Today was Christmas. It is a day to exchange gifts and spend happy time with family and lovers. A small Christmas tree was placed in our house to celebrate Christmas. Thanks to the decorations I bought at the party supply store, it was very flashy even without a light bulb. Today, there were a lot of people having a party with their acquaintances. However, Yuria and I decided to have dinner together instead of gathering together to end the day.
As it was a gift-giving day, I shared presents with several people. The gift I prepared was a specially made ballpoint pen. Unlike the ones sold in the market, the name of the recipient is engraved with a pretty pattern. I gave it to Yuria and the store staff, and gave one to my acquaintances and the children in the neighborhood. Seeing the people who received the gift smile makes me happy too. Of course, it wasn’t just giving. I received as many gifts as I was given a ballpoint pen. The thing I liked the most was the pink scarf Yuria gave me. Of course, all the gifts from others were good, but not as good as hers.
Time passed quickly and it was already evening. I flopped on the sofa, fiddling with the one remaining gift box. This was a present I prepared for Isley. He had always been around me, but he didn’t show up at all like today. I went to his house, but there was no answer even if I knocked whether he was out of the house.
It was late in the evening when he appeared, who had been missing. Dinner was already over, and I was spending my time doing what I wanted to do until I went to bed. I was getting ready to go out to put Isley’s gift in the mailbox.
I wore a pink scarf and a thick coat. He came to our house just in time and hesitated as if he had something to say. So I said let’s go for a walk and went out with him. Because I thought Isley would be able to talk comfortably with only the two of us. After walking silently for a while, Isley stopped in a rare place. Embarrassed, he pulled a gift out of the pocket of his coat.
“Merry Christmas.”
A yellow ribbon was tied to a black box. As I took the gift, he whispered softly.
“Is it too late?”
“It’s not too late. It wasn’t past 12 o’clock. It’s still Christmas.”
“… Actually, I wanted to give you a present before everyone else. But I was worried that you might not like the gift, so it took me a while.”
He smiled embarrassedly. Why were you so worried? Whatever was in it, I was sure to receive it with pleasure. When it comes to gifting, isn’t it more important to think about the gift for the other person than the item itself?
“Can I open it?”
Isley nodded. I untied the ribbon and opened the box. Inside was a beautiful silver necklace. At the end of the necklace was a jewel in the shape of a water droplet. The gem had a color closer to red than pink, which I really liked. I opened my mouth to reassure Isley, who was scanning my face with concern.
“It’s pretty. Thank you, Isley.”
Then his expression brightened.
“I have something to give you.”
I took a present from my coat pocket and handed it to Isley. Isley looked down at the object in surprise. He asked in disbelief.
“… Are you giving it to me?”
“Yes.”
“Not to anyone else, but to me?”
“Yes, it’s a present for Isley.”
“Isn’t this a dream?”
Saying so, Isley pinched his cheek. As his cheeks flushed, he let go of his hand and muttered that it wasn’t a dream. Did Isley think I wouldn’t give him a present? He acted like someone who never expected to receive a gift from me. Isley cautiously handed the gift and bowed his head.
“Thanks….”
Then something started falling from his face. Transparent water droplets fall on the floor. For a moment, I thought my eyes were wrong.
Isley was crying.
“… Are you crying?”
“No, no, I don’t cry.”
Isley covered my face with her large hands. There was water in his voice. Even if he says he’s not crying with that voice, no one will believe you. Why did you suddenly burst into tears? What did my gift mean to him? It’s just sad that Isley is crying. So I patted his arm lightly.
“Don’t cry.”
“I’m not crying….”
“Lie. you’re crying. Be honest.”
“… Yes cry! I’m crying…”
“Why…?”
“I am so glad that you gave me a present….”
Isley sobbed.
“Layla, I never thought I would get a present from you. To you, I’m just an annoying and scary person. I’m an annoying person who persists in chasing after you even if you say you don’t like it. Thank you for giving me a present.”
“… Raise your head.”
“I don’t want to show my face right now. I must have been ugly because I cried.”
“It’s okay, so hurry up.”
