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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: Twisted Relationship (2)
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If Sei-an knew how much trouble Rubin and the others had gotten into with Illnis, all because Sei-an had completely ignored Illnis’s request to come to the club a few days ago, he wouldn’t be looking at them so brazenly now.
Seeing Sei-an gaze at him so nonchalantly, Rubin felt his teeth grind anew.
“Ah! That’s right, I remember now.”
“What?”
Only then did Sei-an realize what that lingering feeling of having forgotten something that day was about.
“I forgot.”
“...!”
At Sei-an’s reply, Rubin and his companions could only stare at him with dumbfounded expressions.
*He forgot? Was he saying he forgot the message Illnis delivered?*
“Heh.”
“Pfft.”
Meanwhile, others in the dining hall quietly burst into laughter at Sei-an’s reply, quickly clamping their hands over their mouths.
The fact that Illnis, of all people, had been ignored by Sei-an was what provoked their amusement.
“You, how dare you ignore Lord Illnis’s words!”
“My apologies. It wasn’t intentional, so please understand.”
“Ugh!”
“So, what’s your business this time? Did you come here to complain about that?”
“...I’ve come to relay Lord Illnis’s message once again.”
“Yes, go ahead.”
*‘This isn’t how it was supposed to go.’*
Rubin, seeing Sei-an completely unfazed by his scolding tone, instead looking at him with indifferent eyes as if calmly urging him to speak, was momentarily speechless.
Normally, he would expect Sei-an to be intimidated and stammer nervously at his loud, scolding voice, but this felt completely wrong.
“Do you have nothing else to say? Then please leave. I’d like to eat.”
“Ah, no!”
Rubin, who had been lost in thought for a moment, snapped back to attention at Sei-an’s words. He quickly continued.
“Lord Illnis said he’d give you one more chance. Come to the club after classes tonight.”
“Alright. If nothing else comes up, I’ll stop by.”
“...!”
Rubin was once again speechless when Sei-an readily replied, “Alright,” almost before Rubin had finished speaking.
“...? Is there anything else?”
“...No.”
At Sei-an’s voice, which queried him again with a puzzled look as he stammered, Rubin and his companions quickly left the spot.
They didn’t even know why they were flustered and practically fleeing from him.
Standing before Sei-an, meeting his calm, emotionless gaze, they felt as though they had done something terribly wrong, and all they wanted to do was escape.
It was like being a child who had misbehaved, standing before an old elder.
“Are you sure about this?”
“About what?”
After Rubin and his group quickly disappeared, Kanto spoke to Sei-an with a worried look.
“He’ll be even more determined since you didn’t go last time.”
“Hmm, I suppose I should go, if only out of curiosity to know why he keeps calling for me.”
“...”
However, Kanto’s expression grew even more worried as Sei-an, contrary to Kanto’s concerns, calmly accepted Illnis’s invitation.
“Oh...”
“Hm?”
Then, seeing Sei-an’s gaze fix on a certain spot as if he’d discovered something, Kanto followed his line of sight and looked there too.
“It’s Arisa.”
There, Sei-an’s younger sister, Arisa, was looking for a seat, carrying her meal.
“Oh!”
“...? What’s wrong?”
But then Kanto spotted another person and let out a small exclamation, quickly turning to Sei-an.
“There’s your sibling.”
“Yes, I saw him too.”
“No, I mean your other younger brother, not Arisa.”
“...?”
At Kanto’s next words, Sei-an quickly followed the direction of his pointing finger and looked at a person.
He saw a young man, who looked a year or two younger than himself, approaching Arisa.
“Are you saying that child is my brother?”
“Yes. Crove Shurayton. He’s your younger brother.”
“...”
Sei-an, having confirmed again with Kanto that the boy was his younger brother, couldn’t easily tear his gaze away from him.
Thud!
Clang!
“...!”
Just then, Crove, who had been approaching Arisa, walked up behind her as she looked around for a seat, and deliberately bumped hard into her.
Arisa fell straight to the floor, and the plate of food she was carrying also dropped, shattering.
“Hmph! How fitting for you.”
“...”
Crove sneered at Arisa, who lay sprawled on the floor, covered in food, and coldly uttered a remark.
But Arisa couldn’t respond to Crove’s words. She was already accustomed to such remarks.
Lucian and Sei-an were born to the late Countess Shurayton, and Crove was born to the current lady of the Count Shurayton’s household. Unlike them, Arisa was merely a lowly existence, born from a maid whom the Count had mistakenly slept with one night after drinking.
