How to Survive as a Knight’s Son – Chapter 4

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Teottry
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The game’s story was simple. The goal was to become a hero and stop the seven witches who were trying to destroy the continent. After clearing the game, players could start a second playthrough as one of the witches, each with their own unique story. Anya Tolbatz was one of them.

Anya Tolbatz, the breathtakingly beautiful witch.

My sister, unlike the other witches, didn’t possess any special abilities. She only had beauty that could topple nations.

The problem was that it was more than enough.

Anya Tolbatz, who manipulated powerful figures across the continent with her beauty as a weapon, was the most challenging witch to face.

The other witches were clear enemies. You just had to overcome their unique abilities and run a sword through their throats. Anya was different. The powerful figures she controlled were rulers on the side of humanity, and in confronting them, the hero would often become the villain.

In the game, I was the catalyst that turned Anya into a villainess.

Unaware of my stepmother’s schemes, I continued my debauched ways until, after my father’s death, I lost the territory. There was no way I would stand idly by, reduced to a state worse than a commoner.

To reclaim this tiny territory, I ended up selling the beauty who could topple nations to Baron Rasino.

What a foolish act that was.

Experience broadens one’s perspective. From the moment I regained my modern memories, my perspective expanded beyond this small territory to encompass the world.

I couldn’t bear the thought of spending my life with the village girls of this small territory instead of the countless beauties I had seen in the game. The environment, incredibly uncomfortable from a modern perspective, was also a problem. I wondered how I had endured it for the past twenty years.

It was unacceptable. Now that I knew, I couldn’t be satisfied and rot away in this small territory.

Because I am a selfish, greedy person who only cares about himself.

My thoughts were organized. I didn’t know if it was reincarnation or possession, but I didn’t dwell on it. My core identity was still Allen, and my modern memories felt like a distant dream.

I think, therefore I am.

While I doubt myself, my existence cannot be doubted. I am not a piece of data, nor am I someone’s plaything.

In fact, there was a more important topic at hand.

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“A beauty that could topple nations? You?”

Her bright blonde hair and distinct features were beautiful enough. But I couldn’t help but tilt my head at the idea of her possessing beauty that could topple nations. Her body, thin as a twig, and her small stature, not even reaching my chest, made her look like a child.

However, if Anya truly grew up to be the breathtakingly beautiful witch from the game, she would be too beautiful to let go.

I’ll say it again. I’m greedy.

The problem was,

“What nonsense are you spouting? Get out of the way!”

That my relationship with Anya wasn’t good.

When my mother died giving birth to Anya, I blamed Anya for her death. My father was the opposite. He doted on Anya, giving her the love my mother couldn’t. He probably didn’t realize that it only worsened our relationship.

Perhaps it was because of the additional twenty years. Looking back, I realized how foolish I had been.

“Where are you going so early in the morning?”

“What’s it to you? Hmph.”

Anya snorted and turned away from me, heading down towards the village. Her light steps revealed her mood. Curiosity piqued, I turned back and followed her.

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A wide river marked the boundary between the territory and the neighboring city of Quaran. It was the Rhine, flowing from deep within the continent, through the port city of Quaran, and out to the sea.

Anya stopped at the riverbank. Reed-like stalks were spread out on a wooden rack.

“Flax?”

Flax stalks were used to make linen fiber, and the seeds were roasted and pressed for oil. With a short growing season of three months, it allowed for double cropping, and its adaptability to various climates meant it could grow almost anywhere.

As such, it was cheap, and the labor-intensive process of making linen wasn’t something a knight’s daughter should be doing.

Only then did I take a closer look at Anya’s clothes. They were coarse and patched, the kind worn by peasants. I used to think they suited her, but now they bothered me.

“Are you planning to make clothes?”

“I’m making a dress to wear to the party.”

Anya replied as she began gathering the spread-out stalks. I sat on a rock, facing the river at an angle. The midday sun reflecting off the river was dazzlingly bright.

