You Said You Wanted Us to Break Up - Chapter 58

“…Is there a new residence in the South?”

It was a question I asked as cautiously as possible.

However, Demian seemed irritated even by that, his brow furrowing deeply.

“What?”

“I was just wondering if there’s a man I need to marry…”

Before I could finish my sentence, Demian shouted.

“That’s not it!”

He gripped the armrests of his chair as if he wanted to jump up.

“Marriage? We’ve never thought about that. My brother and I, we just… damn it.”

Demian leaned back against the chair, his upper body tilting toward me. He slumped his shoulders and rubbed his face a couple of times.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to shout.”

Only then did I realize I had been leaning back as much as possible to avoid him.

I forced myself to relax and tried to steady my slightly labored breathing. With my tense mind, I made an effort to grasp the situation. Demian and Iswen were not trying to remarry me.

So why?

Why do they want to take me back to the South?

My spinning mind felt dizzy. With the anticipated purpose being denied, I naturally fell into a maze of their intentions.

In the meantime, Demian, sensing that I was reflecting on his words, began to elaborate on things I hadn’t even asked about.

“If you come to the South, I’ll make sure you can learn everything you’ve wanted to learn. I’m not talking about useless keyboard instruments. If it’s something you want, I’ll buy you books and arrange for all the teachers you need.”

“If you want to travel, I’ll support that too. These days, it seems like it’s trendy for young ladies in the South to travel together. I don’t really know since I don’t have friends, but it looked like girls your age were all doing that.”

Demian’s stumbling words were all things that seemed to help me.

It felt as if he genuinely wanted to ‘do something’ for me by taking me to the South.

However, the nicer his words sounded, the more my heart sank into unease.

“…Why do you want to do that for me?”

Believing that either Demian or Iswen was thinking of me was a foolish notion, akin to believing that a cat would pity a mouse.

They acted as if they would regret it for life if they didn’t put me in a worse predicament.

Demian looked taken aback by my question.

“Why, Iella? I’m your brother…”

He stopped speaking abruptly, perhaps having seen the sarcastic look that reflexively appeared on my face.

Whenever I thought of family, that was the only expression I could muster.

After a moment of silence, Demian let out a deep sigh.

“You probably need time to think.”

He slowly got up from his chair.

“I’ll leave you alone for now.”

* * *

After Demian left, I shut myself in my bedroom.

I didn’t even go to dinner. Sioden would surely be curious about what I had discussed with Demian, but I didn’t have the energy to explain anything to him.

Fortunately, Sioden didn’t try to drag me out of my room by sending someone. Luke, who usually came to check on my health periodically, also accepted my wish not to see him today and left quietly.

Apple applied medicine to me and prepared a meal while I was holed up in bed, deep in thought. However, she didn’t pry into what had happened. Naturally reserved yet attentive, Apple occasionally revealed her kindness like that.

But as night fell and I should have been asleep, I still couldn’t understand Demian’s attitude at all.

During the day, Demian had been friendly to me until the end.

“If you need help, just let me know anytime.”

His voice, which didn’t suit his temperament, was almost pleading.

“Don’t hesitate, okay?”

But I couldn’t trust Demian’s words.

I didn’t have many memories of being greatly deceived by him.

However, it wasn’t necessary for someone to lie outright to become hard to believe.

If I had observed Demian’s behavior even a little, I would know how difficult it was to trust him.

As I mulled over the situation for hours, it became painfully clear that there was nowhere to lean on.

Yet, I had learned from a very young age that I shouldn’t rely on family. Mourning over predetermined conditions was a waste of time.

Even knowing that, it wasn’t easy to let go.

Since I couldn’t fall asleep, Apple, who had been remaining in the room, approached me.

“Can’t you sleep?”

“Yeah.”

No matter how much I looked beyond Apple’s worried face, the scenery of the bedroom remained unfamiliar to me.

It wasn’t just Demian; this bedroom, which had belonged to the previous Duchess of Raslet, felt strange as well.

When I had briefly used it at the beginning of my marriage, it hadn’t felt this way.

Perhaps I had missed my chance to adapt to it forever. Everything in the world has its time.

