Keirsey.
All the mories I shared with her swept past like fras in a zoetrope.
When we first t, her deanor was brisque and cold. It was only when we beca close that she began to reveal the sorrow she felt over the loss of her parents, sharing her pain with .
Gradually, she started to heal, smiles coming to her more frequently. She was akin to a chick, trailing behind and chirping, ‘Oppa, Oppa!’
In those monts when she clung to , her playful pranks and various cute actions were clearly etched in my mind.
“......”
And I knew that this mont, too, would be etched in my mind.
It wouldn’t be just gently sketched into my mory 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 around, was now persuading 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 sa 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 rcy 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 seed like it shouldn’t reach , she moaned.
At that sound, my strength montarily 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 .
I tried to pull the door handle.
But, she pushed my body from behind. The gap between the door and 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 mont.
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 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, undergarnts 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 lted as it t Keirsey’s soft and warm shoulder.
Only then did she slowly lift her head to look at .
“.....Look at , Oppa.”
True to her words, I was already avoiding her eyes.
It’s not 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 was continually narrowing.
If I tried to draw the sa line as before, saying we are siblings, in this situation, when she stood in front of , naked... She would just laugh at .
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 .
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 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 ashad?”
“........”
“...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 co 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 ashad...?”
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 tis. 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 .
What would it feel like for her, who claims to love ... to be called such by the one she loves?
I didn’t know, but it pained .
However, I endured this pain as well and spoke again.
“....Holding onto soone 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 soone? 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 ford 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 tis, 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 rembered 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 sothing to say. Get dressed, wake up Keirsey in my room, and co to your office.”
And then I coldly turned away.
****
Asena ca 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 confird.
“We’ve talked about this many tis. I said I would leave. It seems... the ti is now.”
“......”
Neither of them were people who couldn’t understand my words.
Keirsey, maybe having nothing left to say to 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 ca.”
“...Didn’t I ask you to stop hurting ?”
“...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 cri of loving you?”
“I never said it was a cri. But… it’s sothing that shouldn’t happen.”
“If it’s not a cri, then why is there a punishnt? Why is it sothing 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 ti.
They must have known too. That I was engraving them in my eyes.
Engraving the last mory before a long farewell.
Keirsey abruptly stood up from her seat.
She ca 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 ti.
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 beco even more aggressive.
“...Goodbye.”
And then, with a jolt of force, I detached Keirsey from .
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 mont 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 mories, all the love!! I’ll hate you. I’ll hate you to madness, understand…? Even if your life becos tough and you co looking for again...! Even if you cry and beg, I won’t see you!! The mont you leave… you won’t be able to think of as your sister Asena again. Like everyone else…! You’ll only think of as the head of the Pryster. Just hearing my na will make you tremble in fear.”
Even if I joined the Hexster family and married Daisy, if she didn’t want to see , there wouldn’t be any encounters in the future. That’s how much power and prestige Asena held.
“Leaving 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 !!”
“........”
I took a step forward, moving closer to the door.
With every step I took, Asena spoke.
“Stop..! Is this really the end?! No...! Co back!!”
“.....”
“How..how will you go to the Hexster territory? Didn’t I say you’d be exiled the mont 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.. Co 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 ti, she ntioned cutting ties. But he did not co 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 ti 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 mories shared with them and regret this mont when he left them behind.
“Spread the news throughout the kingdom. Do not regard Cayden Pryster any longer as a mber 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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