When Prince turned into a dog because of the curse, Pixie and I decided to go back in time. But due to the difficulty of controlling the magic, we ended up arriving six years before the present. Luckily, we got transported to Prince's elementary school and immediately saw him. But in an unexpected turn of events, he was getting bullied by three kids. Unable to watch the scene, I went between Prince and the three bullies at the boy's restroom.

“But pouring a bucket of water on him is so old-school. How about we try a different method?” I asked with a smirk.

According to Pixie, I can change my appearance, right? Then, how about this?

With the use of my power, I formed a flickering gleam in my eyes and generated a phantom-like aura coming from my body.

“But I guess it’s no fun if we already know who will gonna suffer the punishment so let’s play a game instead.”

After saying those words, I looked at the three bullies with a smile.

"Hey, what's up with this girl? There's some sort of mist coming out from her!" the kid in glasses reacted, shocked.

"I've heard about it," the fat kid muttered and gulped his saliva. "This is what the adults called 'killing intent'. I saw it once when a fight between high school delinquents took place in my neighborhood. But this...this is beyond their level!"

"This girl is dangerous then!" the skinny kid followed, scared.

"Hey, hey. No need to fear me, you know. I won't hurt you...as long as you don't lose the game," I continued and looked at each of them.

“B-But...wh-what...kind of game?” the skinny kid asked in a slightly nervous tone.

"H-Hey! Why did you even ask her?" the kid in glasses retorted in a whisper.

“Playing house. The roles will be Dad, Mom, little brother, big sister, and pet. I don’t want to role play mom so I’ll pick the big sister role. Simple, isn't it?” I said with a smile.

“A-Are we gonna involve ourselves with her?” the kid in glasses whispered to the fat and skinny kid.

“But...do we even have a choice here?” the fat kid commented, nervous.

“Jeez, if you don’t want to pick I’m gonna assign the roles myself,” I announced nonchalantly.

“What?” the three reacted in surprise.

“Fatso...you’re gonna be the dad, four-eyes...you’re the mom and bean-sprout...be the pet,” I assigned with a serious face.

"This is so random...seriously," Mom whined to himself.

“B-But why am I the pet? Can I be the little brother instead?” Pet complained but still anxious.

“She just called me fatso...” Dad muttered in a conflicted look.

“Well, you’re not fatso anymore, you’re ‘Dad’ now so don’t mind that anymore,” I responded with an amused smile. “Anyway, this is the scenario. The family lost all its property to a businessman due to various circumstances."

"Uhmm...various?" Mom asked but I ignored him.

"Being a good person, the businessman decided not to confiscate their properties. But instead, he wants to take away one family member. So among Dad, Mom, big sister, little brother, and pet, who should be taken away by the businessman? The one that will get chosen will receive the punishment game.”

“H-huh? W-we’re family, you know. How could we choose someone that easily!” Dad commented, uneasy.

“Uhmm...you should’ve said little brother because that’s Prince’s role,” Mom suggested to Dad.

“Are you sure that a mom should answer like that? At least play along,” I commented, bored.

“Th-then...what are you saying? The pet should be taken because it’s the only animal in the roles?” Pet asked, concerned.

“Of course not,” I answered with a smile. “What I’m saying is you need to give a valid reason base on your designated roles so you won't be taken away.”

After they heard my explanation, the three kids looked at each other to decide if they should take part in my absurd game. Then, they nodded to each other and talked one at a time.

“I-I’m the dad and I need to work for the family so I need to stay,” Dad explained in a bothered expression.

“A-as the mom, I also need to stay because I need to do the house chores,” Mom followed, stressed.

“And I’m the pet so I need to guard the house,” the pet said with a slightly offended look.

After that, they all looked at Prince behind me who was still speechless.

“How about you?” I asked Prince after turning towards him with a gentle smile.

When Prince saw my expression, he became surprised and swallowed his saliva.

“I...I don’t want to...because...I will be separated from my family...” Prince muttered in a worried face.

“Wh-what’s up with that reason? It’s as lame as you!” Mom said mockingly.

“You can’t do that, Mom,” I interrupted with a grin after I faced the three once again. “That’s not how you should treat your son, you know.”

“Huh?” Mom reacted, surprised.

“I guess I have no choice,” I said and made the aura around me even stronger. “As the big sister, I need to be on his side no matter what. After all, what kind of big sister am I if I can’t fulfill one or two requests from my little brother?”

Because of my words, the three got nervous.

“Th-that’s cheating!” Pet complained in an agitated shout.

“Anyone who's not satisfied with my decision...come forward. I'll give you the punishment you're looking for,” I announced with a serious look. Then, the aura around me formed into a tiger's face above, and ferociously showed its teeth.

“Eeek!” they reacted in scared expressions.

But soon after, I dispersed it. I faced Prince and smiled at him. Because of that, he looked at me with widened eyes and opened mouth.

“Stand. From now on...you’re my little brother,” I followed and looked at the three once again. “With that, if you once again lay a single finger on him, don’t expect to get away unharmed.”

“S...sorry!” the three apologized in a jiffy and ran away.

After that, I saw Pixie near the door. She then smiled and gave me a thumb up.

So I somehow took care of them without violence. I don’t want to use force against grade-schoolers after all. But I acted exactly like when I was still at grade school. I guess I should go with this character here in the past.

“Uhmm...” Prince muttered, hesitant.

I turned around to face him and offered a hand. He took it and I pulled him gently so he could stand up.

I didn’t expect him to be like this in his grade school days. I need to do something.

“So with that decided, as your sister, here’s my first order to you,” I said with a confident smile. “Forget the word ‘weakness’.”

“Weakness?” he repeated, puzzled.

“In short, be strong. You’re a man after all,” I followed with a smile.

