"T-the Loera main family's... only son?" Iris timidly asked.

"Yes, nice to meet you, big sis Iris!"

"Bi... big sis... Iris? ...Nice to meet you, Eine...," Iris answered with a hint of delight. Perhaps it was because she was the youngest child, so she was taken aback when Ein called her like that. Welp, I can understand that!

...Or not really, because I had the experience of being an older sister back then...

"Hm, what's with this small one?" Carbuncle reacted as well, before she muttered, "but for some reason, I felt like little sheep seemed smaller than him... perhaps it was due to their different demeanor?"

Meanwhile, Ein stared at Carbuncle.

"...what's with the stare?"

"...Nothing. I just thought that big sis 'Buncle feels different than the others!"

"'Buncle? Wait, that's weird. Call me something else, kid!"

...Speak about weird nickname. You were the starter, you know? With how you called me Lyr and Alt-nii as Tair...

"Hmm... how should I call you?" Ein asked back.

"Call me the Great Carbuncle!"

"...Nope."

"..."

"Big sis Buncle sounds good... or big sis Uncle?"

".............Crbnklr Azcc-Tnerre Tkmkzch is my name. Look, this is a test. You have to come up with a good nickname!"

"Crbnklr... I can only hear that it's similar to how we pronounce Carbuncle... Carb... no... Bncl... Buncle... nope... This is a test... hmm... okay, big sis Kuu, then!"

Kuu? Well, a part of Carbuncle's name had this "ku" sound when she mentioned it...

"...Well, that's better. Fine, you pass!"

...Suddenly, it became a nickname bestowing ceremony.

But this incident helped us to come up with a shortened version of Carbuncle's name as we sometimes felt it was too long to call her name.

"Kuu sounds cute! Why didn't I think of giving Carbuncle another nickname?!" Iris suddenly clapped her hands as if she just came up with something.

"Then, can we follow him and call you Kuu sometimes?" I asked.

"Eh? Well, I don't mind...," Carbuncle gave her consent, perhaps she took a liking at the nickname Ein suddenly invented for her.

"So, why are you following Lyra, Ein?" Alt-nii moved the topic of conversation back to Ein. Speaking of which, Alt-nii didn't bring along Rurune during events like this, after Mom convinced him not to... worried that Rurune might cause troubles.

Because Rurune seemed to get along well with Phyllo, Phyllo was asked to keep her company.

"That... because I want to be her apprentice!" Ein proudly answered.

"...Apprentice?"

In response to Ein's answer, everyone's faces seemed to develop an imaginary question mark.

"Yes, I want to know her tricks to be talented!"

"I'm not talented!" I quickly denied.

"...Sure...," Iris gloomily responded.

"A-at any rate, there's Luca here as the more talented crown prince, why not ask him to take you as his apprentice?" I quickly shifted the topic of the conversation.

"What, why me?!" Luca asked as if he felt wronged.

"There's no way I can bother the crown prince with that! Besides, big sis Lyra is also amazing to be able to be the crown prince's close friend!" Ein agreed with rejecting the notion of having Luca as his "tutor" or whatsoever...

"Well, he makes sense...," Kiri responded.

"What makes sense?!" I scolded Kiri right away as Kiri leaped back in fright.

"Lyra... you seem to attract people naturally, huh?" Clavis suddenly said.

"Now that you mention it... I think you're right, Clavis."

Eeeh?! Big brother—why have you forsaken me too? T__T

"I mean, look, Lyra. With the exception of me, Clavis, and Harvey... everyone else is connected through you, right?" Alt-nii said meaningfully.

I looked around at my friends...

Luca, I befriended him because he looked so pitiful without any friend—oops, I meant, because I could understand how he felt—no, I didn't imply to myself that I had no friend! I meant, I befriended him by chance through our fathers' connection!

Kiri... kind of came along with Luca.

Iris... I met her during the entrance exam.

Carbuncle (or Kuu now)... it was actually through Alt-nii, but she decided to befriend me—perhaps because we were fellow girls?

Alt-nii was connected to me because he was my big brother, and thus, connecting Clavis and Harvey...

I widened my eyes instinctively upon realizing that.

"So, I was right, wasn't I? Big sis Lyra is amazing!" Ein concluded.

His expression seemed to declare proudly that he didn't pick the wrong person to look up to.

B-but, now I don't know how else I can deny Ein's claim!!

When I looked at Ein's sparkling eyes in front of me, I spontaneously took a step backward and... ehhh sorry! I seemed to bump into someone else!

"I'm sorry, I didn't see..."

