Seongguk – Siblings

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“Oppa. I know you’re probably surprised to see me here, but…”

“…Am I hallucinating right now?”

Ian couldn’t believe his eyes.

In his memory, Annie should be attending Veil Academy right now.

Not at home or in a city in the Rica Kingdom.

There was no way he could meet his younger sister in the Holy Kingdom, so far away from the Academy.

“There’s no way you’d be here… Don’t tell me you pulled this stunt to drag me out.”

“W-What, you’re saying I’m fake? Surely you can recognize your own sister, right?”

Annie looked shocked at her brother’s words, which questioned her identity.

“Hold on. We’ll see once I check.”

Of course, Ian paid no mind and activated Detection Magic.

He wondered if Annie’s appearance was a form created by magic.

-Swoosh.

Mana swept over Annie’s body from head to toe according to Ian’s will.

“Ugh! This feeling…”

Annie shuddered as if she was getting goosebumps from the sensation.

“Hmm….”

But contrary to Ian’s expectations, no magical traces were found on Annie.

‘There’s no way I wouldn’t be able to see through a disguise using magic…’

There was only one conclusion.

“Is she really my sister?”

The person in front of him was undoubtedly Ian’s beloved sister, Annie.

Annie seemed angry at being treated this way by Ian, and she huffed.

“Ugh! Of course, it’s me!”

“Follow me for now.”

“Huh?”

Ian grabbed Annie’s arm and started dragging her to his room.

-Thump.

Ian put Annie in the room, then stood in front of the door, blocking her way.

“Ugh. What kind of person drags their sister like this!”

“Now. Explain.”

“Explain?”

“Why are you in the Holy Kingdom, and even inside the Great Temple? Ordinary people can’t even come this far.”

“W-Well, I’ll explain the details later, so listen to me first. There’s something more important than that.”

“No. The most important thing to me is why you’re here. If you can’t explain it properly…”

“Calm down! Okay, I’ll explain everything.”

Annie fidgeted with her hands and sweated. She looked visibly nervous.

“Quickly.”

“Well… I came to the Holy Kingdom for a trip.”

“Ha. A trip? You don’t really think I’d believe that, do you?”

Ian scoffed at the word trip.

It was an answer not worth considering for even a second.

It was a lie.

“Why not a trip? I might just want to come to the Holy Kingdom for fun!”

“You’re saying you came on a trip when it’s not even vacation time? Don’t forget that your brother used to attend Veil Academy.

“Uh…”

“Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that you really came on a trip. Even so, there’s no way you could come near the Papal Chamber. Or is the Holy Kingdom running some kind of Great Temple internal experience event? I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

“….”

Annie was speechless, only moving her lips. Then her face began to look tearful.

Ian felt his heart soften for no reason at the sight.

‘Was I pushing her too hard?’

It was an unavoidable reaction as a brother who loved his younger sister.

‘I need to calm down first.’

Had he been too excited because there had been too many unexpected encounters in the last few days?

Ian knelt down and put his hand on Annie’s shoulder.

“Annie, I only came here a few days ago. During that time, I hardly went anywhere and only stayed in the room provided by the Great Temple. But there was only one moment when you could have found me. When I attended the banquet. The fact that you came to find me in the Great Temple means you saw me at the banquet. At this point, tell me the truth.”

If he explained this much, she wouldn’t be able to lie anymore.

Ian explained the situation in detail, cutting off all possible excuses Annie could make.

As Ian expected, Annie finally sighed with her head down.

“It must be nice to be so, so smart, Oppa.”

“Thank you.”

“That wasn’t a compliment?”

“I know.”

“Ugh, really!”

Annie got angry and pounded Ian’s chest.

-Thump! Thump!

Of course, Ian didn’t even blink an eye. Rather, he smiled.

‘She’s always cute. It’s a shame I’ve been too busy to see her often.’

It was just his familiar sister’s grumbling.

Annie seemed exhausted by the reaction and lowered her hand.

“Ugh… Oppa, you haven’t changed at all. Can’t you just let it go? You always said you loved and cherished your one and only sister. If your beloved sister has something she wants to hide, you should just accept it!”

“I’m asking because I love you. I can turn a blind eye to other things, but staying in the Great Temple is not a normal situation. If you keep lying, I’ll find out myself. There are many ways.”

“Ugh….”

“What on earth is going on that you can’t even tell your brother? Don’t worry, I can roughly guess that it’s not a normal situation.”

“Then promise you won’t get angry when you hear it?”

