Chapter 35

Rizel.

Brother was always indifferent, but when he called my name, there was a warmth like faint sunlight. But now, even when he called my name, that warmth was gone. His eyes had lost all life, indistinguishable from a corpse, and his voice was as cold as if it could freeze flesh. It was as if his emotions had worn away, and he no longer reacted to any stimulus. Like a living doll, he only responded to programmed inputs.

So I felt sorry. I must have contributed to making him that way. My thoughtless words must have turned him into that. So I apologized. I said I was sorry. Yet, Brother said this:

“No. Ever since that day, none of your words have reached my heart.”

I knew better than anyone what that day meant. The day I first called him a monster. The day our relationship was severed.

I wanted to untangle the tangled chain, but Brother had already cut it before I could even try. That was the most effective way to untangle it, after all.

“…Miss, when should we depart?”

“Let’s leave right now.”

I was confident I could untangle the tangled chain, but I had no confidence in reconnecting the broken chain. So, all I could do was hold the broken pieces of the chain and stay far away.

I wasn’t cruel enough to weave the chain again in front of the person who had been hurt to cut it. If only I had been that selfish. If only I could have been that selfish while showing my selfish side.

I’m a half-hearted person. Neither altruistic nor selfish. To be precise, I lack both kindness and courage.

“Brother…”

I just lacked the courage. The courage to properly weave the chain that had been cut in front of Brother. With hands trembling in fear of my own mistakes, I couldn’t even weave a thread.

I was scared of that always kind voice now filled with frost, listing my faults, so I ran away. I’m just a half-heartedly selfish fool.

“That lady, are you sure you don’t want to eat anything…?”

The coachman who served Brother looked at me with worried eyes.

Come to think of it, I hadn’t eaten anything since drinking coffee yesterday.

But could mere thirst and hunger for a day overcome years of deficiency?

“It’s fine, let’s just go.”

The carriage rattled as it sped away.

The coachman driving the carriage, the adventurer guarding me, even the birds flying far away could return to their daily lives, but I couldn’t.

I would regret the chain I couldn’t weave today for the rest of my life. Even if the moment of choice came again, I would surely give up.

Time will flow relentlessly. Today’s events, regrets, and wounds will gradually fade. We will live on, forgetting each other.

I cried because I was afraid of that relentlessness.

“Brother……”

The only word my mouth, burdened with too many sins, could utter, and before I knew it, the sun began to set.

Even after the sun set, the worries in my heart showed no sign of settling.

“That lady, you have a long way to go. You should eat something…”

The coachman, who knew my body was weak, handed me soft white bread and worried.

Just as I thought that perhaps the relentless flow of time might be different if there was hunger, the forest began to rustle loudly.

“Hide behind me! It seems there are monsters!”

“Monsters? Haha, what a ridiculous thing to say!”

That was clearly human language. Yet, that voice couldn’t possibly be human.

“Giants…?”

I had heard of giants.

A race with skin like rock, who sided with humans after being promised various benefits by the Minister of War during the war.

And at the same time, the traitors who betrayed the Empire and inflicted devastating damage on the allied forces. As a result, half of their race was slaughtered by Brother as an example, and they lost their homeland.

“Just as that lizard said, the demon’s sister is nearby!”

“We’ve been waiting for this day. To repay the grudge from that day!”

“Killing the demon’s sister will be some form of repayment.”

About twenty giants, all properly armed, were clearly not mere bandits but warriors of the fallen giant race.

“Run away! If you run all day, you’ll reach the village outskirts…!”

The adventurer swung his sword, but it shattered as if he had struck a massive rock.

“Do you think that’s possible, fools!”

The giant kicked, and the large carriage crumbled like a cookie.

“Today, you will return to the demon Raul, skewered on a log!”

“Don’t call Brother a demon!”

That word “demon” clawed at my brain. It repeated the moment I had called Brother a monster.

This outburst might just be to lessen my own pain. Yes, I’m a half-heartedly selfish fool.

But such details didn’t matter anymore. I just couldn’t bear to hear Brother called a monster or demon anymore.

“You are the demons! You betrayed us first, why are you playing the victim now!”

“We just didn’t send the promised reinforcements! How can you call that betrayal!”

“How shameless! Do you even know how many people died because of your selfish betrayal!”

That day’s events were so infamous that I knew them in detail.

Even Brother, who rarely showed emotion, would look murderous when the topic of giants came up.

“Enough! A mere insect’s cry means nothing!”

The giant swung his club at me.

My body would be crushed miserably, and I would die. Yet, I wasn’t scared at all. Rather than living on, forgetting this pain in the relentless flow of time.

It seemed better to just have my body crushed. A single moment of pain leading to death seemed better than living on relentlessly.

“There are three truths in this world that no one can deny.”

Suddenly, the giant’s massive club shattered into dust.

“The first truth is that all objects disappear without a trace when they resonate with their inherent frequency.”

It was a voice as dry and cold as a winter garden, yet holding the warmth of spring within.

I knew it instantly, for it was the voice I had longed for so much.

Yes.

It was Brother’s voice.

Brother struck the giant’s head with his cane, and it burst like a paper bag filled with blood.

“Thus, your deaths are the second truth.”

Brother, without a drop of blood on him, jumped off the headless corpse.

He stood in front of me protectively, adjusting his cane.

“And the third truth is that I am always on your side, Rizel.”

Raul Berze. My brother, who achieved countless feats in war but was despised everywhere for killing his comrades.

My pitiful brother, who had to swallow all insults under the peace the Empire sought after so much bloodshed.

My brother, who couldn’t even raise a hand freely due to the unstable reign after the war.

“That demon is here…!”

“Even if a swarm of insects gathers sand on their shells and learns to swing their forelegs.”

Yet, his skill was unmatched, hailed as one of the Empire’s strongest alongside the princess.

The massive weapons they wielded, the thick armor they wore, even their rock-hard bodies.

In front of Brother, they were no more than paper.

“I never gave you permission to breathe.”

“P-please, spare me…!”

Brother reached out with a slightly trembling hand.

“You won’t die unjustly.”

The giant’s head was cleanly severed by Brother’s hand blade.

Brother shook the blood off his fingertips and met my gaze.

“Rizel.”

“Brother…”

I could feel it in the current “Rizel.” The usual warmth.

The voice was no different from yesterday, but today I could feel it.

Brother hadn’t changed. I could feel it because I was sure he was still on my side.

Brother was like a winter garden. Always holding spring within his cold dryness.

“Camilla only told me today. I said something outrageous.”

“No, Brother… I was the one who said outrageous things. I said things I’m too ashamed to even mention.”

“Half wrong, half right. I am a human who can become a monster, a demon, a traitor. But only for your sake.”

Brother stroked my head.

It was like the day he left for the battlefield. His cold hand was paradoxically very warm.

“Although the chain is broken, there’s no need to weave it again. We can just forge a new chain.”

“Brother… I’m really… really… sorry…”

“We are connected by a bond stronger than any chain.”

I could finally hug Brother after so long.

His cold body was so warm that I didn’t want to let go.

I will never break this chain again.