I Thought Your Friend's Sibling Wasn't a Girl? - Chapter 32

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 32
Olivia had never once seen Panya cry.
When her family had notified her of expulsion, when her birth mother’s debt threatened to force her to leave the Academy—Panya had shed not a single tear, bearing each crisis with steady resolve.
Yet now, here in this Hospital Ward, Panya was weeping before her.
“P-Panya, I’m sorry. Please? I was wrong.”
“I thought you were actually dying. Sob—you can’t do that. You really can’t.”
“I’m truly sorry. I won’t do it again.”
“Who am I supposed to spend time with if you’re gone!”
A wail filled the Hospital Ward. With her arms wrapped around Olivia’s waist, her face buried in her friend’s shoulder, Panya continued to cry for a long while.
Panya finally calmed down some time later, her swollen eyes glistening as she sniffled and spoke.
“It’s been a week. The day you were first brought here, your heart actually stopped for a moment for some reason……”
“What? A whole week?”
“Thankfully your pulse came back, but they said you’d need to be very careful for a while. Your internal Mana flow was disrupted, they said.”
Panya went on to tell her much else besides.
Bennett had undergone surgery immediately after being rescued, and thanks to his naturally excellent recovery, he was now in fine spirits—along with updates about the Magic Department students.
The Magic Department students had suffered severe Mana Depletion and were moved straight to the treatment clinic. The fortunate thing was that none of them lost their lives.
“What on earth happened?”
“I don’t really know either. What could possibly have happened?”
“Everyone had strange experiences during the Field Training Exercise. Our group did too.”
“Your group as well?”
“Yes. The monsters’ movements were strange, I suppose you could say. But the Field Training Exercise was halted before anything serious developed, so we didn’t find out much. The instructors appeared immediately.”
“We didn’t have any instructors.”
That’s why they’d been driven deeper into the forest. Even now, remembering that moment sent chills across her entire body.
“Your group came out last of all. There was chaos because they couldn’t communicate with anyone inside.”
Throughout the story, Panya held Olivia’s hand in a tight grip, showing no sign of letting go.
Olivia felt a pang of guilt, sensing that the fear of losing her friend had left Panya with a deep trauma.
“The Lux Knight Brigade found you with barely any time to spare.”
“What?”
“Your group. Someone named Yugin, I think? Anyway, the Brigade Commander himself personally led the search, or so I heard.”
The Lux Knight Brigade?
Olivia had definitely heard Aiden’s voice there. Of course, at the time she couldn’t tell if it was really his voice or just a hallucination born of her desperation……
Still, if someone had found her first, it would surely have been Aiden.
“What about Instructor Aiden?”
“What?”
“He’s also part of the Lux Knight Brigade, isn’t he? Did he go in with them?”
Panya shook her head.
“I didn’t see the Instructor.”
“……Not at all?”
“It was Commander Yugin who carried you out. You were bleeding so much, your lips were completely drained of color—he ran straight to the Medical Clinic with you in his arms.”
“That can’t be right.”
“It can’t be? All the students waiting outside saw it.”
Then where was Aiden? A massive question mark bloomed in Olivia’s mind.
“Now that I think about it, I haven’t seen Instructor Aiden since that day.”
“He hasn’t visited the Hospital Ward at all?”
There was no way he wouldn’t know about her serious injury. It would have been relayed to the Command Center, and Aiden had certainly been paying close attention to her situation.
She’d even thought he might have entered the field with them. Surely he had……
“No. Not once.”
Thump. Her heart sank. Ripples formed in Olivia’s green eyes.
* * *
Throughout the day, Olivia received many visitors.
“Olivia! Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. Bennett, you look perfectly healthy?”
“My durability is legendary. I wouldn’t have survived being beaten up by you like that otherwise!”
“……Could you please be more precise and call it a sparring match? Daisy’s getting the wrong idea. This is all your fault.”
“Oh, oh, no! Olivia, how is your body feeling?”
“Much better. Thank you, Daisy.”
