Ch.12You Too (1)

I couldn’t focus on the class. My body felt sluggish and my judgment was slow.

I was clashing wooden swords in a close match with Judy Ice, who had completely overwhelmed me yesterday.

“Praester! Pay attention!”

Sir Hoslow shouted.

His bellowing had no effect on me.

If such a thing could calm the shock I felt, I wouldn’t have been so wounded in the first place.

My mind was elsewhere.

Only Asena’s words kept circling in my head.

When did she start feeling that way?

Was there truly not even a shred of sincerity toward me?

I also recalled the disappointed expression she showed when I covered her lips.

Was that an act too?

At that moment, Judy’s foot dug in and stepped on my instep.

“Oh!”

She pushed my body with her shoulder.

With my foot trapped, I couldn’t regain my balance.

I fell backward in an ungraceful tumble.

After landing on my backside, I looked up to find Judy’s wooden sword steadily pointed at my face.

“……”

“…You lost.”

As I got up dusting off my behind, even Judy asked:

“Why do you keep getting distracted?”

“It’s nothing. Sorry.”

“…Did something happen?”

Though we’d only met a day ago, we’d already exchanged many conversations through sweat.

Just as Sir Hoslow said, we were naturally becoming friends.

Judy spoke in a monotone, but with a personality that revealed everything through her expressions, I could tell she was quite worried.

I shook my head.

“I’m fine.”

But I continued to falter afterward.

After losing three more lives that would have been fatal with real swords, the class finally ended.

****

“Are you ready?”

Kirsy cheerfully asked a young girl.

She was currently in the kitchen dining hall.

It wasn’t a place where a high noble would typically enter, but Kirsy didn’t care about such things.

All that mattered was achieving her goal.

However, the kitchen chefs were fidgeting nervously. They had to be careful not to make mistakes.

Vegetables that had been hastily washed were now being scrubbed thoroughly, and they were putting on all sorts of professional shows to appear more competent.

‘Chef, this fell, should I wash it again and-‘

‘Throw it away! Throw it away!! W-we would have thrown it away anyway, why are you asking?’

But Kirsy’s eyes were focused solely on one girl, making all their efforts meaningless.

The girl closed a snack basket with trembling hands.

Kirsy had come at dawn and asked her, who had been doing chores alone.

‘I’m sorry, but could you make me a lunch box for noon?’

‘…What…?’

‘Oh, it’s fine if you refuse!’

‘N-no! I-I’ll make it for you, yes…’

The girl didn’t dare refuse the noble’s request.

Meanwhile, this noble smiled brightly at her, a commoner, simply because she agreed to follow her order.

The girl even thought this noble was truly adorable.

‘Thank you. Could you also prepare a container with carrots? It’s for my horse.’

The noble kindly explained her purpose.

The girl gathered courage and asked:

‘…But horses might prefer apples over carrots… should I prepare apples too?’

‘Oh really? Yes! Please do that!’

And so the lunch box and feed basket were prepared.

Kirsy happily received the two baskets and hugged the girl.

“Oh, thank you so much!”

“You! You don’t need to do that…!!”

The girl waved her hands in embarrassment.

She desperately prayed that her clothes weren’t dirty.

Kirsy stepped back and asked the girl:

“Would you tell me your name? If anything comes up, I’d like to repay this favor.”

“…It’s f-fine, really. This is just our job.”

“I really want to know.”

Kirsy gently took the girl’s hand.

It was rough and chapped in places, telling of the life she had endured.

The opposite of Kirsy’s petal-soft hands.

The girl nervously glanced around, checking Kirsy’s expression, and after realizing she was sincere, hesitantly spoke:

“…Ewin. My name is Ewin.”

****

“…Praester. What’s wrong?”

After class ended, as I was brushing Rush, Judy Ice approached and asked.

Unlike yesterday when I had overwhelmed her, today I had lost to her multiple times, so she must have felt something was off.

As I looked at Judy while brushing Rush, my horse bit my arm.

“Ouch!”

I gave him a light tap on the head and sighed.

“Tell me, Praester.”

“I have a name too, Judy.”

I was just in a mood to refuse being called Praester.

I tried not to show my sullenness, but I was already failing.

“……”

“…Huh?”

Seeing the mood sink contrary to my intention, I prompted a response with a bright voice.

“…Caden, what’s wrong?”

Judy followed along exactly as I wanted.

She was still fun to tease.

Normally I would stop here, but today I wanted to be a bit more mischievous.

Let me play around a little more.

“Shouldn’t you call me ‘older brother’ too? I’m older than you.”

Judy’s expression crumpled instantly.

I burst into laughter seeing her face.

My chest felt a bit lighter.

After calming my laughter while stroking Rush, I answered:

“Nothing happened.”

