David couldn’t understand Saul’s attitude. What he had demanded was something Saul should have done long ago. It was merely the respect he should rightfully show Catherine. To refuse that and even try to push it onto David wasn’t like Saul…

At that moment, David blinked and looked back at his brother.

Suddenly, he realized the identity of the discomfort he had felt from Saul’s attitude.

Saul’s attitude had clearly strange aspects. Saul would remain silent and withdraw rather than use other methods to explain something to someone. However, Saul had tried to use David to avoid the deal with Catherine.

It was a choice the usual Saul wouldn’t have made. David knew this best. The Saul he knew would have chosen complete silence. If he didn’t remain silent, he would have spoken only the absolute minimum that he had to share, filtering and filtering again what he knew.

Moreover, this was related to the evil thing. The Saul David knew would never have entrusted someone else with explaining and persuading about it.

But Saul had done exactly that. Like he was avoiding Catherine. But why? David shook his head. The thought that suddenly occurred seemed absurd. What reason could Saul have to avoid Catherine?

David’s gaze as he quietly looked at Saul narrowed.

David increasingly couldn’t understand what Saul was thinking. Should I test him? The impulsive thought formed on his tongue tip. And it didn’t take long before he spat it out.

David opened his mouth in a deliberately solemn and confident tone, like someone who had just realized some serious problem.

“There’s a reason you can’t meet Catherine.”

It was only half a statement thrown out without expectation, but surprisingly, there was a reaction from Saul. David momentarily read a sign of affirmation in Saul’s gaze. He frowned at the unexpected reaction.

He didn’t ask back. He didn’t want to miss this very rare opportunity to read Saul’s inner thoughts.

A reason he can’t meet Catherine? In the instant of blinking, David’s eyes moved quickly. Nothing came to mind. But there was only one reason that would make Saul show such strange behavior. Because of that, the next words came out before he could even gather his thoughts.

“Related to… the evil thing.”

David, who was retracing the words he had unconsciously spat out, hesitated when he belatedly realized what he had said. He stared blankly with his mouth open, surprised by Saul’s attitude of not denying those words.

It wasn’t just that he didn’t deny it. David ended up seeing Saul, who had been standing face to face with him, drop his head diagonally like avoiding his gaze. Though he didn’t say it aloud, it was complete affirmation.

Now, of all times? For a moment, such a thought occurred. It was too… sudden and incomprehensible. Hadn’t he known from the moment he drew Catherine in that it would be related to the evil thing?

The will asking her to bear a child carrying the Cavendish bloodline was also related to the evil thing. But suddenly saying there was an evil thing as a reason he couldn’t meet Catherine was nothing but contradictory…

“Wait, wait a minute…”

David’s gaze scattered here and there. He was confused. This was because the thought occurred that perhaps it might not be contradictory. But the assumption he had thought of was completely unbelievable. Saul, of all people?

David shook his head. He thought it couldn’t be, but regardless of being unbelievable, nothing else could explain it.

Like moistening his dry mouth, David closed his mouth. Brother, surely not… The question pooled without coming out of his mouth. Strength entered his lips. Like his mouth was completely dry, even saliva didn’t gather and only dry air passed down his throat.

David swallowed his breath. As the breath passed his throat, his stuck lips parted. It must be because his mouth was dry. His throat was choked up and he couldn’t bear it at all.

David breathed in again, but soon realized that alone wouldn’t solve anything. David unconsciously grabbed his throat. Strength entered his fingertips, and he felt the collarbone under his thumb being pressed.

And at the same time, he had no choice but to admit that what was choking his throat wasn’t thirst.

His insides felt stuffy. Because it was so stuffy that it was difficult to breathe, David eventually ended up spitting out the question that was heating up his insides…

“Do you… love her?”

This time too, there was no answer from Saul. David moved his lips. His tongue tip had stiffened, and he felt like he hadn’t asked clearly. So he thought that was why Saul wasn’t reacting. That must be it. His lips trembled.

He pushed his palate with his tongue and swallowed dry saliva once. He put strength into his tightly closed lips and waited for the trembling to subside. Then he asked aloud once more.

“Do you love Catherine?”

This time too, there was no immediate answer from Saul. However, Saul, who had been quietly raising his gaze to look at David, closed his eyes instead of answering. David unconsciously took a step closer to Saul.

Strength entered his hands. Saul’s shoulder caught in his grip shook once. Saul…! The burst of shouting echoed throughout the corridor and faded away.

But there were no words that followed. No urging to answer, no question about what had happened. He couldn’t bring himself to spit out any of it.

In fact, even without hearing Saul’s answer, David knew the answer. He had excluded it because he couldn’t believe it, but he had already known before asking.

However, he couldn’t believe it. If someone else had told him, David would have accepted it. But it was none other than Saul.

Saul didn’t love anyone. No, he couldn’t love. Because ever since that accident in childhood, Saul’s fate had been running toward death all along. He acted like he wouldn’t love anyone. 

Even the brothers who shared the same blood and cherished each other more than anyone else weren’t an exception.

Before his predetermined fate, Saul was obedient. He had been from the beginning. He complied like knowing it was predestined and never denied anything. Because of that, David had thought the day when Saul would come to love someone would never come…

The young David couldn’t understand such a Saul. It took quite a long time to realize that was Saul’s own form of kindness. However, the current David had grown enough to understand Saul’s intentions and was even clever enough to notice the contradictory attitude his brother showed.

David couldn’t help but blame Saul.

“…Do you want to turn it back?”

Because you’ve come to love Catherine, do you want to turn it back? While asking, David clenched his teeth to suppress his rising anger. He breathed heavily through his clenched teeth. 

Between the short alternation of inhaling and exhaling, sounds like those of a threatening beast leaked out. His shoulders repeatedly rose and fell rapidly.

“Now, of all times? You weren’t unaware that the evil thing would tempt Catherine.”

Then he paused briefly. Feeling his voice gradually rising unintentionally, David squeezed his eyes shut and opened them. He didn’t want to shout at Saul. He was his brother. Among the Cavendishes, he was the only person who had openly loved him. David wanted to respect Saul.

He really wanted to. As much as Saul loved David, David loved Saul too. From David’s oldest memory, Saul had always loved David. Even after that accident, though David hadn’t understood it, Saul had always been loving his younger brother. David revered such a brother. 

And at the same time, he felt deep guilt about his brother’s sacrifice of throwing himself away to protect his foolish younger brother, and had been constantly crushed by the weight of life connected to his affection.

To such a David, Saul had been a massive existence that could never be opposed. But that seemed to be over now. David felt his trust in Saul breaking inside him.

He had no choice but to admit that his brother, whom he had always thought would be flawless, was such a weak and cowardly human…

It was Saul’s arbitrary decision to draw Catherine in. It was also Saul who pushed her into misfortune and decided to do so. But now he wanted to turn everything back?

Because he loved Catherine? There was no deception like this deception.

“Then you shouldn’t have done it from the beginning…!”

“If it were such a problem, I wouldn’t have asked you!”

In an instant, the voices of the two brothers that rose violently intertwined. They struck their ears sharply and then raced away to the far end of the corridor like arrows.

Even after their afterimage completely disappeared, the roughly alternating breathing sounds filled the empty space left by the loud voices.

In the midst of that, David blinked with a dumbfounded face. And he looked at Saul who was breathing heavily while fuming.

It had been a very long time since he had seen Saul lose his composure. When had he recently seen him get angry like this? At least what David remembered would be the last few days after the ‘accident.’

Since then, Saul had always acted like someone whose emotions had been cut off. Because of that, from then until about six years before David left Cavendish, he had never seen Saul’s emotions become heightened.