Ch.86Extraction (1)

“…..What is this?”

Asena’s head freezes at his unexpectedly cold reaction, unable to form the excuses she had planned.

Never in her life had she felt so terrified.

His disappointed, confused, or perhaps angry expression seemed to signal the end of their relationship.

Her brother was already planning to leave, and even a fool could see that this incident would only strengthen his resolve.

“…..I’m so confused right now.”

When Asena couldn’t respond, he spoke first.

“….Am I dreaming? Kirsy…tell me…”

“…….Brother…..”

Caden wiped his lips several more times. Their saliva still transferred to his arm.

Each time he confirmed this, his expression grew increasingly rigid.

Finally, he voiced the question.

“…..Did you two kiss me?”

“……Ah…I..well..”

“While I was sleeping…?”

Their hollow voices didn’t reach him. Still disoriented, he wiped his lips again and shifted his gaze to Kirsy sitting directly in front of him.

Kirsy felt her heart stop under his stare. An unknown fear crept over her about what he might do next.

What would happen to her now? How would he react?

As she averted her eyes in fear, Caden’s warm hand reached toward her cheek.

…..Could it be?

….Could he possibly forgive her?

Just as profound relief and surprise began to wash over her at this possibility, Caden’s thumb quickly swiped across Kirsy’s lips.

“….Ah..!”

If he had gently caressed her lips under normal circumstances, nothing could have made her heart race more.

Of course, her heart was racing now too. But in a bad way.

Caden examined the saliva from Kirsy’s lips once more.

That was enough. No further evidence was needed to confirm whether they had kissed him or not.

Asena quickly approached and sat on the bed.

“….Brother…you see…”

Even Kirsy had never seen Asena at such a loss for words.

If even Asena couldn’t find a solution, Kirsy could only feel more terrified.

“……Huh.”

Caden let out a hollow laugh.

At that breath, Asena and Kirsy’s hearts froze.

Caden pushed Kirsy off his lap. She moved away limply, offering no resistance.

He swung his legs over the side of the bed, turned his back to them, and covered his face.

In that position, he spoke slowly.

“…….Girls. I’m such a fool…let me ask just one thing.”

“……”

“……”

“….This was just out of curiosity, right…?”

“…..That…!”

Kirsy tried to grab the lifeline he’d thrown her by agreeing, but the words wouldn’t come out.

In just three days, she had planned to confess her feelings. If she denied it now, she would never be able to speak when the time came. And if she couldn’t speak then, Caden would disappear with Daisy.

“….Well….”

“…..It was curiosity….you were just curious about how a kiss feels….right….?”

When his cold voice came again, Asena’s body shot forward and embraced his back.

“…….Asena.”

Asena, still embracing Caden’s back, whispered against it.

“………Brother.”

“……..”

“…..What I was going to say in three days…I’ll say it now.”

“…Just answer my question.”

“….Please listen.”

At Asena’s desperate voice, Caden squeezed his eyes shut again. Asena spoke before he could say anything else.

“…..I’ve always hated…that you’re my brother.”

“……”

Caden trembled slightly as he began to realize where she was heading. Stealing kisses…hating that he was her brother. This could only mean one thing.

“…..I hated that you were a Praester….so much it drove me crazy.”

“……Asena…stop.”

Caden tried to stop her. He could already guess what she was going to say, but there was a big difference between suspecting something and having it spoken aloud.

“Your love was so sweet…I couldn’t breathe without you…the thought that someday you’d be connected to another family as a Praester…I couldn’t bear it..”

Caden placed his hand on Asena’s arms wrapped around his waist. She only held him tighter in response.

“….Daisy…Judy…I’m going crazy even now. The fact that Judy stole your lips…makes me so angry. The thought that you’re leaving me because of those women….it’s killing me that nothing I do makes you waver.”

“Asena..! I said stop-“

“-I love you, brother.”

Kirsy could clearly see Caden’s body becoming rigid.

Asena didn’t stop. She began pouring out years of feelings all at once.

“…..Please stay with me forever…like you promised when we were young…”

****

I couldn’t believe what my sister was whispering against my back.

Love? Not family love?

It was hard to believe those words came from Asena’s mouth.

My head was so complicated I couldn’t think straight.

