110. Check (1)

Dalgrak. Dalgrak.

Cianella members gathered around a long table and had a meal together.

After a considerable amount of time, a year, I returned to my hometown and shared a meal with my family after a long time.

Cognitive for me who came back after a long time. The table is full of food that makes one’s mouth water.

The hard work of the chefs, who must have had a hard time preparing this many kinds of food, is evident.

I calmly cut the steak that was set for me with a knife and put it in my mouth.

Well well.

Juicy and rich flavor bursting out. Even the smell of fire that you can feel. It’s a quality product that’s not easily accessible at the academy, so I wanted to savor it slowly if possible…….

Unfortunately, my attention was not entirely focused on this food. It is unavoidable. There is something more eye-catching than this piece of meat.

“Ummm… ….”

Dutifully chewing the meat in my mouth, I looked at my sister across from me.

It doesn’t change at all, it’s properly and definitely. The sister I saw again after a year had changed beyond recognition. If that’s enough, you could say it’s someone else.

Even now, that is the case.

My sister, Sione Cianella, was extremely reluctant to make dinner.

Of course, I am always under pressure from my eldest sister and the mother of the chief of staff.

With blurry eyes, as if he wanted to leave this burdensome place in a hurry, he frantically ate only the food placed in front of him.

But the current sister is different.

‘What the hell happened in the past year?’

Not befitting Cianella’s name, the muddy and muddy interior has long since disappeared. Her pupils were straight and straight, and though weak, they contained even a small light.

I didn’t see any more shrinking from the pressure of my family.

Not only this.

In the past, the image of me lowering my head and eating only my own food has long since disappeared.

My sister was showing off her straight back, enjoying precise manners and even enjoying her meal elegantly.

What’s even more surprising is—.

“Looks like the cooks worked hard today. Right?”

Her older sister, who would have always been indifferent before, also played a personal prank on her younger sister.

“That’s right. I wish it would come out like this every day.”

“I agree.”

While I was away from the Count’s family, what happened between the two of them?

It was that Shione deftly passed on the words of her eldest sister, Sia Bell Cianella.

The corners of my eyes narrowed.

Shione felt inferior to Siabelle.

So, when she first started to fall apart, Siabelle was the first to avoid it.

In response, Siabel was also consistent with indifference towards her younger brother.

I thought I’d never see the two of them chatting over a meal like this again…….

‘… It’s different.’

Surrounding Shione, her world has changed.

Even her mother, Nel Cianella, seemed to be used to this situation.

She ignores it and even continues her meal.

Now, in this place, in this situation, the one who is most awkward is me, not Sione. The impression that she seems to have become Zion Cianella rises to the point where it blooms.

‘Um… ….’

My thoughts deepened.

I doubted if I could call the author my sister from a year ago.

A deep question begins to spring up about what else brought Sione Cianella back to the sister I admired more than anyone else, even if it was only her appearance.

Let’s look at my sister who has changed so much for a while.

She also stopped cutting her steak for a moment and exchanged glances with me.

“… ….”

“… ….”

I was numb.

But outside the warm Count’s residence, it was cold like a cold wind blowing in the winter.

In her eyes, no longer, anywhere, even a small fragment of her feelings for me. I couldn’t find the inferiority complex and avoidance that didn’t seem to disappear for the rest of my life.

I had no choice but to be sure.

It’s not just that appearance that has changed.

Her inner self has also definitely grown over the course of a year.

What remains is a thorough sense of distance.

It was a sense of extreme distance to be called blood, and an intimacy that was not enough to be called an acquaintance.

In a way, it was natural. I know very well that what I did to my sister was an unreasonable act.

No matter what the reason for solving such vicious remarks in the first place… Moreover, even after realizing that it was the wrong way.

Because I endlessly scolded my sister with thicker words.

It is natural.

Like an emotionless doll, my sister, who was making eye contact with me, opened a small mouth.

A plain yet cool voice lingers in my ears.

“Listen. The food gets cold.”

“… All right.”

After briefly speaking, Shione sliced up her own steak again and put a piece into her mouth.

I also started to focus on eating again.

Warm steam was rising, and everything looked appetizing.

I was only buried in deep worries, and it felt like I was just chewing on the colorless and odorless agony.

A very quiet dining table. It was the mother who opened her mouth.

The subject of the story was nothing special.

Just saying welcome back home.

I just continued my meal with a light smile at my mother’s words and the reactions of the sisters that followed. No great reaction was seen.

It was in the middle of that.

The moment the meal came to an end. First, my mother, who had put the utensils neatly down, asked insinuatingly.

“Shione. Come to think of it, there’s one thing I haven’t heard yet.”

