Chapter 96: Awakening(6)

Keirsey.

All the memories I shared with her swept past me like frames in a zoetrope.

When we first met, her demeanor was brisque and cold. It was only when we became close that she began to reveal the sorrow she felt over the loss of her parents, sharing her pain with me.

Gradually, she started to heal, smiles coming to her more frequently. She was akin to a chick, trailing behind me and chirping, ‘Oppa, Oppa!’

In those moments when she clung to me, her playful pranks and various cute actions were clearly etched in my mind.

“......”

And I knew that this moment, too, would be etched in my mind.

It wouldn’t be just gently sketched into my memory like a portrait. It would be burnt and seared, leaving an indelible mark that will persist indefinitely in my mind.

The shy, adorable Keirsey, who used to follow me around, was now persuading me to embrace her naked self without even wearing a shred of shyness…

I stood rigidly.

Whenever I tried to formulate the first word to speak, I couldn’t think of the next. It was the same no matter which word I started with.

Since my mouth couldn’t muster anything, I moved my body.

I grasped the arms that were wrapped around my waist. Then, I exerted force to free my waist, but her arms did not let go.

I couldn’t tell where this strength was coming from.

Eventually, as if holding a sword, I gripped her frail arm tightly.

When I showed no mercy and exerted more force, her arms finally let go.

And then, simultaneously, a sound could be heard.

“..Ah..Ah..It hurts.”

With a whisper so small it seemed like it shouldn’t reach me, she moaned.

At that sound, my strength momentarily wavered, and Keirsey stubbornly wrapped her once-released arms around my waist again.

Now, with her face buried in my back, she didn’t let go of me.

I tried to pull the door handle.

But, she pushed my body from behind. The gap between the door and me narrowed, so it couldn’t be opened either.

She was still occasionally shivering and hiccupping, but her determination didn’t waver.

Eventually, I closed my eyes and steeled my mind for a moment.

I began to turn my body toward her.

Knowing that I would face her, Keirsey slightly loosened the strength in her arms.

Once my body was fully turned towards her, she embraced me strongly again.

The situation itself was remarkably familiar.

Except for the fact that she was bare.

It was no bluff; next to the wine-soaked clothes, undergarments were visible.

I moved my hand and grabbed her shoulder. Even touching her bare shoulder now felt unfamiliar.

Whether my whole body had contracted, or the blood wasn’t circulating properly, my cold hand melted as it met Keirsey’s soft and warm shoulder.

Only then did she slowly lift her head to look at me.

“.....Look at me, Oppa.”

True to her words, I was already avoiding her eyes.

It’s not me who is strange. We have always been like this. It’s just that Keirsey changed too quickly.

I pushed her away and said,

“.....Stop it.”

“.....Stop what? I love you, Oppa… I love you.”

“Stop it here, Keirsey.”

“...Is it because… I was cold today.. during the day..? You know best that it’s not my true feelings… you know that I can’t hate you...”

“....Please, don’t do this anymore.”

The twins were slowly erasing the boundary between us. The line drawn on the floor that symbolized siblings, they were continually rubbing it off with their feet while approaching.

No matter how much I redrew the line, the gap between them and me was continually narrowing.

If I tried to draw the same line as before, saying we are siblings, in this situation, when she stood in front of me, naked... She would just laugh at me.

No matter how hard I tried now, a normal sibling relationship was long gone.

The relationship they always wanted, as a man and a woman, was being established.

“.......Ah.”

I pushed her body away with force.

Her body, as light as cotton, fell away from me.

I wasn’t watching her, but I had a rough idea of how she was moving.

Keirsey did not cover her fully exposed body.

She tried to approach me again, but I didn’t loosen the strength in my arms.

In the end, she neither gave up on my arm, pushing her shoulder, nor let it go.

Eventually, I gritted my teeth and spat harsh words at her.

“....Aren’t you ashamed?”

“........”

“...I said... I can’t accept your feelings. I said let’s go back to being normal siblings. But like this... showing your body as if...!”

I bit my lip… I was trying to say harsh words to her, fueled by emotions and frustration, but they got stuck in my throat and didn’t come out easily.

