TL/Editor: Butter Cat

    Status: 4/week mon-thurs

    Illustrations: none

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    〈 Chapter 75 〉 Chapter 75. Quarrel.

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    —Swish.

    “…Then, I’ll take my leave."

    Saelli bowed politely and left for the next room, carrying the sleeping Alice in her arms.

    I had expected her to explode in anger, saying she couldn''t even breathe the same air as ''Anna Akaia'', but her unexpectedly calm and polite demeanor surprised me.

    My surprise was doubled because I had thought that if there was anyone who would shatter this precarious ice, it would be her.

    “…..You!?”

    "........"

    However, at that moment when Saelli turned her head to enter the room.

    From the side, I could see her trembling eyes, and I could feel it.

    Like a fire that had been forcefully extinguished.

    Those red eyes that should have been blazing with fury were now just ashes of a tree that had burned itself out.

    Was it a feeling of self-hatred?

    Or perhaps, a feeling of disgust towards her own kind?

    As the only one who knew her past, I could understand Saelli''s heart.

    It was a small fragment of her heart.

    If it weren’t for Saelli, Alice would have died alone in that cold winter river.

    While it was Saelli who saved Alice, it was also Saelli who had bitten off Alice''s arm.

    The fact that she had done a good deed couldn''t erase the fact that she had also committed evil.

    And the fact that she had saved someone couldn''t be used as her free pass.

    The only two people who could forgive and absolve her of her sins were Alice and Saelli herself.

    But that''s why Saelli had to live with that guilt, forever.

    Because she knew that the day she forgave herself would never come.

    Truly.

    How pitiful.

    "…Ah, alright then."

    "….Take care.”

    Knowing the weight of that fragment, I could only nod my head.

    Personally, I had hoped she would stay by my side since she was the person I was closest to.

    But Saelli seemed to be struggling too, so it couldn''t be helped.

    Moreover, after hearing that Alice had thrown herself in front of a carriage, she had been trembling uncontrollably and considering Alice’s state when she wakes up, it was probably for the best to have Saelli be with her.

    It would be good for both of their emotional well-being.

    I hoped that she would find some peace for the time being, patting Alice''s head in her room.

    "…Huu."

    Now then, guess it’s my turn to deal with the problem.

    Thump, thump!

    "—I won''t accept it! Why are you bringing that woman into my dorm room!! Are you out of your mind!?"

    "........."

    I think I… need to find some peace and quiet too.

    But the problem plaguing my mind is so far from being solved that I''m not even ready to pick up the pen to address it yet.

    A towering mountain peak with no end in sight.

    Before me was a scene where two people, no, one person was glaring at the other with eyes as if looking at their parents'' murderer.

    "........."

    One person with bandages hastily wrapped around her wounds, silently looking down at the floor with her head bowed.

    The perpetrator, the one who had caused this situation, Anna Akaia.

    "Get out right now! I said get out!!"

    And the other, Remi Akaia, who was venting her frustration by stomping on the floor.

    If I hadn''t separated them, the fight from earlier might have started again, that''s how intense the tension was.

    Come to think of it, the one who had gone berserk when I said I would let Anna Akaia into the room wasn''t Saelli, but Remi Akaia, who was related to Anna Akaia by blood.

    It was an understandable reaction, as she was the one who had directly witnessed Anna Akaia stabbing Alice right before her eyes more closely than anyone else.

    I raised both hands in a calming gesture and slowly tried to speak to her—

    "Now, now, calm down, Remi Akaia. Let''s first try to talk—"

    "—Shut up!!"

    I got scolded.

    And boy, did I get scolded hard.

    "What''s there to talk about with this woman! Didn''t you see? The wounds on Alice''s stomach?!"

    "..........."

    "Stabbed and stabbed and stabbed..... She stabbed her so many times! Right before my eyes, she just, like that! And what? Talk—?"

    Slowly, she rose from her seat.

    In the dimly lit room where sunlight barely filtered through the curtains, a pair of sinister eyes shimmered.

    What kind of monster lurked within those eyes that hold a blazing inferno.

    I could feel the murderous intent radiating from her even though she wasn''t holding a sword, and I was certain that their relationship could never return to what it was before.

    Like soybean flour that''s sprinkled around rice cakes because they don''t stick together well.

    Just like that metaphor, it was a perfect example of a completely broken family.

    —Bang!

    "There''s nothing to talk about, nothing."

    "..........."

    Her fist slammed against the wall. sea??h thё ηovёlFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    I was about to scold her, saying that Alice might wake up from the noise and vibrations, but I shut my mouth when I felt the murderous aura directed at me.

    I can kill you even without a sword.

    My fist, my nails, my fangs, will be directed at you.

    As if saying that, Remi Akaia declared that her and Anna Akaia''s story had ended two years ago, the moment Anna had stabbed Alice and thrown her into the flowing river.

    It was essentially her own way of threatening me, telling me not to bring up the topic of her sister again.

    Indeed.

    "Uwaah...."

    "........"

    Faced with such strong opposition, I really couldn''t say anything either way.

    And Anna Akaia, who had been keeping her head bowed without saying a word, didn''t seem like she would be of any help.