*‘Sigh.’*
Arisa had long grown accustomed to this kind of torment and disregard.
“Hmph!”
Crove frowned even more, seeing Arisa show no reaction to his torment.
It was good that she knew her place and didn’t rebel against him, but when there was no reaction, there was no fun in tormenting her.
“Tsk.”
Crove clicked his tongue lightly, then turned around and left, as if he had no further business with Arisa.
Thud!
“...?”
But at that moment, a hand grabbed his shoulder, and Crove stopped, looking at the person with a puzzled expression.
“...!”
Then, his eyes widened in surprise, and he quietly uttered the person’s name.
“Sei-an?”
“...”
Sei-an, in response to Crove’s call, gave him a cold look for a moment, then released his shoulder and approached Arisa.
“Asking if you’re alright would be a foolish question, wouldn’t it?”
“...!”
Arisa, who had been lying on the floor, unable to even think of getting up due to the gazes of those watching her and her own humiliation, looked up at Sei-an with startled eyes at his sudden, low voice.
“Can you stand up?”
“Huh?”
As Sei-an asked the question, he simultaneously pulled her arm, easily helping her to her feet before she could even answer.
Then, he quickly wiped the food from her clothes with a handkerchief and skillfully straightened her disheveled attire.
“...”
After that, Sei-an turned his head and looked at Crove, who was still staring at him with a surprised expression.
“Was that an accident?”
“What?”
“I’m asking if bumping into her was an accident.”
“Ha.”
Crove wore a dumbfounded expression at Sei-an’s question, a sneer twisting his lips.
His words were ludicrous, as if he had ever cared about the affairs between him and Arisa before.
“Are you kidding me?”
“Indeed. To me, it didn’t look like an accident either.”
“What nonsense are you trying to spout?!”
“That means I can assume it was intentional, then.”
“Whether it was intentional or not, what business is it of yo—!”
Slap!
“...!”
Crove, who had been angrily shouting at Sei-an for his interference, instantly froze, his face blank, at the sudden, hard slap across his cheek.
“What business is it, you ask?”
“You!”
“As her older brother, and as *your* older brother, am I not allowed to interfere?”
“...!”
Then, at his next words, spoken in a voice so calm it was chilling, Crove could only stare at him with even wider, more astonished eyes.
“Even putting aside the fact that she’s your younger sister, leaving someone in that state and simply walking away is not the conduct of a decent human being.”
“How dare… how dare you hit me?!”
Only then did Crove, his eyes filled with rage, cup his slapped cheek and begin to yell angrily at Sei-an again.
“Dare, you say?”
“...!”
But the next moment, seeing Sei-an’s gaze turn even colder than before at his words, Crove instinctively flinched, taking a step back from him.
“Yes, I dared to hit you. So what are you going to do about it?”
“...!”
“I’m asking if there’s anything wrong with an older brother hitting his younger brother for his misdeeds.”
“You, since when were you my older brother to say such things?!”
“From now on.”
“...!”
“I hope you’ll remember that I am your older brother, starting now.”
“What?”
“And you should also not forget that she is your younger sister.”
“What are you babbling abou—!”
Whoosh!
Crove, who had been about to shout again at Sei-an’s words, was forced to stop mid-sentence when Sei-an suddenly grabbed him by the collar and yanked him closer.
“Don’t you *ever* forget it.”
“...!”
Sei-an brought his face close to Crove’s and continued speaking in a low, almost whispering voice.
“Because if you ever forget that fact again, I might just… *dare* to hit you once more.”
“...!”
After emphasizing the word ‘dare’ and speaking to him in such a way, Sei-an stepped back, leaving Crove frozen in place, utterly speechless.
“Let’s go.”
“Huh?”
“You can’t go to class like that, can you? You need to change your clothes.”
“...!”
Sei-an, turning away from Crove, took Arisa’s hand—she was still staring blankly—and quickly left the dining hall.
“...”
“...”
A strange silence began to settle in the dining hall a moment after Sei-an and Arisa disappeared.
Everyone seemed spellbound by Sei-an’s actions, stopping their meals and staring blankly at the spot where he had been, even though he was no longer there.
“Heh.”
Only Kanto, who clearly knew how much Sei-an had truly changed from before, let out a small chuckle and smiled faintly.
*‘Quite cool, actually.’*
He genuinely thought that Sei-an, who had returned having lost his memories, had become quite, no, *very* cool in a human way.
