Chapter 139: Outburst – 2

“This one won’t do. I’ve met her before, and she’s a bit sly.”

Eleanor tossed a letter into the fireplace.

“I haven’t even seen her face.”

“Trust me, brother. I want to find the best woman for you too.”

I smirked and playfully asked.

“Are you confident your judgment is better than mine?”

“Not really, but I’m a woman. Woman to woman, I can filter out the weird ones. Can you confidently say your judgment of women is better than mine?”

I had nothing to say.

Maybe my taste in women was the worst.

“Hmm… This one won’t do either.”

Eleanor wasn’t the only one tossing letters into the fire.

Across from her, Kayla was doing the same, humming as she scanned through the letters.

They had set up a small table in front of the fireplace, where a pile of letters was stacked.

They read through them one by one, throwing the ones that didn’t meet their standards into the flames.

It was supposed to be for my sake, but I couldn’t deny that they seemed to be enjoying themselves.

“The second child of the Cloyd family…? Sister, was this the tall one?”

“If it’s the second… she wouldn’t be tall, would she? The third one was the tall one.”

“Oh, then it’s not her. Pass.”

— Fwoosh!

“…Eleanor.”

Watching her ruthless behavior, I finally called her name.

Even though I had entrusted this to my four-year-younger sister, I couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

“It’s fine, brother. I mean, look at how many letters there are. How else are we supposed to handle this? Do you want us to be polite and reply to each one?”

“You’re so rigid. Were you like this in Loctana too?”

At Kayla’s words, she smirked and playfully nudged Eleanor.

“How many times do I have to tell you? In Loctana, our brother was terrifying. Some commoner friends thought he was a thug.”

“Really? Now I’m curious… I’d like to see a scary version of our brother. But, I still want him to be kind to us.”

“I get what you mean. I want us to be the only ones he cherishes.”

I let out a sigh and answered,

“…I had no choice but to be like that to survive.”

“And yet, on your first day in Loctana, you picked a fight with the citizens?”

“You even heard about that?”

“Of course we don’t know all the details, but if you cause a mess that big, it naturally reaches our ears.”

I realized there was no way I could win against their wit and picked up another letter.

I had no idea which families had gained or lost power while I was away.

Since this was a loveless marriage anyway, I wanted to at least choose one that would benefit my family.

I focused on the letters from the families I remembered as prosperous.

“What about this one, brother?”

Eleanor asked.

I smiled and replied

“I thought my opinion didn’t matter?”

“But we’re still listening to you. Besides, this one apparently helped you before.”.

“Who?”

“Gisela Lute. The eldest daughter of the Lute family.”

I searched my memory for Gisela’s face.

She was one of the people who had spoken up for me in front of Vivian’s room.

…And she was also the one who had badmouthed Vivian.

At the time, I didn’t like it, but looking back, maybe she had been right.

“Their family’s power isn’t that strong, brother. There are plenty of more influential ones. But your opinion is what matters. What do you think? Toss it, or keep it?”

She was one of the people who had openly expressed admiration for me.

Even at Vivian’s birthday party, I could sense Vivian’s jealousy for her.

Just how honest must she have been for Vivian to be that furious?

I wasn’t particularly interested, but at the very least, I could tell that Gisela was straightforward.

Maybe meeting her would be the polite thing to do.

“Actually, even when Father was still awake, he mentioned that Gisela Lute might be the best option.”

“…Father did?”

“Yeah. That woman… she seems kind of submissive, doesn’t she? She doesn’t look like she’d cause any trouble. Father was more worried about your future than the family’s prestige. He didn’t want you to suffer any longer after everything you’ve been through. But you still want to marry for the family’s sake.”

“…What should I do?”

What would Vivian say if she saw this?

If she knew that the person she was jealous of might become my partner…

…It wasn’t even worth thinking about.

I set down the letter I had been holding onto the table and said,

“Just leave it for now.”

-I have no one but you, Kailo.

With those déjà vu-inducing words, Vivian grabbed my hand.

I tried to pull away, but my body felt frozen, unable to move.

I wanted to tell her to let go, but all that came out was a strangled gasp.

I was trapped in this endless loop, unable to escape.

-How much more do I have to beg? You have a family, but…! I told you, I only have you….! Without you, I’m alone!

Her eyes, as always, were filled with tears.

-Please… please, Kailo, don’t go.

Vivian pleaded.

The desperation in her eyes was real—no matter how I looked at it, it wasn’t a lie.

A woman, cornered at the edge of a cliff, making her final, desperate plea.