Was this really not a dream?

“…….No….you’re mistaken….Asena…you can’t…”

“….Why do you think I tried to have you expelled from the family?”

Her words made my mouth freeze.

“…..If you’re a Praester….I can’t marry you.”

The simple word ‘what’ couldn’t even leave my mouth, lacking any strength.

“…All those times I spoke badly of you behind your back…it was because other women were interested in you. I was scared….scared of someone else setting their sights on you…”

To think that Asena was afraid.

“At social gatherings…I hated seeing you dance with other women…I was cruel to your friends…all because I was jealous…”

Asena’s arms tightened around my waist. Her embrace felt like it would never loosen.

Then a thought struck me, and I turned my head.

…..What about Kirsy?

It wasn’t just Asena who had spoken badly of me. She wasn’t the only one who had been jealous. And the tongue that had been in my mouth was clearly…

When my gaze fell on Kirsy, she hung her head low.

“…….It’s not true, is it…?”

Despite the circumstances making it almost certain, I asked, hoping it wasn’t true.

Kirsy, who had always been tearful, answered while dropping sparkling tears in the moonlight.

“…….I’m sorry.”

“…….Kirsy…”

“I’m sorry, brother….I love you too…”

My vision spun in shock.

“………”

“….I’m sorry…I’m sorry…”

When I weakly turned my head forward again, Kirsy quickly left the bed and knelt in front of me.

Between my knees as I sat on the bed, she looked up at me.

“Br…brother…I’ll be so good….you know I can’t live without you…right? I…I know this isn’t…normal….but couldn’t you love me too?”

“……..”

“……I’m sorry for revealing this so suddenly…that’s why I was trying to prepare…hic..”

She started crying again.

Strangely, I felt nothing. In the past, just seeing her tears would make my heart ache with sympathy, making me want to do anything for her.

But now….I feel nothing. Perhaps the shock was too great. Perhaps there was no room for other emotions.

Kirsy placed one hand on my thigh and reached the other toward my face, while Asena still firmly held my waist.

“….Let go.”

I warned them both. It wasn’t even a conscious thought. Before I realized it, my mouth was already speaking.

“…Brother…d-don’t be like this…”

“Asena Praester, Kirsy Praester. Take your hands off me.”

When I called them by their full names, they couldn’t argue and removed their hands.

Kirsy’s face in front of me contorted with pain.

Still, I felt no sympathy or pity looking at her. Instead, a stifling anger began to rise.

I don’t know why. Maybe it wasn’t even anger. Perhaps it just felt that way because I was so overwhelmed and lost.

“…..Are you two…in your right minds?”

I forced the words out. This was the first time I’d spoken so bluntly to my sisters, but I couldn’t think of better words to describe the situation.

“If…if I had known my devotion would be returned like this…I would never have acted this way in the first place.”

Kirsy startled and tears streamed down her face.

“Br…brother….why are you talking like that…hic…ugh…”

“Be quiet…! I’ll speak nicely when you start making sense…! How can you see me as a man, how..!”

Though I spoke to Kirsy as if scolding her, she just cried like a child.

Feeling I would never reach the end of a conversation with her, I turned away.

I saw Asena, who wanted to touch me but couldn’t bring herself to disobey my words, pitifully moving her hands in the air.

All vitality had drained from her face. There was only one sign of her emotions: tears that wouldn’t stop flowing…just like Kirsy.

The reality that they weren’t joking continued to sink in.

“…Asena…you of all people…!”

I wanted to say she should think rationally, that she should stop this nonsense – but looking at her expression, I finally gave up. It was clear those words wouldn’t get through.

Instead, I raised my voice, as if shouting might somehow bring them to their senses.

“….Ugh…! What would Grandmother think!”

I grabbed Asena by the shoulders and shook her.

“Snap out of it…! I said snap out of it!!”

Asena, still crying, coldly replied.

“…..Grandmother already knows.”

And with those words, my burning anger was extinguished.

“…….What?”

All I could do was blink.

“I told her.”

“…….”

Now I began to understand why Grandmother and the twins had fought so fiercely. Why Grandmother had rushed to arrange my marriage. Everything started to make sense.

Asena spoke to me as I stood frozen, having lost all strength.

