Siblings Reincarnate as Enemies

Chapter 6 – In which Saffra and Amara have terrible breakfasts

“Miss Craya, I have a request.”

“Please speak, My Lady…”

“Can you inform father’s secretary that I’ll visit father immediately after breakfast?”

“Immediately after breakfast…?”

“Mhm, it shouldn’t take long, so he can take me to him immediately. I didn’t visit father for some time and it would be truly impolite to make him wait any longer.”

“Yes, My Lady…”

“And just wait before the door after you finish. There is no need for you to enter.”

“Yes…”

The face of Craya, who was easily accepting commands until now, turned a bit gloomy, but she quickly adjusted her expression.

Though her eyes seemed weirdly sharp.

Saffra decided to ignore it. She sent Craya away and walked towards the dining hall alone.

Inside, as she expected, there was no one.

“You’re late.”

No one seemed to send her some kind messages through his gaze, but because his eyes were two piles of dogshit, she regretfully didn’t seem to be able to read them.

So she sat down without looking at the dogshit.

That’s a proper lady rule number 1, never look at shit.

“You’re not even going to say hello?”

Saffra pushed away the cup of tea, which was still hot, and poured herself a whole glass of strawberry cocktail.

The cocktail was very red, so she better drink it carefully when she has this very white dress on.

Now to eat…

That tomato salad with cream cheese and basil looks appetizing.

That cream tomato soup should also be fine, but it’s still hot, so she will put it here on her side first, so it cools down.

“Did someone cut your tongue?”

A pâté topped with cherry jam.

A dark blood sausage.

A raspberry tart.

Oh, is that a low-cooked steak? It even has all its bloody juices! She didn’t have one of those for ages…!

“If not, should I do it myself?”

She carefully cut the steak to small pieces, letting the juices flow down on the plate.

And then she took a small bite…

“Answer me!”

The table was suddenly sent flying.

The tableware, the dishes and her strawberry cocktail were all sent flying towards her.

Feeling the cold touch of food that landed at her dress, she finally looked up a bit.

She saw a shit there.

“Hello, lord Orche.”

She greeted Saffra’s older brother, Orche the shit, in a small voice.

Orche smiled in twisted satisfaction as he looked down at her.

“Yeah, hi. See, it's that easy. Was all of it needed? It’s just a greeting, but you ruined the entire breakfast because of it.”

“Sorry.”

“Yeah, you should be damn sorry. Don’t stay quiet next time.”

“Yes.”

“Good. Yeah, good job. If only that bitch could be as well-mannered as you.”

‘That bitch’ referred to her older half-sister, Mimosa, who unlike previous Saffra, was actively fighting against the shit Orche.

She was a much better candidate, much more liked by the general public and possessing better military abilities and fighting abilities than that dickhead.

But she was unlucky to be born as a bastard child, what more, from a woman who was later deemed a national traitor and executed.

What worse, she hated bribes and corruption.

If you’re a throne candidate without strong backing and you don’t want to yield to those who wish to offer you ‘help’, then what are you still doing here?

Mimosa was truly unlucky.

“Breakfast finished. Go change that ugly dress.”

“Yes.”

The shit was saying something, while Saffra got up from her seat. Pieces of food slid down her white dress, leaving bright marks.

“Goodbye, lord Orche.”

She left the dining hall, while cursing the shit left behind.

“My Lady, the Lord is wait–...”

A knight was waiting for her at the doorsteps, together with Craya.

He stopped speaking when he saw the state of Saffra’s dress.

“Ah…” Saffra covered her mouth as if she was deeply worried, but it was in fact to hide her raising lips’ corners. “I should change, but… I cannot make father wait. Okay, please guide me to father, Sir.”

Before she gave a word that she would visit father immediately after breakfast.

She couldn’t back down at the promise she made to the lord of the house.

Especially not to one that was dying.

So Saffra was ‘forced’ to go visit her father in a dress covered in all kinds of red stains.

Moreover, if she headed from the dining hall to her room, she could easily avoid people’s eyes, but when heading to the lord’s bed chambers, she had to cross the main corridor.

Everyone in the palace will see her, ah what a disaster~

She ignored the weirdly murderous gaze her attending lady-in-waiting was sending to the innocent dining hall’s door and the weird gaze the knight was sending her.

Saffra proudly, no, very shyly, walked down the main corridor, asking for no attention at all.

Soon, a rumor about Saffra’s ‘bloody dress’ would spread.

And though Ochre’s abusive behavior was common knowledge, if such rumor circulates at the correct timing…

A perfect opening to stab will be made.

All according to Saffra’s plan.

*-*-*

The table’s legs were almost breaking under the amount of different kinds of food.

