〈Episode 272〉 Eve and her younger brother
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I got up.
I scratched my messy hair. The chirping of sparrows outside the window announced the morning.
Sunlight streamed through the windows, illuminating the room. The walls of the room were covered with pictures of Isaac in his school uniform.
Yves Roffenheim let out a deep sigh. His body felt refreshed, but his mind was troubled.
‘The semester has already started… .’
I haven’t spoken to Isaac since the Baron Roffenheim incident.
Before we knew it, vacation was over.
… …
“Long time no see! Did you lose weight?”
“What did you do during vacation?”
“hi!”
Merchen Academy was bustling with students going to school.
The students talked about things that happened during the vacation. The biggest topic of conversation was the Baron Roffenheim incident.
As this was a prestigious academy, the proportion of nobles was high. It was only natural that the details of the Baron Roffenheim case, which was widely known among the noble society, would be heard.
“Did you hear that Baron Roffenheim was trafficking children?”
“Yeah. I was surprised to hear that. And Senior Isaac solved it for me.”
“Oh my. Huh, Senior Isaac… I think I’m falling in love again… .”
So it was natural that news of Isaac’s activities would follow.
Isaac himself didn’t really realize it, but he was extremely popular at the academy. It was just that Luce’s murderous aura surrounded him, making it hard for the female students to approach him.
Meanwhile, there was a third-year student walking around feeling depressed, eavesdropping on the conversation between the girls. It was Isaac’s older sister, Yves Ropenheim.
“Eveeeeeee!!”
“Crash!”
Alicia, a third-year girl with short hair, ran up to Eve and hugged her from behind. Eve, startled, let out a strange scream.
“Long time no see, Eve!”
“It’s been a while, Alicia… .”
“Even though the semester has started, aren’t you still feeling a bit tired? Are you worried that the demons will show up again?”
“No, that’s not it….”
“It’s okay! Bingje-nim said there wouldn’t be any more incidents like that! We’ve gotten through all the big incidents so far without a hitch, so what’s to say that there won’t be any more incidents until we graduate?!”
The protests that began with numerous incidents continued unabated, and the protection system of the Imperial Knights became stronger.
Some outside the academy ask why the academy doesn’t close down. Of course it does. It would be like throwing away the educational system of Merchen Academy and closing it down because of various incidents. In the first place, the option of closing down the academy could not have existed because it was under the protection of the imperial state.
The Academy had no choice but to survive at all costs, and the students wanted it to.
However, Eve’s lack of energy was not for the reasons Alicia had said.
‘That’s not it. It’s just because I haven’t had a chance to talk to Isaac yet…’
Eve was feeling very doubtful about herself for not being able to talk to Isaac until the end of the vacation.
I want to join the conversation of the unknown female students going to school right now. I want to preach about how handsome and cool my little brother is, and what and how sexy he is…! And I want to nail it down perfectly by saying, ‘I am that Isaac’s older sister!’!
Just imagining it makes me excited. It gives me a sense of satisfaction.
But I haven’t been able to speak to Isaac since the Baron Roffenheim incident.
At this rate, none of the problems with Isaac could be considered resolved. In other words, going around bragging that she was Isaac’s older sister would be an act of shamelessness that showed no consideration for her younger brother.
“Eve?”
“Okay… Everything will be fine until we graduate, right?”
Eve sighed, pretending to be worried.
… …
The class placement evaluation will be held in three days. Until then, students must remain in their temporary classes.
Eve reached the second floor of Orphin Hall, holding a bottle of soda, and peeked into one of the temporary classrooms.
Among the many students, there was one boy with glasses who had a particularly brilliant halo. His name was Isaac.
Eve’s expression suddenly loosened.
‘How can the sight of someone organizing books be so lovely…?’
It’s said that siblings usually fight a lot, but Eve, who loved Isaac but had to be separated from him, had no such pride as an older sister.
I was just praising my little sister’s loveliness.
Students passing by the hallway sweated as they watched Eve sneaking peeks at the second-year classroom like a stalker. Many students had witnessed Eve do this last semester as well. Eve was a repeat offender.
But Eve was so happy just watching Isaac that she didn’t care about what other people thought.
‘I think it’s time to start talking… .’
