IBYSRHML | Chapter 34

Episode 34

Liliana wasn’t the only one who witnessed Marius with those dark eyes.

Leopold, unsettled by the look in Marius’s eyes, went straight to find him.

“Didn’t you have a date planned with your little future sister-in-law?”

“I postponed it to the evening. I felt like I needed to see you first.”

“What’s going on?”

“Marius. I’m speaking to you not as a vassal who swore loyalty to you, but as a friend and as Edgar’s older brother. It’s time to stop being wary of Edgar. It’s an unpleasant sight.”

Marius’s eyebrow twitched.

Acting carelessly didn’t mean he was a careless person.

Beneath his cold, rigid gaze lay a weighty ruthlessness.

What Leopold had just said displeased the emperor, but he didn’t back down and pressed on.

“You’re Edgar’s guardian, his brother. He’s just a six-year-old child. You should stop thinking of him as if he were like your deceased brothers or uncle.”

“…….”

“Think of the late Princess Elizabeth. We promised her we’d be good brothers to him.”

“Enough. I don’t want to hear it.”

“Are you afraid of that little boy? Edgar is your brother.”

Marius’s expression sharpened.

Though he reined in his heightened nerves, the edge in his gaze remained.

There was a heavy wildness to him, the kind found only in those who had survived on blood.

Leopold, who had once stood beside him in protecting the throne, carried the same weight.

But Marius possessed a ferocity that even Leopold couldn’t imitate.

It was a ruthlessness born from having slaughtered his own blood.

His response was chilling enough to make even Leopold’s stomach drop.

“You can be the brother. I think it’s better that way.”

“Marius!”

“I don’t want to be betrayed by trust. If the child I raise with love one day turns a blade against me… I won’t be able to endure it a second time.”

The more affection he gave, the deeper the pain would be.

He didn’t want to be hurt ‘again.’

“End it with just me.”

The words, repeated hundreds, thousands of times, echoed through the air.

By now, he should have been used to it, but the feeling of his heart shattering all over again made Marius twist his lips into a bitter smile and shake his head.

“One day, he will inevitably point his blade at me.”

Some would give up even their future for their younger siblings.

But Marius knew he couldn’t be like Alice.

That was why he spoke frankly to Leopold, entrusting him to love Edgar in his stead.

However, if he had known that Edgar was listening behind the door, he would never have said those words.

***

Edgar had gone to find Marius, saying he wanted to learn swordsmanship from Alice.

But just as he reached the slightly open door, he heard his name.

Instead of knocking, he listened to the conversation.

If only a servant had been there to stop him, it would have been better.

But Leopold had sent everyone away.

“Hic… sniff…”

Edgar shed tears as big as raindrops under his blanket.

He had only two family members.

In place of his mother and father, Leopold and Marius were his everything.

But Leopold was always too busy, and Marius found him bothersome.

“So he never just found me annoying… he hated me?”

There was no way he would ever betray Marius.

Yet, overwhelmed by sorrow, Edgar cried as if his heart would give out.

No one was there to console him, no family to comfort him.

And no one in the palace would spare interest in a cousin whom the emperor wasn’t fond of.

No one—except for Liliana, who had come to play with him.

“Edgar! Let’s pla—…”

When her knock received no answer, Liliana abruptly swung the door open.

Since they often visited each other’s rooms as if they were their own, she figured she’d wait while playing with his toys.

But inside, Edgar, her dear subordinate, was crying alone.

“Why, why are you crying?!”

Startled, Liliana rushed to Edgar’s side.

He quickly pulled his blanket over his head, but it was useless.

“Did someone hit you? What happened…? What’s wrong?”

“Go away. I want to be alone. Hic, sniff.”

“Don’t cry, Edgar.”

Liliana gently patted him over the blanket.

The clumsy comfort of her small hand only made his sobs grow louder.

“Waaaah!”

“Are you hurt? Does your stomach ache? Do you have a fever?”

When her older sisters comforted her like this, she would always calm down.

But Edgar only cried harder.

Could he be injured? A broken leg was supposed to hurt a lot.

Worried, Liliana wriggled under the blanket.

It was dark inside, making it hard to see, but she still managed to reach Edgar’s face and fumbled to touch him.

“Edgar, are you in a lot of pain?”

