I Thought Your Friend's Sibling Wasn't a Girl? - Chapter 76

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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 76
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These days, the Luxes Knights had grown crowded.
Even those who wouldn’t normally be seen had begun drifting in, drawn by a fresh spectacle worth watching.
Today, several members freed from duty had gathered in the Training Ground of the Luxes Knights and were gossiping among themselves.
“So, who do you think will win?”
“Luka, obviously. I’ve never seen him lose!”
“No, not like that. Seriously though. Olivia is supposed to be no pushover either. She’s the one who actually stood up to Aiden, right?”
“Hmm… well, that’s true.”
Their days had begun revolving around talk of Olivia and Luka. One of the members gestured with keen interest toward Luka in the distance.
“Olivia isn’t here today, is she?”
“You didn’t know? Olivia isn’t here today.”
“Why?”
“She went to do laundry.”
Everyone’s mouths fell silent. Surely that was nonsense. Various protests echoed through the group. But Nick held firm.
“It’s true. I saw her. Earlier, Olivia was carrying a huge pile of our training clothes down to the Riverbank. She says it’s easier to do it there.”
“… Is he insane? You’re telling me she actually had her do laundry?”
“I’m telling you, it’s true.”
Just then, Luka approached them with a suspicious expression.
“What are you all staring at? Don’t you have work to do? Go find something to do.”
“We’ve got nothing to do? We came because we’re curious. She really isn’t here today? Don’t tell me you actually sent Olivia to do laundry?”
“What’s it to you?”
“Seriously? It’s actually true?”
Nick tilted his head, uncertain whether Luka had guts or no guts at all.
He was aware of Luka’s circumstances and the trauma he carried.
Because memories of abuse in his childhood were deeply embedded in his mind, Nick knew full well how Luka would sometimes freeze up when seeing nobility, especially a noblewoman like Olivia.
… And yet now he had that very noblewoman doing all his laundry.
“You’re not seeking revenge or anything, are you?”
Nick asked carefully, watching Luka.
Luka’s body flinched at the question, and then his eyes narrowed sharply as he answered.
“Why would I?”
“Just checking. Honestly, Olivia hasn’t done anything wrong to you. Right?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m not seeking revenge, and I’m not tormenting her either.”
Then he stubbornly clamped his mouth shut. There was something he’d touched on a nerve about.
Nick shrugged at him and shook his head.
“Sure, sure. Do whatever you want then.”
This kind of thing had to be learned directly.
Luka wasn’t a bad person. His vision had simply narrowed temporarily because of what he’d endured in the past and the magnitude of his trauma. And that wasn’t something Nick should meddle with.
Nick only hoped that this standoff would end before tomorrow came.
While it was entertaining, if this situation continued, what they’d witness tomorrow would be nothing short of hell itself.
They risked being swept up in Aiden’s wrath simply for enjoying it without stopping him. That realization chilled Nick, so he gave Luka a careful nudge and offered some advice.
“Not that it’s my business what you do. But Luka, you didn’t forget, did you?”
“Forget what?”
“Tomorrow’s the day Aiden comes.”
……
“When Aiden sees this, he’ll turn his eyes inside out and lose it completely. Be careful.”
A solemn silence descended over the Training Ground. Only the sound of an early-woken cicada buzzing filled the space between them.
Then came the moment.
Crash!
“What, what—. Kunta!”
“What? What’s going on?”
The relatively peaceful atmosphere shattered with Kunta’s arrival. Covered head to toe in dark bruises, he stumbled into the Training Ground like he was rolling and collapsed to the floor.
Everyone’s eyes widened. Nick, Kunta’s twin brother, had gone pale. A tense, fragile atmosphere hung thick in the air.
And soon the perpetrators sauntered in after him.
“Anyway, that’s the problem with kids who lack skill. Even when sparring, it doesn’t feel right.”
Thugs in red uniforms. They’d visited several days ago and disappeared after being humiliated by Olivia.
They’d returned to the Luxes Knights again with their faces full of mockery. Something about that incident seemed to have become a catalyst, for they now wore expressions far more sinister than before.
“I know… the Captain… isn’t here.”
Kunta mumbled in a barely conscious voice.
In that single phrase, everyone present understood the situation.
Yugin was away on business, and with him gone, Aiden wasn’t here to stop them. And Olivia had left the brigade grounds long ago.
That meant all the conditions were in place for their harassment to regress to how it had been.
“Why are you all looking like that? What, has it been too long and you’ve forgotten us?”
“How could this… how could this happen…”
“How? We just asked for a sparring match, that’s all. A legitimate match, right?”
Peter of the Rumen Knights. He was the one who’d led the harassment, the first to grasp that the Luxes brigade members endured their torment in silence, and the one who’d exploited it.
Most of the members owed Yugin a debt. It was he who’d gathered the homeless and abandoned ones and brought them here, giving them the title of Knight. They also knew that Yugin bore considerable criticism from many for their sake.
Because of this, they didn’t want to become a burden to Yugin.
This harassment would surely grow numb with time. Eventually, they thought, a day would come when it would all be fine. They endured each day with that belief.
Their lack of skill was a fact, and strengthening themselves would remedy that. Their lowborn origins were undeniable, so they had to bear that as well.
Someday, if they just kept working, someday a better day would come.
They believed this, and in the end, it became true.
Of course, their efforts alone hadn’t solved the problem.
“What in the hell are you doing?”
“What? This is— tsk.”
“What are you doing, I’m asking you. Why aren’t you answering?”
The arrival of Aiden Oblivion stopped them in their tracks.
Even if his family considered him dispensable, he was still Oblivion.
In the Empire, no house stood higher than the Oblivion House. So much so that rumors said even the House of Page, Veritas’s own family, now stood beneath the Oblivion House.
There was no way a mere third son of a minor noble house like Peter could display confidence before Aiden.
It was bitter, but it was fine. Aiden was a good nobleman, and thanks to him, they had been freed from harassment.
Violence disguised as sparring had long since disappeared. What remained was merely their occasional visits and trivial provocations.
But compared to before, that level of harassment was child’s play, so they’d let it pass lightly.
By then, Captain Yugin had also come to understand the situation to some degree, and their lives began to improve bit by bit.
“Again…”
“See? I told you nothing changes with just that kind of patronage.”
Luka clenched his lips and sneered at them. His gray eyes were shadowed with something deep.
Only then did everyone here realize the truth: the patronage of the Captain, Aiden, and Olivia only worked when they were present.
“Nothing’s changed at all.”
When the members were alone together, such patronage was useless.
Nick hurried to Kunta and carefully helped him to his feet. Fortunately, his organs didn’t seem damaged—Kunta rose unsteadily, his body covered in vivid purple and mottled bruises.
Defeat and humiliation were written across everyone’s faces.
“We’ve got free training time anyway. Looks like you do too, don’t you?”
“You… bastards…”
“Let’s spar. It’s been too long.”
They brandished the wooden swords slung across their shoulders playfully in front of the members.
“We’re actually going to spar with kids like you. This is a real treat, you know?”

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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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