Volume 1 Chapter 34 Brother, The one who probed
I remember not being very happy when I was told I would have a younger brother or sister.
After all, they could take away the attention I had always monopolized from my parents, and I might end up being ignored.
That was all I could think about.
However, once they were actually born, that was not the case at all.
Or rather, far from my parents' attention, all of mine was taken away by my little sister.
Far from being ignored, I was so captivated by my sister that I ended up ignoring my parents instead.
Peeking into the small bed, there was a cute, cute angel there.
When the angel met my gaze, she turned to me with a gentle, adorable smile.
As I reached out to touch her little finger, the angel grasped my finger tightly.
"Elena, I'm your big brother!"
"Ah, uh!"
"Father! Elena just responded to me!"
"Yes, yes, how cute!"
"So cute, my Elena."
"She's my Elena, Hans."
"Father has Mother, right?"
"Elena and Mother are both mine!"
"Greedy!"
Such exchanges took place almost every day.
When Elena learned to walk, she started to follow me around.
When I take her out to explore the mansion, she happily holds my hand and follows me.
"Elena, do you like me?"
"Love you!"
She's already cute just by being there, but her behavior is also cute.
I would be willing to die for Elena.
Then one day, I realized.
The reality that I can't marry Elena and the reality that one day Elena will get married are waiting for me.
The reality that we cannot get married is nothing but cursing my fate of being born as siblings, but the problem is the reality that she will end up getting married.
Should I hand this angel over to someone else?
Impossible.
No, I can't.
When it comes to noble marriages, most of them are political arrangements.
There are various types, such as those seeking to connect families or those for financial gain, but it's said that most political marriages lack love.
Why should I hand Elena over to someone who doesn't even love her?
I'd rather her not to have any marriage than give her to such a guy.
If it means Elena will be sad, then she should stay by my side forever...
However,
It's not like we have to become a family tied by connections or have to marry off a daughter for money.
As long as I, the one inheriting this house, stay composed, I don't see any major problems.
I just need to make it a household that doesn't require political marriages.
And if someone appears, who loves Elena more than I do, loves only Elena, and can die for her like I would...
If such a person were to appear...
But, does anyone in this world exist who could love Elena more than I do?
Isn't that impossible?
Well, it was during this time of endlessly thinking about such matters.
I realized another thing.
My mother is chanting some kind of spell toward Elena.
In a voice so quiet that no one could hear, using a language that's neither from this country nor from any foreign land, in words I've never heard before, she was saying something to Elena.
Feeling frightened, I consulted my father.
Though I talked to him, I had already decided to some extent at that point.
That I would study spells myself.
To protect Elena from my mother.
And I also realized that if my mother's actions were a spell or something else, it wouldn't guarantee that no one else would show up intending to harm Elena.
To protect Elena from danger and from political marriage, I had to become stronger.
When I started attending the academy, I chose Attack Magic and Defense Magic, and began to learn Spell-ology on my own.
Even now that I have graduated from the academy, I continue to study spells.
"Rolus"
It was the night I met Elena again after a long time.
I caught Rolus after he finished taking care of Elena.
Elena seems to have fallen asleep.
"Rolus, you're taking care of Elena until she falls asleep"
"Y-Yes"
I'm so jealous.
I'm really jealous.
I wanted to see Elena's sleeping face for the first time in a while.
"Well then, shall we go outside for a bit, Rolus?"
"Huh?"
"There's a place nearby that's open until late at night."
"However,"
"Elena will be fine. I have something I want to talk about."
Since it's a conversation I don't want to share with my mother or Elena, when I said that, Rolus willingly followed me.
"You can order whatever you like."
"Leaving Lady aside, it's just me like this..."
"Huh? Elena wouldn't get mad over something like that."
"Of course, Lady is not the type to get angry, but..."
"Is it a matter of feelings? Then I'll just order for myself. This isn't my kindness, it's just a hush money."
I'm worried about being asked what we talked about, so I hope to keep the fact that we came here a secret.
When I talked about that, Rolus hesitantly ordered what he wanted.
"So, Rolus, I want to ask you first: are you really not feeling unwell at all?"
"Yes."
"You are being turned into a spell shield, you know?"
Upon hearing my words, Rolus widened his eyes for a moment and then obviously averted his gaze from me.
This is surely not a face that was unaware that he was being used as a shield by a spell.
Maybe father told him to keep quiet.
"In the literature, it says that it's good to place a shield next to the person you want to protect from the spell. Well, there are various theories about this. And, since you're Elena's Attendant, you're unknowingly becoming a shield."
"...Yes. However, I am not feeling unwell. Lady is in good health too."
"I see, that's good."
"However... she said that she had had bad dreams twice."
"Dreaming?"
The first time, she was in a nightmare while dreaming and was crying.
And on the day she had that dream, she seemed to be depressed.
"She dreamed that she died. And asked me if I would cry if she died."
"What did you say?"
"No, I was told to forget about it, so I ended up not being able to answer anything"
"Oh. What were you going to say?"
"I might have answered that I would cry... But somehow, it feels like I can't. I'm afraid I might follow her before I can even cry."
"I understand. Me too."
Just the thought of a world without Elena is terrifying.
It's a world of nothingness.
"So, what about the second time?"
"The second time seemed painful in a way that was different from the first time; she appeared to be tormented. She didn't seem downcast, rather, she looked somewhat happy."
"I see. So, does my mother's spell affect dreams...?"
I took out a notepad from my pocket.
"Rolus, have you had any nightmares?"
Please bookmark this series and rate ☆☆☆☆☆ on here!
Donate me
Support Me with USDC
(ERC20)
Support Me with XLM
(Stellar Lumens)