“Waaah!”

“Don’t cry. I’m sorry, okay? Do you want me to blow on it? Should I call the doctor?”

What should I do? How do I fix this?

She had never seen Edgar cry like this before.

Even when he scraped his knee while playing, he would brush it off, saying a little wound was nothing.

Even when scolded, he would calmly promise not to repeat his mistake.

So now, Liliana was at a complete loss.

Panicked, she just threw her arms around him.

“Everything will be okay. I’ll tell Uncle François to make it stop hurting.”

So please, don’t cry.

Tears welled up in her eyes.

Sniffling, Liliana held onto Edgar tightly, refusing to let go.

Because her precious friend, her dear subordinate, needed comfort right now.

“Are you okay now?”

Edgar simply nodded.

He had cried so much his voice was hoarse, and his eyes felt too swollen to open.

At some point, even she had started crying too, leaving her nose stuffy.

‘Something must have happened.’

Just an hour ago, he had been excitedly watching sword training at the knights’ quarters.

Now, he was crying like this.

“…Don’t tell anyone I cried today.”

“Why not?”

“Just don’t.”

“Okay.”

“Promise.”

“I promise. I won’t tell anyone.”

“Good.”

After securing her promise, Edgar wiped his eyes with his sleeve.

Liliana fetched a tissue and carefully wiped away the tear tracks on his cheeks.

Edgar stared at her intently.

His green eyes held onto her so persistently that she blurted out without thinking.

“Why were you crying? Did you stub your toe on the door?”

“…I found out Marius hates me.”

“Marius?”

“Yeah. He doesn’t like me.”

Without hesitation, Liliana reached out and pulled Edgar into a tight hug.

Wrapping her arms around his neck, she held onto his small body, which still carried the salty scent of tears.

“Edgar. That must have hurt your heart.”

“…….”

“My brother is like that too.”

“You have a brother?”

“Yeah. My brother, Andrea, got tired of me and suddenly moved to the countryside one day. So even when I send letters, he doesn’t reply properly, and he doesn’t try to meet me.”

Andrea left for the countryside one day, all of a sudden.

I didn’t even have time to prepare myself for our separation—it just happened out of nowhere.

That was the first time in my life that I ever felt a sense of loss.

My older sisters never explained why Andrea left for the countryside.

Or rather, maybe they couldn’t.

After all, he couldn’t exactly say he hated looking after his younger sibling when he was at the age to start his own family.

“Aren’t you sad that you don’t have parents?”

“I love my sisters, but still, it would be nice if I had a mom and dad. What about you, Edgar?”

“Me too. I wish at least my mother were here.”

Edgar buried his face in the nape of my neck.

Maybe it comforted him that we were in the same situation, because he wrapped his arms around my back and held me tight.
His tears dampened my shoulder.

“Do you resent your brother?”

“On Father’s Day at kindergarten, all my friends came with their dads, but my brother came in my dad’s place. I was really happy then, you know? So I like my brother.”

“You’re such a fool.”

“I only have my sisters and my brother, so I don’t have a choice.”

Without parents, my sisters and brother are everything to me.

From the moment my memories began, they were always there by my side.

That’s why, in my six-year-old life, my brother and sisters were like my parents.

Even though he left for the countryside because I was a nuisance to him… I really loved the time we spent together.

The day we shared an umbrella and watched snails in the garden on a rainy day—that was one of the best days of my life.

When my brother held me in his arms and read me fairy tales, the warmth I felt on my back was comforting.
So no matter how my brother feels about me now, I have no choice but to love Andrea.

Because for a child like me, those moments were the brightest days of being loved.

“Edgar. If Uncle Marius doesn’t love you, then I’ll love you that much more.”

Since we were holding each other, I couldn’t see what kind of expression Edgar was making.

But I knew exactly how much his heart must be aching right now.

Because we were in similar situations, I understood it better than anyone.

That’s why his tears felt as sorrowful as if they were my own.

“I wish you wouldn’t hurt. Don’t cry, Edgar.”

Edgar’s small body trembled.

A deep breath—whether it was a sigh or something else—tickled my cheek.

His arms, slightly longer than mine, tightened around me with more strength than before.

I gently patted his back.

I hoped that after crying today, Edgar would wake up tomorrow and play with me as if nothing had happened.