“My chest feels tight.”

As I muttered to myself without realizing it, Apple asked, “Would you like to take a short walk?”

I looked up at her thoughtfully and nodded. That response alone was enough. Apple reached out her hand to me.

* * *

The corridors of the castle were chilly.

As spring approached, the weather must have warmed up considerably by Raslet’s standards, but the cool air made me shiver involuntarily.

Still, the cold wind seemed to clear my mind a bit, which I welcomed.

Walking through the still unfamiliar corridors of my home with Apple, I tried to organize my thoughts. First, I needed to figure out why Demian had said what he did. Whether he was trying to deceive me or was speaking the truth, it was equally bewildering…

It was then that Apple, who was walking beside me holding a lantern, asked, “Miss, do you remember the first time we met?”

“Of course.”

I first met Apple on a summer day when I was ten years old.

At that time, I was at a vacation home in the South with my family. We had to go on vacations regularly to appear as a harmonious family in the eyes of others.

The vacation spot by the beach was bustling with a summer festival.

One day, after the sun had set, Demian took me out into the streets. It was an unusual kindness from him, as he typically didn’t show such concern, but that evening, for some reason, he took good care of me.

As we walked through the streets with the festival in full swing, colorful flags and floral crowns caught my eye, along with the happy faces of people.

Demian weaved through the crowd, occasionally looking back at me.

“Don’t get lost while daydreaming; make sure to keep up.”

His tone was still brusque, but at that moment, even his scolding felt acceptable. The surroundings sparkled too brightly for his sharp voice to dull the atmosphere.

Come to think of it, Demian was wearing an eye patch even back then.

It was a curious coincidence since he had chosen to wear it, not because of an injury.

In any case, the fact that he wore an eye patch was meaningless.

The reason that day was significant was that I met Apple.

As I wandered through the streets with Demian, a girl suddenly grabbed my hand.

She was a skinny girl with wild, red hair sticking out in all directions.

Her appearance wasn’t great, but her dark brown eyes sparkled with vitality.

Looking up at me with those eyes, the girl said, “You’re a fairy.”

Startled, I let out a small scream, causing Demian to turn around.

He frowned when he spotted the scruffy girl.

“What’s this?”

Demian had always had a nervous and fierce expression since childhood, but the girl stood her ground and confronted him without fear. Looking back now, it was a bold act.

“Go away! My sister said she needs to find a fairy!”

“Are you crazy?”

Demian furrowed his brow and grabbed the girl’s bony wrist tightly.

“Don’t touch my sister!”

Thinking back, Demian had never hit someone weaker than himself, but at that moment, I was scared he might punch that girl, who was a head shorter than me.

I had been terrified of him shouting, which is why I stood in front of the child.

“Oh, she’s just a little kid. Please don’t do that.”

Demian, already tightly wound, twisted his face even more when I blocked him.

But before he could unleash his scolding, the situation was resolved by someone else’s intervention.

Iswen had come looking for us.

“Demian Rowen, Iella Rowen. What are you doing here?”

Iswen, accompanied by the family knights, promptly took us back to the villa.

Demian was dragged off to the training grounds for sneaking out and was directly punished by Iswen. I didn’t get in as much trouble.

“I forced her to come! If I went alone, I’d be the only one getting scolded!”

That was why Demian had yelled like that.

At the time, I was young and thought perhaps my brother was standing up for me.

Now I realize it was just his pride that wouldn’t let him admit the truth.

My father took me to the training grounds, feeling both sorry for Demian and scared for me, as I was sobbing.

He whispered to me while showing me how Demian was being punished by Iswen.

“Iella, look. Your brother is so scared to go out alone that he drags you into trouble.”

“……”

“This time, I’ll let it slide since Demian admitted his mistake, but if something like this happens again, you must tell your father.”

His usually gentle tone clawed at my ears along with his hot breath. The veins in his middle-aged hands gripped my shoulder tightly.

“Otherwise, you’ll also be seen as siding with Demian.”

Because of such significant events, I had forgotten about the little girl I met on the street.

That was until the day before we left the resort when Iswen brought her to me.