Edwin's deep blue eyes flickered.
“How could I possibly not remember?”
Judging by the way he frowned, it clearly wasn't a pleasant memory.
I felt a little guilty, worried that I might be stirring up painful memories, but I had no choice.
'Based on the dates in Airel's diary, Laura should still be in contact with her.'
I had no idea when or where Laura might appear, or how she'd try to contact me, so I wanted to be prepared.
After all, it seemed Laura had been manipulating Airel down a very dark path.
I glanced at Edwin.
“Lately, I've been going through a difficult time, and Laura suddenly came to mind... Do you happen to know where she is?”
Since the original Airel seemed to like Laura, asking this much shouldn't sound suspicious.
For whatever reason, Edwin had become considerably friendlier toward me lately.
Maybe he'd help me find the answers I wanted.
'Come to think of it, I never even thanked him for bringing me those sandwiches that day.'
That was all because the Duchess had forbidden me from leaving my room.
It wasn't as though Edwin and I were close enough for me to summon him just to say thank you.
But after reading Airel's diary, I couldn't keep avoiding him forever.
If there were misunderstandings between us, they should be cleared up.
'Once we're done talking about Laura, I'll thank him properly for helping me.'
But things didn't go according to plan.
Edwin's expression suddenly turned icy.
“...Why are you asking me where Laura is, Airel?”
He stood up with a frown.
His eyes, as cold as they had been when we'd first met after my transmigration, swept over me.
“Now that I think about it...”
“I knew something felt off from the beginning.”
...What?
“I wondered why you were suddenly pretending to be friendly.”
“So you had your own agenda.”
“...What?”
“An agenda? What are you talking about...?”
I jumped to my feet and reached for him.
But he brushed my hand away as though he no longer wanted anything to do with me.
“So Laura won't meet with you anymore.”
“And now you planned to use me to find her instead.”
His voice was sharp enough to sting.
“You can stop acting now, Airel.”
“......”
“Unfortunately for you...”
“I have absolutely no intention of helping.”
With a cold, mocking smile,
Edwin turned his back on me.
“...I was an idiot for expecting anything from you.”
I couldn't say a single word as I watched him leave the training grounds.
Somehow...
I'd managed to touch the one wound I absolutely never should have touched.
Leaving the training grounds almost as though he were fleeing,
Edwin unconsciously looked back.
But of course,
no one followed him.
He hadn't expected anyone to.
And yet...
His body felt as though it had sunk into mud.
Every step became unbearably heavy.
In the end, Edwin rubbed his face with both hands and finally released the sigh he'd been holding back.
“Airel!”
The moment he'd spotted Airel sitting by the edge of the training grounds,
another image had overlapped with her.
The little sister from his childhood.
Silver hair neatly braided into twin plaits.
Round cheeks flushed pink.
Tiny hands fidgeting nervously.
Whenever Edwin's swordsmanship lessons ended,
Airel would come running to the training grounds.
The knights of House Blandiche often joked that they were “such close siblings.”
And...
They really had been.
“What did you learn today?”
Showing off whatever sword techniques he'd learned that day was Edwin's favorite thing in the world.
Whenever he demonstrated them,
Airel's eyes sparkled,
and she'd smile like a flower in full bloom.
He loved seeing that smile.
It made him want to make her smile even more.
Even if they had different mothers,
Airel was still his one and only little sister.
Back then,
young Edwin hadn't understood.
He didn't know why his parents fought every day.
Nor did he understand what sacrifices his mother, Briana, had made in order to legally accept Airel into the family register.
While the Duchess lay ill,
and the Duke busied himself taking care of her,
both Edwin and Airel had been left alone for long stretches of time.
With no one else to rely on,
the two children had always stayed together.
Until one day...
“...I'm sorry.”
“But I'd rather be alone today, Edwin.”
Suddenly,
Airel began avoiding him.
The cheerful laughter that once filled the training grounds disappeared.
Her bedroom door remained tightly shut.
Even during family meals,
she avoided his gaze.
Whenever he tried speaking to her in the hallway,
someone always stepped between them.
“Please return to your room, Young Master.”
“No, I just wanted to speak with Airel—”
“I'm sorry.”
“But Lady Airel says she doesn't wish to see you today either.”
Laura.
She had once been Edwin's nanny,
before becoming Airel's caretaker.
She had originally served as a maid in Briana's family home.
From that day onward,
Laura always stood between Edwin and Airel.
With a sorrowful expression,
she'd tell him that Airel simply didn't want to see him.
Around that same time,
the Duke and Briana finally came to their senses and began paying attention to Edwin again.
