“Gasp.”

With a sharp intake of breath, Shamilia bolted upright and wiped the cold sweat clinging to her forehead.

“Ha…”

It had been a horrible nightmare.

Lucberk had cut off his own arm…

Then he was covered in blood once again…

And after that…

What happened next?

She couldn’t remember.

‘No… It was just a dream.’

The moment she swung her legs over the side of the bed, they gave way beneath her, causing her to lose her balance.

Had the dream been too vivid?

Staggering out of her room, she slowly made her way to the window overlooking the backyard.

Her gaze fell upon the dark bloodstains that still marred the chopping block.

Someone had tried to wash them away, but the blood had already seeped deep into the grain of the wood.

Even the dirt beneath it seemed to carry a faint reddish tint.

“…”

A violent shiver ran through her body.

It hadn’t been a dream.

Lucberk had really cut off his own arm.

This realization hit her now, turning her stomach.

She couldn’t remember what state of mind she had been in the previous day.

She couldn’t remember when she’d washed up or gone to bed.

Or how she’d cleaned up afterwards.

Everything was frustratingly hazy.

“You’re awake?”

His voice sounded as calm as ever.

When she turned, her eyes met Lucberk’s.

The sight of her younger brother smiling so casually sent a chill down her spine.

“A-Are you… okay?”

she asked hesitantly.

He merely shrugged.

“I’m perfectly fine.”

There was silence.

There was nothing left to say.

Shamilia could only stare blankly as her brother moved around the room.

If it weren’t for the remaining bloodstains, she might have convinced herself that yesterday’s events were just a nightmare.

He looked completely unaffected.

Perhaps…

Perhaps he truly was.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

Lucberk strode towards her.

The moment he did, she instinctively took a step back.

Everything about her younger brother filled her with fear.

He always wore the same calm, unbothered expression right before doing something utterly insane.

He talked about draining all his blood.

He talked about cutting off his own limbs.

Just thinking about it exhausted her.

No matter how many times she turned it over in her mind, she couldn’t understand how someone could claim to love her while doing something so horrifying.

‘Then again… when have I ever truly understood Luc?’

Shamilia had never really understood her younger brother.

For as long as she could remember, he had always been impossible to comprehend.

She forced an awkward smile and subtly slipped away from Lucberk’s reaching hand.

“Why… are you looking at me like that?”

“If you’re not feeling well, you should rest.”

“Why would I be sick?”

He simply smiled in response.

It wasn’t her body that was exhausted.

It was her mind.

‘…Although maybe my body is affected too.’

Now that she thought about it, her whole body ached.

Her lower back was sore as well.

And after speaking, she noticed her throat felt unusually hoarse.

‘Is it because I was screaming yesterday?’

As Shamilia cleared her throat softly, Lucberk casually draped an arm around her shoulders.

It was a gentle touch.

Even so…

Her entire body froze.

“You still look shaken. Just rest today.”

“I’m fine. Don’t worry.”

The moment she saw the concern on his face…

The word disgusting flashed through her mind.

She tilted her head in confusion at the unexpected thought.

‘Why would I think that?’

It felt as though more and more things were happening that she couldn’t understand.

“Then I’m off, Sister.”

Lucberk leaned in and lightly kissed her cheek.

‘When did he start touching me so much?’

Ever since he’d confessed that he loved her, so many unbearable things had happened that everything now felt surreal.

She rubbed at her cheek where his lips had touched, somehow convinced the lingering sensation still clung to her skin.

‘How am I supposed to change the way he thinks?’

If only he could say I love you as casually as anyone else.

But Lucberk’s love was far too heavy for something between siblings.

Shamilia stared silently at the backyard, where the faint reddish stains still remained.

“…Maybe what he really needs is someone else.”

She already knew that her brother hardly had anyone in his life.

In fact, his social circle was so small that it could be counted on one hand.

After all, Lucberk had never needed close relationships.

Those around him were content to admire him from afar.

‘He only ever goes to three places.’

The Mage Tower.

Home.

And her bookshop.

Was he really so obsessed with her just because he’d never met anyone else?

While she was working in the bookshop that day, Shamilia wondered if there was anyone she could introduce her brother to.

***

While she wrestled with those thoughts…

Lucberk was grappling with his own.

Nothing in his life had ever been worthy of being called a problem before.

Yet Shamilia was the one exception, in every possible sense.

‘What am I supposed to do?’

No matter what he tried, the barrier between them as siblings remained impenetrable.

Could loving him as a sibling really be so shocking that it would drive her insane?

He couldn’t understand that either.

Was the fact that they had the same mother really that important?

Strip everything else away…

All that remained was one person loving another.

Lucberk frowned.

‘At least I’ve figured out one thing.’

He would never again believe that s*x could solve everything on its own.

If Shamilia hadn’t accepted him before they slept together…

Then sleeping with her would change nothing.

The greater his expectations, the deeper his despair whenever she reacted as though she’d lost her mind afterwards.

Lucberk adjusted his glasses.

He sensed that his sister had moved.

‘So she went to work after all.’

She really should have rested.

The thought that she could move around so normally only because she remembered nothing of how much she’d overexerted herself yesterday made him let out a quiet chuckle.

“Something good happen?”

A man approached him with practiced familiarity.

Ignoring him completely, Lucberk strode into the Mage Tower.

“Same as always, Lucberk.”

The man’s resigned voice drifted after him, but Lucberk didn’t so much as blink.

***

‘Hmm… another woman…’

With her chin resting on her hand, Shamilia stared absentmindedly out of the window behind the bookshop counter.

When she first decided to find someone for him, it had seemed straightforward enough.

But once she started considering potential candidates…

She realized that she barely knew any women.

She certainly couldn’t introduce him to a married woman or someone with children.

“…Has my social circle always been this small?”

It was a rather belated realization.

Then again…

It wasn’t just the women she knew.

She knew even fewer men.

Frowning, Shamilia absentmindedly tapped the counter with a feather duster when she noticed a young woman peeking through the shop window.

“Marie! Come on in.”

“What are you doing?”

Marie.

She was the daughter of the bakery nearby—the very bakery where Shamilia bought lunch most often.

‘Marie… She might actually be perfect.’

Perhaps because she had watched the girl grow up, this idea had never occurred to her before.

But Marie was an adult now.

She suited her neatly braided pigtails, and her bright, cheerful smile evoked the same warm, comforting feeling as freshly baked bread.

She had a naturally gentle charm.

“This is our newest bread. Try some.”

Apparently making the rounds with samples, Marie took a loaf from the basket she was carrying and handed it over.

It was still pleasantly warm.

“Thank you.”

While discreetly looking Marie up and down, Shamilia tore off a piece and popped it into her mouth.

Thin slices of apple had been baked into it, and the sweet warmth spread across her tongue.

“Well? Is it good?”

“It is.”

“Come on, Sister. Give me something better than ‘it’s good.'”

“Hmm…”

Shamilia racked her brain and showered the bread with every compliment she could think of.

Marie’s cheeks flushed a rosy pink as she smiled shyly.

‘Yes… I’ll introduce Marie to Luc.’

The thought had barely crossed her mind when Marie bashfully held out another loaf.

“Sister, could you give this one to Brother Lucberk?”

At that instant, everything clicked.

‘How did I forget?’

The girl standing before her had followed Lucberk around ever since they were children.

Granted…

Lucberk had always found her rather bothersome.

“Marie.”