457 – The Little Brother Who Drinks Nunchi – 5
I stuffed the bread dipped in the soup into my mouth. After the stormy incident at the cafe, I felt dazed and had no appetite, but if I suddenly started skipping meals, there would be a lot of people to worry about. In particular, the kitchen will desperately look back on the past to see if they made a mistake.
Of course, kitchen users are always satisfied. So, to avoid any misunderstandings, I asked for a simple dinner to be sent to my room.
‘I’m going crazy.’
I looked at the half of the food left and sighed. As expected, the kitchen’s skills were excellent, but even a great meal could not calm my troubled mind.
Actually, if I had wanted to calm down my feelings by eating, I would have solved it at that cafe.
‘It’s not a joke…’
For a moment, the thought of escaping reality crossed my mind, thinking that maybe Sera and Zenobia were joking, but I quickly shook it out of my head.
No matter how embarrassing it is, you shouldn’t think like that. I must have mustered up the courage to confess it, but are you dismissing it as a joke? That’s not polite Since the other person has shown their sincerity, I must also think seriously.
I also once loved someone in the first place. Although it was an unrequited love that ended without even being confessed, we can guess how much courage the two must have mustered.
“I like you, Erich. If I say this, you will be misunderstood, so I’ll say it clearly. It’s not that I like her younger brother as an older sister, but as a woman, I love a man named Erich.”
“I, too, have loved you since long ago.”
When the direct confession came to mind again, I automatically fell into tears.
I also like them both. Sera liked her as a childhood friend who lived in the same territory, and her older sister liked her as a childhood friend from the same imperial family.
But if you ask me if those are my feelings for the opposite s*x, I can’t help but shake my head. Because I never thought of those two as opposite s*xes. As a friend, he was very precious, but because of that, I couldn’t think of him as something more than a friend.
‘Why didn’t I know?’
I sighed again for not knowing how many times. It may be that he has had good feelings for me since recently, but he says he has liked me for a long time.
I had no idea. Although we were such close friends, I didn’t know that we met the most often in my life after my family and employees.
‘I was the only one who didn’t know.’
If the two of you didn’t notice because they were completely hiding their feelings, there is room for an excuse. But not even that.
“Did you have a good trip?”
“Ah, yes.”
“Okay, take a good rest in your room. The more complicated your mind is, the better it is to make decisions leisurely.”
As soon as she returned to the castle, her mother patted her on the back as if she knew everything, and her nanny stood next to her mother and nodded repeatedly. Even the employees I met on my way to the room were busy lowering their heads in front of me and whispering behind my back.
Yes, I was the only one who didn’t know. Sister Zenobia rarely came to our territory, so she was an exception, but everyone in the castle knew what Sera was feeling.
Except me.
‘No.’
Just as I was about to be consumed by a sticky sense of self-destruction, I remembered the only light.
I have an older brother. If you are my brother, you may not know like me. When I received a series of confessions from my future sisters-in-law, wasn’t he the one who said something crazy like if they all got married together, they would all be first and all? I don’t think my brother would have better sense than me.
He held the communication sphere with his trembling hands. If he is an older brother who does not know Sarah and his older sister’s feelings like me, he can honestly ask for advice. If you ask someone for advice, they’ll say, ‘Wow! ‘You’re such an idiot that you can’t understand the other person’s feelings and can’t even make a decision on your own!’ You may get the same reaction, but if you are an older brother, you will be surprised and then give advice.
I believe so.
Faith was broken.
– Did you know?
“Huh?”
I blankly questioned my older brother’s distraught answer. What are you talking about now? Why do you know that?
My brother looked at me as if I was pathetic and opened his mouth again.
– I knew you liked Rize before you even said it, and I knew that much right away.
I was out of breath at those words, but I understood them. Apparently, my brother was the first to notice that I had a crush on Louise around the time we had just started the confectionery club.
– And how could you not know when people around you made it so obvious? Everyone in the club knew except you.
As soon as I heard the next words, the faces of the members passed through my mind.
Ainter, Lyutis, Later, Thanian─ They knew too?
‘Are you saying I’m worse than them?’
A different sense of shame and despair came over me than before. Until now, I thought that they and I were just plain ugly people.
But it was a mistake. I was the lowest among them. I didn’t know that my social status was so low that even my perception would be low.
– Still, seeing as you contacted me, it looks like you got the confession right. I was worried that I might put it off because I was embarrassed, but I’m glad I did.
In the meantime, my older brother made a comment that made me feel like he was pushing Sarah and my older sister, which made me cry, but I calmed down.