“A party? Ah, you mean the party the baroness is hosting.”

Baron Rasino was at war with a neighboring territory. My father, Maxim Tolbatz, had also been called to serve. I knew that the war wasn’t going well. That war was the starting point of me losing the territory to my stepmother.

In other words, an important turning point in my life was approaching. It was a shame that the game didn’t specify the exact timing.

In any case, the baroness wasn’t hosting the party because she was unaware of the situation. She needed to show strength to minimize losses in the upcoming peace negotiations and avoid having the debts incurred for the war called in.

“Why did your mother allow you to go?”

Anya hadn’t made her social debut. Even though she was already an adult. Usually, around the age of fourteen, mothers would host a party to announce their daughters’ coming of age and introduce them to society.

But my stepmother, Sophia, had used various excuses to avoid hosting a party or accompanying Anya to one.

It was because she was jealous of Anya.

Sophia hadn’t always been like this. Maxim Tolbatz doted on Anya, and Sophia, mindful of my father, had been quite kind to Anya at first.

However, as Anya grew older and her beauty blossomed, Sophia began to feel jealous. Of course, only when my father wasn’t around.

I was a bystander.

“She said she’d let me go if I prepared a dress.”

There was a reason for Anya’s light steps. Even while gathering the rough flax stalks, Anya was smiling. It showed how much she was looking forward to her social debut.

I felt sorry for her. Because Sophia’s promise was a lie. The more Anya grew, the more jealous Sophia became.

The promise was likely a deception.

“You’ll regret it if you process it now.”

“What are you talking about? What would a good-for-nothing scoundrel who only knows how to chase women know about textiles?”

“You’re not much different, are you?”

“I’m better than a scoundrel!”

Anya snorted and turned away with the gathered stalks.

“…”

I fell silent. She had responded only because she was in a good mood. The resentment that had built up between us wasn’t something that could be easily resolved.

The Tolbatz manor stood on a small hill overlooking the village. The main building was a two-story brick structure, and next to it was an annex accessible only to Sophia and those she permitted.

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“Master Allen.”

As I entered the main gate, the grand hall and the staircases on either side caught my eye. A servant who had been sweeping the hall noticed me and rushed over to greet me.

Her eyes were wide with surprise. The way she looked back and forth between Anya and me seemed to ask how we had come together.

Normally, this body would have found it abhorrent to even be in the same space as Anya…

“Leave us.”

The servant bowed without greeting Anya and left. Neither Anya nor the servant found it strange.

Sophia’s jealousy had escalated into mistreatment, and the servants under her influence had gradually changed their attitudes. Since it had happened so gradually, Anya hadn’t noticed anything unusual.

She had been gaslighted.

And I, as usual, had been a bystander.

“How far are you going to follow me?”

Anya glared at me. I had followed her all the way to her room.

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“I just wanted to see how well you make it.”

“Hmph, what kind of mischief are you planning now?”

“Do you have time to worry about me? The party is less than a week away. Will you be able to finish the dress by then?”

“I have a plan.”

Anya began working. She trimmed the reeds with a small knife and shredded them with her fingernails. After combing them hundreds, even thousands of times with a fine-toothed comb, the reeds finally became thin like thread.

Twisting them one by one finally produced fibers that could be called thread. She then strung these threads onto a loom and wove them into cloth.

It was incredibly labor-intensive. The work, which had begun early in the morning, continued until evening. But the resulting color was too dark. It wasn’t a suitable color for a dress.

“Why is this…?”

Anya, who had been engrossed in her work, forgetting even to eat, trembled, holding the linen cloth. It seemed the result was different from what she had expected.

“Didn’t I tell you you’d regret it? Flax needs to be dried for almost a month to lighten its color.”

Among my modern memories was a video of making linen using medieval methods. Tears welled up in Anya’s eyes.

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner!?”

