.
Everyone else would grow bored when he talked about his research for too long, but Edith showed no such signs, and he liked that.
His younger sister, who felt like she had newly appeared in his life, had a gentle personality and listened well.
“If you put this here, it’s a device that makes it change color like this.”
“Wow!”
It was nothing particularly impressive, but she reacted with wonder every time, which made it fun to explain. She even genuinely liked the small toys he made just to pass the time.
“You could sell this as a toy for children.”
“This?”
“I think they would really like it!”
“…Really? Do you want it?”
“Yes! Thank you.”
As time passed like that, his curiosity about Edith turned into genuine fondness for her.
Even if she had no new invention ideas, he felt it would still be nice to see her often.
“What about this?”
More than anything, there were times when she was helpful.
He would say something casually without much thought, and she would offer an unexpected perspective.
“What is this?”
“…It’s a light bulb. But without a magic stone, light bulbs have almost no practical use. Magic stones are so expensive that only nobles can afford to use them.”
“That is incredible.”
“It’s just an idea for now.”
Being an inventor was a lonely profession.
Even if one created something remarkable and it made money, it was quickly forgotten.
More than anything, Theo wanted to create inventions that would be useful in everyday life for commoners, not just nobles.
Perhaps because of that, everyone looked down on his research.
In truth, nobles had no interest in something like a light bulb that could be used without a magic stone. That was why he told Edith about it for the first time.
Edith listened seriously, without showing even the slightest hint of ridicule.
“No. I think it would be really good if you made it.”
“…Really?”
That made sense, because although Theo didn’t know it, Edith had memories of the modern world. She didn’t know exactly how light bulbs were made here, but in her world, they were created without anything like magic stones.
Moreover, she thought the reason Theo wanted to create one without using magic stones was truly admirable.
“Do not just think about it. Try making it.”
“…Why?”
“Why? Because it could be used practically.”
“…Ah.”
Theo let out a surprised sigh, then asked again,
“Do you really think so?”
“What? Should I not?”
Edith’s expression quickly turned anxious as she asked awkwardly, and Theo waved his hand, explaining that wasn’t the case.
He told her it was simply that such an invention had no relevance to nobles.
“Do you only invent things for nobles? Shouldn’t inventions be made because everyone needs them?”
Edith blinked, as if she didn’t see what the problem was.
And Theo truly fell for that side of her.
He had believed that no one would understand his thoughts, yet someone in his own family shared the same thinking as him.
“You’re right.”
“See?”
From that moment on, Theo became more sincere toward Edith than anyone else.
And encouraged by Edith’s words, he began thinking about developing the light bulb again—something he had only imagined and half given up on.
