15 – A younger brother needs a sister.(3)

After taking Alphonse to the room, I promised Elena and I would return to the Isilia Pavilion.

Upon arriving at Isilia Pavilion, we walked to the corridor of memories where the portraits of past hostesses were hung. There were as many portraits of women as the family’s long history, but I only know one face.

At the end of the list of portraits hung a portrait of my mother, still uncovered.

Thanks to the fine craftsmanship of the painter, she retained her appearance in the portrait as she was in her lifetime, so it was full of liveliness as if she would get up from her chair and move at any moment. It was natural that it stimulated the memories with her that remained in me.

When I opened the door to the room Alphonse was in, the layout of the room came into view.

Even after several years, this place still retains its appearance as it did at that time, without any changes.

However, perhaps because Alphonse had been there, the duvet on the bed, which should have been neatly folded, was a little crumpled, and something that seemed to have been hidden under the pillow in a hurry was sticking out. Little by little I began to picture what Alphonse was doing here.

When I went to the bed and lifted the pillow, there was an old book Alphonse had read.

It’s a familiar handwriting.

No, not only the handwriting, but also the contents written inside felt familiar.

That’s right, because this was Arwen, my mother’s diary.

In the past, I sometimes saw my mother writing something by herself, but when I asked her about it, she always said it was a secret and never showed me the book. Afterwards, I forgot about it, but Alphonse seems to have found it left here in my mother’s room.

It seems that the writing began after Demian was born, but the writing was not steady.

There was a strong feeling that I wrote down the intense feelings at that time to remember the day when something special happened. But that’s why it was easy for me, who was reading, to recall memories of the past.

The Damian written in her writing was not me, but the memories of her and me were clearly left here.

What I felt through this article was not the sense of loss for my mother’s vacancy, but the happiness of being able to recall once again the warmth I felt in the past. However, just as not everyone reads the same text and has the same thoughts, Alphonse may have felt differently than I did.

Arwen Krause died when Alphonse was two years old.

An epidemic was raging in the South at the time, and it was the cause. So many people died before the cure was made that it could be said that it was luck that the young Alphonse did not get sick, including Krause’s mistress.

Alphonse, who was only a two-year-old baby, could not have any memories of his mother.

When Alphonse, who had no memory of his mother, saw this diary, he must have been keenly aware of his mother’s vacancy, unlike me, who had such memories.

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Maybe it was all the more so because he was between his older brother and father who couldn’t forget the mother he didn’t know.

Alphonse, who lost his mother at an early age, had only me and his father as his family. However, the only family members were looking for the shadow of the one who had already left Alphonse.

Remembering, but not being eaten by the shadow.

Perhaps knowing that, his father forbade Alphonse to go to the Isilia House. But it wasn’t for Alphonse.

If so, what would I be like? Can I say that I was a good older brother to Alphonse?

No way.

It was too late to say that he was a good older brother on the subject that he noticed now.

Saying that I had to prepare for the future that would come to me is just an excuse.

Let’s be honest.

Unlike me, who was a villain, he was Alphonse, who would be a good man in the future, so I was indifferent to him.

***

I left the Isilia Hall with my mother’s diary.

He had a body that could be said to be a superman, but his body had no strength. My mother’s small diary in my hand was like holding a heavy iron bar.

If you know a mistake, you must correct it.

However, it was the first time in this life to have a family or to be someone’s older brother. I didn’t know what an ideal brother would look like, and I didn’t think that if I changed like that, I would be able to make up for all the loss he felt.

After the heavy stone of being engaged to Elena is laid down, a new stone rolls in and weighs on his heart. However, this was due to my fault, not a predetermined fate. That’s why it seems that he was carrying a heavier burden than Elena’s time.

I walked while thinking about what to do, and when I arrived at my room, Ken appeared in front of my eyes as if he had been waiting for me.

“Bocchan. You seem to have a lot of worries today.”

“Oh? Ken. What are you doing here?”

“Hey, I’ve been waiting for you as your exclusive butler. More than that, why do you have such a gloomy face like the sky on a rainy day? Ah, if it’s about Lady Edelweiss, you don’t have to worry. You’re already enamored with him… .”

“It’s not like that.”

This man knows that if I’m in a bad mood, it’s all about Elena.

The old butler’s smirking face seems to have eased the heavy feeling a little. Come to think of it, it was Ken and Maria who watched Alphonse and me the longest. If so, maybe Ken knows the answer to this problem.

But I couldn’t ask Ken about him.

Come to think of it, if the two felt something strange about Alphonse, they would have told us right away. Even if it wasn’t for that, Maria couldn’t have left Alphonse alone.

If it was Maria’s personality, she would have taken pity on Alphonse, who did not know her mother, and cared about this and that. Even so, Alphonse’s emotional goal was not filled.

To solve this, the family, not the third party, must come forward. I was so sure.

Then a man’s face came to mind.

When I remembered that face, I immediately said to Ken.

“Ken. Go and tell your father. Your son wants to play sparring for the first time in a while.”

“Yes? All of a sudden? But would you mind doing it like that? Doesn’t it come out as a slime even if you do it normally? You look very tired. How about resting today and doing it tomorrow?”

Ken answered me with a worried face.

“It’s okay. I don’t plan on making it as tight as usual today.”

I just want to have a ‘conversation’ between son and father. In response to my answer, Ken had no choice but to nod and say he understood.

“It’s going to be a problem when it’s time to fix this.”

“I wouldn’t do that…”

“Even if the young master says so, there’s no way the head of the family will end up ordinary, given his personality. But I hope you’ll be as careful as possible. Lady Edelweiss might be surprised.”

“I’ll try not to make a lot of noise.”

“No, I was saying don’t get hurt too badly. You can’t just come out bloody. What should I do if the lady is startled because of that?”

“…..”

I have nothing to say.

After a while Ken left to talk to his father, and I walked towards the gymnasium behind the castle.

***

As befits a renowned samurai family, the Krause family had several gymnasiums. Among them, the gymnasium right behind the castle was used only by the Krause family’s blood relatives, and even knights who swore under the name of the family were prohibited from entering.

After arriving at the gymnasium, I picked up one of the swords prepared in the back.

Dalian is just Dalian. There is no reason to engage in sparring with real swords when it is not a matter of life and death. It is said that in the past, many people lost their lives while using a real sword, so they started using a sword with the same weight and no blade.

Even so, if it was a swordsman that could contain an aura, it would be the same as a true sword.

The wait wasn’t too long.

The quiet mana in the air starts to fluctuate. The flow of mana, which should be free, began to gather in one place as if it were being led by some mighty force.

“Are you here?”

A man stood at the center of the great flow.

Sword Master.

The mighty presence of the person who has reached the highest level, which was usually suppressed, is revealed without filtering.

“Yeah. But I’m surprised you asked me for sparring first. Did you have any enlightenment?”

Seeing my father’s interested face, I shook my head and denied it.

“No. That’s not it. I need a place to vent my anger and have a conversation with my father after a long time.”

To that, the father did not give any answer. He just looked at me with his usual eyes.

Blinking once, there was a sword in his empty hand.

I also raised my sword without saying anything.

After a while, the sound of iron colliding with iron began to be heard in the silent gymnasium where only the sound of the wind stayed.