Amara made sure not to frown, as he reached for salt and added it to his ginger-cinnamon tea. Then he grabbed the piece of dry bread and started to munch on it, while sipping his tea.

Around him, in every corner of the room and under every wall stood an attendant.

But there was no one else at the long table.

*Hmm? Does our Am not like the food?*

‘The food is fine. It’s good.’

The bread and tea were both delicious.

Everything on the table also looked and smelled delicious.

He should compliment cooks later.

‘I just hate to eat alone.’

He had an urge to give a portion of that uselessly grandiose feast to every attendant in the room. And then maybe to those outside and then…

*Ah~ I remember the old times. Our Am would always look for someone to eat with.*

*When he was doing the mountain pilgrimage, every time he stayed in the inn, he would gather all guests, servants and children and beggars, who roamed around the inn, to eat with him.*

*Remember when he was stuck meditating in the forest alone? He found a bunch of squirrels and crows to eat with him.*

*Yeah, and then you guys keep sending him your divine beast to accompany him during the meals and his meditation ground was completely destroyed.*

*Beautiful times…*

*No, not beautiful at all! That was my forest, and you still didn’t pay me back!*

Amara was munching on the bread with great concentration.

He had to make sure that his expression stayed indifferent.

Because that was how Amara was until now, indifferent and passive.

It was an attitude that didn’t lay well with him, something which current Amara could never imagine himself enduring, but was it because previous Amara was only his soul fragment?

The memories of his soul fragment felt cold, with little to no emotions. Merely a spectator, a bystander observing the tragedies unfolding.

There was some warmth in his early childhood memories, but…

That warmth was quickly extinguished and the reason…

“Your excellency is eating only bread once again! Ah, your excellency’s piousness will make cooks cry.”

The reason just entered the room and sat himself across from Amara. He even started to fill his plate with delicacies as he mumbled, ‘we can’t let the good food go to waste’.

‘Yeah, we can't, so how about giving it to attendants who are starving here? Your mouth seems energetic enough, so it doesn’t need any more.’

Amara criticized in his mind as he asked with cold, detached voice:

“Head priest Rasin, what is my schedule for today?’

“Ah, the usual. After breakfast his excellency will stroll the temple garden to bless the visitor with his presence, then…”

The head priest explained Amara’s schedule while pausing every so often to put food in his mouth.

His movements may have been elegant, but it felt utterly disgusting to look at.

Amara didn’t like to eat alone, but now all he wished was to eat alone.

*Head priest? What bastard does that ### believes in to make our Am uncomfortable?*

*If that guy believed in any god, he would already be a pile of smoking dust.*

*Heehe, that ### seems to believe he himself is a god walking the land of the living?*

*####, give me ### I’m going to ### that ###.*

*I’m against curses and violence usually, but it seems to be the best option.*

Head priest Rasin.

To general knowledge, he was a subordinate of Amara, the Saint of Purplus.

Because it was the Saint who held the Spirit Throne and had the closest connection to gods, on which the state of Purplus relayed on for its power and position.

In this world there were numerous gods, known and unknown. Worshiped or not.

The saint didn’t belong to one god, but was a medium through which all gods could communicate with the living.

When a conflict between different beliefs arose, it was the saint's role to resolve them.

So the condition for sitting on the Spirit Throne was to have the most powerful connection with gods.

But the power of the throne doesn't correspond to the power of rule.

Amara was an orphan who was discovered as a next saint at a fairly young age. He was brought to the Universe Temple and raised to be the next saint.

At first young Amara had some dreams, dreams about changing the dark world he saw outside of the white walls of the temple.

But young Amara quickly discovered he had no power to do so.

That power was taken away before he even ascended the throne.

There was not just one culprit responsible for that. It was a long process of deteriorating and giving up responsibilities by generations of saints.

Being a saint was hard. Gods were unpredictable, dangerous and hard to understand. And public expectations were heavy.

If a saint made a wrong choice, if they made a slip of a tongue or gods’ decisions just weren’t what people expected them to be, it wouldn't be weird if a saint was sacrificed to ease the anger of people.

Add to it ruling over a state, which was like a small country.

When previous saints were given a choice to give up some of those responsibilities, their response was obvious.

And so, the ruler of the Spirit Throne became no different from a puppet and the true ruler of the Purplus state was the head priest.

That guy right in front of Amara.

“Ah, right. His excellency’s previous serving priest had to leave his post because of health problems.”

Amara was pretty sure it wasn’t health problems.

“Today a new serving priest arrived, so it would be best if his excellency met with her before beginning his schedule and… informs her about the rules we have here.”

Rasin send Amara a ‘you know what I mean’ smile and Amara responded to him with indifferent expression.

But inside, while sipping his salted ginger-cinnamon tea, Amara thought:

‘Yes, I’ll make sure to inform her where the poison is… And how to use it.’