With a ‘thud,’ Serhen bent slightly at the waist.
“Ugh!” A painful groan escaped from Serhen’s lips.
“Brother!”
“Lord Serhen!”
Both Lireania and I gasped simultaneously. However, neither of us could stop Kasion. After all, Serhen had lied. He deserved some punishment… though I hoped Kasion wouldn’t be too harsh.
“I’m letting you off with just one punch. For now.” It seemed Kasion went easy on him because they were friends.
Serhen rubbed his stomach lightly and straightened his back. Thankfully, he wasn’t too hurt.
Now, if only Serhen would properly apologize.
“Huu…”
Serhen let out a long sigh. He glanced briefly at me and Lireania, clearly displeased that we didn’t stop Kasion. But how could we take his side? He soon turned back to Kasion, hesitating for a moment before speaking.
“I didn’t have a choice. Who would give their sister a proposal letter from someone who might return from the battlefield dead or alive? Would you?”
“A proposal letter?” I accidentally shouted. He was being too much.
Kasion raised an eyebrow as well, probably regretting that he had only hit Serhen once. The muscles in his fist tensed again…
“If you didn’t like it, you should have sent it back.”
“I should have, but I didn’t know it was mixed in with the gifts. And since Ariel liked that necklace so much, I couldn’t bring myself to tell her it needed to be returned.”
The tension in Kasion’s hand faded. The bulging veins along his wrist, which had been taut with anger, calmed as if a wave had swept over them.
What part of Serhen’s explanation could possibly calm Kasion’s anger? I couldn’t understand at all.
“So you think you did nothing wrong?”
“I had a duty to protect Ariel as her guardian. You wouldn’t understand since you don’t have a sister.”
Serhen’s voice sharpened, uncharacteristically biting. Why was he being so sarcastic all of a sudden? Kasion looked at him with clear disapproval.
I understood Kasion’s feelings. The person who did wrong shouldn’t be so confident.
“I didn’t expect you to justify your lie.”
“I admit it was my fault to let her think the gift you gave was from me.”
Kasion scoffed, but Serhen kept his head high, brazenly unapologetic.
“At least you admitted to one fault. Though, this is just like you—ever since we were kids.”
Kasion wasn’t backing down. He looked like he might grab Serhen by the collar again. It seemed he had changed his mind about letting him off with one punch.
But why were they the only ones fighting?
“Wait a minute.”
Something important was missing. I was also involved. I was another victim of Serhen’s lie.
“Brother, we need to talk.” I grabbed Serhen’s hand and dragged him into Veloire.
“Lady Ariel… please go easy on him.” Lireania cautiously spoke to me, looking uneasy.
“I’m sorry, Lady Lireania. But at least I won’t kill him.”
“Ariel, wait.”
“No, me first. You already at least hit him once, didn’t you?”
Kasion tried to stop me in a hurry, but it was too late. I was furious at Serhen’s shameless attitude, which made it impossible for me to stay angry at Kasion.
* * *
“Brother.” My voice rang coldly in the quiet room.
“Ariel, I—”
“What did you do with the proposal letter from Kasion?” That was the first thing I needed to ask.
Once you receive a proposal, it’s proper to return it, whether with a positive or negative reply.
“I burned it as soon as I got it.”
“Hah, unbelievable…”
This was so wrong. How could he do that? Was this really the Serhen I loved and respected?
“Why did you hide Kasion’s proposal from me? Because of you, I ended up being rude, not even thanking him for the gift.”
“Because I thought you’d accept his feelings.”
His ridiculous answer made me slump slightly. I crossed my arms and stared down at Serhen, who was sitting lazily on the sofa with one leg crossed over the other. “Me? Why?”
“Now you want to stay in Mellin, but back then, you said you didn’t want to live with me anymore…”
Ah, I remembered now. Yes, I did say that back then.
I averted my gaze, embarrassed by those past outbursts. It was all because of Serhen’s overprotectiveness.
“So you often said you would marry anyone who liked you.”
“D-Did I really say that?”
“Yes… And though you don’t seem to like Kasion much now, back then you did.”
This was a complete distortion of the past.
“When did I ever? Kasion has always been just my brother’s friend, nothing more.”
That’s why I always said he was like a father or an older brother to me.
