episode_0353

“Ugh, eww! Fireworks!”

“Claire Youngae, why are you doing this!”

This hairpin was an essential item to Claire.

The hairpin that Karsain had given her as a gift was extremely crude, and it was neither expensive nor attractive, so it would have little value, nor was it something worth gathering by processing rare jewels.

It was literally cheap. No matter what the reason, you could say that there were better things out there.

People around me picked it up several times and expressed their doubts.

Wherever you go, you can replace it with something better. Even the hairpins you have lying around your house are probably adorned with expensive jewels and pearls, and if you don’t like them, you can spend a lot of money to buy them.

If you want, you can make a custom order, choose something you like from my boutique, or substitute something that is only for you.

But it wouldn’t work if I said something like that in front of Claire.

“Protecting that commoner… Why on earth…! That guy is nothing more than a cheap item rolling around on the street! He is not someone to be protected!”

“Why are you doing such a worthless thing? Please tell me… Ugh!”

“Princess Claire, what on earth does this mean!”

It’s not cheap.

It was an item whose value could not be placed on it.

Rarity? There is only one of its kind in the world.

Although it may look like a cheap, cheap item from the market, the meaning it holds is so great that it can make all the things mentioned above seem like ‘nothing’.

A gift from family.

A gift from my new little brother.

There is only one of it in the world.

What else do you need?

“Princess Claire seems to have been disturbed by that bastard’s three-inch tongue! She seems to be in a state of mental disorder, so subdue her immediately!”

Tell me, is your mental state abnormal?

Yeah, I heard that.

I wore it wherever I went, and I always wore it when I wasn’t sleeping. I didn’t care what anyone said, and I took care of it with more care than a hairpin, worrying that it might break.

That’s why I thought that since Karsene had hidden in the duke’s mansion, I should return it someday.

By erasing all traces, he indirectly conveys that he is not a person from the Duke’s household.

By erasing all human smells and human touch from the room, we draw the line that no one was living here in the first place.

The fact that not a single person appears in the entire duke’s residence suggests that they were definitely not family.

That is, this too had to disappear from Claire.

If it’s as Carcein wants.

So I gave it back.

I held onto the emptiness I felt in my head, accepted the broken family relationship, and handed over the hairpin that had become a part of my body.

-This is a gift for Sister Claire.

It’s a gift to my family.

It is a gift given to my older sister among my family members.

So, this gift was something that should not remain since it was no longer family.

but.

““Eww!””

Karsine did not erase the meaning of this hairpin.

-You look better with this hairpin on.

The meaning of family.

The meaning of the gift I gave to my older sister.

And… this gave it another meaning.

‘This fool, this idiot…’

Why don’t you just swear openly and coolly?

At this point, I think I should at least take a bite.

If you drop a hairpin in front of my eyes, I’ll have to trample on it mercilessly.

That’s the right way to do it.

I need to get revenge on you for everything you’ve done to me!

But why…

-Thanks for your help, Claire.

I’m forgiving that bitch who only tormented you terribly.

Why would you forgive that piece of trash who didn’t treat you like family or take care of you as an older sister?

Hey, you idiot.

-Thud. Thud.

Tears flow endlessly.

There are countless regrets, sorrows, and remorse flowing out of it.

I wish I had noticed it a little sooner.

If only you had paid a little more attention, this wouldn’t have happened.

If that were the case, we might have become a real family.

I could have been that kid’s real older sister.

Instead of being one of those stupid idiots who realizes it too late like I did now.

“Fuck…!”

““Wowaaaah!””

Stupid idiot.

It was a self-reproach.

Ignorant, clumsy, and hasty.

It was a harsh criticism of my past self, who was like a fool.

“Gasp, ugh…!”

Excessive use of magic causes breathing difficulties.

I’m running out of mana. I’m straining my nerves to fight off that large number, and my blood is running dry.

My vision started to blur.

“No… No. I… Have to hold on a little longer…”

We need to hold out a little longer to give Karcein time to escape.

My body wouldn’t keep up.

-Thud.

***

Again, I did something stupid.

I could have just come back.

I could have just taken what was worth money and come back.

No. I think it would have been okay to just swear at him right there and then.

Going further, it seems like it would have been okay to break the hairpin to show off the feelings that had been hidden all this time.

From Carcein’s point of view, it was only natural that it would be like that.

From my perspective, with the same memories, I might have said those things to my second child.

But that couldn’t be done.

Now that the causal relationship has been established that it was Claire who helped me.

We have already been through several crises.

Radiel and Mark appeared just then.

The instructions to go to Baghdad were passed on to those two.

The road to the Duke’s residence was open, as if it had been planned and patched together.

From easy movement within the duke’s residence to safety in the tomb.

These were crises that no one person could handle alone.

But I was able to enter the dukedom safely.

Because I cleared the snow on purpose, I was able to achieve my goal and move to the designated location.

When times are most dangerous, when we must take the biggest risks.

Because of Claire’s touch, I was able to see everything that was going on here and leave.

and…

▶The activity of the chase event is decreasing.◀

▶The time it takes to chase increases. If a certain amount of time passes, the event may be deactivated.◀

The status window was so open that it looked like that. In the end, it even protected me and bought me some time.

I couldn’t help but feel a little sincerity from Claire.

Now that I think about it, Claire has always been like that.

It’s not that I have deep intentions, but I’ve never once had the intention of going against the grain and harassing me.

