Ch.23Unknown Knowledge (2)

“…did you think your brother wouldn’t hear that?”

I asked.

I had no intention of bringing up the essential gossip behind my back.

The fact that I was Praester’s adopted child. That I never thought of him as my brother. That I smelled bad. That I was incompetent…

I was careful about touching those parts, feeling like this relationship would collapse if I did. If I had meant to bring it up, I would have done so long ago. That was something I decided to keep hidden. I had no intention of telling them now that I knew.

But the gossip about how getting close to me wouldn’t be beneficial… this I could confront.

This didn’t seem like it would cause problems if I expressed my hurt feelings.

It wasn’t that malicious of gossip.

“Brother… that’s not it…”

Kirsy reached her hand toward me. A hand I shouldn’t let touch me. It was obvious my heart would weaken again.

“Ah-ah. Hands.”

I pointed at her approaching hand, signaling her not to touch me.

Kirsy’s hand, having lost its destination, twitched in the air a few times before dropping limply. It was uncomfortable to watch her delicate fingers twitch as if grasping at air.

But I steeled my heart. I needed to be more faithful to my emotions.

“…It’s a misunderstanding…”

Kirsy mumbled with her head down.

“…A misunderstanding?”

I repeated her words so she could hear for herself how strange they sounded.

Kirsy’s face began turning bright red. She opened her mouth, but no words came out.

Asena took over the conversation on behalf of the flustered Kirsy.

“Brother. It really is a misunderstanding.”

“What?”

I asked back.

“When we said there’s nothing good about getting close to you, we were only talking about it from a political perspective. As Daisy said, it was just advice.”

“…”

I remained silent for now.

Asena explained logically without stuttering, her face stern.

“As you know, Daisy Hexter is the eldest daughter of the Hexter Family. Naturally, Daisy’s marriage prospects are important to her family.”

“…”

“Especially since the Hexter Family’s territory has started experiencing an epidemic, and they’re expecting a famine from this year until the year after next. In this situation, the easiest way to get support is through alliances with other families through marriage.”

“…”

I remember that. There was such a story in the novel too.

“But if she shows that kind of relationship with you… no marriage proposals will come in. So it meant she should keep her distance from you. Nothing more.”

“…”

Asena approached me one step at a time.

She slowly reached out toward my hand.

“So don’t misunderstand. Brother.”

Asena gently took my hand. I could feel her soft touch.

“…Asena.”

“Yes.”

She answered.

“…Do you take me for a fool?”

I asked.

Asena’s mask crumbled rapidly. Her expression was colored with bewilderment.

“…I don’t know what you learned in political science… but did you only learn how to deceive others like this?”

“N-no…”

Asena stuttered and swallowed. Beside her, Kirsy grabbed Asena’s collar tightly and hid behind her.

“…You’re making a lot of mistakes today. Bullying your friend. Saying behind my back not to get close to your brother. I wanted an apology.”

-Slap!

I brushed off Asena’s hand. Her expression crumbled even more.

“I told you I heard what you were saying.”

A statement with ambiguous meaning. If this had been the first gossip I’d heard, I might have believed her words.

But this was the second time. As someone who knew what the twins had said about me, I couldn’t be fooled.

I quietly called her name.

“Asena.”

“…Yes…”

Only after my voice echoed through the hallway did Asena answer.

Tightly closed lips. Eyes filling with tears. An expression trying to hold back emotions. As if returning to childhood, she swallowed her tears according to her habit.

“You shouldn’t keep trying to deceive your brother like this.”

“…Brother… that’s not it…”

“Did you think you could easily fool me just because I use a sword and you’ve studied a bit?”

“…That’s not it… how could I ever…”

“You’re trying to make something simple complicated?”

After being anxious for a while, Asena suddenly reached out and grabbed my collar.

It was so fast I could barely react.

“Hey. Not letting go? Didn’t I tell you not to touch me?”

Asena shook her head.

At that moment, Kirsy also clung to my arm. She hugged my arm with all her strength. Kirsy’s entire body wrapped around my left arm.

Asena spoke.

“…I can’t let go. I won’t let go until you forgive me. Brother, please listen first… I’m sorry. I was wrong. I was so scared of you getting angry that I made excuses first.”

“…”

Only then did her sincere apologies begin to come out.

“I should have apologized first… really… I’ll reflect on it…”

She showed both words that wouldn’t normally come from her mouth and anxiety she wouldn’t normally display.

Kirsy, sniffling, clung to my arm and then wrapped both arms around my neck.

Then she started showering my cheek with kisses and acting cute. She jumped up and down, launching her lips toward my cheek.

-Smooch.

“Brother, I’m sorry. I was wrong.”

Kirsy, still with tearful expression but pretending to be bright, clung to me.

My cheek was covered with her tears and saliva.

-Smooch. Smooch.

“Hmm? Brother. I was wrong. Please don’t be angry. Okay?”