What difference will it make if we protest? No matter how much my older brother pushed me to do it, the feelings of love I had for me were voluntary. Moreover, if my brother came forward, it would mean that it was too frustrating for him to see.
If it was going to happen someday in the first place, it would be better to experience it as quickly as possible.
“Brother.”
– Why.
“…What should I do?”
Of course, just because something happens quickly doesn’t mean it can be resolved quickly.
“Well, they say you can think about it slowly and tell me, but honestly, my head is complicated. I don’t even know how I feel.”
I was so helpless that I complained to my brother instead of complaining.
I wouldn’t have been so confused if I had received the confession from a complete stranger. I just want to thank you, but I can say that I have no intention of dating or getting married yet, and that I can meet someone better.
However, those two are not strangers. These are people I know better than anyone else, are closer to than anyone else, and like more than anyone else. I’m afraid to reject it just because I don’t have feelings for it right now, and I’m sorry for giving it any space.
Even if I think about it, it is neither this nor the other. If you have no intention of accepting a confession, it is right to refuse it even if it makes things awkward between you or if you are hated. That is a rational action.
“What is the right way to do it?”
My brother remained silent at my words.
After seeing that, I came back to my senses. It’s such an embarrassing behavior to unilaterally contact a newly married person and give them unilateral relationship advice.
“I guess you didn’t hear what I just said─”
– Where is the answer? You do whatever you want.
The hand that had been thrown out in a hurry suddenly stopped.
– You just said it with your own mouth. They said you can take your time and think about it. But why are you in such a hurry? If you don’t answer quickly, they will split it into two parts.
“That’s not true…”
– Then think slowly. I can’t find the answer right away, but trying to find the answer is bound to be complicated.
His voice was still deep, but the sight of his older brother giving him kind advice made him feel like he was about to shed tears.
This is the quality of someone with experience, someone who has had as many as six lovers. As expected, the older brother is superior to his younger brother in all areas.
“Brother.”
– Why again?
I bowed my head to my older brother with feelings of respect and awe.
“I’m sorry for calling you crazy when I said that everything comes first if you get married at the same time.”
I was foolish. If my brother said that, he must have had a good reason.
– Shut up.
“Yes.”
I quickly raised my head in response to the firm answer.
Yes, even so, simultaneous marriage is a crazy statement. Because my brother wasn’t in his right mind at the time.
***
I put the communication device in my arms and looked up at the ceiling.
‘Damn you.’
I wonder where you learned etiquette to suddenly bring up dark stories when you are doing well. If it had been in front of me instead of beyond the communication port, I might have used Sky Slash with my fist.
I’m glad though. Because Sera and Zenobia confessed properly. She was seriously worried about what would happen if she was about to confess like in an old romantic comedy, but a loud noise was heard and her confession was pushed to the next stage.
‘It seems the world doesn’t interfere that much.’
Actually, this is normal. Having a terrible sense of humor is like a curse on the world, but you can’t even confess? That means Enen will not tolerate Erich’s descendants.
– What is the right way to do it?
Erich slowly raised the corners of his mouth, remembering what she said. It is fortunate that their confession was successful, but it is also encouraging that Erich took the confession seriously.
It may be confusing right now, but you never know what will happen over time. Sera and Zenobia must have liked Erich since she was born. Those two also treated Erich as her friend, but then came to see him as her opposite s*x, and that feeling turned into her love.
So now it is Erich’s turn to take that route. Now that she has confessed, she will no longer recognize him as her friend but as the opposite s*x, and that recognition can lead to her love.
“Did it go well?”
“Ah, yes.”
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Mar, who was holding his breath behind her, approached her and asked her, so she nodded her head reflexively.
It is true that things went well as planned. It’s just that the results are beyond our plans.
‘Now let’s leave it to heaven.’
I really, really did everything I could. If he wanted to provide more help than this, he would have no choice but to call the northern lords to kidnap Erich and force him to marry him.
If this doesn’t work out, it’s fate. I guess I should accept it humbly.
A few days after receiving Erich’s consultation and her nanny’s thank you text.
“It’s been a while, brother. How have you been?”
Cardinal Alexandrian, whom I had forgotten about for a while, came to visit.
‘There were people like this…’
It’s embarrassing. I really forgot because I was taking care of my younger brother who was like my enemy.
“We were spending happy days, probably under the protection of Enen and the Great Emperor.”
“That’s good news.”
As I answered as casually as possible, the cardinal smiled.
Come to think of it, the cardinal disappeared with her saying that there would be good news soon. She said that the fact that such a cardinal came again –
“I am honored to be able to give even more good news to such a brother.”
It appears that discussions on canonization within the Holy See have ended.
That too in a quite positive direction.