“Don’t lie. You were spaced out during the entire training.”

“Are you already worried about me?”

When I asked with a smile, Judy looked away.

Of course, I could understand her feelings.

I would probably worry too if Judy had troubles now.

Shared sweat has that kind of meaning.

Should I call it camaraderie?

There’s a sense of achievement in enduring Sir Hoslow’s difficult training.

Judy shook her head lightly at my continued teasing and turned to leave.

“…I was just worried because you reminded me of myself…”

“Ah, okay. Don’t go.”

I grabbed Judy as she tried to leave.

I wasn’t sure why I stopped her.

Perhaps it was an instinctive choice from my brain telling me to resolve this knot inside me.

So I reflexively grabbed her, but words didn’t come easily.

In the end, I just held onto her, smacking my lips while continuing to brush Rush without saying anything.

Judy had already moved next to me.

She started brushing her horse, Goldie, in the stall next to Rush.

She seemed to be waiting for me to speak first.

Grateful for her consideration, I remained like that for a while.

Even as the silence lengthened, my lips wouldn’t part.

I didn’t know how to explain my concerns or where to begin.

The silence continued.

Judy, who had stayed by my side even sacrificing her meal time, blurted out:

“…Let’s stick together as underdogs.”

“……”

Perhaps wanting to appear cheerful? I chuckled at her comment even though it wasn’t particularly funny.

I scratched the back of my head with a clean hand and spoke.

Reluctantly revealing my inner thoughts.

“…As you’ve seen, I’m close with my sisters.”

“…Mm.”

“The head of the family Asena, and her twin sister Kirsy… Actually, we had reasons to become close when we were young. As you probably know, after the late Duke Praester, the twins’ parents, passed away, I took care of the children.”

I brushed Rush more roughly, feeling somehow embarrassed to tell my story.

Rush only enjoyed it more.

“…You did?”

“Yes. No one in the family could open the twins’ hearts. So I, who was good at taking care of children at the orphanage, was hastily adopted. After that… whether you call it luck or not, I managed to open the children’s hearts. That’s why we grew up so close.”

“……”

“But lately I wonder if that was just my delusion.”

I shrugged my shoulders lightly, as if desperately trying to lift the heavy feeling.

“…Asena said she would banish me. She wants me to return the Praester mansion in two years.”

“…What?”

Judy looked at me as if she couldn’t believe it.

I still smiled at her.

“…I know, right? It’s hard for me to accept too. At first, I thought it might be due to my inherent limitations.”

“…No…”

That’s not the surprising part.

“But apparently that’s not it.”

My throat tightened with emotion.

I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, shook my head, then spoke casually while cleaning my ear:

“…Yesterday I happened to overhear her talking behind my back. She said she never once thought of me as her brother, haha. But… wow… that really hurts.”

“……”

“I thought we were family. I tried so hard for that. I thought we were close… was it all my delusion?”

I muttered as if talking to myself.

“…..”

“Tell me, Judy. Isn’t talking behind someone’s back usually their true feelings?”

“…..”

“Hm?”

“…She might have just gotten caught up in the moment.”

“That would be fortunate… but… I don’t think that’s the case.”

“…..”

Judy put down her brush and dusted her hands. She sighed deeply, as if exhaling for me.

I didn’t look her way. I felt embarrassed, thinking the bridge of my nose might be turning red.

“…If it were me, I’d just leave.”

“Huh? What?”

“The Praester family is kicking you out, right? And they’re talking behind your back. I’d leave on my own because it’s disgusting and petty.”

She seemed to be getting angry on my behalf.

Judy’s intense reaction made me feel slightly better.

“You’re right! The Praester family is filthy!”

“Hey, only I get to insult them.”

“Wouldn’t that be better for you too?”

“What?”

“Why are you crawling around trying to please them? Just say you’re leaving and live however you want.”

“I’m not crawling… I’m just hurt by the betrayal.”

“…I don’t get it.”

“Imagine someone you liked talking behind your back, saying they actually hate you. Wouldn’t that make you feel awful?”

“That’s what I’m saying. In that case, I would just cut ties with that person. That seems less painful.”

“……”

“……”

Though her advice wasn’t particularly profound, I was grateful to Judy for showing such an intense reaction for my sake.

Again, silence fell between us for a while.

I sighed a couple of times.

Suddenly I realized it was time to let Judy go.

For her sake, since she was skipping her meal for me. Or perhaps we could go eat together.

…Once I calmed these emotions a bit more, I would do that.

At that moment, I heard the sound of flesh meeting flesh behind me.

-Pak!

And then a familiar voice:

“…What are you doing right now?”

When I turned around, Kirsy was standing there.

