Ch.74Origin Point (2)

Looking at Kirsy as she remained silent in response to my question, I felt utterly exasperated.

She kept changing the subject—did she still not believe me even after seeing my actions?

But I knew that if I continued the conversation she wanted, judging by her voice and level of excitement, she would end up crying.

Being exasperated was actually better.

“Look. Judy mentioned something about an insect bite. Or maybe something that appeared on her skin.”

I brazenly offered my neck to Kirsy. But simultaneously, she turned her head away with indignant eyes and a flushed face.

Her reaction was different from what I expected, making me realize she wasn’t just exasperated.

She simply placed her hand on my body, staying close, and froze in that position.

Just as I wondered why she was acting this way, Asena called me from a distance.

“…Brother.”

“Yes?”

“…Follow me.”

She turned around without saying anything more. I almost forgot, but I was now assigned to escort Asena. I had no choice but to follow her orders.

Thinking this was a good opportunity to change the subject, I said to Kirsy, “Come on, let’s go, Kirsy. Asena wants us to follow her.”

She nodded. I wondered what had happened to make her suddenly so compliant.

Before leaving, I habitually looked for Daisy.

Her blonde hair was quite distinctive, so it wasn’t difficult to find her.

When our eyes met, Daisy stared at me for a while, then turned her head without waving, making eye contact, or even silently mouthing a greeting.

She was clearly upset. I knew Asena had significant influence in changing my escort assignment, but perhaps Daisy had accepted it so easily because she was angry with me too.

Given that she knew I was sometimes uncomfortable around Asena, she would normally have consulted me before making such a decision.

If she had feelings for me and was upset about my situation with Judy, I couldn’t really say much about it.

After all, I had shown her some interest—giving her flowers, offering to be her escort, sending her food. I had expressed my interest in my own way. It would be natural for her to be upset if I suddenly connected with someone else, even if she didn’t have feelings for me.

She might wonder if I had been playing with her.

Of course, that wasn’t the case. Every action I took was sincere.

I admit my thinking was shortsighted. Until Grandmother pushed for the marriage arrangement with Judy, I had thought connecting with Daisy wouldn’t be a bad idea.

Grandmother had directly told me to pursue someone I liked.

Though I hadn’t made any intense advances, I had shown interest in my own way, and I didn’t know it would lead to this outcome.

It’s all in the past now, but… I should apologize to her someday.

Kirsy, who had been watching me look at Daisy, grabbed my wrist and started pulling me away.

I let myself be pulled for a moment, then stopped.

“Ah, Kirsy, just a moment.”

Then I looked at Judy.

We had been holding hands until just now, and it seemed too cold to leave without saying anything.

Was it because holding her hand made me excited? Or did I want to tease Judy a little more? Or perhaps I wanted to be a bit more courageous as a man?

I pinched Judy’s cheek lightly and said, “I’ll be going, Judy.”

She flinched at my touch, visibly blushing, which brought a smile to my face.

It was cute seeing her, of all people—the one who always acted tough and strong, who was similar to me in height and had well-defined muscles unlike other women—showing such a girlish reaction.

Judy couldn’t say anything in response and turned abruptly to go to Daisy.

The nobles around us who witnessed our interaction began to whisper.

‘He called her a friend on the platform… but they seem much closer than that?’

‘Really… I never thought Ice and Praester could get along…’

‘But they do look good together. I’m even a bit envious of Lady Judy.’

‘An illegitimate daughter and an adopted son… both knights… it seems like fate.’

It had been a while since their whispers made me feel good.

Just a few months ago, they had only spoken ill of me.

As I tried to calm my fluttering emotions, I suddenly realized that Kirsy had been quiet.

Had she started to accept the situation?

But when I looked down, I saw that her hands were trembling.

“…Oh dear.”

Seeing her like this made me feel helpless… but she would gradually get used to it. She just needed time.

With others watching, I patted her shoulder affectionately in a way only she could understand, then led Kirsy, who was still holding my wrist, toward Asena.

****

Even after being left alone in her room, Kirsy couldn’t stop thinking about what she had seen.

Caden holding hands with Judy.

Him pinching her cheek, something he had only done to Kirsy before.

If that had been all, perhaps Kirsy could have somehow let it go.

She might have been able to forget these incidents and think about the future.

But what hurt her most was knowing that Caden’s actions would only increase, not decrease, from now on.