Isley raised his face to my words.
What ugly? He was proud of his handsome appearance as usual.
The only difference is that the corners of the eyes and nose are dyed red.
I took a deep breath and opened my mouth.
“Now I know. That Isley isn’t a scary person. In fact, I knew it a long time ago. Isley, will Isley threaten me or Yuria?”
“No…”
“Are you going to threaten me?”
“No.”
“Are you going to hit me?”
“No! I never do that. I won’t forgive anything that hurts you! Even if it’s me…!”
“Yes. I know. So I’m not afraid of Isley.”
“……”
“Sometimes I thought I was annoyed by Isley who followed me. Very rarely. Most of our time together… I thought it was fun. Otherwise, how could I have talked so much with you? Now I think of Isley as a friend.”
“Friend…?”
“Yeah, a friend.”
Isley looked down at me.
“Sorry for being late. I was wrong. So stop crying.”
The watery red eyes glowed white. It reminded me of a sunlit water surface, a red jewel kept precious in a jewel box. For the first time, I thought Isley’s eyes were beautiful. There were times when I thought it was red as blood, but it was the first time I felt this kind of emotion. Isley’s eyes were so beautiful that it was inevitable that I suddenly wanted to touch them. When I woke up, I was holding Isley’s cheek.
I bit my lip at the warmth felt through the palm of my hand.
You’re crazy, Layla.
These days I’m really weird. Aren’t you behaving like a person who’s fussed like a human because I can’t reach Isley? It was, and still is, when Shelly disappeared. I can’t stop, even though I know that this behavior will make him misunderstood.
“… I’m sorry for touching you.”
I tried to let go.
At that moment, Isley’s hand wrapped around mine.
“Please continue….”
His jewel-like eyes looked straight at me.
“Stay like this.”
“… Ah.”
A drop of tears that had been pooling in his eyes ran down the line of his face.
He’s so moved that he cry just because he received a gift.
Just by touching my hand, his face glows as red as the brightly colored eyes. He is terrified and afraid of a girl who can’t even make a shallow wound to herself.
What is love?
What the heck is it to break such a huge and strong man helplessly? What is it that makes a man who is not afraid of the world tremble, and makes a man who has always had an arrogant smile cry? Is it to inspire a man who used to be funny to everyone?
I don’t know.
All I know is the love of family. I know the love that makes them feel stable and warm when they are with each other. But love between a man and a woman is not well known. They do not know the love of giving up all that one has for others, the love that asserts that you can do anything for that person, the love that makes you want to touch each other.
Up until this point, I had never been in love with a man. I fell in love with a man I met through a friend’s introduction and promised to marry him, but I never loved him. The reason I chose the man was simply because I thought that if I was with him, I would manage to live happily ever after. Good looks, friendly personality. His occupation was stable as a 7th grade civil servant. He was a good person to live with.
After meeting three times, we started dating naturally like flowing water. They dated, laughed, chatted, and slept just like any other couple. And after a year, we promised to get married. I thought that was enough. But it seems that man wasn’t good enough.
– It’s all because of you! The reason I met another woman was all because of you…!
The man who promised to marry me cried like that and wept. He said it was all my fault for not loving him. He blamed me and justified himself.
– Yes… Cheating is not normal. do you think you did well
Then I got angry.
I told him not to make cowardly excuses because the reason he cheated was because I wasn’t good enough. I shouted that you were all wrong and that you were the only one who was wrong. But when I think about it, there was one thing that wasn’t wrong.
Yes, that’s right. As he said, I don’t know love.
I’ve never loved anyone else.
I love Yuria, but I don’t know what Isley is talking about.
I don’t know the feeling of wanting to give everything I have, to touch, to kiss, and to spend the night together. I read and reread a lot of romance novels, so I know what they are in theory, but in the end I don’t know.
I just expect it to be a different feeling from loving my family.
But.
“… Do you like me?”
Looking at Eisley, I felt like I knew what love was.
“… Uh. That.”
A little, but
“I really like you.”
I seemed to know
Is that why?
