Ch.283283. Family Photo

Actually, at this point.

I wondered if we really needed to take photos.

Deia and I stood together in front of the clothing rack in an atmosphere that wasn’t exactly hostile but was certainly heavy.

We were looking at the various unique clothes neatly arranged, but couldn’t really focus on them.

“……”

Deia was also flipping through the same clothes repeatedly without actually choosing anything.

She was just moving her hands mechanically, her face expressionless.

It wasn’t an atmosphere where I could start a conversation.

No, I knew that anything I said would only hurt her in her current state, so staying silent was my only option.

“Have you chosen your outfits?”

The photographer carefully entered the preparation room, probably thinking too much time had passed.

Deia blinked as if she’d just woken up, then apologized and grabbed any random outfit.

“Hmm? Will that do?”

What she pulled out was a white shirt and black formal suit.

It was rare to see in the Griffin Kingdom, but quite common in the Republic of Clark.

For us, living closest to the Republic of Clark within the kingdom, it was somewhat familiar attire.

The question implied: you came all this way to wear something like that?

“Yes, this will do.”

Deia took the clothes and headed straight to the changing room.

The photographer was flustered by the suddenly cold atmosphere. He awkwardly excused himself and left to prepare for the shoot.

“This is difficult.”

Looking at Deia, it seemed her feelings wouldn’t be easily resolved.

How did it come to this?

It was utterly devastating how my goodwill in wanting to become family had somehow twisted and damaged our relationship.

I sighed softly and chose clothing similar to the formal suit she had picked.

It was a suit I had worn quite often when living as Shinwoo Kim. However, it was of much lower quality than Earth’s products, and aesthetically lacking too.

Honestly, I questioned whether it could even be called a formal suit given its design.

No patterns, just a dull black color. It looked somewhat decent when paired with a white shirt, but honestly, it resembled something a dance team might wear for a school performance.

*Sniff*

“……”

A faint sobbing sound came from inside the changing room. It felt like icicles formed from frozen tears were stabbing my feet.

I couldn’t move.

I hadn’t expected my emotional turmoil to be this intense.

Before creating the Land of Rest.

It felt similar to when I bid farewell to the Dark Spiritmaster and Stella.

Nostalgia and grief welled up, but I couldn’t let emotions dictate my actions.

Even if it seemed cold-hearted.

I turned away from the changing room where she was and headed in the opposite direction. I needed some fresh air.

I put down the outfit and was about to step outside the photo studio to look up at the sky.

“Oh!”

That is, if I hadn’t spotted the large figure next to the studio.

Darius, startled by my sudden appearance, was covering his face with his hands.

I wondered if this was really appropriate behavior for someone who was the leader of Verdi and Norsweden, but then again.

“What are you doing?”

I was actually a bit glad to see him.

* * *

“Wow, as expected of such a handsome pair, you look amazing just standing there!”

The photographer’s excitement seemed genuine, as if he couldn’t wait to press the shutter. But since we were just standing there awkwardly without striking any poses, his finger hovered uncertainly over the button.

Moreover, once we stepped into the light.

The redness around Deia’s eyes became very apparent. The photographer deliberately avoided mentioning it, but it would clearly show in the photos.

Nevertheless, Deia stood proudly with her arms crossed, as if nothing had happened.

In this situation.

As her brother, I should help conceal her condition.

“Wear these.”

I pulled out sunglasses from my inner pocket. Apart from the ones Aria wore at the Robern Academy festival, I’d never seen these here before.

“What?”

The moment she saw the sunglasses and realized I was being considerate, she frowned.

But I took out another pair and put them on myself.

“…Pfft.”

Perhaps finding my appearance amusing.

Deia inadvertently let out a small laugh, which helped ease the cold atmosphere between us.

“They don’t suit you.”

She said this while accepting the sunglasses. She placed them smoothly on the bridge of her nose and asked with a seductive smile.

“How do I look?”

“They suit you well.”

They definitely suited Deia. She gave off the vibe of a beautiful spy from an old foreign film.

With the atmosphere lightened.

She and I began the photoshoot. At first, we posed somewhat awkwardly, but following the photographer’s advice, we naturally incorporated slight physical contact as things progressed.

“A-hem.”

A large man cautiously emerged from the preparation room. Darius, also wearing a formal suit like us, appeared hesitantly.

“What? When did you get here?”

Deia, startled, shot me a sharp glance. She was checking if I had deliberately brought Darius along.

