I Thought Your Friend's Sibling Wasn't a Girl? - Chapter 89

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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 89
The question hung unanswered. He should have said yes, should have committed to it—but the words wouldn’t come.
Aiden’s mouth sealed shut as if glued. Kishier the Marquis regarded him with open disdain, then sighed and clicked his tongue.
“How did I end up with such an idiot.”
“Marquis.”
“Have you some grievance? Why? Ah, I see. Given how you threw down that Engagement Dissolution letter and left, I suppose you thought me easy prey—”
“No, sir! I have no grievance whatsoever.”
“Then answer me, quickly. This time—truly, sincerely—are you going to let that girl go?”
But what came from Aiden’s lips was not an answer, but a question. He swallowed hard before speaking.
“And if I say yes… what will you do?”
“Then I’ll find her another betrothal at once. As quickly as possible.”
“Even if Olivia doesn’t wish it? She’s only now beginning to establish herself as a Knight. Surely you understand that a betrothal or marriage would make it nearly impossible for her to truly settle into her position.”
Aiden grew strangely anxious, grasping at arguments without conviction. But none of it touched Kishier. The Marquis only tilted his head curiously and pressed further.
“I never approved of Olivia becoming a Knight in the first place.”
“Marquis!”
“And besides, even if I did… why is that your concern? You won’t be her betrothed anymore, will you?”
He wanted to protest. He actually tried to argue back.
But Kishier dismissed him with a wave, stood, and ended the conversation before Aiden could utter a single word of rebuttal. He only gapped like a fish.
“In any case, I think we’re done here.”
“…Safe travels, sir.”
“Let me offer you one final piece of advice.”
The Marquis swept his gaze over Aiden with narrowed eyes, then turned sharply to address him.
“You make far too many excuses. That’s why you can’t even understand your own thoughts.”
“I… beg your pardon?”
“It’s for the best, really. I couldn’t possibly let my daughter be taken by an idiot like you.”
…
“So I’ll be expecting to hear that you two have dissolved your engagement soon. See that you hurry—for Olivia’s sake.”
Again, Aiden said nothing, only stared mutely at the Marquis’s retreating back.
He caught a fragment of words—something about visiting the Lux Knight Brigade. His ears perked up.
“Go and meet with Olivia first, then discuss the betrothal—”
That can’t happen!
His thoughts were still a chaos, but his purpose was crystal clear: stop Kishier.
Why had he resolved to dissolve his engagement with Olivia in the first place?
He wanted her to be happy. That much, at least, was unallayed truth—not a hint of falsehood in it.
He didn’t want her to be wed off like some commodity to a man she didn’t choose, nor did he want to see her abandon the sword she loved so dearly.
Aiden rushed headlong out of the building.
* * *
The sun had set. With the days growing shorter, the approaching winter felt increasingly real.
After training and finishing his duty report, it was already deep into the evening. Olivia drew her collar closer against the chill and quickened her pace.
“Olivia. Heading home for the day?”
“Yes, senior. Is there anything you need me to do?”
“Why would I pile work on someone clocking out? I was just saying hello. The Commander is still in his office?”
“Likely. I was just coming out after my report.”
Sena, on duty today, greeted her with easy familiarity.
“That shadow of yours isn’t around today.”
“That shadow…? You don’t mean Aiden, do you?”
“That’s the one. The way he followed you around—like you were dripping with honey.”
“He went to the Academy earlier. He still hasn’t come back.”
“The Commander’s back, but Aiden isn’t. Strange.”
Right? Olivia agreed silently, letting her lips curl slightly downward.
When he was there, he grated on her nerves and weighed on her mind. But without him, there was an odd emptiness—and oddly enough, that absence bothered her more.
Olivia was just drawing a short breath to respond when—
“Wait, no?”
“What?”
“There he is. Aiden.”
“Senior? Where—”
There was no need to search. Aiden burst through the darkness toward the Brigade as if his life depended on it. The moment he spotted Olivia, his eyes flew wide and he broke into a run.
