As I thought up to there and glanced at my sister, I saw her with a pale complexion.
“……”
My sister must have known as well. What the Emperor’s proposal meant for the Obelton family.
And the disadvantages the Obelton family would face if they refused it.
“Sigh.”
I quietly sighed and removed my gaze from my sister.
I understood Ian’s plan to persuade my sister well enough.
But seeing my sister now, I suddenly questioned whether it was the right thing to do.
I’ll have to talk with my sister about this later.
That was when I reached that conclusion.
“There’s no problem with that. His Majesty said to allow the Obelton family enough time to think before answering.”
Lilia, brushing through her pink hair, slightly pulled up the corners of her mouth and smiled.
It was somewhat new to see her smile, as she had always maintained a business-like expression.
“That’s a relief.”
Though there was little change in his expression, Ian’s voice seemed softer, suggesting he felt relieved.
“I will leave the proposal here for now. I will come back soon, so please make your decision by then.”
“Understood.”
Lilia, who had been holding the proposal, placed it on the table and stood up with impeccable posture.
Every aspect of her demeanor was perfect, as if she had memorized an entire book of manners.
I found myself thinking she seemed like the very model of nobility, almost involuntarily.
“Then, I shall take my leave now. I hope to hear from you soon.”
It was Lilia’s calm voice that snapped me out of my shallow reverie.
After finishing her words, she promptly left the drawing room.
As soon as the door closed and her figure disappeared from view, the air in the drawing room became noticeably heavier.
“…….”
“…….”
Since no one else spoke, I found myself also pressing my lips together tightly.
Is this what being surrounded by fragile glass that could shatter at the slightest touch feels like?
What should I say…
“Sir.”
While I was deep in thought, my mother cautiously called my sister.
“……”
My sister didn’t respond.
Unable to wait any longer, in the moment my mother reached out to grab my sister’s hand,
Thud!
A quite loud friction noise filled the living room.
“……!”
I blinked my eyes in surprise a couple of times. It was the first time my sister had rejected my mother, so I was taken aback.
And after a little while, my concern for my sister grew larger than my initial confusion. It was because my sister, who always acted on her convictions, now had the eyes of a cornered mouse.
“……I want to be alone.”
After speaking slowly, my sister quickly ran out of the living room. So precariously that I was worried she might fall.
“Should I go after her?”
As my concern didn’t easily fade, I asked, but my mother shook her head firmly.
“No. Let’s leave her be.”
“But like that…!”
“Seri. This is something Ser has to cope with. We can’t take on that burden for her.”
“……”
I found myself unable to find any more words to say and closed my mouth.
My mother was right.
This was something my sister had to solve, and there was nothing I could do for her in her stead.
My mother checked on Ian, who seemed to be lost in deep thought, then stared at the firmly closed door.
“All we can do now is wait, my dear.”
That’s all there was to it. Softly adding that at the end, my mother turned to me and offered a faint smile.
I agreed with my mother’s words that my sister needed time. Still, I didn’t want to leave my sister alone in this situation because the last time I saw her, she looked so precarious.
“*Sigh.*”
Having softly sighed in front of my sister’s bedroom, I carefully clenched my hand into a fist.
Knock, knock. After knocking a couple of times and waiting for a response to no avail, it was clear that no answer was coming from inside.
“Sister. If you’re there, please answer me.”
Unable to bear the extended silence any longer, I called out to my sister first.
It had already been 3 days since my sister went into her bedroom and hadn’t come out. So, I couldn’t help but worry.
According to the servants, she was regularly eating her meals… Yet, I couldn’t help feeling anxious. Was I overreacting?
“Sister.”
After calling out to my sister a few more times in a stern tone, I finally opened the door and went in myself.
Then, I saw my sister sitting in front of the desk, smiling happily while writing something. When she saw me, she looked startled and quickly cleared the desk.
What’s going on?
“Se, Seri, is that you? What brings you here?”
***
At the sight of such inexplicably odd behavior, my moment of confusion was soon replaced by a flood of other thoughts due to my sister urgently opening her mouth.
“What brings you here?”
I was flabbergasted. How many times had I called her from outside the door? Surely she couldn’t have failed to hear all of them.
