Ch.68Alliance (11)

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

Riana stood between the door and Asena. She began to gently point out the facts.

“…..Yes. Your claim that you love Caden…it’s shocking, but I believe it now. Since you already know it’s an abnormal love, I don’t need to enlighten you further. But using that as a weapon, you’re ignoring the proper procedures of love and can’t control your feelings that are rushing ahead.”

“…….”

“Just because you remove the women around Caden doesn’t mean you can enter his heart. That’s certainly not what love is.”

Asena kept her mouth shut, just listening to her grandmother’s words. Of course, she was also struggling to find words to respond.

“Have you confessed your feelings? Does your brother see you as a woman? Have your hearts connected with each other?”

“…..”

“Without even starting any of the basics of love. I’m not breaking what’s already between you two, yet you speak as if I’ve done something wrong, which is outrageous. Isn’t it just your one-sided feelings?”

“….I was planning to talk to my brother step by step. That’s why I told you my true feelings. Though nothing happened between my brother and me, I did have a conversation with you. After that, connecting him with another woman like Judy seems like trampling on my feelings and trying to block what’s between my brother and me.”

“Of course. From my perspective, I couldn’t just stand by and watch.”

“Then what exactly is so outrageous? You clearly gave my brother to another woman knowing I would be angry…! Why did I confess my feelings to you? You’re not the kind of grandmother who wouldn’t understand my hidden intention not to give my brother to another woman!”

“I only lessened the pain for you and Caden.”

Asena let out a hollow laugh and asked Riana. From Asena’s perspective, she was the one who found it outrageous.

“…..How does this lessen my pain? Just thinking about my brother holding another woman’s hand makes me feel sick. And now marriage… that’s cutting my heart to pieces, how is that lessening my pain?”

“That’s why I’m saying you’re still mistaken, Asena.”

“What?”

“From what I see, Caden won’t accept your feelings.”

“……”

Fierce anger rose in Asena’s eyes. Her fists clenched tightly, and her jaw tensed. The aura she was emitting was becoming increasingly sharp.

Clearly, Asena was concerned about Caden rejecting her. But that worry was solely hers. She didn’t want to hear someone else, even her grandmother, interfering and saying there was no hope.

“If Caden rejects you, what about the pain you both will feel then? You’ll have your heart broken after challenging an impossible love. And Caden will be confused after hearing your feelings. Is it so wrong for this grandmother, as your guardian, to prevent that?”

“Be honest. You’re not afraid of us getting hurt, so you gave my brother to Judy. Rather, you’re afraid of the situation where my brother and I connect.”

“……Yes. That’s certainly part of it.”

Riana didn’t bother to disguise herself. By cleanly acknowledging everything, she was erasing every point Asena could argue against.

“Grandmother. You still haven’t told me why I shouldn’t be with my brother. What exactly is the reason I can’t be with my brother, who is neither family nor blood?”

“…….”

“Are you afraid of others’ judgment?”

“….It’s just an ethical issue. How can you… talk about connecting with Caden…”

A faint bewilderment appeared and passed on Riana’s face.

“…He’s your brother… Asena. He’s your brother… aren’t you family…”

“He’s not my blood, so how can we be family?”

Their conversation continued to go in circles.

Then Asena sighed and said to Riana.

“….And I don’t care even if we are family.”

“What?”

“All these procedures are just to reduce the burden on my brother. I don’t really care much.”

“Asena.”

“Even if my brother were a slave. Even if he really shared blood with me. Even if he had a disability. I just need him to be my brother.”

The more she spoke, the more unfathomable Asena’s love seemed, and Riana felt the problem becoming more serious as she listened.

At one point, she thought it might just be a slight misunderstanding. Although Asena had clearly said she loved him deeply, even if she hadn’t explained it fully, Riana still thought it might be temporary, like the heat of midsummer.

But the more she listened, the more she realized that wasn’t the case.

The first mask to break was Riana’s. As they say, no parent can defeat their child. As much as she loved Asena and Caden, she couldn’t stop the torrent of emotions.