His parents showered him with all the affection they'd previously neglected to give him.
Although awkward at first,
Edwin gradually accepted their love.
The more he did,
the farther apart he and Airel became.
He foolishly believed there had to be some reason.
That once Airel calmed down,
everything would return to how it had been before.
Instead,
Airel grew paler and thinner with each passing day.
And Laura was always by her side.
Then one night...
Unable to endure it any longer,
Edwin waited until Laura stepped away before secretly visiting Airel.
“Are you alright, Airel?”
“...What do you mean?”
“Laura said you don't want to see me.”
“But something isn't right.”
“Ever since Laura started taking care of you... somehow you've...”
He had barely spoken Laura's name.
Yet Airel exploded in anger as though she'd been waiting for it.
“Don't you dare speak carelessly about Laura!”
“She is the only person in this mansion who actually cares about me!”
“What?”
“Airel, what are you talking about?”
“I've always cared about you too—”
“Ha.”
It was the first time he'd ever seen her glare at him with reddened eyes.
“You've completely misunderstood something.”
“I really hate you.”
“I hate talking to you.”
“I hate even seeing your face.”
“I don't need Edwin Blandiche.”
“All I need now... is Laura.”
“So go away.”
“And never...”
“Never come here again.”
With those cold words,
Airel turned her back on him.
Her tiny fists were clenched so tightly they trembled.
Remembering that day as vividly as if it had happened yesterday,
Edwin curled his now-cold fingers into a fist.
Just as he'd fled that night,
he now walked away from the building where Airel remained.
Yet every step stirred up another memory,
like ink spreading across water.
“Welcome home, Brother.”
More than ten years had passed since they'd become strangers.
The day Edwin returned home after graduating from the Royal Swordsmanship Academy,
he found someone entirely different from the sister he remembered.
Lifeless, pale cheeks.
A body reduced almost to skin and bone.
Heavy makeup.
Revealing dresses.
Beneath all the extravagant adornments,
Airel's face remained shrouded in deep shadows.
The bright, cheerful little girl was gone.
Only a villainess remained—
one who abused servants
and behaved like a madwoman throughout high society.
Only then did Edwin finally accept the painful truth.
Perhaps...
The adorable little sister he'd loved had died long ago.
She existed only in his memories now.
After that,
he drew a line between them.
Until...
A month ago,
something unexpectedly changed.
It happened when Airel suddenly stood up from the dining table,
crying out strange words.
“My bibimbap...!”
In that instant,
Edwin saw a glimpse of the little sister from his childhood in her eyes.
Airel Blandiche had changed.
At first,
he only suspected it.
Soon afterward,
he became certain.
The girl who used to keep her head lowered around him,
making no effort to hide her discomfort,
had begun quietly looking his way instead.
The memories attached to her still made him uncomfortable.
But little by little,
joy began replacing those feelings.
Still,
knowing that Airel hated him,
he couldn't show it.
He simply answered her questions
while trying to keep a respectful distance.
He fought the urge to linger around her the way he had when they were children.
But...
Watching his parents force her to stand before a table full of food while starving her—
that,
he couldn't tolerate.
So that day,
Edwin secretly left sandwiches he'd taken from his father's office outside Airel's bedroom.
Perhaps that was what started it.
Because when Airel came to see him today,
his heart had raced more than he'd realized.
When she'd brought Seria's hairpin,
he'd even dared to hope
that maybe...
she wanted to repair their relationship.
But that hope had been completely misplaced.
Even now,
Airel still sought only one person.
'...Idiot.'
He wasn't a child anymore.
He understood the situation Airel lived in.
And he understood exactly how the heir of this family must appear in her eyes.
“Ha...”
Edwin let out a bitter laugh.
Knowing all of that,
yet still allowing himself to hope—
He felt like the biggest fool of all.
“You seem to be in an excellent mood today.”
That afternoon at the Grand Temple,
one of the apprentice priests helping High Priest Erkael with financial paperwork spoke up cautiously.
“Did something good happen?”
There was unmistakable relief in the young priest's voice.
For several days,
the apprentice priests had been nervously watching Erkael.
Normally, the High Priest was always smiling.
But lately,
he had occasionally worn a completely expressionless face,
leading to rumors that something serious must have happened.
Without taking his eyes off the documents,
Erkael slowly looked up.
“Does it appear that way to you as well?”
“Y-Yes!”
The apprentice smiled brightly.
“Your expression seems much gentler than usual today, Your Eminence.”
“Hm.”
Setting his paperwork aside,
Erkael's lips curved into a soft, pleasant smile.
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