“You mean something I haven’t heard?”

“Yes. I was wondering if you are using the bow I gave you the other day.”

“Ah.”

My mother gave you a bow?

… Apparently, rumors circulated that my sister defended her princess with a sword.

Have you ever started using a bow?

However, a bow is a weapon that takes a long time to master.

A mother who values achievement to a certain extent would never give a bow to an archer who has not been skilled in less than a year, even if it is her daughter.

… Dalgrak.

Carefully put the tableware down and finished the meal.

Then I focused my hearing on the story of the two.

Because of the sound of tableware being placed neatly on an empty plate. For a moment, I felt that many eyes were focused on me, but it didn’t matter.

“… You are writing well. The tension of the demonstration, and the elasticity of the bow. It is a good bow.”

That sister who always sighed alone while looking at the world with a dead end.

He had feelings that he thought would never come back to such a sister returned.

Sione Cianella laughed. It was the first laugh she had seen in years.

… I would have expected to see that smile through an unexpected story about a bow.

Furthermore, Shione’s laughter had power.

The power to make both Ainel and Siabelle smile.

“Good. I heard your bow skills are pretty good. I haven’t seen one yet.”

“You can look forward to it. Even piercing the thick orc’s skin from a distance. Shione’s arrows were not exceptional. It’s to the point where I can trust Shione more than the Ranger I was with a while ago.”

“Whoa.”

“Yeah… Not to that extent.”

“I heard you’ve been spending a lot of time at the shooting range lately. I’ll try to visit you sometime soon.”

“… All right.”

From noble mtl dot com

The story of a sister who started to walk a different path from the past.

Since it was the story of Shione that I didn’t know at all, I couldn’t be part of it.

I put their words in my head and organized them.

I thought while drinking water from a glass that had been filled next to an empty plate.

At the shooting range, I had to capture my sister’s changed appearance with my own eyes.

After that, the eldest sister stood up after finishing the meal.

“Let’s go in first.”

“If you do, I will… ….”

Siabelle and Sione finish their meal first and leave. Me and my mother at the long table. Only the two of them were left.

The moment I pushed back my chair to finish my meal after them.

It seemed like they waited for the two of them to leave first. Mother, Ainel Cianella, made the servants who were watching us withdraw.

Then, after confirming that her personnel had left, she looked at me and said her words.

“Zion. I heard something.”

“… Did you hear anything?”

“I heard it through my secretary. They said that you spoke badly to Shione in the hallway where servants come and go. I’m glad I heard a maid with a heavy mouth. If a lot of people listened to it, it would have been quite embarrassing.”

“That… ….”

“They even put the devil in its mouth.”

Ainel’s momentum burst out.

Softly, but more heavily than anything else.

As the head of my mother’s family, as a noble knight, it weighs on my spirit.

“Zion.”

“… Yes.”

“Not only the servants, but also the distinguished guests from the Marquis of Allenar are now residing in the count’s house, so pay special attention to your words and actions.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

“And—”

Tuk─ Tuk─ Tuk─

Ainel’s eyes embracing the midwinter sea see right through me.

The sound of the table hitting, like the ticking of a clock, is clearly imprinted in my mind in this silence.

“I know you and your sister don’t get along very well, but even so, I never thought I would mention the devil to Cianella. To realize your name and the weight of your words. In the future, there should be no such reckless appearance in my ears.”

“… I will be careful.”

“Um.”

My mother got up first.

Again. Again.

As she passed me, she stopped abruptly.

“… And Shion, you too will someday tell Shion—”

Unlike her, Ainel hesitated and waited. In the end she said nothing, just moved on with her steps.

The profile of her caught in my eyes for a short time.

She only looked like a mother who was feeling guilty about her past.

* *

Ainel came into her office.

She threw herself right into her own soft chair.

She raised her head for a moment and stared blankly at her ceiling, then closed her eyes.

One word that lingered in my mouth.

With a small sigh, Ainel finally spoke her last words.

“… Atonement.”

She

She was Shione’s mother, and she was a sinner who could not fulfill her responsibilities as her mother.

How can the same sinner blame Zion’s sins? Shion cursed at Shion, and Shion was silent. And I, like Sione, remain silent. I didn’t see any reaction.

“Yes….”

I recalled my crime.

In order to prove my worth as a fit for the count family, Shione practiced swords and spears, and studied magic and other studies.

My first crime was just neglecting Shione without a single word of commendation.

Since then, as my indifference continued, I fell ill with others’ comparisons and belittling, and turned my back on the world.

My second offense for her was her neglect even after I noticed her negative publicity towards her.

And my last sin.

