Chapter 2

Perhaps because she was too shocked by Killian’s words, Elaine could not say anything.

All she could hear by her ears was the sound of horse hooves each time the carriage moved. The clatter was very regular, but the pounding of her heart, like the beat of a great drum mixed into that sound, seemed even louder.

She looked at Killian as though she could not understand what the words she had just heard were supposed to mean. Then he looked at her with a bitter smile.

He was still fresh and radiant.

Even in the sunset as the day was fading, his brilliance remained unchanged. The orange light of the sunset settling over Killian’s platinum blond hair still looked warm. His mysterious purple eyes were glimmering red, and perhaps because his expression was as gentle as usual, the words he had uttered felt even harder to understand.

“……Since when?”

“I don’t know when exactly.”

So it seemed that his looking at her sister had not simply been a coincidence.

Come to think of it, she herself seemed to have been the dull one. It was not the first time she had witnessed him looking at her sister. Once she realized that all those times she had merely thought he was looking at the lectern might in truth have been him looking at her sister, her memories stirred up her thoughts in ripples like a stone thrown into deep water.

“May I ask what it was that you liked about her?”

That felt like far too obvious a question.

If she had been a man from another family, she too might have looked at her sister with those eyes. Brilliant silver hair, clear blue eyes, a sociable personality, and even a gentle disposition.

Her sister was someone who possessed a perfection that no one could help but love.

“At first, it was because of your confession.”

“……Pardon?”

At Killian’s words, her gaze drifted to his eyes without her realizing it.

“After you confessed to me, your sister caught my eye.”

“……What do you mean……?”

“On the day you confessed to me and left, Cecilia said that to me. She said you were a very good person. So she said she hoped I would reconsider just once.”

“…….”

“She said you were the kind of person who could do anything for the person you liked. She said that, probably for my sake, you could become any kind of person. So I was deeply moved.”

“…….”

“That she was the kind of person who could say that much for her younger sister.”

He was not unaware of her feelings.

<Sorry, I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.>

When she had first confessed to him, that was what he had said.

Killian had spoken with that look of difficulty, like someone who had heard words he ought not to have heard.

And then the next day, he had said this to her.

<I’m the one who should apologize.>

<No. It’s not wrong for you to like me. It wasn’t that it made me feel bad. I only said that because I was caught off guard.>

That was how he had comforted her over her first confession.

“Ah……”

“From then on, Cecilia looked different to me. Cecilia is very mature, and being with her is comfortable. And she’s someone I want to grow together with.”

At Killian’s words, Elaine nodded. Her sister certainly was an admirable person. It was not unreasonable for Killian to feel that way.

Still, while it was embarrassing to hear that her sister had said such things, and while she ought to have been grateful, the feeling was far too strange.

Her sister’s words had not been wrong. Elaine truly felt that if only Killian would accept her, she could become any kind of person. If only he would tell her what kind of person he wanted, she even wanted to do her utmost.

It was an unchanging one-sided love that had lasted ten years.

“And I can’t take my eyes off her. I keep worrying about her…… I want to protect her, and I want to be someone she can rely on.”

“I see.”

Killian’s voice was trembling.

In the ten years she had known him, she had never seen him this nervous. It was as though every one of his actions was proving to her that his words were sincere.

Perhaps because of that, the words would not leave her mouth.

‘I can’t help you.’

That was what she should have said.

“I know it’s a difficult thing. So if it’s too hard, you don’t have to help me.”

“Ah……”

“It’s a little embarrassing to ask this kind of favor. I’m sorry.”

Killian was speaking that way with a bitter smile.

<Elaine, your sister is the hope of our family. So you should help your sister, shouldn’t you?>

Suddenly, the words her father said every day came to mind. Perhaps because of that, she could vaguely tell that no matter how long Killian stayed by her sister’s side, it would be difficult for him to win her heart.

Her sister was someone deeply devoted to her studies, so she did not seem likely to take an interest in Killian.

Their family was insignificant. Because of the enormous debt their predecessor had incurred, the Aila Barony’s territory had been mortgaged, and matters were so dire that her father had to work as an imperial administrator and her mother as a maid in the Imperial Palace.

“Yes, I’ll do that.”

