“Aw, how dependable. Eila will trust only her little big brother.”
I smiled sweetly again, then turned my attention back to the book I was reading.
My desk was now piled with dozens of books, leaving little space for anything else.
“So, I hear you’ve been glued to your books all day today.”
“Yeah. There’s some magic I want to look at.”
Nita picked up one of the stacked books, flipped through it, and then frowned as he put it back down.
“Big brother is worried about you Eila. You’re always cooped up at home studying that darn magic. Other girls your age would be busy preparing for social events.”
“I’m not interested in those things.”
“But someday, you’ll have to get married and all. If you’re too absorbed in magic like this, you might miss out on a woman’s happiness…”
“How would my second older brother know what a woman’s happiness is when you’re a man?”
When I asked with my eyes narrowed, Nita’s face turned red.
I heard someone chuckle behind me.
“Looks like brother got hit.”
It was Aslan, my third brother, right above me. He was only two years older than me.
Aslan was currently studying at the Imperial Academy of Magic in the capital, and had been at the top of his class for several years.
He was a handsome boy who fit the description of a nobleman, with a cool, noble air and somewhat feminine beauty that was different from Nita’s.
“Eila, unlike second older brother, inherited the strong bloodline of the family. It would be a waste for her to live as an ordinary woman.”
Aslan walked over and glanced through the book over my head.
“Are you studying protective barriers?”
“Yep. Security is more important to a mage than anything else, so I want to learn how to personally set up and reinforce barriers.”
“Even though this mansion already has an imperial-level defensive barrier?”
“That’s a barrier to prevent intrusion from outside the mansion. I need a spell for my room so no one can break in but me.”
“Why?”
Nita interjected, curious to know more.
“Because I have secrets I want to protect and like what second older brother said, I’m a young lady at the right age.”
“You said you weren’t interested in those things earlier…”
Nita grumbled in frustration.
“Second older brother doesn’t understand because he’s not a mage. It won’t hurt to learn in advance, considering the day when she has her own official workshop.”
“As always, big brother Aslan, you have a way with words.”
Aslan chuckled and ruffled my hair.
Upon seeing that, an expression of dissatisfaction appeared on Nita’s face.
“What’s this? You call Aslan by name, but with me, it’s always ‘second older brother’ You don’t have to remind me every time that I’m the second-born.”
(TL/N: She calls Aslan ‘아슬란 오빠’ something like big brother Aslan and calls Nita ‘작은 오라버니’ like I said in the previous chapter it means second older brother or older male siblings but not the oldest. Are u confused? Me too.)
Aslan frowned faintly at Nita’s ramblings.
“Second older brother, act your age.”
“But it’s not fair. I have a name, too.”
Our mother died early, leaving me the only girl in my family.
As a result, my father and my three brothers were all terribly coddling. Perhaps because of that, my father and three older brothers doted on me excessively.
However, while the rest of the family tended to be emotionally distant, Nita was quite open and passionate about expressing affection.
“But if I call Aslan ‘big brother’, it might get confusing…”
(TL/N: ‘작은 오라버니’)
“Well, that’s a problem that can be solved if you call him youngest brother.”
I smiled wryly.
“Okay, I got it. From now on, I’ll call Aslan ‘youngest older brother’. Is that fine?”
(TL/N: She called him ‘막내 오빠’ or youngest older brother.)
“…….”
Nita’s expression seemed to convey that it wasn’t what he had in mind.
Aslan looked visibly annoyed.
“Why are you bringing up unnecessary things and dragging me into this?”
“Well, it’s unfair, that’s the truth…”
“Anyway, that’s the problem with you, second older brother. There’s a reason why father doesn’t like you.”
“Hey, why are you suddenly bringing up father here?”
Nita and Aslan quickly began to squabble.
Due to their contrasting personalities, they were the brothers who frequently clashed the most.
“Phew, stop it, both of you. If you keep doing that, I’m going to tell father.”
After I interrupted, the two finally stopped fighting.
Aslan turned his back, grumbling, and glared at Nita with a cold gaze.
“Anyway, Eila. If you have questions while you’re studying, feel free to ask me. I’ll tell you everything I know.”
“Yes, thank you, Big brother Aslan.”
I smiled sweetly.
“Again, only to that guy!”
Nita rolled his eyes.
I couldn’t help but giggle at his uncharacteristic cuteness.
“Okay, I got it. I’ll call you Big brother Nita, too.”
“…You should have done that from the beginning.”
Nita let out a quiet cough. Aslan still seemed slightly displeased.
Leaving my two brothers staring at each other, I was lost in thought again.
‘Actually, it would be better to ask father than brother Aslan….’
But of course that would be too risky.
My father, Julion, was a wizard who had risen to the pinnacle of the empire and was extremely cautious and thorough.
For now, he considered me his youngest daughter and kept me off his radar, but there was no guarantee that would always be the case.
To safely release Clyde from here, no amount of caution seemed enough.
***
That night, I infiltrated Father’s laboratory once again.
Unlike the workshop, the lab was hidden deep in the manor’s basement, behind a secret door. It was to avoid any exposure to the outside world, especially since there were many delicate experiments being conducted.
One of those experiments was, of course, the human experiment involving Clyde.
My father had kept Clyde’s existence a secret, even from the Emperor.
In the original story. He reported that Clyde was summarily disposed of because he resisted in the process of arresting him.
So, aside from my father, I was the only one who knew that Clyde was imprisoned here.
“I saved your mother.”
At my words, Clyde’s eyes widened as if he couldn’t believe it.
“…really? Is that true?”
“Yes. She’s in a safe place now, so you can rest easy.”
The brooch that I handed to Hena actually had a pair.
It was a magic tool that when infused with mana it shows the location of the person holding the other half.
As I checked before coming to Clyde, Hena had arrived safely in Gosanjer.
If she followed the instructions in the letter, she would cross the border in two days. It was safe to say that she would be 100% safe from then on.
Clyde’s face lit up with excitement for a moment, but then his expression hardened.
“How do I know you’re telling the truth?”
“Peanut pumpkin pie.”
Clyde’s eyes narrowed slightly at the word, as if it were a code word.
“What?”
“I heard it from your mother. She said it’s your favorite food.”
“…….”
“She used to make it every Sunday, and occasionally, if you did something worthy of praise, she would make it again just for you and that you liked it so much, you could eat it for three meals a day-.”
“When did my mother tell you that? Fine, I believe you. Just stop.”
Clyde cut me off, his face faintly flushed. I opened the basket I brought.
“I brought you something to eat, since they’re obviously not going to give you a proper meal.”
“…….”
“Oh, just in case you’re looking forward to it, there’s no peanut pumpkin pie. Actually, I’ve never eaten that food before.”
“…Okay. Who asked for it? Just stop talking about that damn pumpkin pie.”
Clyde grumbled with an irritated expression.
I tilted my head in confusion.
‘Why is he acting like that? Does he not actually like it?’
I spread out the cloth and laid out the food in front of us. But Clyde was reluctant to touch the food.
“What’s wrong, you’re not hungry?”
“…….”
“Or maybe you think I put something strange in it?”
Seeing him flinch, I seemed to hit the nail.
I took a small piece of food and popped it into my mouth in front of him.
Watching me chew the bread, drink the soup, and eat the cake stimulated Clyde’s appetite.
He slowly reached for bread.
At first, he took a cautious bite, but then his eyes changed and he started shoving it into his mouth.