“…Please stop. Give up now… Your brother has found a match. It’s already too late…”

“Cancel the marriage proposal. It’s not too late.”

“…….I will not cancel it.”

“Then I will-“

“-Can you explain the reason to your brother?”

“……..”

“I mean, can you tell him that you love him, so you made the marriage proposal with Judy disappear?”

Though Riana didn’t know it, this action was enough to stop Asena’s thinking.

Clearly, as Riana said, if Asena wanted to cancel the marriage proposal, there was no other way but to confess her feelings.

She had done too many wrongs to him before, making it very difficult to just gloss over things.

She couldn’t make excuses, citing this reason or that.

If she clashed with him again, she knew it would become a real problem.

Now that even a small mistake toward Caden carried risk, she realized she couldn’t cancel the marriage proposal without revealing her true feelings.

But that didn’t mean she was going to give up.

Riana slowly shook her head, trying to calm Asena.

“…It’s already over, Asena. This is as far as it goes. Bury your feelings for your brother in this room. Now you need to make a new start-“

“-He is my foundation.”

Asena’s voice trembled momentarily. Even in a moment when she had to reveal her inner feelings, she couldn’t coldly maintain her mask.

“….My brother is my foundation. Without him… I can’t move.”

“……”

A brief silence created by Asena’s trembling voice.

It was Asena who broke it again.

She brushed back her disheveled hair and calmly asked her grandmother in a composed voice.

“You said it’s my one-sided love, so it’s a problem. Is that right?”

“…….”

“Grandmother. Then if my brother also says he loves me. Would you acknowledge us then?”

Riana held her head and whispered under her breath.

“…It can’t be… it can’t be…”

“Grandmother. Please answer me directly.”

Riana finally staggered and sat down in a chair. Asena still waited for her answer.

“……”

“You said you connected my brother with another woman to prevent our pain. That my brother wouldn’t accept my feelings. But if he does… if my brother sees me as a woman. Then you’ll understand us without saying anything, right?”

“…….”

“Grandmother.”

Riana covered her face with her hands.

“….I don’t know…”

But for Asena, it was a sufficient answer.

“….You didn’t say it’s not allowed.”

****

“Kirsy!!”

I chased after Kirsy, who was running away. Since it was a day off, there weren’t many people around, but she was drawing attention wherever she went.

“Kirsy, stop!”

Despite my urgent calls, she continued to run. Of course, I could catch her anytime if I wanted to, but for some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to do so.

Passing through buildings, we finally reached the plains where we often went for walks, and only then could I catch her.

She had already stopped, her fists trembling.

“…Kirsy.”

As I slowed my pace and stopped in front of her, I had to endure an unexpected blow.

-Thud!

“Just go!!”

Kirsy looked up at me with tears streaming down her face. It had been a long time since I’d seen her expression so contorted.

“..Kirsy. I’ve been telling you this for a long time. I decided to leave the family-“

My words couldn’t reach Kirsy. She wasn’t willing to listen.

She clenched her fists and hit my chest with all her might, crying out.

“Traitor!! You promised you’d stay by my side forever!!”

-Thud! Thud! Thud!

“You promised you wouldn’t leave my side!! You said you’d always be there for me to lean on!!”

“Kirsy. My heart will still be with you all. I’m not abandoning you-“

“Stop lying..! Stop deceiving me again..! You’re leaving my side..! What does it all mean..? You’re leaving me to marry Judy…! If this isn’t betrayal, what is it?!”

Her words pierced my heart painfully. Partings are always difficult, no matter when they happen. But as with all partings, hearts don’t change easily just because others try to stop them.

I had decided to leave. The twins had to accept that.

“I was a fool for being good and listening to you..! If I had known you would betray me like this, I would have lived as I pleased!”

I opened my arms to embrace her.

But Kirsy, consumed by anger, pushed against my chest, blocking all my efforts.

“Get away!! Just go!! You can go to Judy instead of me!!”

