A/N: ATTENTION ALL READERS!

I have updated TWO CHAPTERS today in celebration of "Another Life, Another Me" reaching 10,000 views!!!!

If you haven't read the chapter before this one, go back to read it.

Okay, enjoy the chapter!

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I think my headache came back.

I am NOT ready to deal with another capture target.

Unlike when I was meeting the prince, this one came out of the blue.

Who knew that I would meet my brother, Ash, today?!

In the game, my father found him in the slums on one of his trips to the town. He found out that the orphan, Ash, had extremely strong magic: rare plant and mythical stealth magic.

So, he decided to adopt the kid and make him the heir.

Cordelia ignored Ash the whole time in the game.

You would think that he would have no reason to kill me, right?

Wrong.

Like all of the other capture targets, he fell in love with the heroine.

The game's Cordelia hated Ash at the time since he stole away her father's affection that she never had.

So when she realized that her brother had a crush on a commoner, she used this chance to bully and harass her. At some point, Cordelia almost killed the girl.

In the end, her brother found out.

In his anger, he challenged Cordelia to an official duel.

The rules of an official duel were simple.

1. Both sides must consent.

2. Martial arts and magic are both allowed.

3. The challenger has the right to choose the location, time, and place of the duel.

4. To win, one side must die or surrender.

5. In the case of a draw, both sides must trade something of great and equal value.

Declining an official duel was equivalent to death for nobles. So, foolish Cordelia accepted the challenge thinking that she was going to win.

After all, Cordelia wasn't weak. She also didn't know how strong her brother was after ignoring him for many years.

Ash won with ease and killed Cordelia in the process. Since no one loved Cordelia, there was no one who mourned her death.

Currently, I stared at the boy before me.

Even though he was acting adorably respectable, his eyes were clouded.

I frowned.

"His name is Ash. Please treat him well, Cordelia," my father told me.

He smiled at the two of us and I smiled back at him.

"Okay, Daddy! Can I play with him?" I asked as innocently as I could.

"Yes! Of course! He will protect you from those beasts after all..." my father said cheerfully.

I grabbed the hands of the child before me and dragged him out of the room.

Technically, he was older than me, but my greater mental age did not permit me to leave him alone.

I ran to the garden as far as I could away from the estate while holding his hand. During this, I gestured to Ace to leave us alone.

When we reached the edge of our home, I stopped and gasped for air. I was out of breath.

I turned to the boy who wasn't tired in the slightest. I bet he probably had to run a lot in the slums.

I was slightly jealous of his stamina.

"U-umm...sorry for b-being a bo-bother...W-why am I h-here?" he asked me, clearly confused.

I faced him and stared at him in the eye.

His eyes were cloudy and dark.

It was no surprise either. He watched his two parents die by the hands of nobles.

Then, he was adopted by nobles.

I would be cautious too.

He can't hide anything from me. No one is this otome game world can.

The only one I was never able to read was Florence, the stupid prodigal prince.

"You don't have to pretend around me," I told him. I didn't bother to answer his previous question.

"H-huh? I don't know what y-you mean..." he said.

He can't lie to me.

I know he isn't like this. He probably hates us all on the inside.

If he continues to act like he actually cares about us, I might die in the future...

"Don't tell me that! I know you're lying!" I yelled.

The boy in front of me froze and looked down.

"How did you know?" he asked loudly.

"I could just tell. You can't trick me like my father or my maids!" I told him proudly.

Actually, nothing in this world should be able to deceive me. I know everyone's real personality after all.

"Humph. So what's a brat like you going to do now that you know?" he said angrily.

Wait...what am I going to do now?

"I bet you're just going to blackmail me or tell your father that I am unsuitable to be the Duke's heir," he told me spitefully.

Huh? There is no way I'm going to do that.

It sounds like too much work and I can't afford to get him to hate me.

Besides, even if I told my father about him, I doubt it would change anything.

"No way! I won't do that! What do you even think of me anyway?!" I said.

