Eve Ropenheim.
Being my only blood relative, I naturally felt a strong affection for her.
The restraints of Baron Ropenheim had disappeared, and the misunderstandings I didn’t even know about were resolved. I wanted to look after my sibling who had suffered so much psychologically.
However… things didn’t always work out the way we wanted them to.
“Sis?”
“Isaac, here’s a lunchbox. I’ve worked on it for a long ti. How is it?”
“It’s all burnt…”
Eve ca to and handed a lunchbox, where every bit of food had turned into sothing resembling black coal.
“Hi, Isaac. What a coincidence eting you here?!”
“Sis? You don’t usually go for morning runs, do you?”
“Yes, I do sotis.”
“I’ve never seen you before…”
She’d show up early in the morning in workout clothes and run alongside .
“Isaac, can I eat with you?”
“I’m sorry, I thought I could at least hold your hand, but I guess I can’t yet… Maybe I was being impatient.”
“No, I’m sorry. Did I make you uncomfortable? Sorry, I must be hopeless…”
“I’m happy lately. I don’t want to be apart from you anymore. If we grow distant again, I might end up hurting myself…”
“You didn’t avoid my greeting earlier, did you? You didn’t pretend not to see , right? I was just overreacting, right?”
It was as if so shackles that had been holding Eve back were suddenly removed, and she was forcing her way into my daily life.
While she acted normally with others, she seed to beco a different person around .
Her obsession has gotten worse…
It made sense.
The family issues caused by Baron Ropenheim affected not only Isaac but also Eve’s past.
She had to part on bad terms with the brother she loved dearly and had to say a careless goodbye to her beloved mother. Her brother even went missing.
The ntal shock Eve must have endured was beyond words. That was why she cried, saying sorry, and how she regretted her past choices. Her mind was likely shattered like a broken window.
Now that all the problems are resolved…
Realizing the importance of what we had after losing it was a simple part of life most people went through.
So, I could understand why Eve, who must have felt an enormous sense of loss, was displaying such obsessive behavior.
After reconnecting with her brother, I was sure that if we grew distant, Eve would bla herself and experience imnse stress.
But this is unexpected.
In ❰Magic Knight of Märchen❱, Eve Ropenheim was an NPC who was ntally broken. Then, one day, she disappeared and was never heard from again.
A player could find her diploma around the map.
Suggesting that after obtaining the diploma she had longed for, she took her own life. Her reason for living had vanished.
Living like this was actually fortunate.
However… if I simply showed her kindness, her obsession would worsen. I realized this when I removed a piece of lint from her clothes one ti, and she reacted so strongly.
Honestly, it was getting burdenso.
Naturally, I was deeply troubled.
***“Hehehe, is it a girl problem? It’s a girl problem, isn’t it?”
It was evening, and the sun was slowly setting.
Amy Holloway, a girl with short white hair tied with a black ribbon in the form of bunny ears, sat next to in the outdoor dueling ground of the academy. She smiled brightly and teased .
I held a magic tool, and one of Düpfendorf’s soldiers I had summoned was resting on the dueling ground. In front of him, Ian Fairytale laid unconscious.
“Anyway, you’re really popular. I an, it’s like you’re a handso nerd or sothing? You’ve got all the right traits that drive girls crazy.
“What do you an by nerd…?”
“Yeah, like that thing you do with your glasses. It’s totally nerdy. But your looks make up for it, so it has a synergistic effect.”
“Enough of that, just give a proper answer.”
“About the person who’s obsessed with you?”
Since I was training Ian, I decided to share my concerns about Eve with Amy, who was part of the sa group as Ian.
I suddenly thought of discussing my worries with soone right here and now, especially since Amy happened to be beside .
Although, in terms of my previous life’s age, I’ve lived longer than her…
I had never dealt with soone like Eve before, so I wanted to hear other people’s opinions.
I told her I had soone who I wanted to treat well, but this person was so obsessively attached to that it beca burdenso. Whenever I treated her well, she beca even more clingy, yet I still wanted to maintain a good relationship with her.
That was what I told her.
I didn’t directly ntion that it was about Eve.
“Is this about Luce?”
“Of course not.”
“Oh-ho.”
Amy’s bunny ear ribbons perked up.
“So, it’s not about Luce. Isaac, you can’t just lead girls on. You always give them mixed signals, you know? That’s not good, not good at all. It’s a total no-no! We don’t like it when other girls do that, we might even cut ties with them. You need to be more decisive in your relationships.
“It’s not like that, you brat.”
Also, my mixed signals weren’t about leading girls on. It was building up for a harem.
I want to love all the girls I care about.
She was taking it the wrong way.