Bennett and Daisy visited and chatted for a time before leaving.
“This is a gift sent by a friend, he said. Let me see the name……. Gilleon Pailene? My, is this from the Pailene Estate?”
“Gilleon sent a gift?”
“He said to tell you he’s gone down to his Estate as his health isn’t well.”
“Thank you for passing that along.”
Gilleon expressed his gratitude through a Flower Basket and gifts.
His letter also included news of Sirius. It seemed he’d suffered a serious emotional shock, his condition had worsened considerably, and he too had gone down to his Estate.
Her other classmates from the Academy, the professors, even Sena, whom she’d only crossed paths with briefly—all visited her Hospital Ward.
Only one person was absent.
“……Brother.”
“Is there anything you need?”
Cesare, who had taken Panya’s place, set a Water Bottle filled with water beside the bed and looked back at Olivia.
Learning that his sister was at death’s door the moment he returned from his mission, Cesare had clung to the now-conscious Olivia and wept for a long time.
She felt she’d caused much worry to many people. Of course, it hadn’t been her intention.
“What about Brother Aiden?”
“Well, who knows. Perhaps a mission came up. There’s been no word from him.”
Cesare’s brow furrowed briefly before returning to normal. Hearing those words made it all too real.
That Aiden had never once visited this Hospital Ward.
Perhaps he was busy with something? Or……
‘Surely he hasn’t run away again.’
But there was no reason for that. Her mind flooded with countless thoughts, becoming impossibly tangled.
Cesare watched the various expressions crossing Olivia’s face, then gently pressed her forehead and lay her back down on the bed.
“Rest now and recover. Think about it later.”
“But……”
“You troublemaker. Do you know how worried I was?”
Despite the playful tone, worry still lingered in his expression, so Olivia chose to answer obediently.
“Mm. I’m sorry.”
“Anyway, when you think about it, you’ve never been as docile as all that. Not since you were little.”
“Only you say that. Everyone else said I was a very well-behaved and good child.”
“Those people just didn’t understand.”
The hand dampening a Cloth with water and wiping her forehead and neck moved with great care. Cesare’s fingers trembled slightly as he worked slowly, afraid of touching even one of her wounds.
She harbored no regret. Yet it was true that she’d caused her family pain.
Therefore, Olivia had no wish for even Cesare’s approval. If their positions were reversed, if Olivia had been the older brother, she too would never have been able to tell him he’d done the right thing.
It was shortly after a brief silence fell between them that unexpected words escaped from Cesare.
“……You protected your friends, they said.”
“What?”
“The people who rescued you said that you were at the very front, and stayed until the very end.”
“What do you mean ‘your people’?”
“Olive.”
Cesare’s voice dropped low as he called her by the old nickname.
Night had fallen, casting a soft shadow over Cesare’s face. Before Olivia could add anything in response, he turned away abruptly. Behind his back came the sound of him busying himself arranging something.
He spoke from that position.
“As your brother, I’m truly upset and pained that you made such a sacrifice……”
“I’m sorry.”
The corners of Olivia’s eyes drooped sorrowfully.
“No, Olivia.”
“What?”
“You made the right choice as a Knight.”
Olivia found herself unable to offer any response to Cesare’s words.
“As a Knight among Knights, to stand alongside someone like you would be a great fortune indeed.”
“Brother.”
“……You did well.”
Clang. The bed made a soft sound as Olivia pushed herself upright. Hearing it, Cesare hurried over to help support her.
“You shouldn’t move suddenly like that. It’s dangerous—”
“Brother.”
The corners of Cesare’s mouth softened gently as he looked down at Olivia with eyes full of concern.
“Goodness. I thought you were all grown up, but you’re still such a little thing?”
“Brother!”
“You were very frightened, weren’t you?”
For the first time since waking, Olivia clung to her brother and wept without reservation. She didn’t notice the complex emotion that settled over Cesare’s face.
In Cesare’s eyes, as he patted her back, irritation and gratitude toward her “friend” alternated and faded.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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