Holding the wrist of Judy, who had been just a hand’s width behind me.

****

Kirsy looked around the training ground with two baskets in her hands.

Caden was nowhere to be seen.

She wasn’t surprised.

She had expected this.

He had mentioned he might not be at the training ground.

He said he would be taking care of Rush at the stable, so she should come there.

Kirsy passed through the training ground and lightly stepped toward where the stables should be.

She was looking forward to meeting Caden.

All day today, she still hadn’t seen him.

She couldn’t go see him this morning because she was busy requesting these baskets.

Only Asena had gone to see him.

‘Oh, come to think of it, sister seemed to be in a bad mood…’

Brushing aside the thought that suddenly occurred to her, Kirsy walked toward her brother.

He had said his only friend was his horse.

So wouldn’t he be waiting for her too? She would be his strength when he was lonely.

Perhaps he might even praise her. He would appreciate that she had put aside many friends to come find him.

Though it was her own choice, there was no harm in adding these reasons to receive more affection.

“Oh, there he is…?”

She spotted Caden’s back from a distance.

She could see Caden’s familiar back. And beside him, contrary to her expectation that he would be alone, stood a woman with blue hair.

Kirsy’s feet froze at the sight.

“………”

Again, an inexplicable unpleasant feeling constricted her chest.

This had been happening frequently lately.

Even Kirsy could notice the cause.

It happened whenever Caden was involved with another woman.

When his eyes looked at another woman, when it seemed like another woman’s name might come from his lips, whenever he stood with another woman like this, her chest felt suffocating as if submerged in water.

Today it was particularly severe.

The two were standing close together like best friends.

It was so unpleasant it made her limbs tingle to see someone else standing in the place where she should be standing, as if it were natural.

‘Didn’t he say his only friend was his horse?’

Kirsy thought.

‘…Then who is that person, brother? You didn’t tell me about her.’

She wanted to shout and ask him, but she held back with patience. Maybe she was mistaken.

Maybe they didn’t know each other, and were just taking care of the horses in the stable.

Kirsy hurriedly moved forward.

At the same time, a cunning self she didn’t know existed raised its head.

While moving quickly, she muffled her footsteps.

It was unlikely, but… if. If he was hiding this meeting from her, she needed to catch decisive evidence.

Catch it and…

…

…

She didn’t know what she should do after catching it.

Perhaps she should make sure such a thing never happens again?

What was certain… she needed to know that Caden wasn’t hiding anything from her.

She wanted to know everything about him.

She couldn’t bear the thought of him hiding something from her.

Because it felt like proof that she wasn’t his most precious person.

Kirsy prayed inwardly.

She had muffled her footsteps fearing something might happen, but she prayed that nothing would occur.

She hoped everything was her misunderstanding. She hoped they wouldn’t talk, and if they did, she hoped it would be formal.

Fortunately, her heart eased as she got closer to him.

Because beyond formality, the two weren’t having any conversation at all.

They were just brushing their riding horses.

It seemed it had been a groundless fear.

Yes, Kirsy thought, there was no way her brother would make a new friend without telling her.

…Especially if that friend was a woman.

Kirsy examined the woman as she approached.

Her family wasn’t visible.

She was tall with a toned body.

To Kirsy’s eyes, she didn’t look cute or pretty.

She didn’t seem like someone Caden would like.

Kirsy was already near Caden.

She had approached him without anyone noticing.

Kirsy knew she was committing a rude act.

Approaching without making her presence known was wrong.

Especially in a situation with company.

So to justify this rudeness born from misunderstanding, she devised a plan.

She would surprise him by shouting ‘Wow!’

Then, she could show it wasn’t about eavesdropping.

She could just say she was playing a prank.

But at that moment.

The blue-haired woman’s hand moved.

Kirsy’s heart sank.

Very carefully, retreating one step and advancing two, her hand gradually approached Caden.

It was such a shy hand that even from behind one could see she was gathering courage.

As that fidgeting hand was about to touch Caden’s shoulder, Kirsy couldn’t stand by any longer.

The idea of touching his body without saying anything seemed like an attempt to initiate an emotional exchange.

It looked like she was trying to win his heart.

Her emotions burst forth.

Dropping the baskets she was carrying, she twisted and grabbed that wrist.

-Pak!

“…What are you doing right now?”

Caden turned around.

“Ah!”

The blue-haired woman flinched in surprise and pulled her arm away.

Kirsy couldn’t resist her strong force and lost her grip on the woman’s wrist.

“…Kirsy?”

Caden’s surprised eyes swept over her.

Kirsy suddenly realized she had nothing prepared to explain her actions.

Her emotions had moved her body before she could think.

She had only shown him her pretty side until now.

“…How long have you been there?”

Caden asked.