"I think that you are a spoiled noble that won't be able to understand me no matter how hard you try!" he yelled.

"I'm not spoiled! If anything, you are a pretty big brat yourself!"

"That's not true! Just shut up and let me peacefully become the heir!"

"It's too late for that now! Whether you like it or not, you're going to be my older brother!"

"I don't want to!"

"No! You're going to be my perfect brother!"

"Huh?"

"You're going to be my perfect older brother!"

"Wait...What?"

"...I said...YOU'RE GONNA BE MY PERFECT OLDER BROTHER!"

"...?"

Clearly, this kid is confused.

I've never had a sibling before...or any parents I could rely on in my past life. So, I had to be an independent lady very early on.

I had to do everything myself.

I don't want a younger sibling because I would have to be the one who takes care of them. I don't have time for that!

...But if I had an older sibling, they can take care of me!

I could finally relax too!

"Wouldn't you want me to become your personal plaything? You could blackmail me to become your slave...I have little choice to-" he tried to explain before he was cut off by me.

"Why the heck would I want that?! It sounds like too much work and not a lot of fun," I answered him truthfully.

"Huh?"

"I think you are pretty dumb."

"...I'm not dumb. You don't know anything about me and yet you keep acting as if you do! So shut up and leave me alone!" he said.

He stormed away, leaving me alone in the garden.

Whoops.

I think I messed up.

...

What do I do now?

I walked all the way back to my bedroom and jumped onto my bed.

Humph.

If he hates me, then I'll hate him too!

...

But...I do feel bad for him.

A lot of messed up things probably happened to him throughout his life.

I was pretty upset about having terrible parents in my past life before I died.

I can't imagine how someone would feel if they saw their beloved parents died instead.

It's...horrible...

After a while, I came to a conclusion.

I need to apologize to this child.

Sitting up on my bed, I came up with a plan to apologize to Ash.

It wouldn't be easy to get a simple response from him though.

Ash is a tsundere after all.

First, I would need to find him.

So where is Ash?

I jumped up.

I ran out of my room and called for Ace.

Ace flew toward me.

"What do you need me to do?" he asked.

"Can you use your senses to find out where Ash is?" I asked him.

"Ash? Sure...but didn't he go to the backyard with you? I'm pretty sure he didn't come back to the house after he left with you..." Ace said with confusion.

"What? That's not possible! He left me alone in the backyard!" I said with a knot in my throat.

"He definitely never came back after he left with you..." Ace replied.

Our house was easy to find in our backyard. It was huge after all.

There was no way he could have gotten lost on the way back to our house.

If he's not home, there is only one other place he could be...

I have an idea about where Ash is.

But it couldn't possibly be true.

I didn't want to believe it.

I mentioned this before, but I'll say it again.

Surrounding the border of my home's backyard, there is a forest.

It's where I found Ace.

It's relatively safe though. The forest only has weak monsters, so it isn't much of a threat to people.

But it's a different story if a kid like me goes through the forest alone.

The monsters deep in the forest see toddlers as a tasty snack.

We don't have any way to defend ourselves other than weak magic or undeveloped muscles.

So if Ash didn't go to the direction of our house, there is only one other place he could be.

The Dark Forest.

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A/N: Boom! Oh no! What will happen to Ash!? Come back next time to see what Cordelia will do! [advertisement break]

Ok. That was a joke.

Anyway, thanks for the continuous support!

10,000 VIEWS IS SO AWESOME!!!

Thanks again for 10,000 VIEWS! It is such a big number!!!

For some fun, since I reached 10,000 views, I decided to reread the first chapter of my story.

IT WAS TERRIBLE! I inwardly cringed while reading it.

I can't believe you guys continued to read after the first chapter, but thanks anyway for the 10,000 views!!!!

In the next chapter, Cordelia will try to rescue the damsel in distress - her tsundere brother!

I hope you guys will enjoy how it turns out!

Okie byeee!

Word Count: 1681