"Isn't she cute?"

"Look, look, Rurune managed to ward off that small monster!"

"She's officially my Familiar, you know?"

From that day onwards, Alt-nii was basically trying to boast Rurune to everyone.

Yes, ever since he formed a contract with Rurune, he made sure to always keep Rurune with him, to show her to whoever he met.

Sheesh, it was so childish of him.

...Though I had to admit that I was envious of him.

Back when I was Reinst, I read and watched some series that portrayed the bond of a master and a pet—or a Familiar and their partner, and I wished I could have that kind of bond, too.

'How nice if I can have such a trustworthy and close life companion like that...'

But I was no magician, so the most I could have was just a normal beast, or a pet.

When I was thinking about 'pets' and looking at Alt-nii and Rurune... I seemed to recall something important. A memory that I buried so deep inside, even when I was Reinst.

Ah yeah... back then I also requested to have a beast pet, and since I was a young child, I was given a rabbit beast to keep—her name was Rabbi.

Mother was strict as always, so she gave me a full responsibility to take care of Rabbi, thinking that it was nice to teach the young me about responsibility. And I fulfilled her expectation.

Rabbi became my only friend, but there were times when I was so frustrated because I couldn't seem to have that kind of "special bond" portrayed in the shows I watched and the books that I read.

Until one day, Rabbi suddenly escaped from the mansion and when I found her... It seemed like she was attacked by the other wild and aggressive monsters. Though Rabbi was a beast, she wasn't a strong beast, and I hadn't trained her with anything.

After that, I didn't want to keep any other pet, afraid of the harsh and cruel goodbye like that. I was also afraid to be more disillusioned about the bond between a pet and their master. Because I couldn't feel it with Rabbi.

How could I forget?

It had been so long, maybe the memories were just fading.

Still, I felt a sense of guilt when I recalled about Rabbi. Maybe the reason I had never tried to recall about her was because I wanted to forget those memories, because I felt like I was a bad owner, and that I was guilty?

...Maybe because I purposely tried to forget about Rabbi, when I recalled about her, my mind was flooded with memories that I tried to bury. This might be a curse. The more you try to forget something, the more you will remember it.

I bitterly smiled.

The happy days I have been experiencing as Lyra made me forget to think about the negative 'what ifs' scenarios. I kept looking forward to the future, and the only moments I got so anxious were when I faced my past acquaintances and when I displayed something that might give off my past identity.

My feelings were now mixed. I had expectations about the future—about my future Familiar. But after remembering my past memories, anxiety grew in my heart.

"Lyra?"

"Ah?"

It seemed that I was too engrossed with my thoughts that I didn't notice Mom coming home.

"Welcome home, Mom!"

"W-welcome home..."

Alt-nii and I quickly greeted her.

"What's the matter, Lyra?"

"Eh? ...Nothing?"

"Really? You had this kind of weird expression, so I thought...," Mom looked into my eyes as she still questioned me.

"N-nothing, Mom. I was just jealous of Alt-nii and Rurune...," I couldn't tell her the full story, so I gave this basic reason to her, in hopes she'd stop looking at me with such peering eyes... I felt scared of her finding out about my past identity.

No matter what, I had to keep this hidden. I didn't want them to learn about it and shun me.

"Ruru...?" Rurune tilted her head when she heard my words.

"Eeeh? You can also play with Rurune, you know, Lyra?" Alt-nii said with an astonished tone.

"T-that's not what I mean..."

"Haha, don't worry, Lyra. I'm sure you'll be able to find your Familiar in the future," Mom patted my head, trying to assure me.

"Uuu... but I heard not all magicians have Familiar?"

"That's true. Some don't like to have monsters following them around, some just don't want to settle with the Familiars they find not strong enough, while some are not suited to be with Familiars," Mom explained.

"Uuuuu... I, I don't know, I'm just afraid to be disappointed..."

...Ah, I unintentionally let my thoughts leak.

"It's okay. If it's you, I'm sure you'll be able to find a good Familiar, Lyra. If not, your dad and I could probably pass our Familiars to you."

"Eeeeh...," I was surprised upon hearing Mom's reassurance.

That's right, Familiars can also be inherited from the previous generation.

But...

Inheritance... is usually given after the owner... passes away, right?

No... I don't want to think about it right now.

Perhaps noticing my thoughts, Mom suddenly added, "We can think about it later, when we feel like you'll need them more than we do."