It’s true that he did things because he was ill-tempered, but he never intended to harm me directly.

Even if the direction or result was not good.

Even if the situation leads directly to harming me.

That means there was no malice itself.

When the evidence revealed that there was no suspicion, the opponent was thoroughly trampled.

When I did something wrong, he would scratch my head and get irritated, but he never actually cursed at me. He would just say that I got revenge on him.

And sometimes he asks my opinion.

After making a mistake once, he tried hard not to repeat the same mistake.

Now, one by one, I felt like I understood how Claire’s hands had touched me.

After realizing that he had to eat only greasy food because of his injured body, he told the chef about this and stopped serving greasy food.

In the bathtub that previously contained only cold water, Claire’s maids were able to fill it with hot water.

Other things like a pitcher of sand. Suspicious items in the room. Everything that could be problematic was removed, cleaned up, and kept in a safe place.

The chef began to use the Kelvia fruit with extreme caution in his cooking.

She prepared the clothes herself and kept a close eye on the maids to make sure no one was harmed. Because of this, Camilla was the most suspected.

I mercilessly retaliated against the person who had treated me.

I tried to help by telling him to ask for help if something like this happened.

Yes, it’s ignorance.

I have no experience and my knowledge is different.

The clumsiness that comes with inadequacy is mixed with an impatient and choleric personality.

After experiencing it once, I never made the same mistake again.

After realizing that he was the one causing the problem, he didn’t rush in.

He asked my opinion first.

The first thing I asked was what was going on.

I started to look into the context and causal relationship.

-Go now. I’ll try to stall for as much time as possible here. This time, you should really protect your little sister at least once, right? And…

Before I knew it, she was taking my side and trying to protect me.

-…I’m sorry, Karcein. For always being a nuisance. From now on… stay healthy.

With words of apology.

While deeply regretting his own actions.

Clear tears flowed from his eyes.

…Looking at that sight, the second child’s figure faintly passed by.

This game strangely overlaps with my reality in many ways.

No. Rather, you could say they were exactly the same. Claire and Eunhye were blatantly identical.

Yes, it was like that in the past too.

Now that I think about it, there was no ill will toward Claire, who looked exactly like the second child.

It’s just that ignorance or haste led to mistakes.

And that worked in a way that was exquisitely detrimental to my progress.

Secondly, there was no intention to block my path.

-Are you coming now? I told you to come quickly.

When you nag them about being so late, it means that the company’s business hours have changed and they are worried that they will get caught leaving work later than usual.

Perhaps, you may have noticed earlier that I was working part-time.

-If you need any clothes, I can make them and bring them to you, so why are you wearing something like that?

If you were talking about clothes, she would make them herself and get them for you, so she got upset and said, “Why are you spending your hard-earned money on them?”

He probably said that because he knew I was working part-time but he kept it a secret from me and he felt frustrated about that.

-I have my eyes wide open, so who would dare touch me? They know what kind of house my house is.

It wasn’t that I was stealing time from school, but I was trying to identify and personally deal with any bullies who were intentionally bullying me.

I didn’t know it at the time, but when I think about it carefully, some of them transferred classes after that, some of them were bullies who had been harassing me until yesterday but now they just quietly passed by, and in severe cases, some of them transferred schools.

…I saw it with my own hands. Grace.

and.

-Hey, are you okay?! I went to the doctor who diagnosed you and he told me directly. He said it was because of me! Because of that crazy stalker! Carl, you weren’t stabbed? Are you okay?

I was really worried when I found out it was because of a stalker. At the time, I just thought it was annoying and that you were making a fuss for nothing.

Now, those things are starting to become visible.

So then… what did the second one want?

…Ah. I think I vaguely understand.

Eunhye never missed calling me her older sister, and she never stopped calling me her younger sister, even though I spoke to her informally all the time.

Even though she had a bad temper, she still wanted to take care of me.

-Oh, you’re younger than me, but you speak informally to me whenever you get the chance. I told you to call me older sister.

I wanted to say that I was family.

He wanted to treat me like a little brother.

Maybe he wanted to hear the word “sister” come out of my mouth.

‘…That’s fortunate.’

I think it was a good idea to return the hairpin with those last words.

From Flora to Isabella and now to Claire.

I did something stupid three times in a row, but my blood didn’t run cold.

***

The long drawn-out battle took up a lot of time.

Before we knew it, Arina, who was leading the army, arrived at the duke’s residence.

The situation was quickly resolved.

Claire fell, her only support gone.

Neither Carlton nor the First Knights he led had the will to hold out any longer.

Meanwhile, Claire, who had collapsed after using excessive magic, opens her eyes.

“으…”

“Miss Claire.”

“What’s the situation…?”

“…I’m sorry.”

Carlton’s apology makes Claire realize that it’s over.

Although it was a great help since they knew that an entire division was on Carcein’s side, it still seemed to be insufficient.

“More than that, Miss. Over there.”

“…”

Claire, who had barely managed to get up with Carlton’s help, glared at Arina fiercely.

“Hoo.”

A red ponytail approaches, swaying.

He was the master of deep sighs.

“Why did you do that, Claire.”

“…”

“He’s the guy who turned his back on us. His only purpose was to sneak away and run away. He didn’t give a damn about his family. ”

“Ha.”

Claire let out a laugh.

“Who are you talking about? Did you really think of Karsane as your family?”