If their relationship progressed, they would casually hold hands. Not just that, but embrace, link arms, go on dates… kiss… and beyond.

While she could only find traces of him when he was asleep, Judy would experience all those things with him while he was conscious, forming an emotional connection.

That was what troubled her the most.

Jealousy kept her awake.

Kirsy found it ridiculous that she had only now realized her feelings. Despite how deep and intense they were, she was only acting after losing him.

Her sister, on the other hand, had acted long ago. Planning his expulsion from the family, and later, as Kirsy learned, revealing her feelings to Grandmother…

If it hadn’t been for Asena, she would have simply lost him. Kirsy couldn’t be more grateful that Asena had also revealed her feelings to Grandmother.

It was surprising that Asena’s actions had at least resulted in this much. Of course, revealing their feelings might have accelerated Caden’s marriage talks, but as Caden said, it was bound to happen eventually.

Eventually, he would leave her… and all the affection he showed her would disappear…

-Crunch.

Kirsy tightly squeezed the pillow she was holding.

No matter how many times she thought about it, it was a future she simply couldn’t bear. It was a future she had never considered since he had joined the family.

She recalled the expression Caden had shown to Judy.

It was the first time she had seen him look so shy and excited.

Seeing that expression, she truly understood what it meant for love to be different.

He loved her the most… but not at all as a woman.

Clearly, Caden had never thought of her that way.

The bleakness of this realization made it hard to breathe.

Just thinking about the smile he had shown Judy, Kirsy could judge what was right.

The right thing would be to let him go and wish for his happiness.

She couldn’t twist their sibling relationship, and Caden and Judy could be happy together.

But Kirsy, despite knowing it was selfish, couldn’t do it.

She was too afraid of the future that awaited her.

The nights of jealousy or sadness when she wouldn’t be able to sleep were all too clear.

She knew that to change this situation, something major needed to happen.

Perhaps she had subconsciously felt this, which was why she had left a kiss mark on his neck.

A major event of revealing her feelings.

But even if she decided to confess, it wasn’t as easy as she thought.

Even she knew that a confession without any prior development would be rejected.

She had read somewhere that a confession was an act of confirming feelings.

It was an act of communion after being certain of mutual love.

So suddenly revealing her feelings to Caden would just be an inconvenience, a tantrum trying to exploit his feelings, nothing more, nothing less.

If there was even a slight hint of the exciting atmosphere that Judy and he had shown, she would reveal her feelings.

But she knew better than anyone that such an opportunity would never come to her.

That’s why all her actions were clumsy, rough, crude, and mean.

She too wished she could show him only her pretty side, act cute in ways only he would see, and connect with him smoothly and naturally.

Who in the world would want to fight with the person they love?

But she acted this way because she had no other options.

…However, even she was beginning to realize something.

Just as opportunities to reveal her feelings weren’t coming, time itself was slipping away.

If things continued like this, she would just wait for an opportunity that would never come, and he would leave.

Somehow… somehow she needed to create an opportunity…

…She felt she needed to reveal her feelings to him.

These sticky, deep.

And at the same time, long-held feelings.

****

The next day, I skipped class with the twins again.

But this time, I wasn’t alone.

Adjusting my clothes, I asked the twins who were in the same room with me.

“How do I look?”

Grandmother Riana smiled kindly beside me and said, “You look handsome, Caden.”

“Ah, thank you.”

I returned her smile and asked the twins for their opinion again.

“Kids, what do you think?”

“……”

“…..”

The twins were also dressed in neat but pretty clothes today, not their Academy uniforms.

Asena wore a light dress with a short fur wrap gently covering her shoulders, while Kirsy wore an elegant two-piece outfit.

Asena, disliking how I was dressed up, didn’t answer. Her displeasure was clearly conveyed.

It was Kirsy who spoke.

“….You look handsome, brother.”

Needing a response, I eagerly took her reaction, but,

“Really? Thank you, Kirsy.”

“……That’s why I’m upset.”

She left me speechless again.

In this increasingly awkward atmosphere, I could only give Grandmother Riana a complicated smile.

In the end, what they wanted was for me to set aside the Praester name and just stay by their side as a commoner… but I had no intention of living such a life.

So I adjusted my clothes once more.

Today was about Judy’s family.

It was the day for a formal meeting with the Ice family.