Sayla had told me.
To bring her back to life. To live.
“If I can definitely save Sayla, maybe I can return to Earth.”
In the actual World Where All Beauty Dwells route, Sayla disappears without a trace—no one knows where she goes.
It was a plausible idea.
“I need to stay sharp. My survival rate is only 0.1%.”
Among countless possible routes, there was only one.
The World Where All Beauty Dwells route, where Sayla alone survives, was infamous for its hellish difficulty.
And in order to get on that route, there was a crucial requirement.
“Three years from now, I have to enroll in Somarfi Academy.”
The place where the three male leads and the female lead first meet.
It’s where the story of She and Her Heroes truly begins, and I had to be there.
“To make that happen, I have to make sure Garen gets admitted. A recommendation from a current student is required to apply.”
Somarfi Academy was the Empire’s most prestigious school, and its philosophy was that “connections are power.”
As part of that philosophy, freshmen were only admitted with recommendations from enrolled students.
If I wanted to get in, it would be easiest to ensure Garen got in first. And to get Garen in, I needed a letter of recommendation from his current tutor, Philip.
In other words, we had to properly turn in Garen’s homework.
Garen confidently held out his hand.
“Where’s my homework?”
“I didn’t do it.”
“Yeah, I figured—wait, what? What did you say?!”
Garen scowled, then tilted his head.
He looked like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“That’s your job, remember?”
“So? You’re really not going to help your big brother?”
“Something urgent came up.”
“What could possibly be more urgent than me?!”
I furrowed my brow slightly, putting on a worried expression.
“Father strictly forbade me from doing your homework for you.”
“…What?”
Of course, that was a lie.
“You’re lying.”
“If you don’t believe me, we can go ask him together.”
“…”
“What do you think? Want to go now?”
“N-No.”
Garen looked conflicted and started making excuses.
“You promised you’d help! I counted on you, and now I’m in trouble. Do you know how worried I’ve been since yesterday?”
“Worried? You were having a blast sparring with Sir James yesterday.”
“Mr. Philip is a strict man! If I don’t submit my homework properly, he might not write me a recommendation! That could mess up my Somarfi application. That’d be your fault—don’t you feel even a little guilty?”
Guilt? Please.
“Getting scolded by Philip isn’t my fault—it’s your fault for not doing your own homework. At least say it right, even if your lips are crooked.”
“You’re saying I have crooked lips?!”
Garen reflexively touched the corners of his mouth.
“You’re being really mean, you know?”
“This is just the beginning.”
“B-Beginning?”
“Yup. From now on, I’m going to discipline Garen, who may have a good heart but a short temper and terrible judgment.”
“Do you think I’ll get scared just because you’re using fancy words?”
I stepped closer and slowly raised my right hand.
Garen flinched.
“What are you doing?”
I’d built up solid mental strength through years of bickering with my 2n-year-old older brother.
Handling a 14-year-old dad’s-son like Garen was a piece of cake.
I dusted off his right shoulder.
“You had dirt on you, Brother.”
Outwardly, I smiled serenely. Inwardly, I made a firm vow.
“I’ll save Sayla no matter what.”
In the past, I had worked harder than anyone to kill Sayla.
Ironically, I had also worked harder than anyone to save her.
Because only by discovering the route where she survives could I find the way to kill her in that very route.
“I’ll save her. I’ll reach the ending of the World Where All Beauty Dwells.”
And the first step toward that was to discipline Garen.
“Keep yourself tidy.”
After adjusting Garen’s clothes, I added,
“Dignity starts with a neat appearance.”
Garen frowned, clearly irritated.
“Are you lecturing me?”
“I like a well-dressed brother.”
Ugh, I almost cringed.
But I did it.
Since I didn’t actually like him at all, the words “I like you” came out surprisingly easily.
No matter how petty or degrading, I had no choice.
“I must survive and reach the world beyond the ending.”
The ending I wanted.
In the World Where All Beauty Dwells, Sayla vanishes mysteriously.
Maybe that was the way back to Earth.
“I should probably raise the family too.”
Depending on the route, the Dvernon family either gets destroyed or becomes incredibly powerful.