“Really? Then, tell who it is. I need to know what kind of relationship you have with her so I can give you specific advice.”
“She’s just my family, we’re siblings.”
“Ahh, is it your older sister or younger sister?”
“Older sister.”
“So she’s really attached to you, huh? But hey, isn’t it funny that soone as powerful as the Ice Sovereign has the sa worries as us? I thought you’d only worry about global issues or threats to humanity.”
That’s true… apart from my concerns about Eve, all my other worries are major global issues.
“I’m not that different from the people here.”
“Oh, sure.”
Amy chuckled.
“In my opinion, family obsession isn’t good. If it were , I’d try to keep my distance. No, I’d avoid them. I’d tell them to leave alone.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I got tired of my overprotective brother… I don’t think anyone being so clingy, to the point of being burdenso, is a good thing.”
“Even if it’s your boyfriend?”
“Ian’s an exception, of course. He’s the problem because he’s not clingy enough.”
Amy puffed out her cheeks, sulking.
Simply saying that obsession wasn’t good and trying to keep distance seed too simplistic.
It felt like I needed to share my family history to get proper advice… But I was a bit uncertain how Amy would react.
“Oh, Ian’s up,” Amy said, looking toward the dueling ground.
Ian Fairytale ca to his senses and got on his feet.
He grabbed his sword, preparing to spar with the Düpfendorf soldier who had been waiting for him.
Thud!
“He passed out again,” Amy comnted nonchalantly.
***The sky had darkened.
While training in the corner of the Butterfly Garden, the issue with Eve still occupied my mind.
Maybe the best way was to accept Eve’s kindness up to a point and reject it if it went too far.
But every ti I refused Eve’s favors, she felt imnse sorrow, worrying if I hated her, and it tore her up inside.
I felt pity and guilt.
How should I deal with soone like that?
“Roooar!”
“Oh, damn! You scared …”
While I was deep in thought, a cute little roar ca from behind . I was startled for the first ti in ages.
Turning around, I saw Dorothy grinning mischievously, “Nihihi.”
I glared at her with narrowed eyes.
“Ah, I missed this reaction. I love it, so genuine!”
“Senior…”
“Caught off guard for the first ti in a while? What’s on your mind that’s bothering you so much?”
Dorothy leaned in playfully, interrogating .
Co to think of it, there wasn’t anyone else I could confide in without pretense like Dorothy. She knew more of my secrets than anyone.
That’s right, maybe I should ask her.
Amy’s advice to “avoid her” ca to mind. I worried about the psychological pain that would cause since Eve wasn’t emotionally stable.
I decided to ask Dorothy for her opinion.
“Senior Dorothy.”
“Yeah?”
“What if I wanted to avoid you? How would you feel?”
“Huh…?”
Dorothy’s smiling face gradually turned pale.
***Isaac and Dorothy sat side by side on the grass.
Isaac shared the sa concerns he had told Amy.
There’s soone I want to get along with, but she’s obsessed with . If I treat her well, she’d beco even more obsessed. It’s burdenso, but I don’t want to have a bad relationship with her. What should I do?
It was a simple relationship problem.
“So it was sothing like that…”
Dorothy was relieved.
“You can’t just ask sothing like that out of the blue, you idiot! I thought I made a huge mistake or sothing.”
“I’m sorry. It was because of the advice my friend gave earlier…”
“Anyway, soone’s obsessed with you, and if you’re kind to them, it gets worse. But you just can’t have a bad relationship with them…”
Dorothy closed her eyes and placed her hand on her chin in thought.
She pretended to be in deep thought.
Is this a girl problem…!
Of course, it was a girl problem. Isaac wouldn’t have this kind of worry about a guy.
So girl had taken a liking to Isaac, and the good-natured Isaac couldn’t just shake her off.
The answer was obvious.
He had to get rid of her.
“Tsk tsk, you’re so indecisive.”
“What?”
“Listen up, Isaac. You need to be firm. There are people like that, you know? The more you let it happen, the worse it’ll get. If she keeps bothering you despite knowing you don’t like it, she’s just selfish and probably crazy too. You need to cut her off. No exceptions. If she tries to climb the cliff you’re on, stomp on her hands and make her fall. Even if she screams, just cover your ears and ignore her. If she’s doing you harm, cutting her off is the right thing to do.
“But won’t that person be really hurt…?”
“There’s nothing you can do about that.”
Dorothy ranted fiercely.
“I saw a lot of those kinds of people when I was at the Adventurer’s Guild. They all had to be cut off. Why should you care about soone who only burdens you and is overly obsessed? That’s not good for you or them. It just harms both of you! Such people aren’t doing any good for your life at all!”
“Senior Dorothy… you’re much more firm than I thought.”