But I had to say them. Even a futile attempt to piece back a broken glass needed desperate effort.

“....As if... approaching like a prostitute... Aren’t you ashamed...?”

I didn’t even know how I spat those words. Did I say them strongly? Or barely audibly?

Keirsey’s body flinched and shivered. At least… she heard it. This shiver caused another ripple in my heart. Because I was sure I hurt her.

How much longer does this have to go on? I think I have already hurt them countless times. Telling them to leave the room. Declaring I won’t be friendly anymore. Ignoring the pleas in the letters. And now, even calling her a prostitute...

Keirsey’s head slowly bowed down.

The nails of the hand holding my arm dug slightly into me.

What would it feel like for her, who claims to love me... to be called such by the one she loves?

I didn’t know, but it pained me.

However, I endured this pain as well and spoke again.

“....Holding onto someone who says they dislike you, and continually approaching like this... don’t you feel pathetic?”

“........”

“Do you want to show such a state to Oppa? I keep getting disappointed in you...”

The strength gradually left Keirsey’s grip.

“Have you forgotten that Oppa already has someone? It’s already over. Accept it.”

Her hand dropped down, limp.

Only then could I shift my gaze to her.

There was no vitality in Keirsey’s beautifully feminine body.

Since I opened my mouth, she hadn’t said a word.

I couldn’t even gauge how much each of my words must have hurt her.

She turned her body around.

Perhaps because she must have bathed before coming, the scent of flowers wafted over.

She slowly moved herself onto my bed.

Then she pulled the blanket up to her head and settled in it.

A small mound formed on the bed from the blanket.

Her breath got louder, turning into sobs.

I listened to her crying for a while, clenched and unclenched my fists a few times, and then left the room.

She, who said nothing, looked even more pitiful in my eyes.

****

That night.

I couldn’t fall asleep.

The words I first spat out to my Grandma… It seems I can’t postpone them any longer.

I’ve discussed this with the family for a month now; leaving now won’t be abrupt.

The situation is more serious than I thought, and their aggression is escalating faster.

I must act.

As morning broke, I knocked on Asena’s door.

-Knock knock.

I sensed the familiar fragrance.

It had always been this way. Waking the sleeping Asena had always been my responsibility.

If she doesn’t react when I knock softly on the door like this, I open the door quietly and call her, caressing Asena’s sleeping cheek.

-Creak...

Today was different though.

She had already opened her eyes before I entered.

“Asena.”

When I call her, Asena stretches out both arms. She remembered our routine too.

Usually... It was now my turn to hold her. Then, she would press her lips to my cheek all the while.

But, today was different.

“...Asena. I have something to say. Get dressed, wake up Keirsey in my room, and come to your office.”

And then I coldly turned away.

****

Asena came into the office room with Keirsey. I stood up and offered Asena her seat.

I didn’t make eye contact with Keirsey.

Asena, with her uneasy eyes, took a seat in the empty chair.

Keirsey also took a seat next to her.

I declared, standing in front of them.

“...I’m leaving.”

“...What?”

Asena’s expression slowly hardened as if her anxiety was confirmed.

“We’ve talked about this many times. I said I would leave. It seems... the time is now.”

“......”

Neither of them were people who couldn’t understand my words.

Keirsey, maybe having nothing left to say to me since yesterday, turned her head to look out the window and let the tears flow.

Only Asena objected to my words.

“...How can you leave when we just arrived?”

“You know it’s not because you came.”

“...Didn’t I ask you to stop hurting me?”

“...Not everything can go your way.”

“Then what should we do…? Oppa…”

She clenched her teeth tightly and said firmly right after.

“Don’t leave.”

“I’m leaving.”

“You’re abandoning us to go to Daisy? For the crime of loving you?”

“I never said it was a crime. But… it’s something that shouldn’t happen.”

“If it’s not a crime, then why is there a punishment? Why is it something that shouldn’t happen? You…! Even grandma…! haven’t properly explained why it can’t be…!”

“We are siblings-”

“We are NOT siblings!!”

Asena exploded, shouting loudly. It felt like she despised the fact that we were siblings to the core.

I had nothing more to say.

Without a response, I just looked at them for a long time.