The woman I loved the most—

“Oppa?”

“…Hah!”

At the touch of a hand on my shoulder, my body was freed, as if released from invisible shackles.

My eyes flew open, and I sat up straight.

“Haa… haa…”

I gasped for breath and looked around.

Vivian was nowhere to be seen.

I was in the family’s office, and in Eleanor and Kayla’s hands, the letter still remained.

“Oppa… are you okay?”

Eleanor asked, her voice laced with concern.

“You’re sweating…”

Kayla pulled out a handkerchief and wiped my face.

My heart pounded violently in my chest, and my body was drenched in cold sweat.

And just as much, my emotions were a chaotic mess.

I must have dozed off for a moment.

And in that brief lapse, I had another nightmare.

“…You dreamed about her again, didn’t you?”

Kayla asked with a furious expression.

I didn’t answer.

I simply pressed a hand to my face.

“…What the hell happened, Oppa? You weren’t like this when I was there last time…”

“What exactly happened?”

“…It’s nothing. I’m fine. Just get me a glass of wa—”

“How the hell is this fine?!”

Kayla suddenly exploded with anger.

Both Eleanor and I stiffened at her raw emotions.

But Kayla continued, her voice trembling.

“Who doesn’t know that you have nightmares every night?! The maids say they’re startled awake by your screams! And yet you still dare to say you’re fine?!”

“Kayla, calm down—”

“I won’t calm down! I don’t want to hear you pretending like everything is okay when it’s not! It’s not something that time is going to magically fix! You were trapped by Vivian, weren’t you? She had you locked up, didn’t she? I never asked before, but what the hell happened? Was it like a prison? Is that what’s haunting you even now?”

“Are you going to live like this forever? Will you keep suffering because of her? She’s a stranger now! You need to let her go! At the very least, you need to tell us what happened so you can start to heal…!”

I took Kayla’s hand.

And, with my rough left hand, I gently patted the back of hers and whispered,

“Calm down, first.”

She was still breathing hard, but I spoke again, softly.

“Calm down.”

I could understand Kayla’s feelings.

If my younger sibling had returned home after being held captive elsewhere and suffered from nightmares every night, I would have had similar concerns.

I might have been extremely angry, too.

Kayla wasn’t wrong.

It had been more than ten days since I had left Vivian’s side.

Soon, it would be twenty.

She was a stranger now.

Just someone from my past.

Someone I would never see again in my lifetime.

I couldn’t keep holding on to her.

If forgetting her had been bearable, it might have been fine.

But when she kept appearing in my dreams every night—so vividly—it was unbearable.

I had to escape, to break free.

Was this a curse, too?

A spell cast by Vivian, meant to make me unable to forget her?

…I still couldn’t believe it.

That Vivian.

The one I had protected my entire life—was a witch.

And yet, the look in her eyes when I turned away from her that day kept haunting me.

The words she had spoken, saying I was the only one she had—kept echoing in my head.

“…Haah.”

With a sigh, I lowered my guard in front of my younger siblings.

They were too worried about me. I needed to find a way.

“…Could you find me some books about witches? Or maybe someone who knows a lot about them?”

My younger siblings exchanged puzzled looks.

“…A witch?”

“There’s no such thing as witches, brother.”

I told them.

“I saw one with my own eyes. A witch.”

“Strangely enough, they don’t seem to exist in the North… But in the South, they do.”

Like the white dragon that exists only in the North, perhaps witches were just another kind of monster.

“You might not believe me, but… I think I’ve been cursed. I need someone who can undo it.”

Kayla was silent for a moment before she spoke firmly.

“I believe you, brother.”

“Sis…?”

“If you say they exist, then they must. I always thought it was just Southern paranoia, but… I believe you.”

She took a deep breath and crouched beside me.

Then, as if to comfort me, she placed a hand on my thigh and looked up at me.

“They say the Las Order hunts witches. Brother, should we contact them?”

I shook my head.

“…That group is too consumed by hatred toward witches. They’re practically fanatics. We can’t trust them.”

“…Alright. Then I’ll start looking for someone who knows about witches. Or find the books you mentioned.”

“I…”

“That would help a lot.”

“But brother, what kind of curse are you under? If it’s undone, will you stop having nightmares?”

If it was undone…

If it was undone, maybe my thoughts of Vivian would fade.

The look she had given me that day wouldn’t keep tormenting me.

I wouldn’t feel so much regret about the hand I had let go of.

“…Yeah.”

I answered.

“I think I’d feel a little better.”