For Sayla to survive, I had to make the Dvernon family stronger.
“And I need to build favorability with the characters.”
Luckily, Garen was just a strong idiot—easy to handle.
Not the brightest, but essentially kind-hearted.
I brushed Garen’s messy bangs into place.
“And about that homework…”
Garen froze like a statue.
Apparently, my new attitude was very unfamiliar to him.
“I’ll help you with it. Somehow.”
“A-Are you going to disobey Father?”
“If it’s for you, I can take that risk.”
Of course, there was no risk.
Father had never issued such an order.
“But Brother. You need to understand that what you did was wrong.”
“…What?”
“Don’t dump your responsibilities on others.”
“W-When did I ever—!”
“That’s cowardly.”
Garen flinched again.
“I’m not a coward!”
“And one more thing. Promise me.”
“…Promise what?”
“From now on…”
I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror.
Even though it was now my face, it really was so pretty.
Especially the silky red hair—it looked just like the mother in the portrait.
Without much thought, I blurted it out:
—Don’t take advantage of someone just because they’re kind, you dad’s-son brat!
“Don’t use my affection for you against me.”
Wow, did I really just say that so gracefully?
Nice words came out effortlessly—even without passing through my brain.
“When did I ever take advantage of you?”
“Ever since I got you that Hyacinth herb, and every moment since. You’ve used my feelings for you.”
“…”
“That’s wrong. Understand?”
“Are you lecturing me? You pathetic Sayla?”
I frowned slightly.
Putting my index finger to his lips, I said,
“Shh! No mean words.”
“…”
“You shouldn’t talk to your little sister like that.”
“…”
“Okay?”
“…”
Wrong is wrong. Bad is bad. Ms. Oh Eunttaeng said so—teach it clearly.
Me, disciplining Garen. Nice. I was firm.
“Come back to my room in an hour.”
Who do you think you are, giving me orders?
Honestly, I expected that kind of response. But surprisingly, the discipline worked.
“…Fine.”
As he left, the door slammed—then opened again.
Garen poked his head through the gap.
“That slam was because of the wind.”
I opened the desk drawer and looked through Garen’s homework.
“Easy.”
For a positive number p, consider the two functions f(x) = log₂(x − p), and g(x) = 2ˣ + 1. For the curve y = f(x)… what is the value of p?
① log₂5 …… ④ 3
About high school sophomore level math problems.
I never went to college, but I was confident in math and coding.
Answer: ①
Solution: The asymptotes of f(x) and g(x) are… Therefore, p = log₂5.
Wow, solving math problems after a long time—it was so fun.
A little too easy, but sometimes simple questions had their own charm.
“The questions are all easy.”
Still, there was no need to solve them too seriously.
I erased all the solutions and rewrote them.
Sequence {Aₙ₊₁ = log…
Answer: ③
Solution: I dunno anything lol?
Finishing the whole assignment took less than five minutes.
I was pretty proud of my new “solutions.”
① Even if the candle’s gone~♩
② I’m so nervous waiting~♪
③ How do you wait for a candle~♬
④ I love you, I really do~ ♪
I even wrote a number-song.
I placed the finished homework in an envelope and waited for Dad’s-son to arrive.
About an hour later, Garen came into my room.
He opened the door wide without permission, so I had to discipline him a bit.
“You’re supposed to knock, Brother.”
“Hmph, why should I?”
Looks like Garen had taken some time to reorganize his thoughts—and decided to rebel a little.
I swayed the homework in my hand.
“Should I take this to Father?”
“Th-That…”
“Get out. Knock and come in again.”
“What if I say no?”
“Knocking is basic courtesy. Nobles follow etiquette. Are you not noble?”
“I am noble!”
Garen stomped out, then knocked on the door.
“How’s that?”
“Very noble.”
“Hmph. Of course.”
He looked smug for some reason. I handed over the homework I’d “done” for him.
“Here. Take it.”
“Okay.”
As Garen reached for it, I quickly pulled it back.
“What now?”
“You should say thank you first.”
Garen glared at me like he was annoyed, but eventually mumbled,
“…Thanks.”
His face had turned slightly red.
Like it was the first time in his life he’d ever said thank you.