    I understood how she felt too.

    Honestly, if the previous me had suddenly been told, ''Do you want to have a one-on-one conversation with Anna Akaia, the one who put Alice in that state?'' I would have punched that person rather than praising them.

    I, too, had once resented Anna Akaia after hearing Saelli''s story.

    And in my mind, I had chewed her to pieces, even though I didn''t even know what she looked like.

    Rather, I was surprised that I was even able to remain composed in this situation.

    Instead of anger, I felt a strange sense of worry.

    Instead of hatred, I felt a strange sense of pity.

    Lost in a turmoil of those contradictory emotions rising from within my heart.

    A voice I had never heard before reached my ears.

    "—Aris."

    "….?!"

    Anna Akaia, who had been silent until now, continued speaking, ignoring my surprise.

    Slowly, in a trembling voice.

    "Aris…is she…alive?"

    “…You?! You bitch?! How dare you say Aris''s name!? You, of all people? Are you even human?!"

    "He… hey…!! Calm down, calm down!!"

    The first thing she asked about was Alice''s well-being and nothing else.

    At her words, her voice breaking here and there as if choked with emotion, Remi Akaia''s voice rose again.

    I tried to restrain Remi Akaia as she screamed that Anna didn''t deserve to say Aris''s name, that if she uttered another word with that filthy mouth, she would kill her.

    "...Uh, um… She''s alive."

    "Ah… Aaah…"

    Drip, drip, I heard a strange sound.

    It was definitely the sound of something colliding with the wooden floor.

    The floor was slowly getting wet, forming a small puddle.

    At that sound, I couldn''t accept the reality before my eyes.

    That''s because the ''Anna Akaia'' we had imagined was the purest embodiment of evil incarnate.

    The one who, blinded by jealousy, had tried to kill her talented younger sister.

    A heinous criminal who indiscriminately stabbed her own sister in an attempt to murder her.

    That must have been why Remi Akaia wanted to get Anna Akaia away from Alice''s side as quickly as possible.

    Because she didn''t know what that woman might do if she found out her sister was alive.

    A cold-blooded, insane psychopath.

    That was the image I had of her, which could hardly be expressed even with those modifiers.

    But, what is this?

    Was this really the ''Anna Akaia'' that I knew?

    "…..Really…really…"

    —Drip.

    What was flowing down her face as she lifted her head was undeniably a stream of tears.

    While her eyes were streaming with tears, her lips were curved into the most beautiful smile.

    It was the first time I had seen Anna Akaia, who had always been either expressionless or consumed by guilt, smile, and I couldn''t bring myself to finish what I was about to say.

    About how Alice was when she was first found, what kind of injuries she had.

    About how Alice had lived for the past two years.

    And about how just moments ago she had tried to commit suicide after hearing your voice.

    There were so many things I wanted to blame her for.

    "I''m so glad…"

    ".........."

    "Really, I''m so, so glad…"

    But that bright smile.

    That radiant smile, as if she had been saved, a smile devoid of any darkness.

    It overlapped with the image of Alice, smiling brightly at me in the past.

    "….Damn it."

    I understood why I had felt that way towards her.

    **

    "—You think I''m going back?"

    Anna Akaia''s sudden visit.

    The reason, she says, is to ask if Remi Akaia has any intention of returning to the Tesillia Kingdom.

    She explains that it had been a temporary measure, a chance for Remi Akaia to study abroad and get away from the kingdom, for her mental well-being after she had been devastated by Alice''s disappearance. And in the first place, the agreement between the empire and the kingdoms didn''t apply to members of the royal family, so there was no reason for her to be bound to this place.

    For the record, it took a whole thirty minutes to hear that explanation.

    Thirty minutes of holding back Remi Akaia who was about to run out, of stopping Anna Akaia who kept trying to go to the corner to bang her head against it, of trying to process every single sentence.

    But despite all that effort, the answer was a cold, one-line ''rejection''.

    I understand, but isn’t that a little too harsh?

    "I won''t go back to a place where you are. And neither will Aris. You just stay there and disappear."

    "...Hey, she''s still your older sister—"

    "—I''ll rip your tongue out if you say another word."

    Hngg, I shrunk back.

    Come to think of it, Remi Akaia is still a member of a royal family after all.

    I had become so accustomed to her naive and foolish behavior after meeting Alice that I had forgotten her status as royalty.

    Faced with Remi Akaia''s charisma as a princess, which she hadn''t shown in a long time, I could only shrink back and lower my head.

    I thought she was just like me, after seeing her get pushed around by Tessa.

    Of course, it must have been a lie, but it felt real enough in that moment.

    "Tch, maybe I should just quickly have you beheaded for treason... so that Aris and I can be alone together."

    …You’re joking, right?

    You have to be, yeah. We''re friends after all.

    And so, time passed, each second feeling like an hour.

    Thinking surely a lot of time must have passed by now, I looked up at the clock to see it showing 1 PM.

    "—Anyway, get rid of that bitch quick."

    "..........."

    Today was still very long.

    I despaired.

    "Hngg."

    What more can I do here...

    **

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