I suddenly had a thought.
The thought that one day, I might fall in love with this man who bursts into tears over an insignificant gift.
I didn’t know why I thought that way. Perhaps the warmth in my hand made me dream of sweet fantasies like romance novels.
I looked at the sky that spread out over there.
The stars twinkled beautifully in the black winter sky.
Soon winter will pass and spring will come.
The white snow melts, and the chilly winter wind will come to you as a warm floral scent. At that time, an uninvited guest who came to me in the middle of winter might one day turn into the boy I love.
Masters Are You Going To Imprison My Sister?
-Side Story End-
Thank you so much…
Uwahhhh the story was an emotional roller-coaster it was so good!!!! Thank you for translating this novel i dunno why i really wishes to see them go from this to actually getting married but still very nice warm ending i love it very much and again thank you very much for translating this novel!!
ah i really sobbed hard through out this story it was like it was written to my taste im really happy for yuria and mc finding a life and maybe love in their new home, isley cherishing children the way that he was never cherished as a child, layla healing from trauma of two life times and learning to open up and love someone who used to spark fear in her but was willing to change and better himself to prove that he loved her. When yuria and layla talked to the count and ossen about their “love” i really felt the author’s intent about love and even how some love in media is portrayed and the love in this novel is both fantastical yet real.
Isley was always my favorite, he had a personality i tended to love. That shattered when he SA-ed layla with that kiss, but i forgave him a tiny bit in my heart when i saw how badly it hurt him too. The psychological scarring of realizing he did something irreversibly terrible to someone he claimed to love. But when he apologized to layla and immediately tried to set her free upon realizing the situation she was in unlike the other two I really forgave him in my heart already but what layla said was right. Even if they dated there will always be a power imbalance, a fear and trauma.
Isley would always have to throw everything away. To learn to love, to heal from the neglect of his mother, to live. Truly live without regrets without being tied down by the past. To move on from his trauma and live a good life. By leaving that mansion he already did so much, and he’s even healing himself in a way the bitter feelings that comes from seeing someone you appreciate and are close to being happy with something you could never have… I understand too well the sobbing and crying nights, the resentment towards friends i claimed to love when they complained about their parents.
It’s an unbearable guilt, one you’d rather try to justify your self having than realize how terrible it really is.
Isley is stronger than me for holding it, for being happy for vincent, relieved for shelly, and grief-ridden by his own family.
I would have liked to know what became of Arthur in the side stories but it seems this is the end.
I had a thought while reading that Ossen probably stayed in that mansion to rot just like the original and took over when his mother died or wanted to retire, his efforts to please her following him to political marriage, then to his children, and then the grave.
Arthur probably had his own form of a wake up call when he woke up the next day and found his younger brother leaving, without a last name and barely a plan. He must of thought that he was crazy to leave everything(to leave mother) for a maid? But deep down he was afraid to realize that he wanted this too. He wanted to leave like Isley did, to get away and he was scared that this might have been the first time he felt this. Maybe he asked Isley what gave him the willpower? Isley said it was love, but looked at his brother again the one he quarreled with the most and told him that as a final push he asked mother if her feelings had changed from 11 years ago.
Eyes trembling Arthur asked if they had, despite knowing the answer already. Isley smiled bitterly shaking head, “The only way we can be happy is if we leave. Learn to live without it.” the words “mother’s love” tacitly left out of the conversation before he left for hte information guild and then to a boat to a far off country. Most likely to never see his brothers again.
and I think What if this is it for Arthur? He visits his mother, she acts the same as she always does, and he asks her if she ever even humored the idea of loving him.
She looks at him for a while and shakes her head no. “Are you leaving as well? for that maid.” She asked not really caring about the answer.
Arthur would shake his head and smiled at the thought of Isley ‘I’m leaving because of love!’ no he didn’t deserve to pursue someone who already knew about the root of his affections, much less fight with his brother over something that would never be his; not again.
and he tells his mother that he’ll join the magic tower. and after a moment’s hesitance he asks that the one thing he must bring with him would be orange the cat of the manor. For once he sees his mother’s surprised expression, and arthur almost feels elated he caused an emotion in his mother for once.