“…..”

Speechless at Kirsy’s intense reaction, I was pushed back as she pushed. Unable to say I wouldn’t leave or to tell her to calm down, I felt my strength drain away, and I slowly lowered my arms.

As I stood there blankly, Kirsy looked at me and then began to cling to me.

“B-brother, you’re not really leaving, right? You know I didn’t mean it… you can’t leave me, brother..! Th-this must be something grandmother doesn’t know about yet… Please, brother. Let’s go and cancel the marriage proposal with Judy. Okay?”

Through my arm that she was holding, I could feel her desperation. I understood she was experiencing a storm of intense emotions. That’s why her demeanor was changing so rapidly.

I opened my arms to her again, but once more, she rejected the embrace.

“That’s not what’s important right now…! Brother, snap out of it! Are you okay? You’ll be spending the rest of your life with Judy…! If you enter the Ice family, you’ll only be able to see my face once every few years, are you okay with that…!”

“Of course I don’t like that.”

“R-right? So..! Let’s talk to grandmother… and make this whole thing void-“

“-But I told you this day would come eventually, Kirsy.”

“Brother!!!”

When she shouted, this time I forcibly embraced her. Not allowing her to refuse, I pulled her into my arms.

She struggled in my embrace for a while, then eventually calmed down and started crying instead.

“Hic…! Brother… please… stop… now…”

“It’s okay. You can do well without me.”

“Why do you keep talking like you’re going to disappear!!”

“…..”

“Why her…. do you like her more than me? How can you leave me…?”

“I like you more. But… that and this are different things.”

“Did you start disliking me? Is it because of those things? Brother, I’ll beg like this… I’m sorry… don’t leave me…!”

I stopped answering and just patted her back.

“It’s okay, Kirsy. It’s okay.”

Calming her intense emotions was the priority. Because in an emotional state, you never know what someone might say.

Ignoring her continued pleas and requests, I kept stroking her back.

It seemed impossible to discuss this topic today. I thought I should wait at least until tomorrow.

I comforted the crying Kirsy in my arms for hours.

****

When Kirsy staggered into the dormitory room, Asena was waiting.

They stared at each other with equally gloomy eyes.

Though it wasn’t that late, both had exhausted all their energy for the day.

Kirsy walked toward her room without saying anything to Asena.

Part of it was because she still hadn’t reconciled with Asena, who had secretly stolen Caden’s lips.

“….Kirsy.”

As she was entering her room, Asena stopped her.

It was hard to gauge how long it had been since they had talked alone.

Though Kirsy wanted to ignore her and go into her room because her emotions were hurt and the day had been difficult, a strange force stopped her and made her turn around.

“…..”

Asena had already risen from her seat and was slowly walking toward Kirsy.

The twins finally faced each other at a distance of less than a hand’s breadth.

Asena spoke.

“…..Let’s stop fighting now.”

“……”

Kirsy heard her words and simply turned away. It wasn’t like her character to reject people like this, but being pushed to the extreme, the sharpness hidden in a corner of her heart had revealed itself.

As she was about to enter her room again, ignoring Asena’s words, Asena said,

“I’m not asking to reconcile for our sake. It’s because of our brother.”

-Stop.

Kirsy’s body froze in place.

She slightly turned her head, waiting for Asena’s words.

“…….In the current situation with the marriage proposal with Judy… we can’t be fighting too. If this continues, our brother will really leave.”

“……..”

“….Kirsy. Let’s join forces for a while.”

“…..What?”

“…..You know that two is better than one…”

“……”

“…Just until our brother’s marriage proposal is canceled. If we miss this moment, it’s over. We need to make it fizzle out before the story takes root and spreads.”

“…How?”

“I don’t know either…. but I know that nothing will work if we’re fighting among ourselves.”

“………”

Asena’s eyes trembled as she spoke to Kirsy.

“……I can’t just stand by and watch our brother leave my side.”

Kirsy also finally turned around and said,

“….What do I need to do?”