“What are you doing, sweetheart?”
Berson’s voice interrupts Bella’s thoughts midway. Looking back, she sees Berson entering the balcony with a gentle smile as always. Bella also returns the smile with a greeting.
“Good afternoon, Brother Berson.”
“Good afternoon to you too. Are we ready for the session?”
Berson asks with raised brows in which Bella replies with a nod.
“Can we have our language session here, please? I really like the view.”
“Sure, why not?”
Berson agrees without hesitation which makes Bella smile broadly.
“However, it’s getting colder soon, so we won’t stay here for long, okay?”
Bella wants to pout but knowing that he is just worried about her, she nods in understanding. And just like everyday, their language session starts under the purple sky.
***
As the language session comes to an end, Berson closes the tab as Bella stretches. She’s quite satisfied with the learning speed. All thanks to her for knowing many different languages in her previous life, which are coming quite handy learning the language of this world. Although she still thinks her learning speed is just average, her brothers always praise her for being a quick-learner. According to them, her speed of learning was worse than average before. As an autistic child, her speed of learning can even be considered extraordinary. Certainly, they’re surprised at the sudden change of intelligence but they’ll be lying if they said they aren’t happy. As long as she can lead a normal life, they’re happy with whatever changes occur in the future.
“When will Eldest Brother be back?”
Bella asks as she stands up. Berson’s action, folding the blanket to take it back inside, paused. He can guess why Bella suddenly asked about Blake but he can’t be sure if he should tell the truth. Perhaps it will be better if Bella sees the situation herself.
“Yes. He’s back already.”
Berson didn’t explain further as to why Blake is early today. But his simple answer was enough to make Bella jump off in excitement.
“Really? Then let’s go inside.”
Before Berson could stop her, Bella almost rushes inside. Berson can only open his mouth to speak, but lets out a sigh instead. Bella’s health has also improved a lot for the past few days. She can now walk normally, although she will have trouble breathing if she runs a little. Even so, he’s glad that she can now walk around like a normal child and enjoy her life without anyone’s help.
Thinking about the bright future ahead, Berson leaves the balcony with a heap of blankets and pillows at hand.
***
The living room, where the three brothers, Blake, Brian and Blue are at, is filled with extreme tension. Although the brothers are sitting together, no one is talking, as if one single sound is enough to create a storm. Blake has a dejected expression on his face, and the other two’s expressions are also grim. Even Blue, the most cheerful among them, also has a thoughtful expression on his face.
“Ahem. So… now what?”
Brian, being unable to handle the silence anymore, opens his mouth with a cough.
Blake only glances at him for a brief moment before shaking his head.
“I don’t know. I haven’t thought of anything, yet.”
“Why didn’t you think before promising her?”
Brian asks again. He knows that his eldest brother is somewhat lazy and doesn’t care about many things. Still, it was irresponsible of him to promise something that he would never be able to keep, or have a hard time fulfilling. Sometimes, he wonders what goes through his mind.
“I didn’t know.” Blake replies with an exaggerating sigh.
“I’m not foolish enough to promise her something which I know is bad for her. But, how am I going to explain the situation to her now?”
“Just do as Berson advised. It’s better for you to explain the reason and coax her properly. She won’t be angry, I’m sure.”
Blake nods at his words, but can’t help but fall into contemplation the next second. He isn’t like Brian, who can coax anyone easily no matter how angry, upset or frustrated the person is with him. Unlike Brian, who has knack with good communication, Blake is a bit introverted and often can’t express himself well. He’s also terrible at decision making, and more than often finds himself stuck in situations he can’t come out of. Nevertheless, he loves his sister, and perhaps she’s the only one with whom he could behave naturally.
“Well, I think you are-”
“Brother!”
A pleasant voice suddenly rangs, breaking the tense atmosphere. Blake feels his body stiffening up as he looks to the living room door. Although he feels terrible to wish that it isn’t actually his sister but his mind playing tricks on him, it is none other than his sister, standing on the doorway of the living room with a bright smile. Blake swallows what he was about to say before calling to her.
“B-Bella. What brings you here?”
Bella almost runs to him in excitement. She has been waiting for so long! Although strawberries aren’t the favourite of her fruits, she still can’t wait to eat something humane again. She knows that in this era, where food is more expensive than anything, her brothers must be doing their hardest. Therefore, she’s happy as long as they fulfil her wish.
“Did you buy them?”
Bella asks with curious eyes, expectations overflowing from them. Blake stares at her blankly for a while before shakily reaching out to her.
“B-Bella… before that… I have something to say to you.”
Bella feels the smile vanishing from her face. Could it be, fruits are so expensive that even her brother couldn’t buy them? Or perhaps she was wrong. Perhaps her family isn’t as rich as she thought. Feeling disappointment filling inside her, she quickly shakes her head mentally and tries to cheer herself up. It’s okay if she can’t eat fruits. They already love her a lot. She’s thankful as long as they love her like this, and won’t ask anything extreme from them in the future.
“What’s wrong?”
Bella asks with a questioning look, hiding her disappointment. Blake takes her hands and holds them lightly before opening his mouth. He has decided; he would do as Berson told him to. Explain the situation to Bella and coax her well.
“Remember that I promised you to buy some fruits for you?”
Bella nods at his question as Blake explains further.
“Well, I don’t think… I can keep the promise…”
Blake says softly while looking at her, trying to find any traces of disappointment or sadness in her eyes. But Bella only tilts her head before asking.
“Okay. Is it because they are expensive?”
“What? No!”
Blake shakes his head like a rattle drum as he denies. Holding her hands firmly, he opens his mouth to explain.
“Bella, I’ll buy anything for you even if it throws me into a debt which I have to pay off working my whole life.”
Blake emphasized every word he spoke. He wants his sister to believe in him, rely on him and have a good impression on him. In the past, whenever he asked her if she wanted something, she never responded. Often he felt he was interacting with a doll, not a human being. No desire or wish for anything could be seen on her face; only a blank look, devoid of any life or human emotions. It was a great joy to him when Bella asked something from him for the first time. However, he was so unworthy of fulfilling even such a small wish of hers. Not only that, he even promised to do this not knowing if he would be able to keep the promise. Just thinking of her disappointed look, Blake feels as if someone is squeezing his heart.
“Bella, you know that we love you, right?”
Berson says as he rubs her small head. Bella looks up at him before nodding. She can’t understand what’s going on. The atmosphere has turned stiff, as if she has gone back to her previous life and is sitting in the board meeting with the directors. However, from the expression of her brothers, she’s sure they’re going to tell her something important but hesitating because they are worried she would be sad. Looking at every one of them, from Blake and Berson to Brian and Blue, who also have a serious expression, she can’t help but wonder what it can be that they’re afraid to tell her. Could it be that something happened to their parents?
“What’s going on?”