─No. It’s not a hunsu. It’s advice.

─Do you think it’s right to disregard Cianella’s daughter and just talk with an attendant like me?

─I dare to ask for this opportunity. I hope that Ainel-nim will never turn away from or ignore Sione-nim.

Even after realizing my sin, a sword was pointed at my neck to the point where Jin Shione’s attendants offered advice.

─Shouldn’t we at least say hello to each other?

As her mother of her Sione, it was a sin of doing the most terrible thing to her.

It’s still good for the eyes. The day I stroked her hair for the first time. Water droplets formed in her daughter’s pupils.

It’s already too late, too late. Even from now on, I will fully face her and slowly atone for her sins.

And someday. She intends to ask her for her forgiveness.

I looked at my hand.

After watching her shoot her bow at her shooting range, if you can. For now, I thought of stroking her hair once more with this hand.

* *

As usual, I came out to the shooting range to shoot an arrow.

Now, after giving a simple nod to those who are ignoring it little by little.

I was just engrossed in practicing my bow.

When I put my hand on the quiver on my back, I noticed that the arrows I had prepared had already run out.

“Here is the new quiver.”

I forgot the pain that shone through my knuckles at my attendant’s trivial consideration.

It was when I turned around with a small smile.

“Oh, thank you—”

Usually, he was consistent with an emotionless expression, but today his face was particularly rigid.

Curious as to why, did you look around? It wasn’t just Ray who showed this reaction.

The same goes for everyone else at the shooting range except for himself.

The cause was an uninvited guest who came to the shooting range.

“… Zion.”

A man with silver white hair.

Zion Cianella came to the shooting range and was watching me.

Perhaps he came because he wanted to see with his own two eyes what I was doing that he hadn’t seen before.

After Rey handed me a new quiver, I focused on my target.

‘If you want.’

I’ll show you as much as you like.

I will pierce through the target beyond, right in the middle, and speak confidently.

The incompetent me is dead, and now I have found my talent.

The gentle wind stopped blowing.

As Ray told me. I took a stance and put an arrow on the string.

Pulling on the tough strings, he began to use mana.

Put the repulsive force of the tight tension on your arms and pull your elbows back.

It took 5 seconds for mana to flow through the immobilized arm and then condensed into the arrowhead.

“Whoa… ….”

After a series of actions, I took a breath.

Cold air fills the lungs.

Now, I start erasing the things around me one by one.

Recognizing where the tip of the arrow is heading and the target I need to hit. Enough of these two.

I forgot unnecessary things and threw my mind into a strong immersion.

Quiet.

At that moment when even the wind that sometimes brushed against my cheeks stopped, I let go of my fingers holding the string.

Paang!

An arrow shot with a dead release flew.

It was fierce. The sound of it tearing through the air was more intense than ever.

Kwajik!

Jungang. The mana-enhanced arrow pierced the target and pierced it deeply.

Lowered the bow.

After releasing the tension in my body, I turned around and faced Zion.

“Zion, you are at the gym and… And it seems that it was even further away from the shooting range. Why did you come here?”

Shion frowned in one corner of his eye.

He seemed to be trying to hide it as best he could, but I could see his eyes twitching.

Uncharacteristically, I can’t hide my feelings well.

“… When did you start handling bows?”

“Well—”

Shion was suspicious.

Even though I should have seen it with my own eyes.

He seemed to have doubts that I had fired an arrow that was stuck in the target.

“I guess you started learning in earnest after you went to the academy.”

“… ….”

“Unlike swordsmanship and magic, which you were so dismissive of as having no talent, archery was different. We practiced every day and got better every day. Isn’t that surprising?”

It was a word with bones.

As a counter-evidence, it was seen that Zion’s contemplation was deepening.

He was frozen in place, there was nothing he could do but listen to me in silence.

“How about, did you confirm everything you wanted to see with your own eyes? Or not… I can show you more about hitting the center of the target.”

I asked with a small smile at Shion’s composure, which was slowly breaking.

“Do you want to stay and watch?”

I am no longer the fugitive you know.

My name. Sione Cianella.

The second daughter of Ainel Cianella, a knight whom I respect more than anyone else, and the second daughter of a proud count.

At the same time as a successful aristocrat who won the loyalty of someone who shines brighter than anyone else.

Born into a family of knights, I am the first archer.

If you don’t trust my bow skills.

‘Like Ray of old.’

Discussing the lack of a bow, Ray summoned the wind and shot that dangerous arrow into the side of my head.

From noble mtl dot com

Just like the reckless Ray at the time.

Through intense experience, I will pierce through and remove the shabby images of me in his head, and carve the sharpness of my arrows in their place.