“Olivia!”
Aiden practically tumbled to a stop in front of her.
“Senior? Did something happen at the Academy?”
“That’s not the issue. There’s something more important… Wait. You’re heading back to the Dormitory now?”
“Yes. I was about to leave for the day.”
His eyes suddenly brightened.
“Then let me walk you there.”
“Suddenly?”
“Yeah. It’s getting late, after all. This time of year, it’s better not to walk alone. Right, Sena?”
“…That’s rich coming from you.”
Sena chided him as usual, but Aiden didn’t seem to hear her at all—his full attention was locked on Olivia.
While waiting for her answer, Aiden’s feet tapped nervously, as if possessed.
“Are you being chased by something?”
“What? Of course not!”
“Pardon?”
“Just come on. I’ll explain on the way.”
Aiden gave her back a gentle push.
Olivia had no idea what was happening, but she decided to humor him anyway.
The urgency in his manner suggested something was indeed afoot.
Then came a voice.
“Olivia, Olivia!”
“…Why is everyone looking for me today?”
“Emergency!”
“What is it?”
“K-Kishier the Marquis’s carriage just entered the Brigade grounds. Your parents?”
At Panya’s words, Olivia’s eyes went equally wide.
She spun around and met Aiden’s gaze. He nodded once, confirming that this was exactly why he’d come rushing in.
No further thought was needed. Olivia clenched her fists and nodded back decisively.
“…You said you’d take me home?”
“That’s what I said.”
“Then let’s go. Now.”
For the first time in a long while, their hearts beat as one, without a single beat of discord.
“The front entrance is—”
“Already too late. I know another way.”
“Then that’s where we go.”
The two of them discussed it with the grim solemnity of undercover operatives on a secret mission, then bolted in the opposite direction from the main gate.
Left behind in the empty courtyard were only Sena and Panya. Sena scratched the back of her neck and shook her head.
“When you really watch them… those two actually click pretty well together.”
“Don’t they just. No wonder people say what they say about them.”
“Right? I wonder if they even have the will to hide it—”
The two of them stopped mid-exchange, their words trailing off into silence.
You know too?
You do as well, senior?
The glances they traded carried that quiet question, and in that moment, they understood.
They were sharing the same secret.
“…Do those two even intend to keep this hidden?”
“Why is it only we two who’ve noticed?”
“Everyone else must be blind as bats. How do these people even function as Knights with eyes like that?”
The words that followed were sharp-edged and cutting.
Still, there was something good about it. A shared secret meant newfound kinship, and the two of them felt that invisible intimacy kindle between them.
“Which way, I wonder… Ah! Pardon me! Are you from the Lux Knight Brigade? I’m an aide to Marquis Kishier—”
“The Marquis left a while ago.”
“He’s not in the Dormitory either, we heard.”
“Probably out with friends somewhere. He’s not here.”
Sena answered with easy nonchalance, even thoughtfully pointing the aide in the opposite direction of where they’d gone.
‘You’ll owe me for this, you two.’
A scheming little smile played at Sena’s lips as she sent the Marquis’s aide on his way.
* * *
Meanwhile, as the Marquis’s aide returned to the gate empty-handed and dejected,
the two of them were executing their covert operation with solemn determination.
“Hide. I hear the carriage—it can’t have gone far.”
“These wheel marks… No mistake. It’s Father’s carriage!”
Either it was a daughter’s intuition or the Marquis had anticipated her escape—he’d abandoned his aide and begun searching the area himself.
“It’s coming! This way!”
“Why is Father even doing this…?”
They hid in alleyways, ducked into shops, slipped out again—yet the Marquis’s carriage was always near. At this point, it bordered on the supernatural.
“This won’t work. We need the forest.”
“The forest?”
“The purged section—it should be safe.”
As Aiden said this, his eyes took on an air of theatrical gravity.

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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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