"No, I'm also sorry for not looking at my surrounding," the person I bumped turned around and apologized back.

And upon seeing her face...

"Big sis El-el?!"

It was someone I couldn't forget because of how impactful our meeting was. And how her name—last name, especially—burned itself in my mind.

"Oh, the birthday girl! You're 8 already, right? I still remember when you lost your way two years ago with that friend of yours," El-el landed a critical hit! It's super effective!

"Eh, big sis Lyra lost her way?" Ein seemed to be intrigued.

"Yes, and she was holding the school map, too! She and her friend looked so cute back then when they were lost!" El-el mercilessly continued.

"T-that's!! It's such a long time ago!! I have memorized the school's area with my heart now!!" I desperately answered.

"Eeeh, so you're admitting it...," Ein looked a bit disappointed for some reason... Oh, this is actually nice!

"Y-yep! T-that's why, I don't think I can be a good role model for you..."

"No problem, big sis! I know you're observing the school while pretending to be lost!" Ein whispered to me. I was taken aback in an instant.

"...Noooo, I simply got lost because I wasn't good with direction!! I-it's shameful, and I'm telling you the truth!"

"It's okay, big sis! I won't tell anyone else of your incognito observation!"

"...Like I said, that's not it!!"

In the middle of our bickering, someone suddenly stepped by El-el's side.

"Elise-sama, Master is looking for you. It seems we'll be preparing to go home soon."

Someone with a maid uniform said in a soft voice.

"Eh? Already? I guess it's time already, huh... That's too bad as we were just getting into the good part...," El-el muttered before she realized something.

"Hey, Karina, this is the party girl and her friends! A-and there's the crown prince and his close aide, too! Let's salute them before we go back!"

El-el realized she should probably tell her maid to bow to me—when she also realized that Luca, the crown prince was also with us. So, they bowed together and we bowed back in response.

"I'm Elise Elandia and this is my personal maid, Karina. Please excuse our rudeness, and we'll be excusing ourselves soon..."

"I'm Karina, Elise-sama's maid. I apologize for my impoliteness... Please treat Elise-sama well...," Karina bowed deeply. As she bowed too deeply, her brown hair that was put in a high ponytail also fell down as its tip seemed to hit her own nose back.

As a result, Karina quickly raised her head, and her ponytail returned to its rightful place. Her brown eyes showed a slight hint of embarrassment.

"Ahaha, you're so clumsy, Karina!" El-el giggled after seeing this.

"...Elise-sama is more worrisome than me," Karina responded.

The two's master-servant relationship seemed to be close.

How nice...

I recalled a bit how I wasn't close to any of the maids when I was still Reinst.

Now, I don't have any personal maid serving me, and it's not like I need one, though.

Besides, I have my friends with me already, so it's enough.

Oh, the other day, my parents discussed about me having Iris as my close aide just like how Clavis became Alt-nii's personal aide, but I wasn't sure of it... Iris was still a noble's child, though she ranked lower than me... but wait, that just made her more eligible as my personal aide?

Still, the idea was unthinkable to me for now. Though having Iris fill that role seemed better than having to pick someone else. I guess I'd have to think about it and ask Iris later on. Obviously, if it were to happen, I'd like to have an equal relationship just like Alt-nii and Clavis. So that nothing would change between Iris and me, too.

After El-el and her maid excused themselves, the party was almost at its end. It was time for the guests to start returning home, especially those who came from a far away place.

Therefore, I was finally saved from the little devil in disguise, Ein!

As a result of many things happening today, I slept like a log the moment I touched the bed again.

***

Normal P.O.V

"How was it, Eine? Did you tell Lyra-chan already?"

After returning from Lyra's eighth birthday party, Nicole asked her son.

"Hmm? About what?"

"About how you'll be enrolling to Harmonia Academy as well!"

"Oh... hmm, nope!" Ein casually answered.

"Eh? Why?" Clyde was surprised, so he quickly asked that.

"...because I want to give big sis Lyra a surprise!" Ein smiled mischievously.

Yes, this would surely be the biggest surprise that Lyra would never have guessed...

----------------

IMPORTANT NOTE!!

Thank you for reading my story and for dropping some comments along the way ^^

I hope you are all enjoying my story so far and will continue to enjoy it!

The important announcement I have for you guys is... CreativeNovels' owner and I have been talking on making a light novel out of this series. Please let us know your thoughts by filling the survey here: bit.ly/2RiXy8H

We will consider on how we should plan things based on your opinions. Please do spare a bit of your time to fill the survey above. Thank you :)