I was determined to talk to Isaac today. That’s why I bought him a drink. I wanted to talk to Isaac while giving him a drink.
Once the class placement evaluation was over, Isaac would naturally be placed in Class A, and then there was a high chance that Isaac Baragi would stick to Isaac.
Now, you must have courage. Be courageous. Eve encouraged herself.
At that moment, Isaac stood up from his seat.
“Huh…!”
Eve immediately leaned against the wall and hid. An automatic evasion. She was surprised, thinking Isaac had found her.
‘No, that’s not it. It’s good to be discovered.’
As old memories kept coming back to her, her heart instinctively sank whenever she encountered Isaac. Eve let out a sigh.
Eve tried to muster up her courage again, but in the end she chose to run away because she was afraid.
“… … .”
Isaac, who went out the door, watched Eve’s back as she left.
I already knew that Eve had been spying on me.
‘Why don’t you just go?’
Isaac learned of his family history by defeating Baron Roffenheim.
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He still didn’t know specifically what kind of relationship he had with Sister Eve, or how they had lived together. Furthermore, he was in a situation where he had to focus on his training, so he couldn’t pay attention to Eve’s problems.
So, I was leisurely waiting for Eve to speak first, but I felt like I had to be the one to approach her first.
Isaac took a step forward.
… …
Behind the Orphin Hall. Eve was on a bench, holding a bottle of soda and sighing deeply.
“What should I say…?”
The human mind is like a reed. No matter how firm your resolve is, your head sways in the slightest breeze.
I hesitated to approach Isaac. I felt so frustrated with myself.
Let’s talk. Just talk. Just say ‘hello’ and things will work out. But… that one word was difficult.
This can’t go on. How long are you going to hesitate?
Eve’s eyes lit up with determination. She practiced her speech, holding the bottle of soda in the air.
“’Hey, Isaac? Would you like this? Thanks for the tip tonight.’ … No, that’s too formal. ‘Here, I picked this up. And I want you to repay me for the tip tonight.’ … That sounds like it would be too harsh. ‘Thanks for saving me that day. This is a gift. Can I talk to you sometimes?’ … Are you a teenage girl?”
“What are you doing, sister?”
“… … ?”
Behind the bench where Eve is sitting.
Isaac, a silver-haired boy, appeared and spoke to me.
“Hhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!”
Eve screamed as if she was going to faint. Isaac naturally covered his ears.
* * *
“Ugh, ugh…!”
For a while, Eve put her hand on her chest and took deep, heavy breaths. It took her a while to calm her startled heart.
I sat next to Eve and waited for her to open her mouth. There were still about ten minutes left before the second semester orientation began.
“Dodo, my little brother, what, what’s going on…?”
“Brother?”
Eve smacked her mouth with her palm. She was so nervous.
I turned my eyes towards the bottle of soda.
“Did you buy that for me?”
“Huh? Oh, uh… .”
“thank you.”
When Eve held out the bottle of soda, I took it and took a sip. A sweet taste lingered on the tip of my tongue.
An awkward silence. Eve was frozen like a wooden doll. Her mind must have been in disarray.
Honestly, I don’t know how to treat him either. Strictly speaking, we don’t know each other.
Even so, it is true that I feel more affection towards him because he is the only blood relative in this body. Now, I am Isaac.
Moreover, Eve had a deep affection for me. It was psychologically difficult to avoid such a person.
“Tell me.”
“huh?”
“What happened at the Baron Roffenheim house. From the old days to the present.”
A story I couldn’t hear because I was going to catch Commander Calgart.
I decided to listen here to why Eve said sorry to me.
Eve let out a “Ah…” and turned her head straight ahead.
There was a moment of silence. Then Eve cautiously opened her mouth.
“Yeah. When we were kids… .”
For about five minutes, Eve continued her story without pause. As if she had been preparing for it for a long time, her story was surprisingly concise and coherent, getting to the point without any unnecessary details.
It was clear that at that time, he had often thought about how to tell Isaac about his situation.
From the beginning, Eve had intended to return to Isaac. She had intended to take responsibility for Isaac.
But because the family was so poor, Eve decided to follow Baron Roffenheim’s suggestion in order to support Isaac when he grew up.