Belatedly realizing how pathetic that must be.
She allows it, of course, and Ossen is saing good bye to another brother. This time it’s Arthur who tries to give final words to his brother in a similar way that Isley did for him. As we know this doesnt work.
I like to think that arthur heals and becomes happy working at the tower with his cat and the realization that like Isley with swoardsmanship he really only studied magic for his mother’s approval of him being a genius. Unlike Isley he realizes that he really does love magic. And He’s happy studying and learning about it practically everyday and interacting with like-minded people and maybe he forms a found family and finds happiness.
Later in life he’ll have to deal with Ossen and probably try to be a good uncle to his future niece or nephew to make up for Ossen. But I think he will live happily.
those are just my thoughts I hope anyone who read this enjoyed and felt the immense happiness and semi closure of this novel i truly enjoyed it!
thank you translator byoun, you have good taste.
Wow… I really love how you had made a short fanfic of what to be expected of the two since I also wanted to know how they’e been and will be fairing in the future. It is so detailed and you really have a potential for story-telling!!! Thank you for that! Thank you, Byoun as well!
Thank you SO MUCH coraliacries for the short story at the end – that was SUCH a great way for this to end! It really played seamlessly into the themes of the novel about what love means and moving on from your traumas and healing yourself instead of depending on someone else to heal them. This novel was NOT what I thought it was going to be and SO much better!
Hoping to read your fanfic for this story in ao3 🙏
Thank you so much for translating this novel. ❤️
I love the side stories so much! This was definitely a good read. Thank you Byoun for translating this novel. ♡^^
@CORALIACRIES I love the short fanfic you did. It’s very probable and logical. But most importantly, it adds a little bit more sweetness to this very tragedic plot. Sure, there’s sweetness in the ending, but I must say that this started as one of the most heartbreaking plots I’ve read in a while. And I must say… as a tragedy lover, I have a very dark mind. Nonetheless, I love what the translator did. You made this story POP and successfully conveyed the plot in the most expressive way. Thank you for your hard work. You’ve made my day.
Thank you for the translation. I really like this novel ❤
Muchas gracias por la traducción 💙✨💙✨💙
thanks so much to everyone who liked my typo ridden semi fanfic i made in tears AHAHAHA it means a lot i love this story i re-visted it because it’s really left a mark on me and i was so happy and touched to see how many people liked my idea on what happened to the brothers at the end
I wanted to elaborate a little on Ossen
I think that he’d live in that mansion with his mother trying so hard to please her till he’s almost past marriageable age. She might sign him off into a political marriage. She doesn’t care about him but Arthur and Isley leaving does have her actually look at Ossen in a lesser light since he still clings to her.
So she makes sure that at least her husband’s legacy will go on and arranges a marriage that Ossen is both sad and happy about because well his mother arranged it of course he’s happy! but he’s upset that he has to marry someone that doesn’t interest him.
When his mother dies he’s going to be ruined and more fucked up than he was before. Arthur tries to talk to him also saddened by the death, Ossen’s wife and kids pretend they can’t hear the carnage. They’re used to being ornaments that don’t matter as much as Ossen’s mother.
I feel for the poor girl he marries she’ll most likely be excited even if he’ll be older he’s still a good looking guy who’s part of a great family and then have her light extinguished by him quick.
She’ll give birth to a daughter and then a son to secure the heir, and both siblings will be miserable because of their cold father repeating the mistakes of their mother, be cause he chose to never heal from her mistakes. They’d find much more joy in their mother and the infrequent visits of their Uncle Arthur who’s more of a dad to them than Ossen will ever be.
Maybe one day Ossen will look at the mirror in his old age when death is closer and realize it was all for nothing.
After all these years and all this time, his wife went before him and his children resent him. He’s never heard a peep from his brother Isley, remembering their interactions and even the two maids that they chased… well just one and he’d smile remembering those memories of his youth. Arthur the only one who’d have stuck with him trying to help him move on, has given up because Ossen will love his mother to his grave….