They must have known too. That I was engraving them in my eyes.

Engraving the last memory before a long farewell.

Keirsey abruptly stood up from her seat.

She came close before I knew it and clung to my legs.

“Oppa...no...no… don’t leave…”

I took my eyes off Keirsey and looked at Asena for a long time.

She was blinking her eyes over and over, shaking her head.

I slowly composed myself. No, at least I tried to pretend to myself that I was composing myself.

The only reason I was still with them was... because I still liked them.

I neither could nor likely ever will be able to change the twins. It was obvious that my presence in the family, as much as I am loved, would be a huge hindrance to the family. Moreover, I already have a designated fiancée.

It’s right to leave before the twins’ actions become even more aggressive.

“...Goodbye.”

And then, with a jolt of force, I detached Keirsey from me.

I began to turn and leave the room.

“Oppa!!!”

Asena’s tearing scream echoed behind my back.

It was a voice filled with sharp anger that I had never sensed before.

I only half-turned my head to look back at her.

She spoke.

“If...! If you leave now…! It’s over for us.”

Her voice trembled violently.

“........”

“The moment you step out of this door… you’ll no longer be a Pryster. You’ll go back to being a commoner.”

“.......”

“And I’ll never see your face again. I’ll live forgetting you. I’ll throw away all the memories, all the love!! I’ll hate you. I’ll hate you to madness, understand…? Even if your life becomes tough and you come looking for me again...! Even if you cry and beg, I won’t see you!! The moment you leave… you won’t be able to think of me as your sister Asena again. Like everyone else…! You’ll only think of me as the head of the Pryster. Just hearing my name will make you tremble in fear.”

Even if I joined the Hexster family and married Daisy, if she didn’t want to see me, there wouldn’t be any encounters in the future. That’s how much power and prestige Asena held.

“Leaving me like this...! Did you think you could see my face again later, smiling? Did you think I would just endure? I’ve begged to this extent!! What more do I have to do for you to love me!!”

“........”

I took a step forward, moving closer to the door.

With every step I took, Asena spoke.

“Stop..! Is this really the end?! No...! Come back!!”

“.....”

“How..how will you go to the Hexster territory? Didn’t I say you’d be exiled the moment you leave this door? They won’t even give you a carriage, let alone a horse. How are you going to go!!”

I stopped in front of the door.

Asena spoke in a slightly lowered voice as if soothing a child.

“....Yes.. Come back-”

“.....”

And then, I shook my head, crossed the door, and left.

****

Asena blankly stared in the direction where Cayden had disappeared.

He had left.

She said it was over now, and for the first time, she mentioned cutting ties. But he did not come back.

“...Helen.”

She blankly looked for Helen.

Several maids were already gathering in this room where loud noises had been heard.

And among them, the oldest maid, Helen, was there too. She hurriedly spoke.

“Lady..! Master Cayden just passed by-”

“-Oppa has been expelled from our family.”

She spat out with a vacant expression.

For the first time in her life, she wanted Cayden to suffer. She wanted to inflict pain on him.

To give him unbearable pain...so that he would recall the memories shared with them and regret this moment when he left them behind.

“Spread the news throughout the kingdom. Do not regard Cayden Pryster any longer as a member of our family.”

“Ah…Lady Asena, what is this...”

“-Do not treat Oppa as a noble. No…that’s not it. Catch him now.”

“...Pardon?”

“Catch him and lock him in the underground prison.”

Asena was confused. She didn’t even know what she was saying.

Her voice started to shake. Tears flowed in front of all the maids.

“Oppa…o-oopa left... him...Helen…please get him...”

Following, Max, who assists Helen, entered.

He looked at the fallen twins and stared at Helen with a more serious expression than usual.

Even in the confusion, Helen followed Asena’s order.

“….Max, tell Sir Lawrence…to bring Sir Cayden.”

“-I said to catch him. I won’t forgive any mistakes.”

Asena corrected Helen’s words.

Helen did not open her mouth needlessly. Since Max had already nodded and left.

However, the next day.

Asena had to greet the morning without Cayden.

Her heart felt more empty and hurt than ever before.

---  End Of The Chapter ---

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