“…..I told Grandmother this too…Brother…what choice did I have?”

“…….What?”

“Why were you so good to me…? Why were you so kind…? Why were you so dependable…? Why were you so handsome…?”

“……..”

“….I had no choice but to love you. Without you…I have no light… You’re the only one who saved me…”

I spoke through gritted teeth, my entire body rigid.

“….Don’t give me such twisted logic. No one falls in love with their brother just because he’s kind, handsome, and dependable. There are plenty of kind, handsome people in the world…! But they don’t fall in love with their brothers!”

“……Maybe that would be true if you were my biological brother. But you’re not my real brother.”

I felt like someone had struck my head with tremendous force. Even being hit with a wooden training sword wouldn’t have caused such shock.

“…..You…”

Ignoring the ache in my chest, I asked.

“….How can you say that…? With what feelings did I raise you-“

“-I know. That’s why I couldn’t help but love you..”

“…..”

I felt like I’d fallen into an endless quagmire. No matter what I said, they already loved me. Why do you love me? Snap out of it. Nothing would get through.

I didn’t want to keep arguing about endless problems.

Besides, this wasn’t all I wanted to say.

Clenching my fists tightly, I closed my eyes.

“……..Fine, let’s say you fell in love with me.”

With great difficulty, I hypothesized the situation.

“It’s not a hypothesis, I do love you..”

I opened my eyes and glared at Asena, who was contradicting me again.

“Let’s say that’s the case.”

This was my limit. If they pushed beyond this, I didn’t think I could continue a rational conversation.

“…..”

Asena seemed to understand this and didn’t correct my words again.

I turned my hand over and weakly gestured around us, showing them our current situation.

“….So if you love me…what is this…?”

This time I looked at Kirsy, who was sitting on the floor.

“….Sneaking into my bedroom at night…kissing me without my consent….is this what you call love?”

This method shocked me as much as their confession of love.

“The way you express love….”

I swallowed the rest of my words, but…isn’t this the method of a villainess?

Even if Asena had shown maturity as she grew up, Kirsy kneeling before me had done the same. My entire perception of them changed.

Still…I believed they were pure in their desire for my affection. In their love of kisses. I thought they were innocent. Was it all my delusion?

The reason they liked my expressions of affection was because they saw me as a man, and their actions were far from innocent.

“…Why did I have to learn about your feelings…in this way?”

Kirsy’s stiff head began to tremble.

Even looking at her, I continued.

“No…no..that’s not it..why do you even like me in the first place..”

My confusion made it difficult to speak coherently. Finally, sighing, I returned to the original topic.

“….To forcibly take someone’s lips like this…”

They don’t even care about my feelings. Would they care about others?

Were they, my sisters, unchangeable villainesses from birth?

My years of effort began to feel futile.

What broke my contemplation was Kirsy’s voice.

“…Judy did it too.”

“….What?”

“Judy also….forcibly took your lips…!”

She looked up at me, venting her frustration. The truly strange thing was that since they confessed their feelings to me, I began to notice how everything they said was directed at me.

Now I understood why they were so jealous. Why they were so wary of Judy and Daisy. Why they were so angry when Judy stole my lips.

Everything made sense.

I laughed hollowly and answered.

“….Yes, Judy did that too.”

“But why…but why is Judy okay….and I’m not…I who have been with you for so long…”

“….You were angry when Judy stole my lips too. You knew it was wrong.”

“…….”

“I thought you were angry at the immorality of it…but now I see you were just angry because she took my lips.”

“…….”

“…Girls….but at least Judy let me know.”

“……Ugh…”

“What she did wasn’t right. But at least I was aware of it. You did it while I was asleep, without my knowledge…..”

As a thought crossed my mind, I felt dizzy.

Without my knowledge. They did it without my knowledge.

This might not be the first time…

Ah.

My hand brushed my neck where there had been an insect bite just a few days ago.

That mark that appeared after I woke up.

When my hand caressed my neck, Kirsy once again averted her eyes.

“…….This wasn’t the first time.”

I spoke weakly, having no strength left to question further.

What should I do now?

I’ve become a disaster for the family.

I failed to correct their villainess tendencies. At the same time, I made the twins fall in love with me, harming the Praester family.