He revealed that he planned to leave Baron Roffenheim once he received his diploma from the Merchen Academy.
I also heard stories about the Baron Roffenheim incident. The story of how he was captured by dark magic and how he was supposed to be used as a sacrifice in some ritual.
“I’m sorry… I was so foolish… I’m sorry I said harsh words and left…”
Eve shed tears like chicken poop, feeling resentful of her past choices. Feeling so guilty, she couldn’t even look me in the eye.
I took a sip of my drink and spoke quietly.
“We were both kids back then. We were all just playing around at Baron Roffenheim’s beck and call. What power did we have? Don’t cry. I know how you felt.”
“Why are you more mature…?”
Eve sniffled for a moment, then wiped her tears and collected her emotions.
“It still feels strange because you’re not like your old self… Since when have you been hiding your identity?”
It was identity. It was obvious what it meant.
Isaac, who had no talent for magic, is now recognized as a great wizard. The question was why he didn’t reveal his powers sooner and kept them hidden from his family.
“I guess there was some kind of potential. It was something that suddenly dawned on me one day after my mother passed away. It’s hard to explain. I don’t know what the principle is either.”
“… You weren’t hiding it?”
“Yeah, no. More importantly, what was I like in the past?”
“Huh? Don’t you remember when you were little?”
I nodded.
“It seems like a side effect of my potential awakening, but I’ve lost some of my memories. Especially the older memories, I seem to have forgotten most of them.”
Of course, that was a lie. I was just saying that because I had no idea how things had been going with Eve.
I decided it would be best to speak like this now.
If she lost her memory due to mental shock, Eve would feel even more guilty.
If I were to honestly confess that I didn’t know, Eve would surely react in shock or disbelief.
That only increased my guilt.
“How could that happen…?”
“Well.”
“… … .”
While I was drinking my drink, Eve collected her thoughts, coughed, “Ahem,” and looked away from me.
And the story began.
“You kissed me every morning and every night.”
Are you talking about something like a good morning kiss or a good night kiss? I’ve seen that a lot in foreign movies.
“and?”
“We often took baths together… .”
If you were young, that would be understandable. You probably had no knowledge of sexuality at all.
But… things started to get weirder.
“No matter what happened, you would hug me, act cute, and always try to walk while holding my hand. And you always did that. You said you would grow up to be like me. You said you would marry me. You said you didn’t need anyone but me… You were a fool who only said, ‘I love you, sister.’ Every night before you went to bed, you said you would look at my face for 10 minutes before you left, and I could always see myself reflected in your eyes.”
“… … .”
Was Isaac a siscon? Maybe so… But Eve’s story was full of lies.
I looked into it with [Psychological Insight] and found out that Eve was mixing in a few lies.
However, every time Eve lied, what she said gradually seemed to her to be the truth. She was deceiving her own mind. As a result, it appeared as if Eve was not lying.
Eve continued to speak, staring into space. Her face gradually became calmer, and the corners of her mouth turned up.
I was left speechless and could only listen to Eve’s words. Her words became increasingly lyrical, as if she were reciting a story from a novel.
“Even as I got older, you only looked at me. Most of the days we slept hugging each other. I remember the warmth of your breath. That cute breathing sound is still vivid in my ears. Whenever I stroked your hair, you always smiled sweetly and said I was good. When we held hands and went to the flower garden. Don’t you remember? You put a flower crown on my head. You said that when you grew up, you would protect me for the rest of your life, just as I had protected you. You were as kind as the spring breeze and as bright as the midday sun.”
“sister.”
“And also… .”
“sister.”
“Yep?”
Eve, who was immersed in her own world, was brought back to reality.
“The bell has rung. Let’s talk later.”
“ah.”
The class bell was ringing. I had to hurry and go back.
“Right… . Okay, let’s go back.”
We entered the Orphin Hall.
“Hey, Isaac.”
“uh.”
“Can’t we go back to the way things were before?”
“… It seems like it will be difficult.”
“Yeah… I guess so. Be careful on your way in.”
Eve waved at me and headed toward the third grade floor.
At some point I became unknown.
Just now, how far did the memories Eve had been lying?
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fantasy,
