I Thought Your Friend's Sibling Wasn't a Girl? - Chapter 96

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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 96
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At one in the morning, lights blazed back to life throughout the Earl of Arles’ Residence.
“What, what on earth has happened here?”
“That’s what we should be asking you!”
“Sirius! How did this child even— What is this wound!”
“Are you trying to blame us right now?”
The Knights of the Lux Knight Brigade radiated a murderous air. The situation warranted it.
A knight sent by imperial command to carry a Sacred Artifact northward to complete their commission had been attacked. And by the Earl’s own younger brother, at that.
“The Young Earl attacked Sir Olivia Kishir. He even cast magic at Sir Olivia when she tried to stop him!”
“That is— I mean—”
“Had Sir Olivia’s judgment been even slightly slower, had Sir Aiden not arrived precisely when he did, the injuries would have been far more severe.”
At that, the Earl of Arles clamped his mouth shut and let his eyes dart around the room.
Just as the others moved to press him for an answer with their murderous gazes—
“Right now, this very—”
“Easy, easy!”
A loud cry that clashed utterly with the room’s atmosphere burst forth, and Sena whipped her head toward the source of the voice, snapping sharply.
“Aiden Oblion, can’t you stay quiet? We’re in the middle of something important!”
“Sena, come here a moment. The wound looks too deep. What if it gets infected?”
“Olivia’s fine and still sitting still, so why are you making such a fuss?”
“What do you know? What could you possibly know!”
What did she know? Sena felt somewhat exasperated.
Olivia was safe, after all. She’d been wounded, yes, but fortunately Aiden had stepped in at just the right moment, sparing her from anything truly grave.
The proof stood right there before them.
“Senior, really, I’m fine…”
“Fine? What’s fine about it? People die when they lose too much blood. You nearly had something terrible happen to you!”
“I’ve never lost blood at a level that would cause death.”
“How much blood does it take to kill someone, do you know? Hm? People die from the smallest things. This is a dangerous wound.”
Those words came from Olivia herself, blinking docilely as she received treatment.
The Earl of Arles’ personal physician, overwhelmed by Aiden’s fearsome presence, was attempting emergency care with trembling hands. White bandages wrapped neatly around her forearm, which had been fully bared.
“Olive. Does it hurt much? What should I do.”
“It’s all right.”
“If it leaves a scar… on such delicate skin.”
“The physician said more than a hundred times it wouldn’t leave a scar.”
“…What does the physician know.”
“Senior. Could you perhaps go stand in that corner?”
But Aiden was stubborn. He shook his head vigorously, kept his arms folded, and paced endlessly around the chair where Olivia sat—a picture of restless agitation.
Sena recalled what she had witnessed just moments before.
“So this assignment was— Wait, Aiden? You didn’t finish talking—where are you going!”
“Something feels wrong.”
“Hey, wait for me!”
He had been conversing with casual indifference while gazing out through a corridor window when he suddenly bolted away.
And what unfolded in that place was something Sena had not anticipated.
A sudden Mana Wave, surging with force. And at the center of it all, thorns bearing down on their youngest member, Olivia.
“No.”
“Good heavens, what in the world—”
“Olivia!”
And Aiden, without hesitation, stepping directly into her path.
Aiden’s instinct had proven correct. His intuition was generally sharp—especially so when Olivia was involved.
Had he not appeared and responded in that instant, Olivia’s wounds would have been far worse than what she now bore.
Cold sweat trickled down Sena’s neck as she recalled that terrible moment.
Just as Olivia’s treatment finished, she shook off Aiden as he clung to her side and walked with steady steps toward them.
With each step Olivia took, the Earl of Arles’ gaze kept drifting away into empty space. The small wounds visible beneath her notably shortened sleeves were stark and impossible to ignore.
“My Lord, why are you avoiding my eyes?”
“Young— Ah, that is to say—”
“You should address me as ‘Sir’ Kishir.”
With that correction, Olivia smiled brightly at the Earl of Arles.
Though her face smiled, her expression was filled with fury.
“Ah, Sir, Sir Kishir. Are you well?”
“I’ve never been pricked by a thorn in my entire life, and this wound stings worse than any other…”
“What, it hurts? Where! How much!”
“Would you please close that mouth of yours. Do you have no sense of the moment?”
The moment he heard she was hurt, Aiden trembled violently and rushed forward with wild words, only to be pinned down simultaneously by Sena and Luka.
How was he so relentlessly consistent?
At least his flare of anger had subsided—which was something. Sena sighed and shook her head.
Even now, Aiden squirmed and whined, held fast by Sena and Luka.
Look at those eyes. If they let him loose for even a second, he’d clearly go straight for Sirius or whoever, ready to bite—
‘Hm?’
No. That wasn’t it.
His manner certainly seemed angry and deeply upset, but a different emotion flickered across his face. He was both furious and distressed, yes—but this was not the expression of someone lost in emotion.
His eyes were deeply composed. Cold and keen, they bore down on the Earl of Arles while dissecting him and everything around him with methodical precision, and Sena felt an odd chill run through her.
“You need not offer thanks, my Lord.”
“What, what did you say? Thanks?”
“Of course I was wounded by Sirius’s magic, but saving that child was my own choice.”
She really does speak well. Sena smiled with quiet pride. The Earl of Arles stared at her in bewilderment before finally grasping what Olivia was saying, at which point he clenched his teeth.
“Young— Sir Kishir.”
“Sirius has been searching for the ‘Red Stone’, hasn’t he? Isn’t that a Mana Stone corrupted by Corruption?”
The Earl of Arles went rigidly still. The butler, sharp-eyed, quickly dismissed the attendants, leaving only those directly involved in the matter in the Reception Room.
“What exactly has happened to Sirius?”
“It is a family matter. I will compensate you for your injuries, but—”
Just as he was mumbling and attempting to evade once more—
Bang.
The firmly closed door swung open, and Yugin stepped through. His hair was slightly disheveled as if he’d rushed from the scene of the incident.
“Earl of Arles.”
“Sir, Sir Dignitas.”
“You will explain exactly what has happened here, without omitting a single detail.”
Yugin’s usually gentle face now bore a frostlike coldness. His anger was chill and razor-sharp.
The Earl of Arles’ face drained of color.
“Why are signs of corruption appearing in the Young Earl?”
At Yugin’s words, delivered without hesitation, the Earl of Arles squeezed his eyes shut and hung his head.
* * *
The Earl of Arles had one son.
‘Sirius Arles’.
He was a spitting image of the Earl and blessed with natural magical talent, so his enrollment at the Academy had been effortless—the old man’s pride and joy.
That pride and joy had returned to the Territory a few months ago with a gaunt, hollow face.
That must have been around when the Academy’s Field Training Exercise had just concluded. Yes, that was when.
“Sirius, what on earth is this! How has your face become so thin, hmm?”
“Mother, Father. I cannot remain in the Capital any longer. There is a strange, strange voice I keep hearing.”
“A strange voice? What are you talking about!”
“A whisper telling me to find the Red Stone, over and over…”
Sirius spoke in incomprehensible rambles. There was a whisper telling him to find the Red Stone, insisting he must carry it somewhere, anywhere.
It had been the beginning of everything.

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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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