He then blushed and covered his eyes with the bucket on his head.

“Thank you...” he whispered in a shy tone.

──◈─▣─♕─▣─◈──

After saving Prince from the three bullies, he invited me to a playground near his house. As the sun started to set, Prince thanked me once again while sitting on a swing. As for me, I was sitting on top of the square jungle gym right next to the swing.

“Thank you again...uhmm...” he muttered, subtly asking my name.

I should use Rosa here, right?

“You can just call me Rosa,” I answered with a smile.

“Then, thanks...Rosa...for standing up for me,” he said with a blushed smile.

Who is this? Is this Prince? I didn’t know that he could smile this innocent back then? He’s so cute!

“You...you look very cute, you know,” I followed with a big smile.

Hearing that, he became surprised and averted his gaze.

“Please...don’t tease me,” he whispered in a slight bashful tone.

“Sorry...sorry...” I apologized with a smile. I then made a serious face and said, “Anyway, don’t let those three bully you. Why are you letting them do that to you anyway?”

He looked at the ground in sadness and responded, “I don’t want to but...I don't know what to do.”

Well, bullying is common in grade schools especially in the early times like here. The easiest thing to do is to report it to the teacher or guidance counselor. But that won’t change the character of the one getting bullied. After all, what if he encounters another bully? So the real problem lies in the one getting bullied...in this case, it's Prince. He needs to learn how to stand on his own if he wants to stop this because what I did earlier was only a temporary solution.

“Do you know why kids are getting bullied?” I asked with a serious face and looked at him.

He gazed up to me with a slightly surprised face and asked, “Why?”

“Because of not being popular.”

“Popular?” he reacted in a slightly confused look.

“They see you as inferior to them for not being popular so they f*cking bully you.”

“That’s...” he muttered, not sure what to say next.

“Do you want to not get bullied ever again?” I asked in a serious look.

His shoulders twitched because of that but after a couple of seconds, he made a determined face and said, “I want to!”

After that, I smiled at him and replied, “Then, you need to become popular.”

“I see,” he followed, anxious. “But...I don’t want to stand out.”

“Who said that you need to stand out?” I asked in a puzzled expression.

“But isn’t being popular means standing out to everyone?” he questioned in a worried face.

“Well...you’re right. I guess I worded it in a wrong way,” I followed in and laughed. “Then, how about this? You need to have the qualities of being popular. After all, having these qualities is not a foolproof way of being popular.”

“What are those qualities?”

“Be smart, handsome, and strong,” I answered with a confident smile.

“I-Isn’t that impossible for me?” he probed instantly.

“Well, hear me out first. What I want to say is be smart by studying rigorously, be handsome by not disregarding your physical appearance, and be strong by not being afraid to stand up for the sake of yourself and others.”

For some reason, he only stared at me with a slightly surprised face for a minute. Then, he asked me a question.

“Can I...become like that?”

I gave him a gentle smile and answered, “Of course you can. After all, you’re smart already, right?”

“Uhmm...I’m not smart though,” he answered in a pessimistic expression.

“You’re not?” I asked, surprised.

“My grades are average,” he answered in honesty and let out a deep sigh.

That’s strange. The high school Prince I know is always around the top three smartest students of his batch. He’s even the top one this year...I mean in the year I left to be exact.

“Isn’t your hobby reading?”

“Hobby? Well...I don’t have a particular one,” he responded after he made a thinking pose.

So he’s still not an avid reader at this time.

“Then, start reading. Anything is fine. Make a habit of it and any book you read will be fun. After all, books are the symbol of knowledge,” I prompted him in a serious face.

I also got that hobby from imitating Professor Beauty but it became fun before I knew it. I’m sure Prince can be like that too.

“I see,” he muttered with a slightly surprised face. Then, he smiled shyly and followed, “Okay, I’ll try reading books.”

“Good,” I reacted with a smile. “As for being handsome, it’s not about the face. It's more like don’t forget to always fix your hair, clothes, posture, and anything related to your looks. You also need to maintain proper exercise and a balanced diet but worry about the first part for now. In short, be presentable always. It will even be useful when you start job hunting in the future.”

“Rosa...you’re so mature...” Prince reacted with an admiring look.

Well, I am already an adult you see.

“And last but not the least, be strong. You know, strength isn’t always about brawn. There’s also what you call the strength of heart,” I explained and placed my fist on top of my chest. “Don’t be afraid to oppose the wrong. Believe in what is right even if it’s for the sake of yourself or others.”

“Can I even do all that?” he whispered without confidence.

“How can you do it if you already doubt it?” I asked with furrowed eyebrows. “At least believe in yourself for starters. You’re a f*cking man, aren’t you? Answer!”

“Yes!” he shouted in a flustered expression.

"Good," I followed with a bright smile. When he saw that, he looked away and smiled. After a couple of seconds, he looked back at me and asked something.

“By the way, Rosa...you’re already a 6th grader, right?”

“W-well, I am...” I replied with a nervous smile. “How about you?”

“So you’re one year older than me after all,” he continued with a smile. “I’m a 5th grader.”

“Then, that makes you my little brother for real,” I followed with a giggle.

Then, he became surprised and smiled shyly.

“The truth is...I’m an only child and I’ve always wanted to have an older brother or sister. So...I got happy earlier when you said that I’ll be your little brother from now on,” he confessed with blushed cheeks.

Seriously? What's up with him? He is f*cking cute!

Swayed by my emotions, I jumped down from the bars and hugged his face.

“You’re one f*cking cute little brother, alright,” I happily smirked and ruffled his hair.

“Stop it, Rosa. My hair will become a mess,” he protested cutely. He tried to remove my arm but because of his weak grip, I didn't even budge.

After that, we decided to always meet at that playground every after class.