My Younger Sister Is the Only Normal Person in the Family

4

It happened on a Friday.

When I got home from school, I saw her standing in front of Dad, holding a bottle of hard liquor.

"Dad, I heard from some people at school that drinking a little hard liquor can help you live longer. I even asked the shop owner, and he said this is the best kind, perfect for you. So I used all my allowance money to buy it for you."

My sister put on a very innocent act. Her words made her sound like a naive and filial daughter.

She heard it was good for his health, so she spent all her allowance on it.

As she spoke, she opened the bottle, handed Dad a glass, and urged him to drink.

Mom and Dad looked completely baffled, probably wondering how alcohol could possibly be linked to good health.

They looked at my sister, taking her words as a misguided but well-intentioned act of filial piety. But I, living this life a second time, saw right through her scheme.

'She's trying to defy fate,' I thought. 'Even without the System, she still wants to follow the same path, using this method to present herself to Rhys Hawthorne as that tenacious, innocent girl who's had a hard life.'

I strode forward and knocked the glass right out of his hand.

"Sister, what are you doing?" My interruption of Rosalie Shepherd's little performance immediately earned her displeasure.

I ignored her expression and spoke bluntly. "Rosalie Shepherd, don't you know how bad drinking is for you? Long-term drinking can lead to alcoholism. If you don't even know that basic fact, then I don't see the point of you even going to school. Your education is clearly being wasted."

My words were sharp.

My sister's face changed in an instant, a mix of anger and grievance.

But because my words had been so harsh and final, she couldn't find anything to say in rebuttal. All she could do was start crying pitifully.

Mom, completely unaware of my sister's true intentions, saw this and immediately gave me a disapproving look. "Elara, even if Rosalie's way of showing affection was misguided, she only did it because she loves her father. You can reason with your sister properly. You shouldn't be so harsh with her."

The earnest way Mom tried to reason with me made my nose tingle, and I felt a pang of sadness.

'This is my mother, so reasonable and fair,' I thought. 'But in my past life, under the System's manipulation at my sister's direction, she was turned into a gambling addict who cared about nothing else.'

"Don't cry, Elara. Your mom has a point. You're both young adults now. You need to be mindful of how you speak to each other." Dad saw what was happening and quickly got up to comfort me.

Their kindness only made the bitter feeling in my heart grow, a sour ache spreading through my chest.

At the same time, I couldn't help the resentment I felt toward my sister.

Mom and Dad had always been perfectly fair, treating us sisters with no difference. I couldn't understand why she felt no gratitude at all, why she would treat us all as pawns in her game.

Not only that, but when she succeeded in her "conquest" and was preparing to get married, she had the System simply erase us, leaving us with no way to survive.

All because our ruined lives served as her pitiful, tragic backstory before the wedding, but would cause people to look down on her after she was married.

But she was the one who had driven her own family into such a complete mess.

'What right did she have to despise us?'

My sister ran outside, crying, and Mom immediately followed to comfort her.

My dad took my arm, looking a bit helpless. "Elara, let's just eat out tonight, alright? Next time, just be more mindful of how you say things."

And just like that, the four of us went out for a walk and had dinner.