...Ah.

Right, if the head of the family retires, the successor will be able to inherit their position and the others.

Domi and Father's faces flashed before my mind.

Apparently, I took Mom's words negatively earlier, as I forgot that there were inheritances that could be done even when the predecessor was still alive.

"Y-yes, thank you..."

"Haha, why are you suddenly so formal, Lyra? There's no need to thank your mother for something like that!"

"Y-yes..."

Uuu, my past habit was definitely still there, alright?

"But Altaire, have you figured out what kind of contract did you have with Rurune? After all, your contract was so suddenly formed... Rurune was the one who initiated it, right?" Mom asked as she shifted her gaze to Alt-nii and Rurune.

Feeling that she was the focus of the conversation, Rurune also looked at Mom so seriously. Mom couldn't help but smile when she looked at Rurune, before she patted Rurune.

"Ru~♪!" Rurune growled happily.

"Eeeh, hmm... I feel like it's the [Equal Partner Contract]...," Alt-nii replied with a voice full of doubts.

"Oh? How did you figure it out?"

"Uhh... just a hunch?" Alt-nii stuck out his tongue a little.

Mom playfully nudged Alt-nii's forehead.

"This is outrageous. You don't even know for sure."

"Well, Mom, there's no way Rurune could bind me with a [Master-Servant Contract], with me as her servant, right?" Alt-nii grabbed Rurune and raised her up with both of his hands.

Mom peered into Rurune's eyes, as Rurune did her usual response of tilting her head, "Ru?"

"..." I also looked at Rurune while pondering about the type of contract she did.

There was no way a Familiar would initiate a [Master-Servant Contract] while setting their own position as the [Servant] willingly, ...right?

...Right?

So, the possibilities are... [Equal Partner Contract] and [Master-Servant Contract] with Rurune as the [Master]... But looking at this cute Rurune, I agreed with Alt-nii's opinion.

"In any case, even if Rurune's at a disadvantageous position, I won't do anything against her wish, Mom!" Alt-nii said reassuringly.

"Mmhm, that's good, then," Mom said.

At any rate, only time could tell... maybe?

But the next day, when we returned home, I noticed Alt-nii's expression was a bit sullen.

"What's wrong, Alt-nii?"

"Ruru...," Rurune also showed a sad expression, it seemed like she was worried about Alt-nii.

"It's nothing. I'm just angry at how my classmate said Rurune was a weak beast, saying that she's got no power, and I couldn't refute his mocking as I don't know what her power is..."

Alt-nii pouted before turning to Rurune.

"Rurune, can you show me your power, even if it's just a little bit? That way, I can let those bad people eat their own words!" Alt-nii said with a little bit demanding tone to Rurune.

"Rururu," Rurune only shook her head lightly.

"You don't want to show your power? Why? I'm your partner, but you don't even let me know?"

"Ruru..."

"A-Alt-nii, remember that Rurune was born not too long ago? M-maybe she needed time to cultivate her power...," I had no other choice but to play the 'adult' role of stopping Alt-nii's childish demand.

"Yeah, but still!" Alt-nii was still persistent.

Aahhhh, I'm the little sister here, right? Why do I feel like I'm the older one? This must be one of the disadvantages of reincarnating with my memories intact.

"Well, maybe you shouldn't boast Rurune so much? Maybe... that classmate of yours was just jealous that he made a bitter comment?" I quickly expressed my theory.

"Why is that?"

"W-well, you were also bitter when you still hadn't met Rurune and when your classmates suddenly gained Familiars... right?" I tried my best to remind him of this fact.

"Eeeh... well, that's... right..."

"T-then, maybe the next time you want to boast Rurune, you can take their feelings into consideration? L-like, think of what you want others to say or do to you, when you were still without Familiar?"

I had goosebumps.

T-this is like... I'm lecturing a child, right? B-but I'm the little sister, and the one I'm lecturing is my older brother...

Geeeee, Alt-nii, don't hate me, please!!

"You have a point..."

Thankfully, Alt-nii didn't think of it as something weird, or he didn't feel his pride being hurt by his own little sister (a.k.a me), and I heaved a sigh in relief upon hearing his response.

Hmm?

What's this about him already getting used to have this kind of little sister, that he doesn't feel like it's weird?

...Alt-nii has such a wide heart, okay?