My Little Sister Turned Out To Be A Goddess of Another World

Ch. 4: I'm not Julius

"Pretty..."

Ah. I said that out loud, didn't I? But how could I help myself? She really is pretty! But should I have not said that? Because everyone-- Alfred, Julius' presumed grandfather, and the girl herself looked taken aback by my comment. Why does this feel familiar? It's like this exact same thing happened two days ago.

"Julius, you..." The girl said in a tone of disbelief, and I looked at her with a dumb expression before looking over to Julius' grandfathe-- ah, wait, no, not him-- to Alfred, waiting for an explanation, but I wasn't getting any. Why would you suddenly go quiet now, Alfred? This seems like a pretty embarrassing situation for Julius, right? You're supposed to be helping him!

I let out a sigh of defeat as I turned my gaze back to the girl to apologize, and that was when it caught my eye, a small piece of jewelry on the top of her elaborate dress-- a brooch, with the same insignia that I saw on the large carriage earlier. The insignia of the royal family. My eyes went wide as I realized who this girl probably is, and I immediately gave my best 85-degree bow.

"I deeply apologize, your highness. I didn't realize who you are, and I let my mouth run. I'm deeply sorry if I offended you." I apologized with the most sincere impression of a noble that I could muster. All those etiquette classes Gramps and William forced me to take to prepare for meeting the upper echelon of the Paladins actually helped me in this situation.

"You didn't realize... who I am? Julius, you... so you really did lose your memories." The girl said regretfully, and I raised my head up slightly to look back at her.

Ah, Julius is supposed to know this girl. Were they close? Haha, I've probably never been so glad for the--albeit inaccurate--alibi Mr. Paillart gave me. It saved my ass from being disrespectful to Julius' friend who's also a princess-- at least, I assume she's a princess. She couldn't be the queen, right? It's a possibility. Either way, I was inadvertently saved by Mr. Paillart's mistake! Thank you, you poor excuse for a doctor!

"Yes. It appears to be that way." I responded simply as I straightened my posture.

"So you don't recognize me? W-what about Master Fontaine? And Lord Phillippe? D-do you at least-- do you really not remember?" The princess asked. Lord Phillippe? Is that the name of Julius' maternal grandfather?

"No, there are a few things I do remember. Alfred here, I remember, a few memories as a child, and-- and my, my parents." I answered the princess' questions, though I still stumbled when it came to remembering Julius' parents. I guess watching their deaths from Julius' perspective really cut me deep. I felt choked up when I had to mention them.

"What about what happened when you disappeared? Do you remember how you returned home? Did anyone save you? Do you remember anyone during that lapse in time?" The old man in white robes suddenly intruded into the princess' conversation with me, causing me to look towards his direction, but I immediately averted gazes as soon as I even caught a glimpse of his hazel eyes.

"N-no. Nothing about that time. I apologize." Dammit. I can't even maintain eye contact with this guy? I'm gonna be even more uncomfortable by the fact that I'm this uncomfortable around him. I need to figure out why that is.

"I see. Then that's unfortunate." He just said before seeming to leave the conversation back between me and the princess.

"So that's all of it. Apart from Alfred and a few memories from childhood, I don't remember anything else." I concluded my answer.

"I... I understand, t-then--" the princess sounded so despondent, but almost immediately, she seemed to have a change of mindset, and with a resolute expression on her cute face, she took a curtsy and gave an introduction-- or should it be a reintroduction?