“I’ll think about it after I hear it.”

The reason Annie had to come to the Holy Kingdom.

Generally, people go to the Holy Kingdom because of faith or illness.

Wait a minute.

‘Could it be…?’

A terrifying thought flashed through Ian’s mind.

“Don’t tell me you have some kind of disease? So you’re here in the Holy Kingdom to get treatment—”

“I joined the Hero Party.”

**

“I joined the Hero Party.”

She really said it.

Annie squeezed her eyes shut after blurting out the truth.

She wanted to hide it from her brother at all costs, but…

‘How can I hide it when he refutes everything like that.’

Everyone agreed that even if her brother had some problems with his personality, he was smart.

As expected, Annie’s clumsy lies didn’t work on her brother.

**

A few days ago, on the day of the banquet celebrating the arrival of the Hero in the Holy Kingdom.

As Ian had guessed, Annie had first discovered Ian at the banquet.

“Annie, eat a little slower.”

“Mmm…. This is the first time I’ve eaten something so delicious? Lena, let’s eat a lot while we have the chance.”

“Hehe, I’m eating hard, so don’t worry and eat a lot.”

That day, Annie and Lena were enjoying the feast at the banquet.

While the two were chatting in a friendly atmosphere, Annie’s eyes suddenly caught the face of a man quietly sitting in the corner.

“Huh?”

‘Huh? That face looks familiar….’

Annie squinted and carefully examined the man’s face. And soon Annie’s eyes widened.

‘O-Oppa?!’

The man’s hair and eye color were black, unlike usual, but his features and physique were clearly those of Annie’s older brother, Ian.

There was no way she wouldn’t recognize her family, not that she was anyone else.

‘Why is Oppa here of all places?’

Annie had no idea why Ian, who should be at the Magic Tower, was in the Holy Kingdom at this timing.

The first thought that came to Annie’s mind, who was confused, was just one thing.

-I must never be caught here.

If Annie ran into her brother, she would have to tell him why she came here.

The problem was that the Oppa Annie knew would ‘never’ let her be in the Hero Party.

In Annie’s memory, Ian extremely hated his younger sister getting involved in dangerous things.

Then what she had to do was clear.

‘I can’t be here. I have to run away right now.’

-Thump!

Lena was puzzled when Annie suddenly grabbed the table and jumped up.

“Huh? What’s wrong?”

“Ah. I’m a little tired today…. I’m going back to my room to rest first.”

“You must be tired. Then go in carefully. I’ll go in with Jade a little later.”

**

Annie had run away as soon as she saw Ian a few days ago.

She never dreamed that she would go to Ian herself today and tell him everything like this.

‘Is my adventure over now?’

Is Oppa going to drag me home now?

Telling the truth was something Annie had prepared for to some extent, but fear rushed in when it became a reality.

But Annie had no other choice.

The most important thing right now was to help Lena.

To overcome this frustrating situation, she desperately needed the help of her brother, a Wizard from the Magic Tower.

Even if it meant being forcibly separated from her friends, she had to ask for help.

Annie had faith that her brother would definitely help.

‘But why isn’t he saying anything?’

After a long time, when nothing happened, Annie slightly opened her eyes.

“Hmm….”

Ian was leaning against the wall, deep in thought.

Annie had no idea what Ian was thinking.

‘Could he be angry?’

It would be a big problem if an angry Ian didn’t help her.

Annie decided to apologize first.

“Oppa. I’m sorry for hiding such an important thing until now. But can you put this off for a little while and help me now?”

“I’ll help you.”

“Really? Thank you so much!”

Annie smiled brightly and hugged Ian.

Thank goodness. If she had Oppa’s help, she could save Lena.

‘…Wait. But did I say what I wanted him to help me with?’

Come to think of it, Ian accepted her request without even listening to the end.

“Oppa. Are you sure it’s okay even though you haven’t heard what the situation is?”

“It’s obvious. You want me to save your friend, Lena.”

“Huh? Uh….”

He knew her request before she even said it.

‘Did he already know I was here? That can’t be….’

Annie’s mind became confused.

“How did you know?”

“I only found out today that you were in the Hero Party. But the incident that happened in the Hero Party, you who are in that party, your actions of avoiding me for days and then coming to find me. If you put all these things together, you can roughly predict it. Well, I could have been wrong, but it was obvious given your personality.”

“…Scary.”

He had already grasped the whole situation. It was a relief that he was her brother.

Annie became bitter at Ian’s words.