The marriage arrangement with Judy was broken off, distancing us from the Ice family. We became awkward with the Payne family, our subordinate house, after I punished their second daughter.

What was I even doing here? I feel foolish for thinking I had reformed the twins, for jokingly thinking the Academy people should thank me.

-Plop.

When I came to my senses, a tear had fallen.

Startled by the tear I shed without realizing, I covered my face.

Kirsy, making a tearful face, grabbed her sleeve and brought it to my face, but I pushed her away.

There was only one thing I could say.

“……Get out.”

“….Huh?”

“Brother….n-no…I’m sorry.”

They must have felt it too. That from now on, they wouldn’t be able to enter my room freely. That from this moment, we would rapidly grow distant.

Asena once again gripped my clothes tightly from behind.

I had rarely pushed her away when she pulled at my clothes like this.

Even when I was extremely angry, I didn’t do that to Asena.

Because I knew she carried many burdens as the head of the family and as the older twin.

She was the one with the most stress, and since she only showed her true self to me, I had been her support.

But this too ends today.

-Slap.

I coldly struck away Asena’s hand gripping my clothes.

Asena looked back and forth between my hand and hers, as if she couldn’t believe it.

“……..Get out.”

“..J…just a moment, brother, I…I really can’t without you-“

“Yes. I gave you too much affection. That’s why you fell in love with me.”

I left the bed and pulled the door handle.

-Click.

“…..”

“…..”

The door was locked and wouldn’t open. The twins’ thoroughness disappointed me again.

Silently, I unlocked the door and opened it for them.

“……It’s all my fault. I won’t make this mistake again.”

Kirsy stood up from her kneeling position and ran toward me, but fell to the floor.

“..Ah..!”

I gritted my teeth as she groaned in pain.

Instinctively, my body almost jumped to catch her.

But all of this is my lingering attachment, my sin.

This is what happens…when I’ve been this way.

Just a moment ago, I felt nothing when Kirsy cried, but now I’m starting to be moved again. I don’t have much time left to hold out.

I turned my gaze away from her once, calmed my heart, and then looked at my sisters again.

Their faces were deeply etched with despair.

“N-no more mistakes like this….what does that mean… What are you saying…”

Kirsy, unable to get up, asked tearfully.

“….I-it’s not true, right, brother?”

Asena also approached me and asked.

She seemed to have gone back ten years. Where was the mask she had so diligently cultivated all this time?

The young, fragile Asena I first met was appearing before me.

She blinked her eyes anxiously, then quickly reached out to me.

-Slap.

I easily struck this away too.

Until now, when Asena quickly grabbed my hand, I couldn’t react.

But now, perhaps because I had decided to reduce my expressions of affection.

All her movements now seemed slow to me.

She finally bowed her head and said, dropping tears.

“……I was lying…brother….I don’t love you….so please…don’t talk like this is the end…”

Just a few minutes ago, I couldn’t believe she loved me, but now I was more certain than anyone that these words were a lie.

“…Brother…..give me a kiss…n-no…just hug me…I’ll be satisfied with just that..”

I gave my sisters one final declaration.

“…….Get out. Last warning.”

I gave them nothing.

“Ugh…hic…”

“…Sob…sniff…brother…”

Shedding tears in their own way, they stood up. They kept sending me looks begging for salvation, so I closed my eyes.

Only the sound of their sobbing filled my ears.

I said nothing more.

The twins stood in front of me, continuing to cry, then staggered out the door.

“….I…I won’t give up..”

I heard Asena’s voice but ignored it.

I didn’t even see them off.

Despite desperately wanting to, I didn’t.

As soon as they left my doorway, I closed the door.

-Thud.

‘Sob…hic…sniff…br…brother..’

‘Aaah…!..Aaaah!’

As soon as I closed the door, their crying intensified.

They used to cry this bitterly when they got hurt playing outside.

It was the kind of crying that stimulated my protective instinct beyond my rational control, but I covered my ears.

I physically blocked them out.

Sliding down with my back against the door, I covered my ears and stayed that way.

Otherwise, my weakened heart would try to comfort them again.

Kirsy showed her vulnerable side to me, Grandmother, and Asena.

Asena showed her vulnerable side only to me.

….And me?

I had no choice but to endure this tragedy alone.