“Don’t you remember the letters you wrote to Kasion?” Serhen spoke quietly, his tone somewhat defeated.
What did I write? I recalled the charred parchment I’d seen at Kasion’s house. I didn’t remember the exact contents, but I knew it must have been pretty standard. It was probably full of admiration, wishing for his safe return, hoping he’d find someone he loved and build a happy family. That was all.
“They were filled with nothing but praise for Kasion.”
“I did that? Well, he did help us a lot, and he is a war hero, after all. So, I wrote words of encouragement. Brother told me to write like that too, remember?”
Serhen sighed again. “You also asked him to introduce you to any decent knights he fought with in the war.”
I blinked in confusion. How did Serhen remember the contents of my letters better than I did?
“That made Kasion go crazy and immediately—”
“Wait, Brother, hold on.”
Serhen tilted his head in confusion. His shoulders even flinched a little at the look on my face. It was no wonder since I was genuinely angry then.
“Did you open the letters I sent? Even the ones that were supposed for me?”
Serhen’s mouth snapped shut. Seeing him not denying it, a sigh of exasperation escaped my lips.
“You’re horrible. I’m so disappointed in you, Brother.” I slammed the door behind me as I left. I could hear Serhen calling after me, but I ignored him.
That night, I left the house. Though, I only went to the house next door.
* * *
Serhen couldn’t bring himself to stop Ariel as she stormed away. He knew exactly why he couldn’t.
“Serves you right.”
The voice next to him was infuriating.
“You must be thrilled that Ariel hates me now.”
“I’m just upset that Ariel is hurt.”
“Then you shouldn’t have said anything.”
“Is this what they call audacity?” Kasion glared at Serhen with cold eyes as if any forgiveness he’d been considering was now gone.
“If you hadn’t sent that proposal letter, this wouldn’t have happened.”
Serhen had plenty to say as well.
“Kasion, are you okay? Thank you for saving Ariel.”
“Family members don’t need to say thank you to each other.”
Wasn’t Kasion the one who said that first? Though they weren’t blood-related, the three of them had been like siblings, supporting one another. But Kasion had crossed the line. He’d been hiding his feelings since they were children.
When Serhen discovered the contents of that proposal letter, he wanted to beat Kasion to death. It only hurt more because he lacked the strength and status to do it.
“Does this mean you can never accept me as Ariel’s husband?” Kasion’s voice lowered dangerously. It was the same tone he used when declaring war against an enemy on the battlefield, just like a vow to cut off his opponent’s head.
“That’s right! I’ll never give my sister to someone as shady as you, who secretly schemes from the shadows!”
“Is that so? Then you and I are now officially enemies.”
With that icy declaration from Kasion, Lireania’s eyes widened in shock.
Why was the duke suddenly acting so recklessly? Wasn’t he the same person who was willing to overlook Serhen’s lies with just one punch? Serhen was behaving strangely too. Though he sometimes lost his rational judgment when it came to his sister, he wasn’t usually this reckless.
Lireania’s eyes darted around. Her gaze stopped as she found the cause in the dark alley.
“Alright then, I hope you don’t regret this. I’m going straight to the imperial palace to secure a proposal from the second prince.” Serhen smirked wickedly.
At that moment, the sound of Kasion’s sword being drawn echoed through the air. “Do you know what my grandfather taught me from a young age, Serhen?” his lips curled into a menacing grin. “He taught me to eliminate any obstacle in the way of claiming the woman I desire.”
Kasion gripped the cross tightly in his other hand as if he might crush it.
Hello, Alyalia is here~
Some of you might be wondering where I had gone to for the two past weeks. Sorry guys, I was on vacation and didn’t bring my laptop with me. I had made announcement in the discord and kofi about it though, but figure it out late that most of you probably hadn’t join. It was dumb of me to forget make announcement in the website too o(╥﹏╥). Anyway, I’m back now. The update schedule will be the same as before.
Oh right, one more thing! I found some comments asking for the discord link. If you go to our home page, you will find the sentence ‘Join our Discord Server’ at below if your in phone (at right if you’re in laptop). You just need to click the banner below that sentence and voila, you joined the our discord. I hardly recommend it to join just in case something like this happen again in the future.
That’s all I have to say, thank you for reading it~
If you enjoy the story, please leave a review in the Novelupdates. Thank you~