“…You’re trying to gloss over it again.”

But even as I said that, a smile began to form on my face. I couldn’t stay angry even if I wanted to.

It’s all because I’m a pushover.

This is why it’s hard. If only I loved the twins a little less. This is why we can’t have a normal argument.

They’re sisters I raised with my heart. When they burst into tears, I’d spend hours making them laugh. When they were scared, I’d sleep with them. When they did something wrong to Grandmother Riana, I’d take the scolding for them. They’re children I’ve come to love as much as I’ve poured affection into them.

So Kirsy’s kissing offensive made me laugh out of absurdity.

In truth, telling someone not to get close to me isn’t such a big deal to get angry about.

Considering what they’ve done to me before, it might be the last drop that crosses the threshold.

But I decided to bury that part in my heart. It’s a story I’ve decided not to bring up.

“Get off.”

I shook off the twins while holding back a laugh, keeping my face stern.

From their perspective, they would only see my hardened expression.

When I pushed them away, a tear rolled down Asena’s cheek, and Kirsy’s face turned tearful again.

My anger… had mostly subsided.

“Haah…”

“…Brother… please…”

“…Alright.”

“…Sniff…”

“…”

Kirsy held back her irregular breathing, and Asena wiped her eyes.

But I had no intention of letting this incident slide.

They reached out their arms as usual.

Even Asena, who had hidden her skinship in front of Kirsy, prepared to hug me.

Since before, after scolding the twins, I would hug them.

I had mixed carrot and stick appropriately.

After scolding them, I comforted their dejected hearts by telling them I loved them.

And I would pat them, saying I wasn’t doing this because I hated them, but because I loved them. I told them not to be hurt.

But not today. I decided to give them a warning.

This is the second time I’ve heard gossip behind my back.

It’s not okay for me to keep getting hurt like this either. I endure only because I love them too much.

If they’re clever, they might understand what I’m saying. They might even feel their hearts tighten. They certainly didn’t want their gossip to be discovered.

“Brother…?”

“…?”

When I didn’t hug them as usual, the twins called me weakly.

“…”

Slowly, they began to approach. They seemed to be trying to hug me on their own.

I raised my hand to stop them.

“…?”

They blinked. Kirsy mumbled.

“…Now you’re supposed to comfort me and tell me you love me.”

It was as if she was reminding me of something I had forgotten.

But I ignored her words with difficulty, then lifted my clothes and smelled them.

Then I said.

“…Let’s stop hugging from now on, kids.”

“…?”

Slowly, their expressions crumpled.

“People say I smell bad, apparently.”

One of the things Kirsy had gossiped about me behind my back. That I smelled bad.

Seeing how Kirsy still hugged me well after that, it didn’t seem like I actually smelled bad… but anyway, she was the one who brought it up. So I won’t hug her.

Frowning, Kirsy asked.

“…Huh?”

I answered without wavering.

“I didn’t know… but now I do. So hugs are over. Let’s not do it anymore.”

The arms they had extended began to fall limply. As if time had slowed down, Kirsy slowly opened her pink lips, and Asena tilted her head like someone who had heard something strange.

“…From now on…? Forever?”

Kirsy, who had been silent for a while, asked.

“Yes. We’ve grown up now.”

“…Forever…? You mean never again for the rest of our lives?”

Asena reached out one hand to touch my cheek. I slightly avoided it.

“Yes. Forever.”

Of course it’s not forever.

But for now, I’ll say it is.

Asena spoke urgently. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her act so quickly.

Compared to earlier, her voice was quite different. She seemed much more desperate now.

“..Brother. I… I don’t understand right now…?”

Kirsy also made excuses with an awkward smile.

“Ahaha… smell? I… I don’t mind…!”

I stare steadily at Kirsy. This much is needed for the warning to be effective.

“…But I mind.”

“No… no…”

Kirsy began to flounder. Thousands of thoughts seemed to flash through her mind. Then she swallowed a gasp, stopped, and looked at me.

“…Th-then are kisses okay…?”

“…Those too are over.”

If we’re not hugging, there’s no way we’d kiss.

“Good night kisses are over. Morning greeting kisses are over. I won’t receive them either. Don’t kiss me anymore.”

I’m cutting off routines we’ve had for 10 years.

Asena’s morning kisses.

The kisses I gave Kirsy at night.

I’m drawing the line on all of them.

“Understood?”

In the hallway where silence had fallen, the sound of Asena’s footsteps rang out.

She slowly approached me. Her head was down.

Only when she came within about a hand’s span did she look up at me.

Her expression had somehow turned cold. Her eyes seemed to emit a sad light, but I wasn’t sure. The anxious Asena from earlier was nowhere to be found. It was an expression that would make others fearful.

She said.

“…How can that be?”

But I don’t back down. A brother who fears his sister doesn’t exist.

“Right here.”