And now she asks me what I’m doing here? Is that really her question now? When I asked back with an edge to my voice, my sister’s lips firmly closed.
Probably because she had nothing to say.
“Do you know how worried I was about you? You left the living room so abruptly a few days ago, I was worried you might be crying somewhere, suffering alone, how worried I was…!”
My voice became choked with emotion and trailed off.
I nearly raised my voice in front of my sister. Biting my lips tightly, I looked down.
The days of worry about my sister, who had confined herself, felt wasted, yet I also felt relieved that she wasn’t as troubled as I had feared.
“…?”
As I was engulfed in these contradictory feelings and bowed my head, a warm arm cautiously embraced my shoulders.
Surprised by the sudden gesture, I looked up with wide eyes, only to find my sister gazing at me tenderly.
“You were really worried about me, Seri.”
At those words from my sister, I couldn’t help but let a stream of tears fall.
I didn’t even know why I was crying.
“I know too well what it’s like to cry alone, so I was even more, more… worried about you.”
My sister understood me despite my increasingly jumbled pronunciation and stroked my head.
“So, you’ve grown up, our Seri.”
“But why, why won’t you answer when I call you? It makes me worry more, sob.”
“Ah. That is…….”
As if there was something she couldn’t say, my sister trailed off and closed her mouth.
Yet, I was trying to control the sudden surge of sadness, so I couldn’t afford to pay attention to that much.
After barely managing to stop crying, I told my sister,
“I promise I won’t make you worry from now on.”
“…….”
“Quickly.”
I thought she would immediately agree, but, unexpectedly, my sister gave no response.
When I slightly lifted my head, which had been buried in my sister’s shoulder, to check on her, I saw she had a bewildered expression on her face.
Huh?
Just as I was starting to feel suspicious about her inexplicable expression, my sister eventually regained her composure and replied with a shaky smile.
“Of course,” she said lightly. The skepticism that was brimming over amusingly dissipated with just one succinct answer from my sister.
“Thank you for promising.”
“It’s nothing, really. In fact, I’m the one who’s so-…!”
“?”
My sister, about to add something more, hastily closed her mouth.
I frowned at the sight of my sister’s green eyes, which had been suspiciously flickering since earlier.
In response, my sister awkwardly stretched her lips out more.
“Uh, it’s nothing.”
Nothing at all. I quietly repeated the words my sister uttered as if trying to convince me. Thanks to that, I could no longer view my sister with suspicion.
It was while I was nestled in my sister’s arms that I suddenly remembered one of the reasons I came to her—the Emperor’s proposal.
“Right, sister.”
“Hm?”
“What are you going to do about the Emperor’s proposal?”
“Well…”
At my question, my sister’s clear eyes became filled with depth, becoming murky as if swallowed by fog.
“I don’t really want to talk about that right now.”
The only response I could give to my sister, who firmly drew the line, was just one.
“Alright.”
As Mother said, even if the emperor’s proposal was a big deal for the family, the person involved was my sister.
Therefore, it was right to leave her be, as she wished. There was no need to add unnecessary words.
“Can I come again tomorrow?”
I changed the subject as my sister wished.
However, for some reason, my sister’s expression showed no signs of improvement.
After hesitating for a moment, my sister squeezed out a subdued voice a few seconds later.
“…Alright.”
***
The next day, my plan to visit my sister for a chat after dinner, just like yesterday, fell through. This was because Lilia, who said she would come back in a few days, arrived in the afternoon.
“Seri. Go and call Ser.”
“Yes, Mother.”
Following Mother’s instruction, I went to my sister’s bedroom. Perhaps because I had some conversation with my sister yesterday, my steps felt infinitely lighter than before.
“Sister.”
Having arrived at my sister’s bedroom before I knew it, I stood at the door and called out to her.
However, just like yesterday, there was no response from inside today as well.
Maybe because I experienced this situation yesterday, I wasn’t as worried as I was then.
“There’s no answer, so I’ll just come in.”
I made that announcement and placed my hand on the doorknob. Then, click, I opened the door.
“……?”
As soon as I entered the bedroom, what caught my eye was the window wide open.
What is this……
Before I could fully grasp the situation, an ink bottle that had been rolling around on the floor bumped into my toe.
