Chapter 60
“…!!”
Luke withdrew his hand in surprise and took a half step back.
Seeing him like that, a twisted smile involuntarily appeared on my lips.
“Why are you surprised? Didn’t you expect me to do this?”
“…”
“Did you think that if you reached out generously, I’d wag my tail like before?”
If that was what he thought, he was wrong.
I had no intention of restoring the relationship with him.
‘I once tried pretending to be the good younger sister. Because I wanted to see that arrogant face twist in betrayal.’
I thought that would heal my wounded heart a little.
But now, I hated even that.
I hated him so deeply I didn’t even want to be involved with him anymore.
My forced smile finally twitched like a spasm.
“Let’s stay as two people who hate each other like before.”
“…”
“We’ve done enough already. How much more do you want to torment me? Wasn’t pushing me off the cliff enough?”
He tightly closed his mouth, wearing a pained expression.
I wondered why he looked that way.
I was the one who was truly suffering.
I stopped glaring at him and brushed past.
“…I’m leaving. And don’t ever say you worried about me again. Please.”
Luckily, he wasn’t shameless enough to stop me and get angry.
Safely past him, I hurried out of the garden.
‘Your sister is Nayla. Why are you acting like this to me now?’
I quickened my pace to get away from Luke.
And finally, when no one was watching,
I crushed my lips together tightly and bit down.
Luke had somehow drained my energy without me realizing it.
As soon as I got to my room, sleep overcame me, and I woke late at night.
After waking, I immediately went to see my father.
I had heard that he came looking for me while I slept.
As expected, I ended up hearing about Luke from him.
“Luke is acting strange.”
‘He’s always been strange…’ I wanted to say but held back.
My father continued with a serious look.
“Why did he step forward to look after you? I’ve always worried about the coldness between you two, but maybe it’s because Nayla left…”
“…Was my name mentioned?”
“Yes. Somehow, the talk came up that you wanted to go to the battlefield, and he said he wanted to take you along immediately.”
I jumped in surprise.
Luke still seemed willing to improve our relationship.
Even though I had just harshly brushed his hand away.
Or maybe…
‘Is he planning to drag me to the battlefield, out of my father’s protection, just like on Charco Island?’
That was definitely possible.
But my father, unaware of Luke’s true nature, interpreted his actions positively.
“How long has it been since he took the initiative to care for you? Haha.”
“…”
“What will you do? If you go with Luke, I might feel at ease letting you go.”
My father’s eyes sparkled.
He probably hoped our relationship would improve.
Meeting those sparkling eyes made it very hard to tell him my true feelings.
“…I don’t want to go with him.”
“Hm?”
I sighed deeply.
‘I have to be honest. Otherwise, I’ll have to look at Luke’s unpleasant face the whole way.’
I didn’t want to repeat the tragedy on Charco Island.
I summoned courage.
“The truth is, I’m uncomfortable with him. That’s why I didn’t want to go with him to the island… but because father worried too much about us, I just went along.”
“Claudia…? What do you mean? Did Luke ever harass you?”
“No. He never harassed me. It’s just hard to face him.”
“No, that’s not something to just let go. Luke is your real brother, and if you feel uncomfortable, that’s very strange.”
My father already seemed somewhat upset.
‘This is going to blow up. I didn’t want to say anything.’
Regret washed over me.
But the words were out, and my father didn’t let it go.
His eyes were blazing.
He seemed determined to find out why I avoided Luke.
“This won’t do. I’ll call Luke and ask him myself.”
“What!?!”
“Who’s outside? Bring Luke here immediately!”
Before I could react, things escalated.
I momentarily forgot how impatient my father was.
He didn’t wait for my hesitation and called Luke.
‘Ugh, it’s already awkward enough because of what happened today…’
Now I had to be in this tight space with Luke.
I had no confidence to do so.
“Then I’ll go. Luke will explain why I’m uncomfortable.”
“No. If you talk separately, you’ll both leave out your own faults.”
“No, that won’t happen…”
“Since it’s come to this, I’ll hear you both together. That way I’ll know the truth.”
I nervously bit my nails.
Outside, I could already hear Luke’s footsteps.
He arrived unnaturally quickly.
Soon the door opened and he appeared.
“You called…”
Luke, entering the study, looked startled upon seeing me.
He barely managed to finish,
“You said you called?”
“Yes. How have you been treating Claudia?”
“…”
“I told you repeatedly that you two need to work together to lead our family’s future and be closer than any siblings.”
My father sighed deeply.
After glaring at Luke, he looked at me.
“Claudia, tell Luke clearly why you feel uncomfortable around him. I want you both to lay all your feelings on the table.”
Just saying I was “uncomfortable” caused such a reaction.
I thought about all of Luke’s misdeeds so far.
For example, when Nayla tried to isolate me with political scheming among knights, Luke sided with Nayla instead of helping me.
His nonsense to me.
And pushing me off a cliff, almost killing me…
‘What should I do? Saying everything might cause a huge problem.’
Thinking about it, all of Luke’s actions were terrible.
Hard to even put into words.
‘I might faint hearing it all.’
I needed to hide Luke’s crimes.
For my father’s mental health and the duke’s estate’s peace.
“I’m uncomfortable not because Luke is wrong…”
“It’s my fault.”
I had been trying to make excuses to defend Luke.
But Luke ruined all that effort.
He confessed his guilt easily.
I glanced at Luke.
‘What’s his intention? Still wants to play the good brother?’
He hung his head like a criminal.
Of course, he really was a criminal, so I felt no sympathy.
‘Tsk, if he really felt guilt, he would have confessed pushing me off the cliff.’
I quietly laughed at his hypocrisy.
He wanted to appear good but kept silent about his worst crime.
If he told that, he’d get severely scolded by father.
Pretending to be good but avoiding punishment — it was the ugliest hypocrisy.
Then came the unbelievable words from his mouth.
“I pushed Claudia off the cliff.”
I doubted if Luke was sane.
He must know what would happen if he told that to father.
Exactly five seconds after Luke said it,
My father reacted.
“What did you just say…?”
He first doubted his own ears.
Was it true that his son pushed his daughter off a cliff?
Luke confirmed the emperor’s ears were not mistaken.
“I didn’t want to follow Claudia that far. I was unhappy from the start and lost my temper easily.”
“…”
“I couldn’t see the spirit’s form, so I blamed Claudia, and then…”
Luke bowed his head even lower.
“Claudia avoiding me is all my fault. I still regret what happened that day.”
“You push your sister because you’re angry?! No matter what, someone who uses violence against family can’t lead this family!”
Father was furious when he first heard it.
Bang!!
He slammed the table loudly.
By this point, I was very worried.
If I felt this way, how much worse would Luke feel hearing this?
I wondered why he confessed his crimes so honestly.
‘Is he really remorseful?’
I wanted to ask, but couldn’t due to the situation.
Father’s anger was still blazing.
“This cannot continue! I will fix your behavior so you never do that to your sister again!”
With that warning, father shouted out.
“Sir Carlton! Take this damn brat away to solitary confinement at once!!”
Sir Carlton, the old knight who always waited by father’s side, came running immediately.
He, along with soldiers, dragged Luke away per father’s order.
There was actually no need to call the knight.
Luke showed no resistance.
He was quietly taken away like a prisoner accepting his sentence.
“…”
Once Luke was gone, the study grew quiet.
It felt like you could hear an ant’s footsteps.
In that awkward silence, I stood frozen.
Then father tightly pressed a cold metallic object into my hand.
“Claudia. This is for you.”
“This is…”
