Ch.67Alliance (10)

“Caden. Your engagement has been decided. You’ll be marrying Judy Ice.”

At Grandmother’s words, all three of us froze simultaneously.

Kirsy was the first to react.

“……..Huh?”

She shook her eyes vigorously, looking back and forth between Grandmother and me. She hurriedly asked Grandmother again.

“Gr-Grandmother, what did you just say…”

“Caden. Take good care of your fiancée from now on. After graduation… you’ll be married.”

Just as Asena had warned me before, a change in relationships had indeed occurred. It was extremely sudden.

But what exactly had Asena said to cause such a rapid change?

“And Caden. After marriage… I think you should settle in the Ice Family’s Territory.”

Kirsy jumped to her feet.

“Grandmother! What are you—”

I quickly raised my hand to calm Kirsy first.

“Kirsy. Sit down for a moment.”

Grandmother Riana maintained her stern expression as she spoke to me.

“I heard from Edgar… that is, Duke Ice, that you wanted to join the Ice Family as a retainer?”

Grandmother Riana asked me. I nodded.

“Yes.”

“….Huh…?”

Kirsy made a sound like the air was being let out of her.

“….Brother?”

Asena wore a wounded expression.

I shrugged my shoulders and said to them.

“…Why? I already told you. I decided to leave the family.”

Asena’s expression was contorting. Her eyes were becoming bloodshot, and tears were welling up.

“…You told me you loved me just yesterday…”

“And I still love you.”

“…..”

I looked at them and scratched my head.

“Girls. Why are you more shocked than I am? This was going to happen eventually.”

Grandmother Riana looked at me and asked.

“…You’re taking this quite calmly, Caden.”

“……I actually think it’s for the best. It’s not like I’m being paired with a woman I’ve never met… if it’s Judy, well…”

-BANG!

At that moment, there was a sound like the desk exploding.

Kirsy had slammed both fists on the desk, her mouth clenched tight.

“Kirsy! What are you—”

Just as I was about to scold her for her rudeness, Kirsy fled the room. Confused by her outburst, I rolled my eyes and stood up.

I said to Grandmother Riana.

“…I’ll go check on Ki-Kirsy.”

Grandmother Riana nodded.

“…Yes. Go ahead. Take your time.”

Grandmother Riana was already looking at Asena. This time, Asena didn’t avoid her gaze.

“…I have something to discuss with Asena.”

As Caden bowed his head and left, the remaining servants also departed, creating a space for just the two of them.

****

Asena was feeling fierce anger, though she didn’t show it.

This could rightfully be called an ambush. She still remembered the conversation she had with her grandmother the day before.

It had clearly been left unresolved. Yet somehow, things had progressed so quickly, and now Caden was to be paired with another woman.

That fact caused a piercing pain in her heart.

Asena slowly began to recall the conversation they had the previous day.

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“…If Brother is a Praester… then I can’t marry him.”

“……..”

Riana stared at her granddaughter with her mouth open. It had been a long time since she was at a loss for words.

Perhaps the last time was when she heard that James had died in an accident.

That was the level of shock Riana was experiencing.

She blinked her eyes and finally let out a sigh. That was all she could do.

“…..Huh.”

Then, as if all strength had left her, she leaned back against the sofa. She picked up the teacup on the table and moistened her lips. No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t make sense of the situation.

In the end, even Riana could only say formal words that she knew wouldn’t work.

“……Asena. Stop joking around.”

But Asena no longer hesitated. She gently wiped away the tears on her cheeks, and with a small smile, faced Riana.

“I’m only telling the truth.”

“…….You…you’re confused right now. You’re mistaking family love for—”

“—No. This… isn’t family love. I didn’t explain it properly before, but… it’s love.”

“No. You don’t understand. You don’t know what it means to love someone. This isn’t normal!”

“I know, Grandmother. You’d be surprised if you knew how abnormal I am.”

“…Th-think about it. Could you kiss your brother? Not the kind of kisses you’ve always shared, but a true lovers’ kiss—”

“—I want to do that every day.”

“Asena!”

“Grandmother. I even imagine having children with Brother. I’ve already come up with hundreds of names.”

Asena took the teacup from Riana’s hand, set it down, and gently held both her hands.

“Grandmother.”

“……”

“…I’ve never… complained to you before. You know that, right?”

“……..”

“No matter how hard the day was. No matter how tired I got of learning. I never said I didn’t want to do it, or that I couldn’t do it anymore… not even once. Do you know why?”

“……”

“…..Because Brother was there. Because Grandmother brought my brother to me for… no, for me… that’s why I endured.”

“….Asena.”

“…But you can’t do this now.”

Asena put strength into Riana’s hands. She firmly held her hands and expressed her opinion.

“….How could you send Brother to another woman? What about me who will be left behind? I feel like I’ll go crazy with jealousy just seeing Brother look at another woman… without Brother, it doesn’t feel like I’m living at all….”

“…..You…you’re just lonely. It’s my fault. I should have helped you make friends… so don’t say such things. It might be hard now, but as time passes, you won’t even feel your brother’s absence. Look at you and me. James is gone, but we don’t feel his absence anymore, do we?”

“…..Grandmother. You still feel Father’s absence… When someone you love is torn away, it leaves a scar on your heart. And Brother has already gone too deep into my heart. If Brother leaves me… it won’t be a scar, it will be a hole that destroys me.”

“…….”

“Let me be clear. If Brother marries any woman other than me, I won’t do anything anymore. I don’t have the strength to endure that future.”

“……..A..se..”

“Not as the head of the family. Not as a Praester. Not as a person. I won’t do anything.”

“…Are you threatening this old woman?”