He still visits for holidays and special occasions, “because you’re my brother.” He laughs with Ossen one day, “I realized the importance of family when I found mine. We’re not blood related but they’re just as important to me.” He would have never done this before, but Ossen knows it’s cause he’s matured and grown in a world that past the need for their mother, and… that they only really have each other left.
But at the end of the day when his final breath comes to pass and he sees the eyes of his son and daughter as indifferent as his mother’s. He realized that the unconditional love shown by his brother was the only familial love he’d ever experience in his life… And it was all his fault he accepts this and dies in the same house his mother died in.
Arthur cries. The kids shed their own tears in a bitter sweet way.
He’d live, die and rot in that mansion. Despite everything he could have done to change it.
well, Ossen never meet Isley but maybe Arthur? I mean Arthur may somehow meet Isley. Btw thank for the fanfic, i wish there is another side story of Arthur.
Love the character development. I really enjoyed the story more than I would’ve expected. ♥♥♥
I probably will not forget this great novel😭😭❤️❤️ thank you so much for giving us a chance to read this and for being patience in translating this piece of masterpiece. I love u❤️❤️❤️ and I loveee you isley and lala!!!
I’ve become attached to this novel, I don’t want to let go😭😭 I hope to transmigrate here huhuhu charot hahah pero what if Diba? Saken nalang si Arthur huyy hahahaha kimi
Muito obrigada pela tradução, foi realmente incrível o desenvolvimento de Isley. A fic foi como um alívio pra quem pensou que os dois irmãos ficaram trancados naquela mansão, apenas esperando “amor”. No começo pensei que Osses por ser o mais velho e o que mais sabia sobre como a mãe era, seria o primeiro a sair, ou mesmo o segundo. Mas seguindo a fic, realmente faz muito sentido ele ficar pra trás e esperar.
IM SOBBING RN😭😭😭EUEU🥺 EUE EUE EU🥺🥺
THIS STORY WAS A EMOTIONAL ROLLERCOASTER. THANK YOU SM FOR TRANSLATING❤️❤️❤️
I can’t stand bitter endings so I’m going to believe that Isley and Layla meet again in the future once they’re more emotionally stable and marry fr fr🥺🥺🤭🤭
And for Yuria, I think she’ll end up with a girl. The Count has traumatized her to the point she can’t love a man. (Her name isn’t YURIa for nothin’ 😉😉)
I really liked the other’s fanfics for Arthur and Ossen. I love the idea of Arthur leaving his mother to become a magician(and bringing Orange as well🥺). I also believe Ossen will stay with his mother but I want him to have a happy ending too!! I think he’ll be a great father, because he is an older brother. He filled in the role of their absent father to his younger siblings. Therefore, he won’t commit the same mistakes his mother did.
I’m so emotional 😭 This novel did something in my heart and left me with many feelings. I love love love the depth of the characters in this story. How they dealed with their trauma and how they are trying and learning to heal from their pain. Of course, it’s not going to be easy, and it’s never going to be, but they’re still going to do it. I love Layla, Yuria, and Isley so much.
I love their growth. Even the rest of the brothers, I’ve grown to care too, especially Arthur. I love the side story, how it continues to expand the story and develop the characters more and introduce new ones, adding more life to this world and that there is more to this world than the mansion they were initially in. I have always liked Isley since he was introduced, and the growth he had shown especially in the side story is so heartwarming to see.
I hadn’t expected much when I first read this story, only that I knew that it had good reviews but I was still skeptical, because I was afraid it was going to be somewhat one dimensional but I was very WRONG. This novel is almost everything I want to read in this kind of stories. The depth, the angst, the trauma, the conflict, but the healing.
Now, I’m just word vomiting, I’ll stop now and I’ll write a proper review in novelupdates as soon as I get my sanity back. I LOVE THIS NOVEL.
Thanks for the translation.
Isley’s evolution enchanted me, he deserves to reach Lyla’s heart, in fact, he already has it
🌬🌬🌬🌬🌬🌬🌬🌬🌬🌬🌬🌬