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I thought back to my conversation with her.
“Then, I have a condition.”
“Huk, what’s the condition......?”
“Don’t call me 'sister.' I don’t care whether you get adopted into our family or not.”
“.......”
“You are not my sister. There is only one person I recognize as my family.”
“.......”
“So, even if you come to my annex, never be a nuisance. If you do come, read the room and disappear quickly.”
Until the maid sister greeted me with a look that said she expected as much, and I took off my shoes and lay down quietly on the bed.
I kept chewing over the meeting with her.
‘Sister still can’t recognize me.’
But that’s okay.
I figured she wouldn’t recognize me anyway.
‘I’m just... most worried that my sister is lonely.’
Today, she smelled of a deep, thick loneliness.
With a heart full of affection, I lay down bravely.
But I simply couldn't fall asleep.
“It’s all because this bed is too hard!”
I used to sleep in a fluffy bed, lying right next to my sister, snoring softly.
I turned my head and looked at the empty spot beside me.
‘No fluffy bed, no soft sister, nothing.......’
Only then did the reality sink in.
Somehow, my body began to tremble and I felt cold.
Chattering my teeth, I hugged the blanket tight.
“But, I’m okay.”
When I was a stray dog, I often slept alone on the cold ground.
There were times when people spat at me.
There were times when predators tried to eat me in one bite.
So, you know.
The reason I’m shivering right now...
It’s just because a little bit of a cold wind is blowing into my heart.
I buried my face deep into the pillowcase.
A salty smell rose from the corners of my eyes, but I endured it with all my might.
Because I have to go see my sister again tomorrow.
I tried hard to think of the positives.
‘I wasn’t banned from her house, so I can keep seeing her.’
I brought her flowers and let her feel the warm sunlight.
‘I really have to stay strong.’
That way, I can definitely become close with her again and make sure her face is filled with nothing but happy smiles.
I closed my eyes tight once more.
And so, one whole night passed.
* * *
The next morning.
It was just as I had finished preparing to go visit my sister's Aster house.
I was attacked by a swarm of mice.
“Huk! Wh-what is this mouse?”
Among them, a mouse with exceptionally snow-white fur leaped in front of me.
“I saw you at the Aster house yesterday! Amazing human! How on earth did you do it! You pulled off something incredibly impressive!”
The mouse's tail tapped against my pajamas.
“Huh? What was so impressive?”
“The owner of that gloomy house actually let you in!”
“Yeah, she did.......”
“How did you butter up that terrifying, dreadful owner who wields darkness!”
“Butter up? You mean bad mouse! Is my sister a sweet potato?”
“That’s not what I meant....... I mean, how did you get close to her!”
I mumbled gloomily while feeding the mouse some cheese from my breakfast.
“No. We aren’t close at all. Sister told me not to be noticeable. She told me not to call her sister, and not to be a nuisance.......”
“What are you talking about? Regardless, she gave you permission to come. You’re probably the only child who has ever entered that dismal mansion until now.”
“......Uuung?”
“Our mouse colony is suspicious that you’re bringing some kind of upheaval to the mansion!”
At those words, the corners of my mouth curled up.
‘Hehe, I really am the best for my sister!’
As I shook my head as if wagging a tail, the mouse muttered.
“But you know, the owner doesn’t seem to have any intention of meeting you today. She locked the door since early morning.”
“Che.......”
“But you should be understanding. That owner is quite pitiful too.”
“......Why?”
“The maids isolate the owner and stuff all the money into their own pockets. But your sister doesn’t seem to care much about that, so whatever.”
I sank into deep thought.
Now that I think about it, the dress I glimpsed on my sister yesterday was worn out.
The hem of the skirt was stained with laundry water.
It was a problem my sister didn't seem to mind.
But for some reason, I felt upset.
‘My sister is the most sparkling person in the world.’
She isn't someone who should be treated that way.
I clenched my fists tight.
“I’m going to punish those maids!”
Just then, the mouse glanced at me and my clenched fists and spoke.
“And how are you going to punish them?”
“That’s.......”
In reality, I was just a foolish child on the verge of being kicked out.
Moreover, was it because I was rejected by my sister?
Or was it because I suddenly became depressed?
Yesterday, I was a sparkling puppy who could spout famous quotes, but today, I could only think about sweet potatoes.
Then, the mouse solemnly tapped its tail on the floor.
“Knowing that would happen, I’ve come to help you, that’s why.”
“Huh? You?”
“Actually, this mouse has come to find you after receiving a mission from the puppy god.”
“Huk, the puppy god! Why didn’t he come himself and send a mouse......?”
“That’s because I’m a great mouse. Anyway, now, close your eyes. The time has come for the puppy god to reveal the future to you!”
That’s right!
Now that I think about it, the puppy god did say that!
“You, who will become human, will need good abilities. ......Secondly, the precognition to see the future.”
“Wow! Puppy god is the best! Showing me the future!”
Even though he promised to make me my sister's sibling and then pushed me to the brink of being returned!
‘The puppy god really is the best!’
I raised my front paw—no, my hand—into the air and said,
“I’m ready!”
Before I knew it, a cluster of snow-white light flickered before my eyes.
Thousands, tens of thousands of characters flowed into my mind.
It seemed the future was flowing into my head in the form of a book.
After several dozen minutes passed.
I was able to confirm the entire future.
And tears welled up in my eyes, drop by drop.
The mouse tapped its tail and asked anxiously.
“Why, why are you crying? Like a newborn puppy!”
“I am a puppy.......”
“......Th-th-that, anyway. How was it? The future.”
“It’s very, very, very bad.”
Sister is mistreated by her stepmother, Lucrezia, and her half-sister, Theresia.
Then, she is framed for causing the youngest sibling of Grand Duke Rivera—who came to the Duke Ardos estate for recuperation—to enter a berserk state, and she is cast out of the family.
But sister never defended herself.
I try my best to protect her, but it always ends in vain.
I go through all sorts of hardships to be adopted into the family just to protect her.
But I couldn't save sister, who had fallen into despair.
Because, by a hair's breadth, sister chose death.
Among the countless futures, all I saw was despair.
But when I saw the final future.
The voices of my puppy friends brushed through my mind.
“Coco, you can change the future! That’s what we brave puppies do!”
“Our Cherry, Cookie, Bobby, Lucky, Happy, and Leo puppies will cheer for you!”
“Live happily with your sister and then come back!”
Yes, that’s right.
I shouted bravely.
“The future can be changed! I just set a goal!”
In the future I saw, the first button was fastened wrong and sister became unhappy, but this time it will be different.
I will definitely become close with her. I will protect her so she can live happily.
‘At this point, the ones bullying sister the most are the stepmother, Lucrezia, and the half-sister, Theresia.’
I couldn't do anything about those people right now.
But I could clear away the wretched creatures who were draining sister's will to live.
‘The bad people who make my sister wear old clothes and spread strange rumors.’
I mean the head maid and the maids sent by Lucrezia.
“You... after seeing the future, your eyes suddenly look incredibly intelligent.......”
That’s because I’ve decided not to despair!
“I’m going to take down those humans who are like rotten sweet potatoes!”
I, the scheming puppy Coco.
Whether as a puppy or as a human.
I become very, very smart when it comes to my sister's affairs.
‘Those guys definitely have a weakness too.’
And that is.......
I clenched my fists tight.
“Mouse.”
“Yeah?”
“You know, want two pieces of cheese?”
The mouse tapped its tail and spoke solemnly.
“Huhu, do you require the power of the great ‘Emperor of Mouse’?”
What is that.......
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