“It’s not a threat, it’s a promise.”

“……”

After saying that, Asena bowed her head for a moment. She too was organizing her thoughts as she spoke.

Riana was still unsure of how to handle her confused emotions. She worried whether the words coming out of her mouth made any sense, or if she was just talking nonsense without realizing it.

Asena let go of Riana’s hands for a moment, brushed her hair back, and looked at her with much clearer eyes than before.

“Grandmother. I know you’re shocked. But… tell me, how could I not love Brother? How could I have avoided falling in love?”

“……”

“When I was struggling after my parents passed away, you brought me Brother with a ‘shining’ personality, just as you said. Because of Brother, I was able to stand up again. Because of Brother, I was able to fill my empty heart with love. How could I not love him?”

“…..”

“He embraced all my tantrums with love. He never found me annoying. He never got irritated. He became my guide. What else could I have done? Could I have harbored different feelings? Isn’t it strange that I wouldn’t love Brother after all this?”

“…You could have loved him just as family..”

“The magnitude of the love Brother gave me made that impossible.”

Riana closed her eyes and bowed her head for a moment. Her breathing had become faster than before, and she seemed to be trying to calm herself.

After staying like that for a while, Riana said.

“….That’s sophistry. If, as you say, you had no choice but to love your brother. What about Kirsy? Kirsy was in the same situation. Why is Kirsy not…….like you…….”

Riana’s confident tone gradually slowed down. It was because Asena was looking at her straight in the eye, not avoiding her gaze.

Riana read a message in her eyes, and that message was enough to shock her once again.

“……Tell me it’s not true.”

“………”

Asena did not withdraw her gaze.

“…..Even Kirsy…?”

Riana finally pushed away Asena’s hands and covered her face.

“..It can’t be…ah…it can’t be…Aiden…what should I…”

“…Why can’t it be, Grandmother?”

To Grandmother Riana, who was calling for her grandfather, Asena seriously asked her.

Riana jerked her head up at her words and said to Asena.

“How can you even ask that!”

“I really don’t know. Please tell me.”

“Caden is your brother! Who marries their family!”

“I told you I would expel Brother after graduation. We’re not related by blood. We’re not even from the same family, so how is he my brother?”

“……..”

Riana blinked her eyes and changed the subject.

“You…you are the head of the family. You need to make a marriage that will strengthen the family—”

“—Grandmother. You said it was okay for me to marry whoever I wanted. You said our family was strong enough.”

“The premise was that you would marry. I meant it didn’t matter which family, not that it was okay not to marry at all!”

“I want to marry Brother.”

“Absolutely not. How would marrying your brother strengthen the family!”

“….Happiness over family.”

“……”

“That’s what you told me, Grandmother. After Father left, you said happiness became the priority… you’ve said it many times. I know you don’t care about marriages that strengthen the family. You’re just upset that I have these feelings for Brother.”

“……”

Riana finally couldn’t hide her emotions and bit her lip. From her position, there was nothing she could say to refute. She had been sending such clear messages all along.

“…..Leave.”

In the end, Riana ordered her granddaughter. Asena rose from her seat without a word.

When she reached the door, she turned her head slightly and spoke.

“….Kirsy also likes Brother, but… let me tell you now. Brother is mine. I can’t give him even to Kirsy…. remember that.”

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And that conversation from then connected to now.

Asena was surprised at how calm she was despite the sudden situation.

As the real problem emerged, her instincts took over, making her nerves more sensitive than ever before.

“…..I clearly told you yesterday.”

But Riana was just as calm.

“Told me what?”

“…..That if Brother leaves my side… I won’t do anything.”

“Praesters don’t waver at threats.”

“…….Grandmother… don’t you understand why I brought that up?”

“…….”

“….Do you not care at all about how my heart will be torn apart by that choice?”

“…….”

They conversed in voices more composed than yesterday. That’s not to say the tension flowing between them was any less.

If yesterday’s conversation was like swinging rough fists at each other, today’s was like trying to inflict fatal wounds with fencing swords.

Asena asked.

“…Why do you have to go this far? As I said… if Brother is expelled, he’s neither my family nor my blood relative… why must you oppose it?”

“No matter how you dress it up, Caden is my child, our family, and your brother. That won’t change.”

“…..So you’re handing Brother over to another woman? Trying to separate him from me… from Kirsy?”

“……That’s not the only reason. As I said, Caden himself wanted to go to the Ice Family.”

“……..”

“….Besides, with Judy… they seem to get along well. They could live happily together for life. It also benefits the family.”

Asena clenched her fist.

The fact that he could be happy for life without her made her heart ache.

She wasn’t without guilt. She had certainly tormented him for the past few weeks.

But that didn’t mean she could accept her grandmother’s words.

“….I can’t accept this.”

“Your acceptance isn’t necessary.”

“I am the head of the family, Grandmother. Let’s cancel this engagement.”

As Asena was about to stand up with those final words, her grandmother’s words stopped her.

“…..You’re mistaken.”

“…….”

Asena, who was turning to leave, slowly turned back to look at Riana.

Riana spoke to Asena with a much more composed expression than last night, yet still strained.

“….You’re mistakenly thinking that I, Judy, or some other woman are the only obstacles in your path.”

“……”

“What would change if your brother didn’t marry another woman? What would change if you overcame this moment?”

“……”

Grandmother Riana also rose from her seat and approached Asena.

Her aura began to grow stronger. It seemed as if the wrinkles on her face were smoothing out, and it felt like the old spirit of Riana, who had once been like a general, was coming back to life.

Riana said.

“…….Even if he doesn’t end up with another woman, that doesn’t mean he’ll end up with you.”