“I told you earlier, but you ignored me.”

“What am I going to do now? The party is only a week away.”

Anya fidgeted anxiously. The sight of her biting her lip and holding back tears made her look even more pitiful. She must have been really looking forward to it.

“There is a way, but…”

Anya’s initial joy quickly turned into a frown.

“I don’t need your help.”

“Making a social debut in a rag-colored dress. That would be quite a memorable debut. You’ll certainly attract everyone’s attention. It might even be something they remember for the rest of their lives.”

I smiled at Anya.

“Is that what you really want?”

“…What do you want?”

Anya bit her lip and forced out the words.

“From now on, call me ‘brother’.”

Even a thousand-mile journey begins with a single step. The first step to untangling our complicated relationship was to fix how we addressed each other. Anya was appalled, but there was no other way if she wanted to finish the dress in time for the party.

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I had the servants prepare lye. I filtered the lye through a cloth and diluted it with water. I then put the linen cloth and the lye water into a pot and boiled them. After rinsing the cloth in water, I spread it out on the stable roof where it would get plenty of sunlight.

Three days later, the dark brown linen had turned beige. I was worried because it was my first time doing it myself, but the color was quite even.

“I knew lye could change the color…!”

“Don’t be upset. If you had done it, the color wouldn’t have faded evenly. Then it would have looked even more ridiculous.”

Since lye was often used for laundry, Anya would have known how it affected the color of clothes. Unable to argue back, she accepted the linen I offered her with both hands.

“If I repeat this a few more times, I can make it white, right?”

“The party is only three days away.”

It wasn’t enough time to make a dress. Anya looked disappointed.

“This color isn’t bad either.”

“Really…?”

When I nodded, Anya turned away. I grabbed her shoulder and turned her back.

“Wait, aren’t you forgetting something?”

“I don’t know. I’m busy, so let me go.”

Anya feigned ignorance.

“Really? Then I’ll hold onto you all day. No, I’ll hold onto you until the day of the party.”

“Oh, really…”

Anya’s face crumpled. Ignoring her, I kept my mouth shut and stared at her. Anya avoided my gaze, her lips moving silently.

“What?”

I pretended not to hear her quiet, almost inaudible voice. Anya’s face crumpled further, and she yelled,

“…Thank you! You idiot brother!”

It wasn’t quite what I had hoped for, but I decided to be satisfied with this much. I released her shoulder. Anya didn’t immediately return to her room. She stayed and looked up at me, asking,

“But why did you help me all of a sudden?”

Anya narrowed her eyes as if trying to see through me. The brother who had ignored her mistreatment was suddenly being kind. She had every right to be suspicious.

“Family is the only thing you can trust in this world. Only family will be on your side until the very end, no matter what you do. I just realized that.”

“…Your realization came a little too late, brother.”

Anya pondered for a moment, then shook her head and turned away. I wasn’t disappointed. It would be greedy to expect the long-standing resentment between us to disappear overnight.

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Anya finished the dress the day before the party. She was quite skilled, as the dress had a simple elegance. Anya’s beauty radiated as she changed out of her dirty clothes and into the dress.

“How is it? Pretty, right?”

Anya twirled in front of me like a model, showing off her dress, and then ran to Sophia’s room.

I stood still, watching Anya disappear. Anya wouldn’t get what she wanted. Sophia’s jealousy would reach its peak after seeing Anya looking even more beautiful.

It didn’t take long for my prediction to come true. Anya returned, tears streaming down her face. The dress she held in her hands was ripped in half.

“Anya.”

“Brother…”

Anya buried her face in my chest as I opened my arms. I gently stroked her hair and comforted her.

I never intended to send Anya to a vulgar place like a party anyway. Anya was mine. Mine alone.

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Anya’s dress, a symbol of hope, lay ripped in two, a victim of Sophia’s jealousy. Allen comforted his sister, a possessive thought taking root: mine.