“He followed us here.”

Deia gave a stern look to the eldest brother who had used his training to stealthily tail his siblings. Though Darius’s body shrank under her gaze, his steps didn’t falter as he approached us.

He had not only matched our outfits but also had sunglasses tucked in his front pocket. He had come fully prepared to join in.

Deia crossed her arms with a dissatisfied expression, but eventually sighed and slightly made room for him.

“You’re the tallest, so stand in the middle.”

“Great! Actually, I have several poses in mind!”

“…I’m not doing that.”

I figured that any pose Darius suggested would be far from normal.

My prediction was spot on. He suggested poses like us hanging from his flexed muscles, or him carrying me while I carried Deia.

As if he thought this was a high school graduation photo, Darius excitedly proposed various poses.

“No way.”

“You’re being ridiculous.”

Naturally, Deia and I refused. What kind of nonsense was he trying to pull?

Darius looked disappointed but took his place in the middle.

“Come here, you two!”

Then he extended his large hands, wrapped them around our shoulders, and pulled us into his embrace.

“Whoa.”

“Eek!”

We couldn’t escape his strong, thick hands. With Darius holding both of us from either side, he grinned broadly.

Click!

As the magic camera shutter sounded, the photographer gave a thumbs up.

“Wow, this is a great photo that really shows the sibling bond!”

I wasn’t sure how the photo turned out, but.

“Do you smoke?”

“Ugh! What’s that smell?!”

When we complained about Darius’s distinctly middle-aged man smell, he became sullen again, as if hurt by our reaction.

Anyway.

We continued taking more photos like that.

And I realized.

‘This is a family photo.’

The moment I recognized that this was a Verdi family photo.

A genuine smile formed on my lips.

“Why are you grinning like an idiot?”

“See! You also think it’s great to do the three-person pose together!”

Of course, my expression immediately stiffened because of the two people beside me.

* * *

The evening of the day we took photos.

Because the meal at the restaurant we visited after the photoshoot had turned into a drinking session, Deia was slightly tipsy, but she didn’t skip washing up.

Darius had probably passed out and fallen asleep as is.

After finishing brushing her teeth and washing her face, Deia changed into pajamas, sighed, and lay down on the bed.

Then she felt something under her back.

“Ah.”

Realizing it was her wallet that she had tossed onto the bed when entering the room, she struggled to pull it out.

The eldest brother had forgotten to bring his wallet, and the second brother had no money, so she, the youngest, had to pay the bill—which Deia thought was so typical of the Verdi men.

“Geez, those cheapskates.”

Deia opened her wallet. Inside were the photos they had taken together today.

A pose where they formed a staircase with Darius at the top, then Deus, and finally Deia at the bottom, utilizing their height differences.

A pose where each held their sunglasses with one hand while staring intensely.

“Hmph.”

While Darius might be expected to do such things, the fact that Deus participated in these poses despite his reluctance seemed to Deia like proof that he considered them special.

“How silly.”

And Deia hated that specialness.

Why did that man have to enter Deus’s body?

While making such pointless resentments, Deia carefully caressed Deus’s image in the photo with her finger.

The photo itself wasn’t bad.

She knew she would probably look at it often.

‘I should give up.’

Remembering how Darius and Deus had urged her to go on a blind date during their drinking session, she gritted her teeth.

“Those bastards.”

Just thinking about it made her want to shoot them between the eyes, but.

Deia had accepted the blind date.

Otherwise, the two would continue to worry about her.

That she had completely moved on.

For now, she needed to show them that appearance.

“……”

Though she felt the urge to fall asleep immediately, Deia got up from the bed again.

She opened the furthest corner of her wardrobe. A place for old or rarely worn clothes.

There, standing conspicuously, was a human-sized doll with no distinct form.

Looking down at the partially destroyed doll, Deia squeezed her eyes shut.

“Professor Per Petra, wasn’t it?”

That was definitely his name when they met at the royal palace.

She’d heard he was working as a professor at Robern Academy.

“I should set the blind date location at… Robern.”

After leaving this meaningful remark, Deia carefully closed the wardrobe door and lay back on the bed.

She thought herself foolish.

But.

As various wounds healed, this tender feeling that naturally took root in her heart.

Deia still didn’t have the courage to let it go.

“Seriously.”

It wasn’t like this before.

From the moment those words of confession escaped her lips.

Deia felt her heart was no longer under her control, but.

She didn’t particularly dislike it.