“Of course. I’m a sharp and sophisticated person.”
Dorothy answered proudly.
Isaac gently stroked his chin. Both Amy and Dorothy shared the sa opinion. It seed wise to follow the won’s perspective on this matter.
He made up his mind. He would distance himself from Eve. Hopefully, this would ease her obsessive tendencies.
“…I’ll do that. It’s better to be firm about this.”
“Wise decision.”
Dorothy grinned, silently congratulating herself for getting rid of a rival.
“But I still want to make sure my sister isn’t too hurt.”
“Huh? Sister?”
“Yes, the one I ntioned before. The one who was used by Baron Ropenheim.”
“I see~.”
Dorothy’s smile gradually faded.
Her breathing ca to a halt.
And cold sweat started to trickle down Dorothy’s face like a faucet.
“Cutting off soone just because they’re a bit obsessive isn’t sothing a human should do.”
“…What?”
Dorothy tried to calm her trembling voice as she quickly explained.
“Isn’t it normal to wonder if your younger sibling is eating well, studying well, if they have any worries, or if they experienced sothing sad? Sotis you can show a little affection to your sibling, right? It’s totally normal! It’s crazy to push away such a considerate person! It’s the worst!”
“Didn’t you say that such a person was selfish… and that there are no exceptions? And that if I don’t stay away, we would only cause harm to each other…”
“There are no absolutes in this world. My experience is just one among many human lives, it’s not sothing to use as a reference…!”
“If you’ve lived through hardships from a young age like you have, wouldn’t your experience be quite useful…?”
“No! I’m just a speck of dust!”
Dorothy’s attitude towards life suddenly beca ek.
“Anyway!”
Dorothy placed a hand on Isaac’s shoulder. There was a tremor in her eyes.
“So what if she’s being a little obsessed? Avoiding a thoughtful older brother who cares about his sibling is completely inhumane!”
“Older brother…?”
“What are you talking about, I said older sister! Anyway, maybe she’s just not able to control her feelings because she likes being with you so much? Just trust your sister for now. And love her. She’s your sister and she cares about you a lot. Everything will surely work out.”
Dorothy hurriedly spewed out kind words, which stirred Isaac’s emotions.
“…”
Eve and Isaac lived together harmoniously before Baron Ropenhiem disrupted their daily lives.
That thought made Isaac decide it might be better to take care of Eve and watch how things would go.
“Yeah, well… I’ll do that. Thank you, Senior.”
“Yeah…”
Forcing a smile, Dorothy sat down beside Isaac again.
***It was morning.
In Orphin Hall, third-year Class B. While the students who had arrived were chatting, Eve Ropenheim was taking out her books and preparing for class.
Her hand that was taking out her books froze.
“…”
Thinking about Isaac, who had seed burdened by her, made her heart swell with emotion.
Had she inadvertently been a burden? But how could she keep her emotions from boiling over when she looked at Isaac?
Eve tried to hold back her tears and continued moving her hand.
At that mont, a second-year male student entered the classroom.
The chatters quieted down. The air in the classroom gradually beca heavy.
The third-year students couldn’t take their eyes off the second-year student.
“Isn’t that Isaac?”
“The Ice Sovereign…?”
“Wow, why is he here…?”
“He’s so handso…”
Eve’s ears perked up. She quickly turned her head to check the sophomore who had entered the classroom.
A boy with silver-blue hair, Isaac, entered Eve’s sight. He was approaching her.
Eve’s eyes widened.
The third-year students’ gaze was fixed on Isaac and Eve.
“Isaac, why are you here…?”
“No reason, I just want to see my sister.”
The third-year students couldn’t believe their ears.
“Sister? Did he just say, ‘Sister’?”
Such whispers spread among the third-year students.
Isaac neatly placed the drink and chocolate he was holding on Eve’s desk.
What’s going on?
Eve’s expression conveyed her confusion.
“I was going to eat this, but I thought of you, so I brought it to share.”
“Huh…?”
Isaac openly displayed his kindness. That was what he had decided.
He wanted to get along with Eve anyway, so why not just take the lead in this relationship?
It felt more comfortable this way.
“Enjoy it.”
The third-year students quietly watched the spot where Isaac had left.
And Eve stared blankly at the snacks he left behind.
Eventually, her mind began to function normally again.
“…!”
Eve covered her mouth with her hand, her eyes sparkling.
What is this? I’m so happy….!!
Ordinary snacks she could buy anywhere seed to shine with a dazzling light. It was a sight she had never seen before.
Eve looked as if she might cry tears of joy.
She carefully placed the snacks Isaac had given her into an elegant box and treasured them like a precious heirloom in her dorm.
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