But there was no way Elaine could refuse Killian’s request.

For her, it was also the only way she could become close to Killian.

“Really?”

“Yes, but Killian. Perhaps my sister……”

“Yes, I know. That’s because she’s someone focused on her studies, she probably won’t like me.”

“……Killian.”

“Still, it’s all right. I just want to convey my feelings, at least.”

Killian said that with a bitter smile.

For some reason, that state seemed similar to the way she had acted as though she were unaffected even while being rejected by him again and again, and so she could not bring herself to refuse him any further.

Foolishly enough.

* * *

After returning to the mansion, Elaine was doing her Academy homework.

Then, after a little time had passed, her sister came into the mansion together with Young Master Amerian. Elaine usually studied in the library on the second floor of the main building of the baron’s residence, and her sister also usually concentrated on assignments there.

Young Master Amerian was Killian’s older brother.

“Ah, Elaine? Have you been well?”

“Hello, Your Master Amerian.”

Elaine and her sister were fraternal twins. And the three of them, including Killian, were in the same year. They were fourth-year students at Valeros Academy, and they were twenty years old. They would graduate after attending for just one more year.

From the time of her entrance into Valeros Academy until graduation, her sister was someone who did not want to give up first place. She had been like that up to now as well.

If she graduated with those grades, there would probably be no difficulty in her being selected as an imperial administrator.

If that happened, she would quickly rise to a better position with their father’s help. Their mother was also in the Imperial Palace, so if her sister became an administrator, then truly everything would proceed smoothly just as their parents wished.

And the reason she was keeping close to Young Master Amerian was.

“Amerian said he would teach me.”

Because he was the next head of the Bertor Dukedom.

Killian was the second son. Because of that, for Killian to become Duke was a distant prospect. Amerian was also five years older than he was.

Most likely, once Killian graduated, there was a high chance he too would apply to become an imperial administrator. And his family would probably grant him a barony or a viscountcy.

“I see.”

Elaine knew that her sister and Amerian were close. Still, because she did not want to disturb the two of them, she was gathering up her books appropriately.

“Where are you going?”

Because Amerian asked in such a gentle voice, Elaine also decided to look straight into his eyes as she answered. He looked very much like Killian, yet he also gave a different impression.

If Killian had an intellectual image, then Amerian, Killian’s older brother, was someone who looked like an excellent martial man even from the outside. He was very tall, and his build was massive; more than that, he gave a stronger impression of a great predator.

“I’ve finished everything I needed to do in the library, so I’m going to rest a little and study in my room.”

“I see.”

Her sister soon looked at her and patted her on the shoulder as though she found her admirable.

“Ah, Elaine.”

“Yes?”

“Would it be possible for me to ask you a favor with the math assignment from one of today’s classes? You’re better at math than I am.”

“Ah, that……”

<……Yes.>

<Understood.>

Because her father’s words came to mind.

In any case, it had always been like this; she was the one who helped with her sister’s assignments each time. Since they were in the same class anyway, she only had to alter the homework she had done a little and make it into her sister’s.

“All right.”

And because being in the same place as her sister and Amerian was uncomfortable as well, she said that and rose from her seat.

And then, just as she was gathering her books and notes and about to leave.

“Isn’t everything being pushed onto Elaine too much?”

“Oh my, no. We’re dividing the work. Besides, Elaine likes that sort of thing anyway.”

“I’ll see you next time.”

“See you again.”

If she refuted her sister’s words, her sister might be embarrassed, so Elaine left outside with a bitter smile.

Click.

And even at the moment the door closed, the two of their voices could still be heard.

“How about helping a little, Young Master? Elaine has liked Killian for a very long time.”

At that moment, it felt as though her breath would stop. The only people who knew that she had liked Killian for a long time had been her sister and Killian.

So the thought that now someone else might come to know as well made her feel that way.

“Really?”

“Yes, she must have liked him for over ten years. Since we’re at it, please build a bridge for them, Young Master. If this keeps up and Elaine falls lovesick…… I would be truly upset.”

“You care for your younger sister a great deal?”

“Of course. She is a younger sister I have to protect.”

For some reason, that made her chest feel strange. An unknowable embarrassment and wretchedness came over her all at once.